Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act Provisions: Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery, etc.

Federal Register: May 6, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 88)

Proposed Rules

Page 24936-24937

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

DOCID:fr06my08-34

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 50 CFR Part 648

Docket No. 080428607-8609-01

RIN 0648-AW69

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act

Provisions; Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast

Multispecies Fishery; Allocation of Trips to Closed Area II Yellowtail

Flounder Special Access Program

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.

SUMMARY: NMFS proposes to allocate zero trips in the Closed Area (CA)

II Yellowtail Flounder Special Access Program (SAP) during the 2008 fishing year (FY) (i.e., May 1, 2008, through April 30, 2009). This action is based on a determination that the available catch of Georges

Bank (GB) yellowtail flounder is insufficient to support a minimum level of fishing activity within the CA II Yellowtail Flounder SAP for

FY 2008. The intent of this action is to help achieve optimum yield

(OY) in the fishery by maximizing the utility of available GB yellowtail flounder TAC throughout FY 2008.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before 5 p.m., local time, May 21, 2008.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by 0648-AW69, by any one of the following methods:

Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov

Fax: 978-281-9341, attn: Douglas Potts, Fishery Management

Specialist.

Mail: Written comments (paper, disk, or CD-ROM) should be sent to Patricia A. Kurkul, Regional Administrator, 1 Blackburn Drive,

Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside of the envelope, ``Comments on

CA II YT SAP, 0648-AW69.''

Instructions: All comments received are a part of the public record and will generally be posted to http://www.regulations.gov without change. All Personal Identifying Information (for example, name, address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit Confidential Business Information or otherwise sensitive or protected information.

NMFS will accept anonymous comments. Attachments to electronic comments will be accepted in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or

Adobe PDF file formats only.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The final rule implementing Framework

Adjustment (FW) 40B (70 FR 31323; June 1, 2005), authorized the

Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator) to determine the allocation of the total number of trips into the CA II

Yellowtail Flounder SAP based upon several criteria, including: GB yellowtail flounder total allowable catch (TAC) level, as established through the U.S./Canada Resource Sharing Understanding; and the amount of GB yellowtail flounder caught outside of the SAP. A formula was developed in FW 40B to assist the Regional Administrator in determining the appropriate number of trips for this SAP on a yearly basis. The formula is intended to allow the SAP to be adjusted for changing stock conditions to help achieve OY for GB yellowtail flounder.

FW 40B authorizes the allocation of zero trips to this SAP if the available GB yellowtail flounder catch (GB yellowtail flounder TAC projected catch of GB yellowtail flounder outside the SAP) is not sufficient to support 150 trips with a 15,000-lb (6,804-kg) trip limit

(i.e., if the available GB yellowtail catch is less than 1,021 mt), as required. The U.S./Canada GB yellowtail flounder TAC for 2008, as recommended by the Transboundary Management Guidance Committee and the

Council, is 1,950 mt (73 FR 16571; March 28, 2008). During FY 2007, vessels fishing outside of the SAP landed over 901 mt, 100 percent of the U.S./Canada GB yellowtail flounder TAC. However, this number does not reflect the potential catch outside of this SAP as the FY 2007 TAC of GB yellowtail flounder was caught by January 24, 2008, and possession was prohibited in the U.S./Canada Management Area for the remainder of the fishing year. The total catch of GB yellowtail flounder outside of this SAP in FY 2006 was 1,851 mt, 89 percent of the

U.S./Canada GB yellowtail flounder TAC for that year. Using an average of these two years as a more realistic approximation of potential catch of GB

Page 24937

yellowtail flounder by all vessels outside of the SAP in FY 2008, there would be insufficient available catch to allocate to this SAP (1,950 mt 1,376 mt