Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 199 / Wednesday, October 15, 1997 / Rules and Regulations 53577

may maintain its then existing rates.

After exceeding the 15,000 subscriber

limit, any further rate adjustments shall

not reflect increases in external costs,

inflation or channel additions until the

system has re-established initial

permitted rates in accordance with some

other method of rate regulation

prescribed in this subpart.

[FR Doc. 97–27151 Filed 10–14–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 285

[I.D. 100797B]

Atlantic Tuna Fisheries; Atlantic

Bluefin Tuna General Category

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Opening of the New York Bight

fishery.

SUMMARY: NMFS opens the Atlantic

bluefin tuna (ABT) General category

New York Bight fishery. This action is

being taken to extend the season for the

General category, provide for fishing

opportunities in the New York Bight

area, and ensure additional collection of

biological assessment and monitoring

data.

DATES: Effective October 9, 1997, 1 a.m.

local time until December 31, 1997, or

until the date, published in the Federal

Register, that the set-aside quota is

determined to have been taken.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Sarah McLaughlin, 301-713-2347, or Pat

Scida, 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.

Implementing regulations for the

Atlantic tuna fisheries at 50 CFR 285.22

provide for a subquota of 72 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 October 1

and ending December 31. Due to an

overharvest of 1 mt in the September

period subquota, and the transfer of 70

mt from other categories (62 FR 51608,

October 2, 1997), the October-December

period subquota was adjusted to 141 mt.

The October-December subquota is

divided into a coastwide subquota of

131 mt and 10 mt for the traditional fall

New York Bight set-aside area, defined

as the waters south and west of a

straight line originating at a point on the

southern shore of Long Island at 72°27’

W. long. (Shinnecock Inlet) and running

SSE 150° true, and north of 38°47’ N.

lat. (Delaware Bay).

NMFS previously announced the

closure of the General category fishery

for the October-December time period

effective October 5, 1997, which

published in the Federal Register on

October 9, 1997. After tallying the

landings following the closure, NMFS

has determined the remaining

unharvested coastwide quota

(approximately 10 mt) is insufficient to

warrant a reopening of the coastwide

General category because daily catch

rates in September and October have

averaged 30 mt.

The New York Bight set-aside of 10

mt will open effective Thursday,

October 9, at 1 a.m. local time. Upon the

effective date of the New York Bight setaside, persons aboard vessels permitted

in the General category may fish for,

retain, possess, or land large medium

and giant ABT only in the New York

Bight set-aside area specified above,

until the set-aside quota for that area has

been harvested. ABT harvested from

waters outside the defined set-aside area

may not be brought into the set-aside

area. Vessels permitted in the Charter/

Headboat category, when fishing for

large medium and giant ABT, are

subject to the same rules as General

category vessels when the General

category is open.

The announcement of the closure date

will be filed with the Office of the

Federal Register, and further

communicated through the Highly

Migratory Species (HMS) Fax Network,

the HMS Information Line, NOAA

weather radio, and Coast Guard Notice

to Mariners. Although notification of

closure will be provided as far in

advance as possible, fishermen are

encouraged to call the HMS Information

Line to check the status of the fishery

before leaving for a fishing trip. The

phone numbers for the HMS

Information Line are (301) 713-1279 and

(508) 281-9305. Information regarding

the Atlantic tuna fisheries is also

available toll-free through NextLink

Interactive, Inc., at (888) USA-TUNA.

Classification

This action is taken under 50 CFR

285.22 and is exempt from review under

E.O. 12866.

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

Dated: October 8, 1997.

Gary C. Matlock,

Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 97–27133 Filed 10–8–97; 3:19 pm]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[Docket No. 961227373–6373–01; I.D.

092497C]

Fisheries Off West Coast States and in

the Western Pacific; Pacific Coast

Groundfish Fishery; Nontrawl

Sablefish Mop-Up Fishery;

Announcement of Extension

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Nontrawl sablefish mop-up

fishery and delay of the limited entry

daily trip limit fishery; announcement

of extension.

SUMMARY: NMFS announces the

extension of and new ending date for

the mop-up fishery for nontrawl limited

entry sablefish. This action will delay

the beginning of the October limited

entry daily trip limit fishery. This action

is taken in response to unusually bad

coastwide weather during the first week

of the mop-up fishery. This action is

intended to increase safety while

providing for harvest of the remainder

of the 1997 limited entry nontrawl

allocation for sablefish.

DATES: This action is effective on

October 9, 1997. The nontrawl sablefish

mop-up fishery began at 1201 hours

local time (l.t.), October 1, 1997, and

will end at 1200 hours l.t., October 22,

1997, at which time the limited entry

daily trip limit fishery resumes. The

daily trip limits for the nontrawl

sablefish fishery will remain in effect

until the effective date of the 1998

annual specifications and management

measures for the Pacific coast

groundfish fishery, which will be

published in the Federal Register.

Comments will be accepted through

October 22, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments on these actions

should be sent to William Stelle, Jr.,