Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 35 / Friday, February 21, 1997 / Proposed Rules 7993

50 CFR Part 679

[Docket No. 970206022–7022–01; I.D.

012197C]

RIN 0648–AJ35

Fisheries in the Exclusive Economic

Zone Off Alaska; Modify Prior Notice of

Landing Requirement

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for

comments.

SUMMARY: NMFS proposes to implement

a regulatory amendment to the

Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Program

for fixed gear Pacific halibut and

sablefish fisheries in and off Alaska.

This action would redefine the length of

time within which a 6–hour prior notice

of landing is valid and require that a

new prior notice of IFQ landing be

submitted to NMFS if the landing

originally reported will take place either

before or more than 2 hours after the

date and time scheduled in the original

prior notice of IFQ landing. This action

is necessary to reinforce the

enforcement rationale underlying the

original requirement and improve

compliance with IFQ regulations. This

action is intended to improve the IFQ

Program’s ability to manage Pacific

halibut and sablefish resources

efficiently.

DATES: Comments on the proposed rule

and Regulatory Impact Review (RIR)

must be received by March 24, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments must be sent to

Ronald J. Berg, Chief, Fisheries

Management Division, Alaska Region,

NMFS, Room 453, 709 West 9th Street,

Juneau, AK 99801, or P.O. Box 21668,

Juneau, AK 99802, Attention: Lori J.

Gravel. Copies of the RIR for this action

may be obtained from the same address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

James Hale, 907–586–7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The fixed gear halibut and sablefish

fisheries are managed by the IFQ

Program, a limited access system for

fixed gear Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus

stenolepis) and sablefish (Anoplopoma

fimbria) fisheries in and off Alaska. The

North Pacific Fishery Management

Council (Council), under authority of

the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery

Conservation and Management Act and

the Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1982

(Halibut Act), recommended the IFQ

Program, which NMFS implemented in

1995. The IFQ Program was designed to

reduce excessive fishing capacity, while

maintaining the social and economic

character of the fixed gear fishery and

the Alaskan coastal communities where

many of these fishermen are based.

In the implementing rules for the IFQ

Program, NMFS requires that a vessel

operator wishing to land IFQ species

notify NMFS no less than 6 hours prior

to the landing and include in this

notification the name and location of

the registered buyer to whom the fish

will be landed and the anticipated date

and time of landing (§ 679.5(l)(1)(i)).

The intent of this prior-notice regulation

is to provide NMFS with advance notice

of a pending landing so that NMFS

Enforcement personnel may be present

to monitor the landing and ensure

compliance with program regulations.

After the first 2 years of the IFQ

Program, NMFS has found that this

regulation does not adequately serve the

enforcement function and proposes to

revise it to reflect more clearly the

intended purpose of the 6–hour prior

notice requirement. The current

regulations do not require fishermen to

make the landing at the time scheduled

in the prior-notice report; they are

restricted only from making the landing

before 6 hours have elapsed since the

prior-notice report was submitted.

Moreover, the current regulation

requires only an ‘‘anticipated date and

time of landing’’ and states that the

prior-notice report must be given ‘‘no

fewer than 6 hours before the landing.’’

The prior notice of landing can be

waived at the discretion of clearing

officers on a case-by-case basis, but

NMFS Enforcement can neither enforce

an ‘‘anticipated date and time’’ nor

currently require fishermen to land at

the time reported in the prior-notice

report as long as the landing is not made

within 6 hours from the time the priornotice report is submitted. The current

regulation prevents efficient use of

enforcement resources, because it fails

to require that fishermen land IFQ

species at the time scheduled in the

prior notice (or within a reasonable time

thereof) so that enforcement personnel

may be present for the landing.

NMFS proposes a regulatory

amendment to modify the requirement

by defining the length of time within

which a 6–hour prior notice is valid.

This action would require that

fishermen land IFQ species at the time

specified in the prior notice or within 2

hours after the specified time. In the

event that a vessel does not make the

landing within the 2–hour limit on an

original prior-notice report, this action

would require the vessel operator to

submit a new prior-notice report subject

to all the requirements of the original

report. Note also that a vessel operator

wishing to make a landing earlier than

the time originally scheduled in a priornotice report must still have a 6–hour

margin of time within which to submit

a new 6–hour prior notice of landing.

Also, the current regulations require

that the prior-notice report include the

name and location of the registered

buyer to whom a landing will be made.

‘‘Location’’ may be misinterpreted to

mean the business address of the

registered buyer rather than, as was

intended, the actual location of the

landing. This action would clarify that

the prior notice report must provide

NMFS with the location of the landing.

The prior-notice report is crucial to

NMFS Enforcement’s ability to monitor

IFQ landings. The proposed regulatory

change would improve a reporting

requirement that is necessary to the

integrity of the program as a

conservation and management tool.

Classification

This proposed rule contains a

collection-of-information requirement

subject to the Paperwork Reduction At

(PRA). The requirement for a 6–hour

prior notice of IFQ landings has been

approved by the Office of Management

and Budget (OMB) Control Number

0648–0272. Public reporting burden for

this collection of information is

estimated to average 12 minutes per

response, including the time for

reviewing instructions, searching

existing data sources, gathering and

maintaining the data needed, and

completing and reviewing the collection

of information.

