Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Amendment 18 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan

Federal Register, Volume 81 Issue 234 (Tuesday, December 6, 2016)

Federal Register Volume 81, Number 234 (Tuesday, December 6, 2016)

Proposed Rules

Pages 87862-87863

From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov

FR Doc No: 2016-29189

=======================================================================

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

RIN 0648-BF26

Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Amendment 18 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability of proposed Fishery Management Plan amendment; request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council has submitted Amendment 18 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan. We are requesting comments from the public on this Amendment, which was developed to prevent excessive consolidation in the groundfish fishery, promote fleet diversity, and enhance sector management. Amendment 18 includes measures that would limit the number of permits and annual groundfish allocation that an entity could hold. This action would also remove several effort restrictions to increase operational flexibility for limited access handgear vessels.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before February 6, 2017.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2015-0143, by either of the following methods:

Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2015-0143, click the ``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.

Mail: Submit written comments to John K. Bullard, Regional Administrator, NMFS, Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside of the envelope: ``Comments on Northeast Multispecies Amendment 18.''

Instructions: Comments sent by any other method, to any other address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, may not be considered by NMFS. All comments received are a part of the public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying information (e.g., name, address, etc.), confidential business information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily by the commenter may be publicly accessible. NMFS will accept anonymous comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to remain anonymous). Attachments to electronic comments will be accepted in Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe PDF file formats only.

Copies of Amendment 18, including its environmental impact statement, preliminary Regulatory Impact Review, and Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (EIS/RIR/IRFA), are available from the New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water Street, Newburyport, MA 01950. The EIS/RIR/IRFA is also accessible via the Internet at: www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Whitmore, Fishery Policy Analyst, 978-281-9182.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The New England Fishery Management Council has submitted to us Amendment 18 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan. The Council identified four goals for Amendment 18:

  1. Promote a diverse groundfish fishery, including different gear types, vessel sizes, ownership patterns, geographic locations, and levels of participation through sectors and permit banks;

  2. Enhance sector management to effectively engage industry to achieve management goals and improve data quality;

  3. Promote resilience and stability of fishing businesses by encouraging diversification, quota utilization, and capital investment; and

  4. Prevent any individual(s), corporation(s), or other entity(ies) from acquiring or controlling excessive shares of the fishery access privileges.

Amendment 18 addresses these goals through two mechanisms. First, this action proposes to establish accumulation limits on the number of groundfish permits and the amount of Potential Sector Contribution (PSC) that an entity may hold. PSC is the proportion of total landings of a particular stock associated with each permit's fishing history. PSC also represents the allocation that an individual permit would contribute to a sector once enrolled. Second, this action proposes to remove several restrictions on limited access handgear vessels to promote participation in this small-boat fishery.

The PSC limit would restrict the amount of PSC that may be held by an entity in aggregate across all allocated stocks to an average of no more than 15.5. With 15 allocated stocks, the total PSC across all stocks held by an individual or entity must be

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT