Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 202 / Monday, October 20, 1997 / Proposed Rules 54427

State City/town/county Source of flooding Location

# Depth in feet above

ground.

*Elevation in feet (NGVD)

Existing Modified

Maps available for inspection at the Mullins City Hall, 151 Northeast Front Street, Mullins, South Carolina.

Send comments to Mr. J. C. Richardson, Mullins City Administrator, P.O. Box 408, Mullins, South Carolina 29574.

Virginia ................... Rappahannock

County (Unincorporated Areas).

Thornton River .................. At State Route 620 ...................................

Approximately 1.7 miles upstream of

State Route 667.

None

None

*593

*960

North Fork Thornton River At confluence with Thornton River ...........

Approximately 1,500 feet upstream of

State Route 600.

None

None

*635

*755

Maps available for inspection at the Rappahannock County Administration and Zoning Office, 290 Gay Street, Washington, Virginia.

Send comments to Mr. John McCarthy, Rappahannock County Administrator, P.O. Box 519, Washington, Virginia 22747.

Wisconsin ............... Oconto County (Unincorporated

Areas).

Pensaukee River .............. At U.S. Route 41 ......................................

Approximately 0.96 mile downstream of

confluence of Spring Creek.

None

None

*596

*635

Brookside Creek ............... At the confluence with Pensaukee River

Approximately 750 feet downstream of

Moody Road.

*606

*606

*607

*607

Maps available for inspection at the Oconto County Land and Water Resources-Zoning Division, 301 Washington Street, Oconto, Wisconsin.

Send comments to Mr. Kevin Hamann, Oconto County Administrative Coordinator, Oconto County Courthouse, 301 Washington Street,

Oconto, Wisconsin 54153.

Wisconsin ............... Westfield (Village),

Marquette County.

Westfield Creek ................ Approximately 400 feet downstream of

U.S. Route 51.

*839 *840

Approximately 75 feet downstream of

Spring Street Branch/Dam.

*841 *843

Maps available for inspection at the Westfield Village Hall, 124 East Third Street, Westfield, Wisconsin.

Send comments to Ms. Frances L. Demke, President of the Village of Westfield, 124 East Third Street, Westfield, Wisconsin 53964.

◆ Elevation in meters, Mean Sea Level.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance No.

83.100, ‘‘Flood Insurance.’’)

Dated: October 9, 1997.

Michael J. Armstrong,

Associate Director for Mitigation.

[FR Doc. 97–27708 Filed 10–17–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6718–04–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 971015246–7246–01; I.D.

100897D]

RIN 0648–AK44

Fisheries of the Northeastern United

States; Summer Flounder, Scup, and

Black Sea Bass Fisheries

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Proposed specifications for the

1998 summer flounder, scup, and black

sea bass fisheries; request for comments.

SUMMARY: NMFS proposes specifications

for 1998 for summer flounder, scup, and

black sea bass. The implementing

regulations for these fisheries require

NMFS to publish specifications for the

upcoming fishing year and to provide an

opportunity for public comment. The

intent of these measures is to reduce

fishing effort on summer flounder, scup,

and black sea bass and to continue

rebuilding stock abundance of these

species.

DATES: Public comments must be

received on or before November 17,

1997.

ADDRESSES: Copies of supporting

documents used by the Summer

Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass

Monitoring Committees and of the

Environmental Assessment (EA),

Regulatory Impact Review, and the

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

(IRFA) are available from: David R.

Keifer, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic

Fishery Management Council, Room

2115, Federal Building, 300 South New

Street, Dover, DE 19904–6790.

Comments on the proposed

specifications should be sent to:

Andrew A. Rosenberg, Ph.D., Regional

Administrator, Northeast Region,

NMFS, One Blackburn Drive,

Gloucester, MA 01930–2298. Mark on

the outside of the envelope,

‘‘Comments—1998 Summer Flounder,

Scup, and Black Sea Bass

Specifications.’’

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Regina L. Spallone, Fishery Policy

Analyst, (978) 281–9221.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The regulations implementing the

Fishery Management Plan for the

Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea

Bass Fisheries (FMP) outline the process

for specifying annually the allowed

catch limits for both commercial and

recreational fisheries, as well as other

management measures (e.g., mesh

requirements, minimum fish sizes) for

these fisheries. These measures are

specified to attain annual targets (either

a fishing mortality rate or an

exploitation rate) specified for each

species in the FMP.

A Monitoring Committee for each

species, with members from NMFS, the

Atlantic States Marine Fisheries

Commission (Commission), and both

the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management

Council (Council) and New England

Fishery Management Council, are

required to conduct a review of

available information and to

recommend catch specifications and

other management measures necessary
54428 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 202 / Monday, October 20, 1997 / Proposed Rules

to achieve the target fishing mortality

(F) or exploitation rate for each fishery,

as specified in the FMP. The Council’s

Demersal Species Committee and the

Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup,

and Black Sea Bass Board (Board) then

consider the Monitoring Committee

recommendations and any public

comment in making their

recommendations. The Council and

Board made their annual

recommendations at a joint meeting

held September 23–25, 1997.

Summer Flounder

The target F specified in the FMP for

1998 is 0.24, the level of fishing that

produces maximum yield per recruit,

Fmax. Summer flounder was most

recently assessed at SAW–25 (August

1997). SAW–25 indicates that the FMP

measures have not yet reduced F below

1.0 and recommended that, in light of

the FMP target, total allowable landings

(TAL) should be no more than 13.889

million lb (6.30 million kg) (a

commercial quota of 8.333 million lb

(3.80 million kg), and a recreational

harvest limit of 5.556 million lb (2.52

million kg)). In addition, SAW–25

recommended that additional measures

should be considered to minimize

commercial and recreational discard

mortality. The Council’s staff and

Monitoring Committee both

recommended adopting the SAW

recommendation (13.889 million lb;

6.30 million kg) for 1998. This level

represents a 25-percent reduction from

the initial 1997 TAL of 18.518 million

lb (8.40 million kg), but a 12-percent

reduction from the actual 1997 allowed

harvest of 15.8 million lb (7.17 million

kg) after deduction of commercial

overages in 1996.

The Council and Board reviewed the

Committee’s recommendation and voted

instead to recommend a 1998 TAL equal

to the 1997 level (18.518 million lb (8.40

million kg): 11.11 million lb (5.04

million kg) commercial quota; 7.4

million lb (3.36 million kg) recreational

harvest limit). SAW–25 estimated that

this proposed TAL has a 50-percent

probability of resulting in F = 0.34.

The Council and Board also took

action to address the SAW–25 concerns

about discards by specifying that 15

percent of the commercial quota will be

set aside by the states for a bycatch

fishery. Since the FMP does not

specifically include a provision for such

an allocation, the measure must be

enacted by the states. Therefore, the

Board adopted motions to make it

mandatory for the states to implement

the bycatch set aside, and to implement

trip limits with the objective of keeping

the fishery open all year; these measures

will be Commission compliance criteria.

The Council and Board also voted to

retain the existing commercial

minimum fish size (14 inches (35.6 cm))

and to continue the Small Mesh

Exemption program.

NMFS believes that the bycatch

allocation is a serious attempt to address

discards, and is, in effect, a 15-percent

reduction in the commercial quota

allocated to the directed fishery. The

bycatch quota allocation will extend the

season and will reduce waste in the

fishery.

The Council submission notes several

factors that it believes will increase the

probability that a 1998 TAL equal to the

1997 level has a reasonable likelihood of

attaining Fmax: (1) A new retrospective

pattern in the assessment that shows for

terminal year 1994, the stock size was

underestimated, and for 1994 and 1995

the fishing mortality was overestimated;

(2) the quota overages in 1997 will

result in reductions to the allowed

commercial landings in 1998; (3) the

reductions in mortality anticipated from

measures to reduce discard in the

commercial fishery (and planned future

hook specifications to reduce discard in

the recreational fishery); and (4) the fact

that the SAW–25 projections are very

dependent upon the recruitment

estimate for 1996, which may be

underestimated.

NMFS agrees that the first three of

these factors are valid points to support

the Council recommendation. SAW–25

notes that the retrospective pattern for

1994–95 alters the pattern noted in the

last assessment. SAW–25 concluded

that the reversal in terminal year F

estimates may be due to improved

accuracy of catch estimates in 1995 and

1996, more accurate indices of stock

size due to revised aging, and improved

monitoring and estimation of discards.

There is no reason to expect that these

factors will change and, in fact, NMFS

agrees that there have been substantive

improvements in quota monitoring and

prevention of quota overages over the

past year. Therefore, this pattern is

likely to hold for 1996 estimates. A

greater stock size in 1996 would

increase the projected stock size in

1998, which means more fish being

available for harvest at a given F. This,

in turn, increases the probability that

the proposed TAL of 18.518 million lb

(8.4 million kg) would achieve Fmax in

1998.

Based on landings to date, the Council

estimates that there will be a quota

overage in 1997 of 166,935 lb (75,720

kg), or 1.05 percent, if there is no further

late reporting during 1997 and all states

are closed with no additional overages.

The Council believes that the reduction

in the final 1998 TAL due to overages,

will also contribute to increasing the

probability in achieving Fmax.

The Council believes that the 15

percent quota set-aside for bycatch

fisheries will reduce discards of

sublegal fish as well as reduce

regulatory discards as the result of

landing limits in the states. A decrease

in the amount of discards would

increase the likelihood that the target F

would be achieved in 1998, i.e, summer

flounder that had been discarded dead

would now be landed and apply to the

quota reducing the amount of fish killed

by commercial fishers. Projected discard

levels for 1998 are 1.76 million lb (0.80

million kg) in the commercial and

recreational fisheries. In addition, states

would be required to implement

programs to collect additional data on

discards in the commercial fishery. The

Commission voted to make these two

requirements mandatory compliance

measures for the states. As such, the

states are required to submit plans to

meet these requirements so that the

plans are approved before the beginning

of the 1998 commercial fishery.

In addition, the Council anticipates

that Amendment 10 will be approved,

the measure requiring the minimum

mesh size throughout the net will be

implemented mid-year and reductions

in F on sublegal fish will result. The

Council also intends to advocate for a

recreational hook specification that will

reduce recreational discard and discard

mortality. Among other comments

concerning discards, SAW–25

recommended that there should be

additional measures to reduce discard

mortality. The measures noted above are

efforts to address these comments.

These measures also will improve the

probability of attaining Fmax.

NMFS does not rely strongly on the

Council’s feeling that recruitment for

1996 is underestimated. Raising this as

a factor in supporting the TAL does not

comply with NMFS policy, which is to

be cautious in the face of uncertainty.

The Council explains its rationale in its

EA. However, there is little information

at this time to confirm that recruitment

for 1996 is underestimated. At the

September 1997 Council meeting, some

state representatives indicated

preliminary results from young-of-theyear surveys might indicate better than

average recruitment. The surveys, for

the most part, were still underway.

Consequently, the results are

inconclusive. The commercial quotas by

state for 1998 are presented in Table 1.
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 202 / Monday, October 20, 1997 / Proposed Rules 54429

TABLE 1.—1998 STATE COMMERCIAL QUOTAS (PROPOSED)

State Share

(percent)

1998 quota

(percent)

1998 quota

(kg)*

ME ................................................................................................................................................ 0.04756 5,284 2,397

NH ................................................................................................................................................ 0.00046 51 23

MA ................................................................................................................................................ 6.82046 757,841 343,751

RI .................................................................................................................................................. 15.68298 1,742,583 790,422

CT ................................................................................................................................................. 2.25708 250,791 113,757

NY ................................................................................................................................................. 7.64699 849,680 385,408

NJ ................................................................................................................................................. 16.72499 1,858,363 842,939

DE ................................................................................................................................................. 0.01779 1,977 897

MD ................................................................................................................................................ 2.03910 226,570 102,770

VA ................................................................................................................................................. 21.31676 2,368,569 1,074,365

NC ................................................................................................................................................ 27.44584 3,049,589 1,383,270

Total ...................................................................................................................................... ........................ 11,111,298 5,039,999

*Any differences expressed in the conversion of pounds to kilograms are due to rounding.

Scup

The target exploitation rate for scup in

1998 is 47 percent, the rate associated

with F = 0.72. The FMP establishes a

total allowable catch (TAC) that is

allocated to commercial (78 percent)

and recreational (22 percent) sectors.

Discard estimates are deducted from

both TACs to establish TAL for both

sectors.

Scup was most recently assessed in

SAW–25 (1997). The assessment

indicates that F has been above 1.0 for

the period 1984–96. SAW–25 examined

1996 total catch and estimated that a 34-

percent reduction from that exploitation

level would result in a TAC of 7.275

million lb (3.30 million kg), which

would likely reduce F below 1.0. The

staff recommended establishing the TAC

at that level. The Monitoring Committee

recommended that the Council should

set the TAC no higher than that level

and should also consider a further

reduction.

