47766 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 176 / Thursday, September 11, 1997 / Rules and Regulations

that the vermilion snapper resource,

while not currently overfished, is

undergoing overfishing based on

decreasing trends in overall catch, mean

size of individual fish, catch-per-uniteffort, and estimated numbers of age–1

fish in the population. The Council

recommended implementation of the

minimum size limit increase as an

interim measure to help reduce

overfishing in the short term and

mitigate the need for more severe

vermilion snapper management

measures to reduce fishing mortality in

the future. The 10–inch minimum size

limit would reduce fishing mortality,

increase yield per recruit, increase the

vermilion snapper spawning potential

ratio, and thereby improve the status of

the resource while the Council develops

corrective, long-term action (i.e, through

FMP amendment).

The RFSAP suggested that a 10–inch

minimum size limit would be an

effective intermediate measure until a

new stock assessment and additional

analysis could be completed. The

Council, in its discussion of the interim

rule request, recognized that additional

management measures may be needed

to prevent overfishing on a long-term

basis.

The NMFS Southeast Fisheries

Science Center has determined that the

Council’s request is based on the best

available scientific information. Given

the determination of overfishing, this

request for an interim measure is

consistent with section 305(c) of the

Magnuson-Stevens Act.

NMFS concurs with the Council’s

finding regarding the need to reduce

overfishing of vermilion snapper in the

Gulf of Mexico and the need for

immediate regulatory action.

Accordingly, NMFS issues this interim

rule, effective for 180 days, as

authorized by section 305(c) of the

Magnuson-Stevens Act. This interim

rule may be extended for an additional

180 days provided that the public has

had an opportunity to comment on the

interim rule and, at the time of

extension, the Council is actively

preparing a plan amendment or

proposed regulations to address the

overfishing on a permanent basis. Public

comments on this interim rule will be

considered in determining whether to

maintain or extend this rule to address

overfishing of vermilion snapper.

Responses to comments will be

provided if the interim rule is revoked,

modified, or extended.

Classification

The Assistant Administrator for

Fisheries, NOAA (AA), has determined

that this rule is necessary to reduce

overfishing of vermilion snapper in the

Gulf of Mexico and is consistent with

the Magnuson-Stevens Act and other

applicable laws.

A delay in action to reduce

overfishing increases the likelihood of a

loss of long-term productivity of

vermilion snapper in the Gulf of Mexico

and increases the probable need for

more severe restrictions in the future.

The public is aware of this increased

minimum size limit and has had an

initial opportunity to comment on it at

Council meetings and at hearings

conducted on Amendment 15.

Accordingly, pursuant to authority set

forth at 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), the AA finds

that these reasons constitute good cause

to waive the requirement to provide

prior notice and the opportunity for

prior public comment, as such

procedures would be contrary to the

public interest. Similarly, the need to

implement these measures in a timely

manner to address the overfishing of

vermilion snapper constitutes good

cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to waive

the 30-day delay in effectiveness.

However, to provide sufficient

notification of the increased minimum

size limit for vermilion snapper,

particularly to vessels that may be at

sea, NMFS makes this rule effective

September 14, 1997.

This interim rule has been determined

to be not significant for purposes of E.O.

12866.

Because prior notice and an

opportunity for public comment are not

required to be provided for this rule by

U.S.C. § 553, or any other law, the

analytical requirements of the

Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C.

§ 601 et seq., are inapplicable.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 622

Fisheries, Fishing, Puerto Rico,

Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements, Virgin Islands.

Dated: September 5, 1997.

David L. Evans,

Deputy Assistant Administrator for Fisheries,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

For the reasons set out in the

preamble, 50 CFR part 622 is amended

as follows:

PART 622—FISHERIES OF THE

CARIBBEAN, GULF, AND SOUTH

ATLANTIC

1. The authority citation for part 622

continues to read as follows:

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

2. In § 622.37, paragraph (d)(1) is

revised and paragraph (d)(6) is added to

read as follows:

§ 622.37 Minimum sizes.

* * * * *

(d) Gulf reef fish. (1) Black sea bass

and lane snapper—8 inches (20.3 cm),

TL.

* * * * *

(6) Vermilion snapper—10 inches

(25.4 cm), TL.

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 97–24163 Filed 9–10–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 622

[Docket No. 970903225–7225–01; I.D.

081297G]

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of

Mexico, and South Atlantic; Shrimp

Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Final rule, technical

amendment.

SUMMARY: NMFS issues this final rule to

correct two of the coordinates that

specify the boundary of the Tortugas

shrimp sanctuary and to redesignate a

paragraph of the regulations pertaining

to the sanctuary.

DATES: Effective on September 11, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: W.

Perry Allen, 813–570–5326.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

shrimp fishery of the Gulf of Mexico is

managed under the Fishery

Management Plan for the Shrimp

Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico (FMP).

The FMP was prepared by the Gulf of

Mexico Fishery Management Council

and is implemented under the authority

of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery

Conservation and Management Act by

regulations at 50 CFR part 622.

Under the FMP, the Tortugas shrimp

sanctuary has been closed to trawling

since 1981. Three small areas are

excepted from that closure for specified

periods of the year. The current

regulations on the Tortugas shrimp

sanctuary incorrectly state one latitude

and one longitude in the list of

coordinates that make up the sanctuary.

