63064 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 228 / Wednesday, November 26, 1997 / Proposed Rules

I, title 50 of the Code of Federal

Regulations, as follows:

PART 17—[AMENDED]

1. The authority citation for part 17

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1361–1407; 16 U.S.C.

1531–1544; 16 U.S.C. 4201–4245; Pub. L. 99–

625, 100 Stat. 3500; unless otherwise noted.

2. Amend section 17.108 by adding

paragraph (a)(7) to read as follows:

§ 17.108 List of designated manatee

protection areas.

(a) * * *

(7) A tract of submerged land on the west

side of the confluence of Three Sisters Spring

run and the residential canal off the eastern

shore of Kings Bay, Crystal River, lying in the

northeast corner of Section 28, Township 18,

South Range 17 East in Citrus County,

Florida; containing less than one quarter

acre.

* * * * *

Dated: November 20, 1997.

Jamie Rappaport Clark,

Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.

[FR Doc. 97–31108 Filed 11–21–97; 3:41 pm]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 971107264–7264–01; I.D.

102297A]

RIN 0648–AK47

Fisheries of the Northeastern United

States; Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and

Butterfish Fisheries; 1998

Specifications

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Proposed rule and proposed

1998 initial specifications; request for

comments.

SUMMARY: NMFS proposes initial

specifications for the 1998 fishing year

for Atlantic mackerel, Loligo and Illex

squids, and butterfish (MSB). In

addition, NMFS proposes to amend the

minimum net mesh size requirement for

Loligo squid to make it applicable only

to the cod end of the net. The intent of

this change is to reduce the frequency

that nets need to be replaced with a

resultant cost savings to the fishery.

Regulations governing these fisheries

require NMFS to publish specifications

for the upcoming fishing year and

provide an opportunity for the public to

comment.

DATES: Public comments must be

received on or before December 26,

1997.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Mid-Atlantic

Fishery Management Council’s quota

paper and recommendations, the

Environmental Assessment, and

Regulatory Impact Review, including

analysis of impacts under the

Regulatory Flexibility Act, are available

from David R. Keifer, Executive

Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery

Management Council, Room 2115,

Federal Building, 300 South New Street,

Dover, DE 19901.

Comments should be sent to Andrew

A. Rosenberg, Ph.D., Regional

Administrator, Northeast Region,

NMFS, 1 Blackburn Drive, Gloucester,

MA 01930. Please mark the envelope

‘‘Comments—1998 MSB specifications.’’

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Myles Raizin, (978) 281–9104.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Regulations implementing the Fishery

Management Plan for Atlantic Mackerel,

Squid, and Butterfish Fisheries (FMP)

prepared by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery

Management Council (Council) appear

at 50 CFR part 648. These regulations

require NMFS to publish a proposed

rule specifying the initial annual

amounts of the initial optimum yield

(IOY) as well as the amounts for

allowable biological catch (ABC),

domestic annual harvest (DAH),

domestic annual processing (DAP), joint

venture processing (JVP), and total

allowable levels of foreign fishing

(TALFF) for the species managed under

the FMP. No reserves are permitted

under the FMP for any of these species.

In addition to commercial quotas, the

Council, in consultation with its Squid,

Mackerel, and Butterfish Technical

Monitoring Committee, may recommend

revisions to the amount of Loligo and

Illex squids and butterfish that may be

retained, possessed, and landed by

vessels issued the incidental catch

permit; commercial minimum fish sizes;

commercial trip limits; commercial

seasonal quotas/closures for Loligo or

Illex squid; minimum mesh sizes;

commercial gear restrictions;

recreational harvest limit; recreational

minimum fish size; and recreational

possession limits.