The Council and Board adopted the

recommendation for a TAC of 7.275

million lb (3.30 million kg). The

resulting commercial TAC is 5.675

million lb (2.57 million kg). Both groups

debated two ways to calculate the

commercial discard estimate:

Employing the same discard estimate

used in the 1997 specifications (1.103

million lb; 0.50 million kg), or using an

amount based on the ratio of 1996

estimated landings to discards (2.048

million lb; 0.93 million kg). In making

its recommendations last year, the

Council and Board reviewed discard

estimates based on fishery data and

reduced those estimates to reflect

anticipated reductions in discards

associated with the implementation of

the minimum mesh and minimum fish

restrictions under emergency regulation

in March 27, 1996 (61 FR 13452).

The Council and Board decided to

also use the 1997 discard estimate for

the 1998 specifications. They chose not

to use the estimate based on 1996 data

because it reflects discards that occurred

in the first quarter of the year, prior to

the emergency measures. The deduction

of the resulting discard allowance of

1.103 million lb (0.50 million kg) from

the commercial TAC of 5.675 million lb

(2.57 million kg) results in a 1998

proposed commercial quota of 4.572

million lb (2.07 million kg). This quota

represents a 24-percent reduction from

the 1997 commercial quota of 6.0

million lb (2.72 million kg).

The Council and Board adopted a

20,000-lb (9,072-kg) trip limit in the

Winter I period, which is to decrease to

1,000 lb (454 kg) when 85 percent of the

Winter I quota is harvested, and an

8,000-lb (3,629-kg) trip limit throughout

the Winter II period. They retained the

4.5-inch (2.0-cm) codend, the threshold

limits to trigger the minimum mesh size,

and the minimum fish size. They also

maintained for 1998 the same ratio of

recreational landings to discards as in

1997. The resulting recreational harvest

limit is 1.553 million lb (0.70 million

kg) —a TAC of 1.6 million lb (0.73

million kg) minus a discard estimate of

0.048 million lb (0.02 million kg). The

quota allocated to the periods is shown

in Table 2.

TABLE 2.—PERIOD ALLOCATIONS OF COMMERCIAL SCUP QUOTA

Period Percent TAC 1 2Discards 2

Quota Allocation

(LB) (KG) 3

Winter I ................................................................................. 45.11 2,559,992 497,563 2,062,429 935,502

Summer ................................................................................ 38.95 2,210,413 429,619 1,780,794 807,755

Winter II ................................................................................ 15.94 904,595 175,818 728,777 330,568

Total ............................................................................... 100.00 5,675,000 1,103,000 4,572,000 2,073,824

1Total Allowable Catch, in pounds.

2 Discard estimates, in pounds.

3Kilograms are as converted from pounds.

The 1998 commercial quota for the

summer period (1,780,794 lb; 807,755

kg) apportioned among the states

according to the percentage shares

specified in § 648.120(d)(3) is presented

in Table 3.
54430 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 202 / Monday, October 20, 1997 / Proposed Rules

TABLE 3.—SUMMER PERIOD (MAY-OCTOBER) COMMERCIAL SCUP QUOTA SHARES

State Share

(percent)

1998 Allocation

(LB) (KG) 1

Maine ............................................................................................................................................ 0.13042 2,322 1,053

New Hampshire ............................................................................................................................ 0.00004 1 0

Massachusetts .............................................................................................................................. 15.49117 275,866 125,131

Rhode Island ................................................................................................................................ 60.56588 1,078,554 489,224

Connecticut ................................................................................................................................... 3.39884 60,526 27,454

New York ...................................................................................................................................... 17.05295 303,678 137,746

New Jersey ................................................................................................................................... 3.14307 55,972 25,388

Delaware ...................................................................................................................................... 0.00000 0 0

Maryland ....................................................................................................................................... 0.01288 229 104

Virginia .......................................................................................................................................... 0.17787 3,167 1,437

North Carolina .............................................................................................................................. 0.02688 479 217

Total ...................................................................................................................................... 100.00000 1,780,794 807,755

1Kilograms are as converted from pounds and do not add to the converted total due to rounding.

Black Sea Bass

The FMP specifies a target

exploitation rate of 48 percent for 1998,

equivalent to F = 0.73. This target is to

be attained through specification of a

TAL level that is allocated to the

commercial (49 percent) and

recreational (51 percent) sectors; 1998 is

the first year that a TAL has been

specified. The commercial quota is

specified on a coastwide basis by

quarter.