In addition, a paragraph specifying one

of the exceptions to the closure is

incorrectly designated. These errors

were introduced into the regulations

when the regulations on the shrimp

fishery, previously contained in 50 CFR
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 176 / Thursday, September 11, 1997 / Rules and Regulations 47767

part 658, were consolidated with ten

other parts into one part, part 622,

covering fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf

of Mexico, and South Atlantic (61 FR

34930, July 3, 1996).

Classification

This final rule has been determined to

be not significant for purposes of E.O.

12866.

The Assistant Administrator for

Fisheries (AA), NOAA, under 5 U.S.C.

553 (b)(B), for good cause, finds that

providing prior notice and an

opportunity for public comment on this

rule is unnecessary. Since this rule

merely corrects long established

boundary coordinates that were

incorrectly listed in a recent regulatory

consolidation, providing prior notice

and opportunity for public comment

would serve no useful purpose.

Similarly, the AA, under 5 U.S.C. 553

(d)(3), for good cause, finds that

delaying the effective date of this

correction for 30 days is unnecessary.

The boundaries of the sanctuary have

been long established and respected by

the fishery participants.

Because prior notice and opportunity

for public comment is not required for

this rule by 5 U.S.C. 553, or any other

law, the analytical requirements of the

Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601

et seq., are inapplicable..

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 622

Fisheries, Fishing, Puerto Rico,

Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements, Virgin Islands.

Dated: September 5, 1997.

David L. Evans,

Deputy Assistant Administrator for Fisheries,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

For the reasons set out in the

preamble, 50 CFR part 622 is amended

as follows:

PART 622—FISHERIES OF THE

CARIBBEAN, GULF, AND SOUTH

ATLANTIC

1. The authority citation for part 622

continues to read as follows:

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

§ 622.34 [Amended]

2. In § 622.34(i), in paragraph (1), in

the list of coordinates, the North Lat. for

Point F is revised to read ‘‘24°50.7’’’ and

the West Long. for Point P is revised to

read ‘‘82°08.0’’’; and paragraph (i)(3) is

redesignated as paragraph (i)(2)(iii).

[FR Doc. 97–24164 Filed 9–10–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 961210346–7035–02; I.D.

090897B]

Fisheries of the Northeastern United

States; Summer Flounder Fishery;

Commercial Quota Harvested for

Connecticut

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Commercial quota harvest.

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the

summer flounder commercial quota

available to the State of Connecticut has

been harvested. Vessels issued a

commercial Federal fisheries permit for

the summer flounder fishery may not

land summer flounder in Connecticut

for the remainder of calendar year 1997,

unless additional quota becomes

available through a transfer. Regulations

governing the summer flounder fishery

require publication of this notice to

advise the State of Connecticut that the

quota has been harvested and to advise

vessel and dealer permit holders that no

commercial quota is available for

landing summer flounder in

Connecticut.

DATES: Effective September 9, 1997,

through December 31, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Lucille L. Helvenston, Fishery

Management Specialist, 508–281–9347.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Regulations governing the summer

flounder fishery are found at 50 CFR

part 648. The regulations require annual

specification of a commercial quota that

is apportioned among the states from

North Carolina through Maine. The

process to set the annual commercial

quota and the percentage allocated to

each state are described in § 648.100.

The initial total commercial quota for

summer flounder for the 1997 calendar

year was set equal to 11,111,298 lb

(5,040,000 kg) (March 7, 1997, 62 FR

10473). The percentage allocated to

vessels landing summer flounder in

Connecticut is 2.25708 percent, or

250,791 lb (113,767 kg).

Section 648.100(d)(2) stipulates that

any overages of commercial quota

landed in any state be deducted from

that state’s annual quota for the

following year. In the calendar year

1996, a total of 278,776 lb (126,451 kg)

were landed in Connecticut. The

amount allocated for Connecticut

landings in 1996 was 250,791 lb

(113,757 kg), creating a 27,985 lb

(12,694 kg) overage that was deducted

from the amount allocated for landings

in that state during 1997 (March 7, 1997,

62 FR 10474). The resulting 1997 quota

for Connecticut is 222,806 lb (101,063

kg).

Section 648.101(b) requires the

Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS

(Regional Administrator), to monitor

state commercial quotas and to

determine when a state commercial

quota is harvested. The Regional

Administrator is further required to

publish a notice in the Federal Register

advising a state and notifying Federal

vessel and dealer permit holders that,

effective upon a specific date, the state’s

commercial quota has been harvested

and no commercial quota is available for

landing summer flounder in that state.

Because the available information

indicates that the State of Connecticut

has attained its quota for 1997, the

Regional Administrator has determined

based on dealer reports and other

available information, that the State’s

commercial quota has been harvested.

The regulations at § 648.4(b) provide

that Federal permit holders agree as a

condition of the permit not to land

summer flounder in any state that the

Regional Administrator has determined

no longer has commercial quota

available. Therefore, September 9, 1997,

further landings of summer flounder in

Connecticut by vessels holding

commercial Federal fisheries permits

are prohibited for the remainder of the

1997 calendar year, unless additional

quota becomes available through a

transfer and is announced in the

Federal Register. Effective the date

above, federally permitted dealers are

also advised that they may not purchase

summer flounder from federally

permitted vessels that land in

Connecticut for the remainder of the

calendar year, or until additional quota

becomes available through a transfer.

Classification

This action is required by 50 CFR part

648 and is exempt from review under

E.O. 12286.

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

Dated: September 9, 1997.

Bruce Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

[FR Doc. 97–24161 Filed 9–8–97; 4:34 pm]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F