The following table contains the

proposed initial specifications for the

1998 Atlantic mackerel, Loligo and Illex

squids, and butterfish fisheries as

recommended by the Council:

PRELIMINARY INITIAL ANNUAL SPECIFICATIONS FOR ATLANTIC MACKEREL, SQUID, AND BUTTERFISH FOR THE FISHING YEAR

JANUARY 1 THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 1998

[Metric ton (mt)]

Specifications

Squid

Atlantic Mackerel Butterfish

Loligo Illex

Max OY ..................................................................................... 126,000 124,000 2 N/A 316,000

ABC .......................................................................................... 21,000 19,000 382,000 7,200

IOY ............................................................................................ 21,000 19,000 4 80,000 5,900

DAH .......................................................................................... 21,000 19,000 5 80,000 5,900

DAP .......................................................................................... 21,000 19,000 50,000 5,900

JVP ........................................................................................... 0 0 15,000 0

TALFF ....................................................................................... 0 0 0 0

1 Maximum optimum yield (Max OY) corresponds to a level of fishing beyond which overfishing occurs for Loligo and Illex. 2 Max OY is not applicable for Atlantic mackerel.

3 Max OY is specified as a catch level that would result from Fmsy for butterfish. 4 IOY for Atlantic mackerel may be increased during the year, but the total will not exceed 382,000 mt.

5 Includes 15,000 mt of Atlantic mackerel recreational allocation.
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 228 / Wednesday, November 26, 1997 / Proposed Rules 63065

1998 Proposed Specifications

Atlantic Mackerel

The ABC is recommended to be

382,000 mt. This is consistent with the

overfishing definition for Atlantic

mackerel that restricts ABC in U.S. and

Canadian waters to that quantity of

mackerel associated with a fishing

mortality rate of F0.1, estimated by the

most recent stock assessment (1996) at

405,000 mt. In addition, the

recommendation must maintain a

spawning stock size of at least 900,000

mt in the year following the year for

which specifications are being

developed (see § 648.21(b)(2)). A harvest

of 405,000 mt is estimated by the

assessment to result in an estimated

spawning stock for 1999 of 1,695,000

mt. Using the projected Canadian catch

of 23,000 mt, the proposed measure

would cap ABC for Atlantic mackerel at

382,000 mt (405,000—23,000 mt).

IOY is a modification of ABC which

reflects social and economic factors (see

§ 648.21(b)(2)(ii)). IOY is comprised of

two components: DAH and TALFF.

DAH is the sum of a recreational catch

estimate: DAP and JVP. The Council

estimates that the 1998 recreational

catch will be 15,000 mt, and DAP will

be 50,000 mt. The Council also

recommends that IOY be set at a level

that provides for a JVP of 15,000 mt and

TALFF of zero. The resulting IOY

recommended is 80,000 mt.

DAP has historically been estimated

using the Council’s annual process or

survey, which this year estimated

11,364 mt necessary for 1998. However,

for the 1998 estimates, response was

low and did not contain projections

from the large, known processors. In

addition, inquiries concerning entry of

displaced New England groundfish

trawlers into the Atlantic mackerel

fishery have led the Council to

anticipate increases in harvest.

Therefore, the Council recommends no

change to the DAP for the 1998 fishery

from the 1997 level of 50,000 mt.

The 1998 JVP specification of 15,000

mt was reduced by 10,000 mt from 1997

to reflect the concern the Council has

about the negative effect that joint

ventures (JVs) could have on the further

development of the U.S. export market.

The potential for future North Sea

mackerel total allowable catch (TAC)

reductions may provide an opportunity

for U.S. producers to sell additional

mackerel on the international market.

The reduction is consistent with the

Council’s stated policy to proceed on a

course that recognizes the need for JVs

in the short term to allow U.S.

harvesters to take mackerel at levels in

excess of current U.S. processing

capacity. However, in the longer term,

the Council intends to eliminate JVs as

U.S. processing and export capacity

increases.

An IOY level that keeps TALFF at

zero is recommended for the 1998

Atlantic mackerel fishery. The Fisheries

Act of 1995 prohibits a specification of

TALFF unless recommended by the

Council. In 1992, the Council used

testimony from both the domestic

fishing and processing industries and

analysis of nine economic factors found

at § 648.21(b)(2)(iii) to determine that

mackerel produced from directed

foreign fishing would directly compete

with U.S. processed products, thus

limiting markets available to U.S.

processors. The industry was nearly

unanimous in its assessment that a

specification of TALFF would impede

the growth of the U.S. fishery. The

Council sees no evidence that this

evaluation has changed. Further, the

Council believes that an expanding

mackerel market and uncertainty

regarding world supply, due to recent

declines in the North Sea mackerel

stock, have resulted in increased

opportunities for U.S. producers to

increase sales to new markets abroad.