Black sea bass was also assessed at

SAW–25, which estimated that F has

generally exceeded 1.0 for the period

1984–96. SAW–25 examined 1996 total

catch and estimated that a 33-percent

reduction in landings from the 1996

level (9 million lb; 4.08 million kg)

would be necessary to reduce F below

1.0. The staff recommended adopting

the TAL associated with the 33-percent

reduction, 6.173 million lb (2.80 million

kg), for 1998. The Monitoring

Committee recommended that the TAL

should be no higher than the staff

recommendation, but that the Council

should consider a lower TAL because it

would be more likely to achieve the

target exploitation rate.

The Council and Commission adopted

the recommendation for a TAL of 6.173

million lb (2.80 million kg) for 1998.

This TAL results in a commercial quota

of 3.025 million lb (1.37 million kg) and

a recreational harvest limit of 3.148

million lb (1.43 million kg). The

following trip limits were recommended

for all commercial gear types: 11,000 lb

(4,990 kg) in Quarter 1 (Q1), 7,000 lb

(3,175 kg) in Q2, 3,000 lb (1,361 kg) in

Q3, and 4,000 lb (1,814 kg) in Q4. The

Council and Board also recommended

an increase in the minimum fish size to

10 inches (25.4 cm), consistent with

measures being implemented by the

Commission and proposed by the South

Atlantic Fishery Management Council.

Additionally, the Council proposes to

increase the possession limit threshold

that would trigger minimum mesh size

requirements from 100 lb (45.4 kg) to

1,000 lb (453.6 kg).

The Council submission demonstrates

that these proposed measures are likely

to attain the FMP target. Although the

stock size is uncertain and a 1998 stock

size was not projected, exploratory

results indicate that stock size is stable

or has increased in recent years. If that

is the case, a 33-percent reduction in

landings from the 1996 level should

achieve the target exploitation rate. The

TAL will control mortality on fully

recruited, older fish. The minimum size

and gear regulations will reduce discard

and escape mortality of undersized

black sea bass.

TABLE 4.—1998 BLACK SEA BASS PROPOSED QUARTERLY COASTWIDE QUOTAS AND QUARTERLY TRIP LIMITS

Quarter Percent (%) Pounds (kg)1

Trip limits

(lbs) (kg)

1 (Jan–Mar) .......................................................................... 38.64 2,385,247 1,081,930 11,000 4,990

2 (Apr–May) .......................................................................... 29.26 1,806,220 819,288 7,000 3,175

3 (Jul–Sep) ........................................................................... 12.33 761,131 345,243 3,000 1,361

4 (Oct–Dec) .......................................................................... 19.77 1,220,402 553,565 4,000 1,814

1Kilograms are as converted from pounds and do not add to the converted total due to rounding.

NMFS requests public comments on

all of the proposed specification

measures. NMFS also requests, in

particular, comments concerning the

utility of the proposed black sea bass

trip limits. The Council and Board

examined data that demonstrated that

the recommended trip limits impact

only 5 percent of the trips in this

fishery. NMFS questions whether the

effectiveness of these trip limits justifies

the expenses of enforcement.

Classification

This action is authorized by 50 CFR

part 648 and complies with the National

Environmental Policy Act.

These proposed specifications have

been determined to be not significant for

purposes of E.O. 12866.

The Assistant General Counsel for

Legislation and Regulation of the

Department of Commerce certified to

the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the

Small Business Administration that this

proposed rule, if adopted, would not

have a significant economic impact on

a substantial number of small entities.

As explained below, this certification is

based on an assessment of this action

under NMFS’ long-standing Regulatory

Flexibility Act guidelines. However,

while not required to do so, given that

understanding the economic impact of

this rule is important, NMFS prepared

an IRFA that describes the impact this
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 202 / Monday, October 20, 1997 / Proposed Rules 54431

proposed rule, if adopted, would have

on small entities.

