Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 237 / Wednesday, December 10, 1997 / Proposed Rules 65055

201–205, 215, 218, 220, 229, 254 and

410 that notice is hereby given of

proposed amendments to Part 32 of the

Commission’s rules, 47 CFR part 32, as

described in this notice of proposed

rulemaking.

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 32

Uniform System of Accounts.

Federal Communications Commission.

Magalie Roman Salas,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–32223 Filed 12–9–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Parts 600 and 648

[I.D. 112897A]

Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions;

General Provisions for Domestic

Fisheries; Applications for

Experimental Fishing Permits (EFPs)

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notification of experimental

fishery proposal; request for comments.

SUMMARY: NMFS issues this notice to

announce that the Regional

Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS

is considering approval of an

experimental fishing proposal that

would allow vessels to conduct

operations otherwise restricted by

regulations governing the Fisheries of

the Northeastern United States. The

experimental fishery would involve

fishing for, retention, and limited

landing of Atlantic sea scallops with a

modified sea scallop dredge in Southern

New England and Mid-Atlantic

Regulated Mesh Areas. Regulations

under the Magnuson-Stevens Act

provisions require publication of this

notice to provide interested parties the

opportunity to comment on the

proposed experimental fishery.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be

received by December 29, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to

Andrew A. Rosenberg, Ph. D., Regional

Administrator, NMFS, Northeast

Regional Office, 1 Blackburn Drive,

Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark on the

outside of the envelope ‘‘Comments on

Proposed Experimental Fishery.’’

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Peter Christopher, Fishery Management

Specialist, 978–281–9288.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Virginia Institute of Marine Science

submitted an application for an EFP on

October 17, 1997, to investigate summer

flounder bycatch by Atlantic sea scallop

dredges. An experimental dredge would

be modified with large mesh on the

upper portion of the dredge to allow for

summer flounder escapement. Fishing

activity would target a limited amount

of Atlantic sea scallops in the Southern

New England and Mid-Atlantic

Regulated Mesh Areas.

The Virginia Institute of Marine

Science would conduct experimental

fishing activities on chartered fishing

vessels. EFPs are required to exempt

vessels from possession limits, gear

restrictions, and days-at-sea restrictions

of the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery

Management Plan.

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

Dated: December 4, 1997.

Gary C. Matlock,

Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 97–32337 Filed 12–9–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Parts 600 and 648

[I.D. 112897B]

Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions;

General Provisions for Domestic

Fisheries; Applications for

Experimental Fishing Permits (EFPs)

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notification of experimental

fishery proposal; request for comments.

SUMMARY: NMFS issues this notice to

announce that the Regional

Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS

(Regional Administrator), is considering

approval of an experimental fishing

proposal that would permit vessels to

conduct operations otherwise restricted

by regulations governing the Fisheries of

the Northeastern United States. The

experimental fishery would involve the

possession and retention of Crangon

shrimp (brown shrimp), including the

possible capture and release of regulated

multispecies, in the Gulf of Maine/

Georges Bank Regulated Mesh Area.

Regulations under the MagnusonStevens Act provisions require

publication of this notice to provide

interested parties the opportunity to

comment on the proposed experimental

fishery.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be

received on or before December 29,

1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to

Andrew A. Rosenberg, Ph.D., Regional

Administrator, NMFS, Northeast

Regional Office, 1 Blackburn Drive,

Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark on the

outside of the envelope ‘‘Comments on

Proposed Experimental Fisheries.’’

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Bonnie VanPelt, Fishery Management

Specialist, (978) 281–9244.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Maine

Department of Marine Resources

(MEDMR) has been approved for a

Saltonstall/Kennedy (S/K) Grant to

investigate the feasibility of developing

a 3-month winter Crangon

septemspinosus shrimp (brown shrimp)

fishery between Frenchman’s Bay and

Casco Bay, Maine, in nearshore and

estuarine waters. The two main

objectives of the proposed project are

the use of gear technology to address

regulatory species bycatch and the

development of a sustainable fishery

that will ease financial hardship by

absorbing displaced groundfishing

effort. New gears and fishing methods

will be employed based on technology

of a similar Crangon shrimp fishery that

exists in Europe, as well as on a

modification of the gear technology

currently used in the northern shrimp

fishery.

The MEDMR submitted an

application for an EFP to conduct the

proposed project on October 14, 1997.

The experimental trawl surveys are

proposed for January through June 1998.

The proposed experiment will allow

approximately three commercial fishing

vessels to conduct gear trials using a

Crangon otter trawl, an otter trawl of

European design, and two beam trawl

nets with mesh sizes of 20 mm. One

otter trawl will be assembled with a

Nordmore grate (physical separator) and

the other with a bycatch reduction

device known as a false upper

(behavioral separator), while the beam

trawl nets will contain a finfish

excluder device called a sieve. Bar

spacing of the Nordmore grate will be 1/

2 inch (1.27 cm), smaller than the 1 inch

(2.54 cm) now being used in the

northern shrimp fishery. All trawl gear

is designed to enable finfish to escape

through a hole in the lower panel of the

net. Experimental gear performance will

be tested with control otter trawl nets of

20 mm stretched mesh with 1/4 inch

(0.635 cm) mesh liners and 20 mm beam

trawl nets. Trawl effectiveness will be