The U.S. industry has made some

progress in capturing an increased

market share for mackerel in Japan over

the past 2 years, though Canada and

Jamaica remain the most important

export nations. Several factors indicate

that market expansion for U.S. Atlantic

mackerel is likely to continue. In

addition, U.S. Atlantic mackerel stock

abundance remains high. The continued

low abundance of several important

groundfish stocks in the Gulf of Maine,

southern New England, and on Georges

Bank and restrictions on fishing for

those species also increase the

likelihood that harvesters will redirect

their efforts to Atlantic mackerel.

Atlantic mackerel is considered a prime

candidate for innovation in harvesting,

processing, and marketing.

The Council also recommended that

four special conditions imposed in

previous years continue to be imposed

on the 1998 Atlantic mackerel fishery as

follows: (1) Joint ventures be allowed

south of 37°30′ N. lat., but river herring

bycatch can not exceed 0.25 percent of

the over-the-side transfers of Atlantic

mackerel; (2) the Administrator,

Northeast Region, NMFS (Regional

Administrator) must ensure that impacts

on marine mammals are reduced in the

prosecution of the Atlantic mackerel

fishery; (3) the mackerel OY may be

increased during the year, but the total

must not exceed ABC; and (4) a joint

venture with a particular nation shall

not be allowed unless the Regional

Administrator determines, based on an

evaluation of performance, that the

nation’s purchase obligations from

previous years have been fulfilled.

Atlantic Squids

The FMP sets the Maximum Optimum

Yield (Max OY) for Loligo squid at

26,000 mt. The recommended ABC for

the 1998 Loligo squid fishery is 21,000

mt, unchanged from the 1997 ABC. This

level represents the harvest level

associated with a fishing mortality rate

of F50, which was adopted in

Amendment 6 to the FMP as an

appropriate target harvest level for this

species. The Council recommended that

IOY should equal ABC.

The FMP sets the Max OY for Illex

squid at 24,000 mt. The Council

recommended an ABC of 19,000 mt,

which represents the harvest level

associated with a fishing mortality rate

of F50 as required in Amendment 6 to

the FMP. As for Loligo squid, the Stock

Assessment Workshop (SAW) 21

recommended that F50 would be an

appropriate target harvest level for this

species. The Council recommended that

the IOY for Illex squid be set equal to

ABC.

Butterfish

The FMP sets the Max OY for

butterfish at 16,000 mt. The most recent

stock assessment was done in 1994

(SAW–17) and advised that the stock

may not be able to sustain landings in

excess of the long-term historical

average (1965–92) of 7,200 mt. Based on

this advice, the Council recommends

maintaining ABC at 7,200 mt

(unchanged from 1997). The Council

also recommended maintaining IOY and

DAH at 1997 levels (5,900 mt) to reflect

the uncertainty that exists regarding the

level of discards in the directed fishery.

As a result of the approval of

Amendment 5, the FMP specifies that

there will be no JVP or TALFF specified

for Loligo squid, Illex squid, or

butterfish, except that a butterfish

bycatch TALFF will be specified if

TALFF is specified for Atlantic

mackerel. Since the Council

recommended no TALFF for Atlantic

mackerel, no bycatch TALFF is required

for butterfish.

Framework Measure for Loligo Squid

Nets

Amendment 5 to the Atlantic

Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish FMP

established a minimum mesh

requirement of 17⁄8 inches (48 mm)

throughout the entire net, for vessels

possessing Loligo squid. Amendment 5

also established a framework procedure

whereby the minimum mesh provision
63066 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 228 / Wednesday, November 26, 1997 / Proposed Rules

for Loligo squid could be reconsidered

by the Council on an annual basis.

Numerous members of the commercial

fishing industry testified before the

Council that the minimum mesh

requirement for Loligo squid established

in Amendment 5, applied throughout

the entire net, was creating a major

compliance problem within the squid

industry. Testimony was given that,

after continuous use, meshes forward of

the codend become distorted and

shrink. Because the body of the net

forward of the codend lasts significantly

longer than the codend, this problem

becomes more acute with time. Industry

is concerned that nets, which were legal

when new, could be in violation of the

minimum mesh provision after

extended use. Since selection occurs in

the codend of the net, they argue that

the requirement for minimum mesh

throughout the entire net is creating an

unnecessary burden on the industry.