According to unpublished NMFS

weighout data (Maine to Virginia, CT

not included) 715 commercial vessels

landed summer flounder, 548 landed

scup, and 665 landed black sea bass in

1996. In Connecticut, in 1996, 65

commercial vessels landed summer

flounder, 81 landed scup, and 52 landed

black sea bass (Mark Alexander pers.

comm.). NMFS permit files indicate

that, as of October 01, 1997, there were

519, 380, and 243 party/charter firms

holding current summer flounder, scup,

and black sea bass recreational permits,

respectively. Most firms are likely to

hold permits for more than one of these

species, and a more accurate estimate of

the total number of commercial vessels

impacted is 1,022, the number of vessels

that landed one or more of these species

in 1996. All these vessels readily fall

within the definition of small business,

so according to guidelines on regulatory

analysis of fishery management actions,

a substantial number of small entities

are affected to some extent by this

action. Of these 1,022 vessels, 140

(13%) would be estimated to have a

greater than a 5 percent revenue loss.

NMFS Regulatory Flexibility Act

guidelines establish 20 percent of small

entities being impacted in a significant

manner by a particular regulatory action

as constituting a substantial number of

small entities. This action does not meet

that threshold.

These three fisheries have been under

management for several years, and

while existing requirements are

modified by this action, there are no

new compliance requirements.

Therefore, the action does not result in

an increase in compliance costs of > 10

percent for 20 percent or more of the

participants. Since the most severe

cumulative impact projected for this

action is a 30–35 percent reduction in

revenue for 7 vessels (<1 percent of

participants), the action would not

result in 2 percent of the entities ceasing

operations.

The IRFA indicates that, while small

entities may be impacted by this action

in a significant manner, the proposed

regulatory action will not result in

significant economic impacts upon a

substantial number of such entities.

However, we recognize that the number

of small entities that would be

significantly impacted is a large, though

not substantial, number. This fact led

the agency to prepare an IRFA though

none was required.

These measures are proposed in order

to attain the rebuilding objectives

specified in the FMP for summer

flounder, scup and black sea bass. The

negative economic impacts upon small

entities in the immediate future will be

offset by the future increases in harvest

and associated revenues anticipated

from eliminating overfishing and

rebuilding a healthy stock.

The Council considered several

alternatives to each of these proposed

measures. These alternatives to the

proposed rule were ultimately rejected

by the Council since those measures

which significantly miminized

economic impact on small entities did

not accomplish the rebuilding objectives

of the FMP for each species, and those

that did accomplish those objectives did

not minimize impacts on small entities.

The Council adopted the measures

proposed here as those measures which

achieved a balance for both. A copy of

this analysis is available from NMFS

(see ADDRESSES).

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648

Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements.

Dated: October 16, 1997.

David L. Evans,

Deputy Assistant Administrator for Fisheries,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

For the reasons set out in the

preamble, 50 CFR part 648 is proposed

to be amended as follows:

PART 648—FISHERIES OF THE

NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

1. The authority citation for part 648

continues to read as follows:

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

2. In § 648.14, paragraph (u)(1) is

revised to read as follows:

§ 648.14 Prohibitions.

* * * * *

(u) * * *

(1) Possess 1,000 lb (453.6 kg) or more

of black sea bass, unless the vessel

meets the minimum mesh requirement

specified in § 648.144(a).

* * * * *

3. In § 648.143, the first sentence of

paragraph (a) is revised to read as

follows:

§ 648.143 Minimum sizes.

(a) The minimum size for black sea

bass is 10 inches (25.4 cm) total length

for all vessels issued a moratorium

permit under § 648.4(a)(7) which fish for

or retain black sea bass in or from U.S.

waters of the western Atlantic Ocean

from 35°15.3′ N. lat., the latitude of

Cape Hatteras Light, North Carolina,

northward to the U.S.-Canada border.

* * *

* * * * *

4. In § 648.144, paragraph (a)(1)(i) is

revised to read as follows:

§ 648.144 Gear restrictions.

(a) * * *

(1) * * * (i) Otter trawlers whose

owners are issued a black sea bass

moratorium permit and that land or

possess 1,000 lb or more (453.6 kg or

more) of black sea bass per trip, must

fish with nets that have a minimum

mesh size of 4.0-inches (10.2-cm)

diamond or 3.5-inches (8.9-cm) square

(inside measure) mesh applied

throughout the codend for at least 75

continuous meshes forward of the

terminus of the net, or, for codends with

less than 75 meshes, the minimummesh-size codend must be a minimum

of one-third of the net, measured from

the terminus of the codend to the center

of the head rope, excluding any turtle

excluder device extension.

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 97–27821 Filed 10–16–97; 1:12 pm]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P