43126 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 155 / Tuesday, August 12, 1997 / Rules and Regulations

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 285

[I.D. 080597D]

Atlantic Tuna Fisheries; Fishery

Reopening

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Reopening.

SUMMARY: NMFS has determined that

the 1997 Atlantic bluefin tuna (ABT)

June-August period General category

subquota has not been reached.

Therefore, NMFS reopens the General

category fishery for large medium and

giant ABT for all areas for one

additional day. This action is being

taken to allow full harvest of the

General category June-August period

subquota.

DATES: Effective 1 a.m. local time

through 11:30 p.m. local time on Friday,

August 8, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Chris Rogers, 301–713–2347, or Mark

Murray-Brown, 508–281–9260.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Regulations implemented under the

authority of the Atlantic Tunas

Convention Act (16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.)

governing the harvest of ABT by persons

and vessels subject to U.S. jurisdiction

are found at 50 CFR part 285. Section

285.22 subdivides the U.S. quota

recommended by the International

Commission for the Conservation of

Atlantic Tunas among the various

domestic fishing categories.

NMFS is required, under

§ 285.20(b)(1), to monitor the catch and

landing statistics and, on the basis of

these statistics, to project a date when

the catch of ABT will equal any quota

and publish a Federal Register

announcement to close the applicable

fishery.

General Category Reopening

Implementing regulations for the

Atlantic tuna fisheries at 50 CFR 285.22

provide for a subquota of 374 mt of large

medium and giant ABT to be harvested

from the regulatory area by vessels

permitted in the General category

during the period beginning June 1 and

ending August 31. Based on reported

catch and effort, NMFS filed an action

with the Office of the Federal Register

on August 1, 1997, to close the General

category fishery on August 3, 1997.

NMFS has determined that, due to

lower than expected fishing effort and

landings, the full 374 mt has not been

taken. Recent average catch rates

indicate that the remaining subquota

could be taken in one fishing day.

Therefore, NMFS is reopening the

General category fishery for large

medium and giant ABT effective 1 a.m.,

August 8, 1997, and closing 11:30 p.m.,

August 8, 1997. Fishing for, retaining,

possessing, or landing large medium or

giant ABT by vessels in the General

category may not occur prior to 1 a.m.,

August 8, 1997, and must cease at 11:30

p.m. local time August 8, 1997. Closure

of this one day fishery will be strictly

enforced. The General category will

reopen September 1, 1997 with a quota

of 187 mt for the September period. If

necessary, the September subquota will

be adjusted based on actual landings

from the current period.

The intent of this action is to allow

full attainment of the June-August

period subquota established for the

General category as specified in the

Atlantic bluefin tuna effort controls

final rule (62 FR 38939, July 21, 1997).

Classification

This action is taken under 50 CFR

285.20(b) and 50 CFR 285.22 and is

exempt from review under E.O. 12866.

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.

Dated: August 5, 1997.

Bruce Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 97–21135 Filed 8–6–97; 4:11pm]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 300

[Docket No. 961217359–7050–02; I.D.

080597A]

Pacific Halibut Fisheries; Area 2A

Commercial Fishery

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Inseason action.

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the

Area 2A commercial harvest of Pacific

halibut incidental to the salmon troll

fishery is closed.

The action is necessary because the

non-Indian commercial halibut fishery

quota has been taken and no halibut

quota remains for an incidental catch

during the salmon troll fisheries.

DATES: Effective August 1, 1997, through

December 31, 1997. Comments will be

accepted through August 27, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to

William Stelle, Jr., Regional

Administrator, Northwest Region,

NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way, Seattle,

WA 98115. Information relevant to this

action is available for public review

during business hours at this address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joe

Scordino, 206–526–6143.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Area

2A Catch Sharing Plan (Plan) for Pacific

halibut off Washington, Oregon, and

California is implemented in the annual

management measures for the Pacific

halibut fisheries published on March 18,

1997 (52 FR 12759). The non-Indian

commercial halibut fishery quota of

144,235 lb (65 metric tons (mt)) is

divided into two components: A

directed fishery targeting on halibut

managed by the International Pacific

Halibut Commission (IPHC) with a

subquota of 122,600 lb (55.6 mt), and an

incidental catch fishery during the

salmon troll fisheries off Washington,

Oregon, and California managed by

NMFS with a subquota of 21,635 lb (9.8

mt). In accordance with the Plan, the

management measures for the incidental

halibut catch fishery were implemented

with the annual management measures

for the ocean salmon fisheries published

in the Federal Register on May 5, 1997

(62 FR 24355). Paragraph C.9. of Table

1 of the annual management measures

stipulates that, if the subquota for this

incidental catch is not harvested during

the May/June salmon troll fishery, the

remaining subquota will be made

available by the IPHC to the directed

halibut fishery. If the overall quota for

the non-Indian commercial fisheries has

not been harvested by July 31 and the

subquota for the salmon troll fishery

was not harvested during the May/June

fishery, landings of halibut caught

incidentally during salmon troll

fisheries would be allowed effective

August 1 and would continue until the

subquota for the troll fishery was taken

or the overall non-Indian commercial

halibut quota was estimated to have

been achieved by the IPHC.

An estimated total of 17,570 lb of

halibut was harvested in the May/June

salmon troll fishery, and the remaining

4,065 lb in the quota for this fishery

were ‘‘rolled-over’’ to the directed

commercial halibut fishery by the IPHC.

In its July 11, 1997 News Release, the

IPHC announced that the directed

halibut commercial fishery in Area 2A

had harvested approximately 135,000 lb

and no quota remained to be ‘‘rolledover’’ into the incidental catch fishery.