Comments are invited on (a) whether

the proposed collection of information

is necessary for the proper performance

of the functions of the agency, including

whether the information shall have

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the

agency’s estimate of the burden of the

proposed collection of information; (c)

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and

clarity of the information to be

collected; and (d) ways to minimize the

burden of the collection of information

on respondents, including through use

of automated collection techniques or

other forms of information technology.

Send comments on this or another

aspects of the information collection to

NMFS (See ADDRESSES) above, and to

OMB at the Office of Information and

Regulatory Affairs, Office of

Management and Budget, Washington,

DC 20503 (Attn: NOAA Desk Officer).

Not withstanding any other provision

of the law, no person is required to

respond to, nor shall any person be

subject to a penalty for failure to comply
7994 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 35 / Friday, February 21, 1997 / Proposed Rules

with, a collection of information subject

to the requirements of the PRA, unless

that collection displays a currently valid

OMB Control Number.

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 as

follows.

This change constitutes a minor regulatory

amendment needed to reinforce the intended

purpose of the 6–hour prior notice of

landing. The current regulations do not

require, as was intended, fishermen to make

the landing at the time scheduled in the Prior

Notice; they are restricted only from making

the landing before 6 hours have elapsed since

the Prior Notice was given. This action

would define the length of time within which

a 6–hour prior notice is valid and require that

fishermen land IFQ species at the time

specified in the prior notice or within 2

hours after the specified time.

The estimate of the reporting burden

associated with the prior notice of landing is

.2 hours and $2.00 per response, as described

in the Supporting Statement for Collection of

Information submitted for OMB authorization

of the IFQ Program (OMB control number

0648–0272). NMFS expects instances when a

vessel operator inadvertently miscalculates

the expected time of landing and thus needs

to submit an additional prior notice to be

relatively infrequent. Hence, the economic

impact of this rule would not be significant.

Therefore, a regulatory flexibility

analysis was not prepared.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR 679

Fisheries, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements.

Dated: February 13, 1997.

Nancy Foster

Deputy Assistant Administrator for Fisheries,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

For the reasons set out in the

preamble, 50 CFR Part 679 is proposed

to be amended as follows:

PART 679—FISHERIES OF THE

EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE OFF

ALASKA

1. The authority citation for part 679

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq., 1801 et

seq.

2. In § 679.5, paragraph (l)(1)(i)(B) is

revised and paragraph (l)(1)(i)(D) is

added to read as follows:

§ 679.5 Recordkeeping and reporting.

* * * * *

(l) * * *

(1) * * *

(i) * * *

(B) Notification must include: Name

of the registered buyer(s) to whom the

IFQ halibut or IFQ sablefish will be

landed and the location of the landing;

vessel identification; estimated weight

of the IFQ halibut or IFQ sablefish that

will be landed; identification number(s)

of the IFQ card(s) that will be used to

land the IFQ halibut or IFQ sablefish;

and the date and time that the landing

will take place.

* * * * *

(D) The operator of any vessel wishing

to land IFQ halibut or IFQ sablefish

before the date and time reported in the

prior notice or later than 2 hours after

the date and time reported in the prior

notice must submit a new prior notice

of IFQ landing in compliance with the

provisions set forth in paragraphs

(l)(1)(i)(A) through (C) of this section.

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 97–4263 Filed 2–20–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

50 CFR Part 697

[I.D. 021197A]

RIN 0648–AH58

Atlantic Weakfish Fisheries; Public

Hearings

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public hearings;

request for comments.

SUMMARY: NMFS will hold three public

hearings to receive comments from

fishery participants and other members

of the public regarding proposed

regulations on the harvest and

possession of weakfish in the exclusive

economic zone of the Atlantic Ocean

from Maine through Florida.

DATES: Written comments on the

proposed rule and supporting

documents (Draft Supplemental

Environmental Impact Statement and

Regulatory Impact Review (DSEIS/RIR)

must be received on or before March 17,

1997. The public hearings will be held

during the month of March. See

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for dates

and times of the public hearings.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should

be sent to Richard H. Schaefer, Chief,

Staff Office of Intergovernmental and

Recreational Fisheries (Fx2), National

Marine Fisheries Service, 8484 Georgia

Avenue, Suite 425, Silver Spring, MD

20910. Clearly mark the outside of the

envelope ‘‘Atlantic Weakfish

Comments.’’ The public hearings will be

held in New Jersey, Delaware, and

North Carolina. See SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION for the public hearing

locations.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Thomas Meyer/Paul Perra, 301–427–

2014.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

proposed regulations are necessary to be

compatible with rules already

implemented by the coastal states

through the Atlantic States Marine

Fisheries Commission’s Amendment 3

to the Interstate Fishery Management

Plan for Weakfish, and to ensure the

rebuilding of the weakfish stock along

the east coast of the Atlantic Ocean.

A complete description of the

measures, and the purpose and need for

the proposed action, is contained in the

proposed rule published on February

14, 1997 (62 FR 6935) and is not

repeated here. Copies of the proposed

rule may be obtained by writing (see

ADDRESSES) or calling the contact person

(see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).

To accommodate people unable to

attend a hearing or wishing to provide

additional comments, NMFS also

solicits written comments on the

proposed rule.