[Federal Register: February 21, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 35)]
[Notices]
[Page 9524-9525]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21fe08-40]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XF54
Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act Provisions;
Tautog Fishery
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of non-compliance referral.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that on February 7, 2008, the Atlantic States
Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) found the State of New Jersey
out of compliance with the Commission's Interstate Fishery Management
Plan for Tautog (ISFMP). Subsequently, the Commission referred the
matter to NMFS, under delegation of authority from the Secretary of
Commerce, for federal non-compliance review under the provisions of the
Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act (Atlantic Coastal
Act). The Atlantic Coastal Act mandates that NMFS must review the
Commission's non-compliance referral and make specific findings within
thirty (30) days after receiving the referral. If NMFS determines that
New Jersey failed to carry out its responsibilities under the Tautog
ISFMP, and if the measures it failed to implement are necessary for
conservation, then, according to the Atlantic Coastal Act, NMFS must
declare a moratorium on fishing for tautog in New Jersey waters.
DATES: NMFS intends to make a determination on this matter by March 11,
2008, and will publish its findings in the Federal Register immediately
thereafter.
ADDRESSES: Harold C. Mears, Director, State, Federal and Constituent
Programs Office, NMFS, Northeast Region, One Blackburn Drive,
Gloucester, MA 01930.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bob Ross, Fishery Management
Specialist, NMFS, Northeast Region, (978) 281-9234, fax (978) 281-9117,
e-mail Bob.Ross@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Tautog (Tautoga onitis), often known by the
common name ``blackfish,'' is a coastal fish species ranging from Nova
Scotia to South Carolina, but most abundant from the southern Gulf of
Maine (lower Massachusetts Bay and southern Cape Cod Bay) to Chesapeake
Bay. The Commission manages this species according to its Tautog ISFMP.
The Commission's Tautog ISFMP can be located at http://www.asmfc.org,
(select ``Interstate Fishery Management,'' then select ``Tautog.'')
The Commission Tautog ISFMP--specifically Addendum IV and Addendum
V to the ISFMP--indicate that states need to implement measures that
would reduce their tautog landings by 25.6% in order to respond to
scientific concerns that tautog is being overfished. New Jersey's
Marine Fishery Council, however, in November 2007 refused to implement
any further measures causing the Commission on February 7, 2008, to
vote that New Jersey was out of compliance with the Tautog ISFMP. The
Commission subsequently referred its non-compliance finding to NMFS.
Federal response to a Commission non-compliance referral is
governed by the Atlantic Coastal Act. Under the Atlantic Coastal Act,
the Secretary of Commerce must make two (2) findings within 30 days
after receiving the non-compliance referral. First, the Secretary of
Commerce must determine whether
[[Page 9525]]
the state in question (in this case, New Jersey) has failed to carry
out its responsibilities under the ISFMP. Second, the Secretary of
Commerce must determine whether the measures that the State has failed
to implement or enforce are necessary for the conservation of the
fishery in question. If the Secretary of Commerce makes affirmative
findings on both criteria, then the Secretary must implement a
moratorium on fishing in the fishery in question (in this case tautog)
within the waters of the noncomplying state (in this case New Jersey).
Further, the moratorium must become effective within six (6) months of
the date of the Secretary's non-compliance determination. To the extent
that the allegedly offending state later implements the involved
measure, the Atlantic Coastal Act allows the state to petition the
Commission that it has come back into compliance, and if the Commission
concurs, the Commission will notify the Secretary of Commerce and, if
the Secretary concurs, the moratorium will be withdrawn. The Secretary
of Commerce has delegated Atlantic Coastal Act authorities to the
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries at NMFS.
NMFS has notified the State of New Jersey, the Commission, the Mid-
Atlantic Fishery Management Council, and the New England Fishery
Management Council, in separate letters, of its receipt of the
Commission's non-compliance referral. In the letters, NMFS solicits
commentary from the Commission and Councils to the extent either entity
is interested in providing such. NMFS also indicates to the State of
New Jersey that the State is entitled to meet with and present its
comments directly to NMFS if the State so desires.
NMFS intends to make its non-compliance determination on or about
March 11, 2008, which is 30 days after receipt of the Commission's non-
compliance referral. NMFS will announce its determination by Federal
Register notice immediately thereafter. To the extent that NMFS makes
an affirmative non-compliance finding, NMFS will announce the effective
date of the moratorium in that Federal Register notice.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 5101 et seq.
Dated: February 15, 2008.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. E8-3252 Filed 2-20-08; 8:45 am]
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