31836 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 98 / Friday, May 19, 2000 / Rules and Regulations

(2) Untreated pine slat(s) no thicker

than 3⁄8 inch (0.95 cm);

(3) Non-coated steel wire measuring

24 gauge or thinner;

(4) A panel of ferrous single-dipped

galvanized wire mesh made of 24 gauge

or thinner wire; or

(5) A rectangular panel made of any

material, fastened to the trap at each of

the four corners of the rectangle by rings

made of non-coated 24 gauge or thinner

wire or single strands of untreated jute

twine. When the jute, untreated pine

slat(s), non-coated steel wire, wire mesh

panel, or corner fasteners degrade, the

opening in the sidewall of the trap must

no longer be obstructed.

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 00–12669 Filed 5–18–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 980414095–8240–02; I.D.

051200A]

Fisheries of the Northeastern United

States; Dealer Reporting Requirements

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notification of a 2-month

termination of the deferral of Interactive

Voice Response (IVR) System reporting

requirements for Atlantic cod

purchases.

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that it is

terminating the current deferral of IVR

reporting requirements of Atlantic cod

for a 2-month period, beginning May 28,

2000, and ending July 31, 2000. One of

the management measures for Atlantic

cod includes two conditional 1-month

closures in the Gulf of Maine (GOM). If

the preliminary landings of GOM cod

from May 1, 2000, through July 31,

2000, indicate that the trigger of 1.67

million lb (759 mt) has been reached,

the closures would become effective.

This deferral will enable NMFS to

determine if the trigger has been

reached. Any dealer issued a Northeast

(NE) multispecies permit must submit,

through the IVR system, a weekly

summary of Atlantic cod purchased

from May 28, 2000, through July 31,

2000.

DATES: The 2-month termination of the

deferral of the IVR system reporting

requirements is effective May 28, 2000,

through July 31, 2000. Effective August

1, 2000, the IVR system reporting

requirement for Atlantic cod is deferred

until notification terminating the

deferral for Atlantic cod is published in

the Federal Register.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Sandra Arvilla, (978) 281–9255 or

Gregory Power, (978) 281–9304.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: To

effectively monitor landings of quotamanaged species on a timely basis,

NMFS issued a final rule (63 FR 52639,

October 1, 1998) requiring federally

permitted dealers to submit a weekly

summary of purchases of quotamanaged species through the IVR

system within 3 days of the end of the

reporting week. To minimize the burden

of dealer reporting requirements, the

regulations implementing the use of an

IVR system authorize (§ 648.7(a)(ii)) the

Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS

(RA), to defer the IVR reporting

requirements for any species if landings

are not expected to reach levels that

would cause the applicable target

exploitation rate specified in the

applicable Fishery Management Plan

(FMP) for that species to be achieved,

resulting in specific management

changes. NMFS announced in the

Federal Register (63 FR 57931, October

29, 1998) the deferral of IVR reporting

requirements for Atlantic mackerel,

butterfish, and regulated NE

multispecies, which included Atlantic

cod.

To address the overfishing of Gulf of

Maine and Georges Bank cod, NMFS

recently published a final rule

implementing Framework Adjustment

33 to the NE Multispecies FMP (65 FR

21658, April 24, 2000). One of the

management measures under

Framework Adjustment 33 is the

conditional 1-month closure of two

areas, which would become effective if

preliminary landings from May 1, 2000,

through July 31, 2000, indicate that

more than 1.67 million lb (759 mt) of

GOM cod have been landed. As

specified in § 648.81(o), if the RA

determines that preliminary landings

through July 31, 2000, indicate that

more than 1.67 million lb (759 mt) has

been landed as of, or before, July 31,

2000, NMFS shall implement the

closures. The trigger (1.67 million lb

(759 mt)) is established at a level that is

50 percent of the total allowable catch

(TAC) level between the TACs

associated with F0.1 and Fmax.

In order to monitor effectively

Atlantic cod landings relative to the

trigger of 1.67 million lb (759 mt),

NMFS is requiring any dealer issued a

NE multispecies permit to submit,

through the IVR system, a weekly

summary of Atlantic cod purchases

made from May 28, 2000, through July

31, 2000. IVR reports must be submitted

within 3 days of the end of the reporting

week. Purchases of Atlantic cod

transacted July 30–31, 2000, must be

reported via the IVR system by

midnight, Eastern time, Tuesday,

August 8, 2000. Following submission

of IVR reports for Atlantic cod

purchases occurring from May 28, 2000,

through July 31, 2000, the IVR system

reporting requirements for Atlantic cod

will again be deferred until notification

terminating the deferral is published in

the Federal Register.

Dealers must continue to report

through the IVR system, their purchases

of the species specified in § 648.7(a) for

which IVR reporting requirements have

not been deferred. These species are

summer flounder, scup, black sea bass,

Illex squid and Loligo squid. If no

purchases of any quota-managed species

are made during the reporting week, a

negative report, so stating, must be

submitted.

As specified in § 648.7(a)(1), dealers

must continue to report purchases of all

species, including those species for

which IVR reporting has been deferred,

on the detailed written reports.

Classification

This action is authorized by 50 CFR

part 648 and is exempt from review

under E.O. 12866.

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

Dated: May 15, 2000.

Bruce Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 00–12668 Filed 5–18–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F