[Federal Register: July 12, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 133)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 38025-38026]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr12jy07-15]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 061020273-6321-02]
RIN 0648-XA94
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder,
Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fisheries; Adjustments to the 2007 Black Sea
Bass, and Total Allowable Landings (TAL) and Loligo Squid Initial
Optimum Yield (IOY)
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; restoration to the 2007 black sea bass TAL and
Loligo squid IOY.
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SUMMARY: NMFS restores 18,142 lb (8.23 mt) of unused research set-aside
(RSA) to the 2007 black sea bass TAL and 151,235 lb (68.60 mt) of
unused RSA to the Loligo squid IOY, and makes corresponding adjustments
to the 2007 black sea bass commercial quota, the 2007 black sea bass
recreational harvest limit, and the 2007 Loligo squid commercial
Trimester II and III quotas. The adjustments are intended to return
unallocated RSA quotas to the respective fisheries.
DATES: Effective July 12, 2007 through December 31, 2007.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Perra, Policy Analyst, (978) 281-
9153, fax (978) 281-9135, e-mail: paul.perra@noaa.gov
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In December 2006, proposals for research
projects requested more summer flounder RSA than was available through
the annual 2007 summer flounder specification process (71 FR 240,
December 14, 2006), and, therefore, NMFS offered the projects increased
amounts of Loligo squid and black sea bass RSA, within the amounts
authorized under the respective fishery management plans (FMPs), to
offset the summer flounder shortfalls. The respective 2007 FMP
specifications allotted RSA to the four projects as follows: 389,490 lb
(176.67 mt) of summer flounder; 1,124,356 lb ( 510 mt) of Loligo squid;
360,000 lb (163.29 mt) of scup; 150,000 lb (68.04 mt) of black sea
bass; and 363,677 lb (164.96 mt) of bluefish. Following the 2007
specification process, NMFS, in January 2007, through emergency
rulemaking
[[Page 38026]]
(72 FR 12, January 19, 2007), increased the 2007 summer flounder TAL
from 12.98 million lb (5,887.63 mt) to 17.11 million lb (7711.07 mt).
However, to insure the timely issuance of grants and exempted fishing
permits required for the projects, the summer flounder RSA assigned to
the project grants and specifications was not increased. Therefore, the
RSA summer flounder amounts under the 2007 specifications remained
lower than the amounts requested for the projects. The lower than
expected summer flounder RSA amount resulted in the NOAA Grant Office
negotiations that increased Loligo squid and black sea bass RSA to the
projects to compensate for the summer flounder shortfall. However, the
increases of black sea bass and Loligo squid to the projects did not
utilize all of the 3 percent RSA allocation assigned to the projects in
the 2007 specifications. Specifically, in January 2007, NOAA grant
negotiations altered the projects' allocations of black sea bass and
Loligo squid to 131,858 lb (59.8 mt) and 973,121 lb (441.4 mt),
respectively, resulting in 18,142 lb (8.23 mt) of black sea bass and
151,235 lb (68.56 mt) of Loligo squid no longer being assigned to the
RSA allocation, or to the commercial or recreational TAL or IOY. These
remaining unused amounts of 18,142 lb (8.23 mt) of black sea bass and
151,235 lb (68.56 mt) of Loligo squid are being returned to their
respective fishing sectors to provide the fisheries the opportunity to
harvest all available TAL and IOY.
Framework Adjustment 1 to the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and
Butterfish; Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass; and Atlantic
Bluefish FMPs; and the RSA provisions of the Tilefish FMP implemented
procedures for setting aside up to 3 percent of the annual TAL or IOY
to fund research activities for summer flounder, scup, black sea bass,
Atlantic mackerel, squid, and butterfish. The regulations at 50 CFR
648.21(g)(5) stipulate that, if a proposal is disapproved by the
Regional Administrator, or the NOAA Grants Office, or if the allocated
research quota cannot be utilized by a project, the Regional
Administrator shall reallocate the unallocated or unused amount of
research quota to the respective commercial and recreational fisheries
by publication of a notice in the Federal Register.
Under procedures in the Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass
FMP, the resulting unused black sea bass TAL is allocated 49 percent to
the commercial sector and 51 percent to the recreational sector.
Therefore, this action restores 18,142 lb (8.23 mt) of black sea bass
to the 2007 fishery, with 8,890 lb (4.03 mt) provided to the commercial
sector and 9,252 lb (4.20 mt) provided to the recreational sector. The
resulting 2007 black sea bass TAL is 4,868,142 lb (2,208.23 mt). The
new commercial quota is 2,385,390 lb (1,083 mt), and the new
recreational harvest limit is 2,482,752 lb (1,126.20 mt) (Table 1).
Table 1. Restoration of Black Sea Bass RSA to TAL, by Fishing Sectors
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Initial TAL Restored Amounts New TAL
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Fishing Sector 4,850,000 lb (220 mt) 18,142 lb (8.23 mt) 4,868,142 lb (2,208.23 mt)
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lb mt lb mt lb mt
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Commercial TAL 2,376,500 1,078 8,890 4.032 2,385,390 1,083
Recreational TAL 2,473,500 1,122 9,252 4.197 2,482,752 1,126.2
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Although 9,252 lb (4.20 mt) of black sea bass are being restored to
the recreational harvest limit, this action does not alter the existing
recreational management measures that have been established to ensure
that the recreational harvest limit is not exceeded.
The Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish FMP only regulates
Loligo squid IOY for the commercial sector, and the Loligo squid
commercial fishing season operates on a trimester allocation scheme.
The unused amount of 68.56 mt of Loligo squid is thus restored
proportionally to the 2007 second and third trimesters. The resulting
IOY is 16,558.56 mt, with the 68.56 mt restored 29.8 percent (20.43 mt)
to the Trimester II allocation, and 70.2 percent (48.13 mt) to the
Trimester III allocation. The new Trimester II allocation is 2,823.73
mt, and the new Trimester III allocation is 6,644.13 mt (Table 2).
Table 2. Restoration of Loligo squid RSA to IOY by Trimester seasons (metric tons)
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Initial IOY Restored New IOY
2007 Trimesters 16,490 Amount 68.56 16,558.56
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Trimester I (Jan-Apr) 7,090.7 0 7,090.7
Trimester II (May-Aug) 2,803.3 20.43 2,823.73
Trimester III (Sep-Dec) 6,596.00 48.13 6,644.13
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Classification
This action is required by 50 CFR part 648 and is exempt from
review under Excutive Order 12866.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: July 6, 2007.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. E7-13555 Filed 7-11-07; 8:45 am]
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