In response to these concerns the

Council decided to change the

minimum mesh requirement for Loligo

squid such that it applies to the codend

of the net only. The actual mesh size

requirement of 17⁄8 inches (48 mm)

remains unchanged. Thus the Council

has chosen to modify the mesh

requirement for Loligo squid for 1998 by

requiring that nets have a minimum

mesh size of 17⁄8 inches (48 mm)

diamond, inside stretch measure,

applied throughout the codend for at

least 150 continuous meshes forward of

the terminus of the net, or, if the net is

not long enough for such a

measurement, the terminal one-third of

the net, measured from the terminus of

the net to the head rope. This should

relieve the industry of major costs

associated with replacing the body of

the net before its useful service life has

been realized. The effects on the fishery

should be minimal since the selection

process, which occurs in the codend,

will be unchanged. The Council

concluded that the benefits to the

industry in terms of cost savings far

outweighed any negative effects of

applying the mesh requirement to the

codend only. Additional savings in

terms of enforcement of the mesh

regulations should be realized since

enforcement officers will only be

required to check mesh sizes in the

codend instead of the entire net, which,

in most cases, is quite large and can

consume a significant amount of time

during the boarding process.

Classification

This proposed rule has 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. It

is assumed that all vessels prosecuting

these fisheries are small entities. For

Loligo and Illex squid and butterfish,

gross revenues are not expected to

decrease as a consequence of the

proposed actions. In 1996, Loligo squid

landings were 12,459 mt. The proposed

IOY specification for Loligo squid in

1998 is 21,000 mt. In 1996, Illex squid

landings were 16,969 mt. The proposed

IOY specification for Illex squid in 1998

is 19,000 mt. In 1996, butterfish

landings were 3,489 mt. The proposed

IOY specification for butterfish in 1998

is 5,900 mt. In the case of Atlantic

mackerel, the 1998 IOY was reduced

from 90,000 mt in 1997 to the proposed

level of 80,000 mt in 1998. Both

specifications far exceed recent harvest

in the 1996 fishery of 15,712 mt. In

addition, the reduction in IOY in 1998

was due to a reduction in the JV

specification by 10,000 mt. Since there

has been no JV activity in recent years,

the reduction in the JV specification

should not affect revenues in the

fishery.

Based on this information, the 1998

quotas allow for a further expansion of

domestic fishing effort. Assuming that

prices are constant and 1997 harvest

levels are similar to those in 1996, the

1998 quotas represent no constraint on

the ability of individual vessels to

increase revenues. It was also

determined that restricting the

minimum mesh size to the codend, for

the Loligo squid fishery, would decrease

operating costs for the industry by

reducing the number of times they

would be forced to change the mesh in

the body of the net.

NMFS, therefore, concludes that the

proposed 1998 quota specifications for

the squid, mackerel, and butterfish

fisheries would not decrease annual

gross revenues by more than 5 percent

for a substantial number of small

entities. Furthermore, it is not expected

that any vessels would cease operations

if these proposed specifications are

implemented, nor should compliance

costs increase by 10 percent or more for

20 percent of the vessels or processors

in any of these fisheries. As a result, a

regulatory flexibility analysis was not

prepared.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648

Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements.

Dated: November 20, 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

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 § 648.23, paragraph (a)

introductory text is revised to read as

follows:

§ 648.23 Gear restrictions.

(a) Mesh restrictions and exemptions.

Owners or operators of otter trawl

vessels possessing Loligo squid

harvested in or from the EEZ may only

fish with nets having a minimum mesh

size of 17⁄8 inches (48 mm) diamond

mesh, inside stretch measure, applied

throughout the codend for at least 150

continuous meshes forward of the

terminus of the net, or for codends with

less than 150 meshes, the minimum

mesh size codend shall be a minimum

of one-third of the net measured from

the terminus of the codend to the head

rope, unless they are fishing during the

months of June, July, August, and

September for Illex squid seaward of the

following coordinates (copies of a map

depicting this area are available from

the Regional Administrator upon

request):

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 97–31065 Filed 11–25–97; 8:45 am]

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