8776 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 31 / Wednesday, February 15, 2012 / Proposed Rules 

by the Pacific Islands Regional 

Administrator by fax or email no later 

than six hours prior to exiting the 

Eastern High Seas Special Management 

Area. The notices must be submitted in 

the format specified by the Pacific 

Island Regional Administrator and must 

include the following information: 

(1) The vessel identification markings 

located on the hull or superstructure of 

the vessel. 

(2) Date and time (in UTC) of 

anticipated point of exit. 

(3) Latitude and longitude, to nearest 

tenth of a degree, of anticipated point of 

exit. 

(4) Amount of fish product on board 

at the time of the notice, in kilograms, 

in total and for each of the following 

species or species groups: yellowfin 

tuna, bigeye tuna, albacore, skipjack 

tuna, swordfish, shark, other; and 

(5) An indication of whether the 

vessel has engaged in or will engage in 

any transshipments prior to exiting the 

Eastern High Seas Special Management 

Area. 

[FR Doc. 2012–3546 Filed 2–14–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 120201086–2085–01] 

RIN 0648–XA904 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Atlantic Bluefish Fishery; 2012 

Atlantic Bluefish Specifications 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Proposed specifications; request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS proposes specifications 

for the 2012 Atlantic bluefish fishery, 

including an annual catch limit, total 

allowable landings, a commercial quota 

and recreational harvest limit, and a 

recreational possession limit. The intent 

of this action is to establish the 

allowable 2012 harvest levels and other 

management measures to achieve the 

target fishing mortality rate, consistent 

with the Atlantic Bluefish Fishery 

Management Plan. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before March 1, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by NOAA–NMFS–2012–0003, 

by any one of the following methods: 

• Electronic Submissions: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. To submit 

comments via the e-Rulemaking Portal, 

first click the ‘‘Submit a Comment’’ 

icon, then enter NOAA–NMFS–2012– 

0003 in the keyword search. Locate the 

document you wish to comment on 

from the resulting list and click on the 

‘‘Submit a Comment’’ icon on the right 

of that line. 

• Fax: (978) 281–9135, Attn: 

Comments on 2012 Proposed Bluefish 

Specifications, NOAA–NMFS–2012– 

0003. 

• Mail and Hand Delivery: Dan 

Morris, Acting Regional Administrator, 

NMFS, Northeast Regional Office, 55 

Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 

01930. Mark the outside of the 

envelope: ‘‘Comments on 2012 Bluefish 

Specifications.’’ 

Instructions: Comments must be 

submitted by one of the above methods 

to ensure that the comments are 

received, documented, and considered 

by NMFS. Comments sent by any other 

method, to any other address or 

individual, or received after the end of 

the comment period, may not be 

considered. All comments received are 

a part of the public record and will 

generally be posted to http:// 

www.regulations.gov without change. 

All Personal Identifying Information (for 

example, name, address, etc.) 

voluntarily submitted by the commenter 

may be publicly accessible. Do not 

submit Confidential Business 

Information or otherwise sensitive or 

protected information. 

NMFS will accept anonymous 

comments (enter N/A in the required 

fields, if you wish to remain 

anonymous). You may submit 

attachments to electronic comments in 

Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or 

Adobe PDF file formats only. 

Copies of the specifications 

document, including the Environmental 

Assessment and Initial Regulatory 

Flexibility Analysis (EA/IRFA) and 

other supporting documents for the 

specifications, are available from Dr. 

Christopher M. Moore, Executive 

Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council, Suite 201, 800 N. 

State Street, Dover, DE 19901. The 

specifications document is also 

accessible via the Internet at: http:// 

www.nero.noaa.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Carly Bari, Fishery Management 

Specialist, (978) 281–9224. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The Atlantic bluefish fishery is 

managed cooperatively by the MidAtlantic Fishery Management Council 

(Council) and the Atlantic States Marine 

Fisheries Commission (Commission). 

The management unit for bluefish 

specified in the Atlantic Bluefish 

Fishery Management Plan (FMP) is U.S. 

waters of the western Atlantic Ocean. 

Regulations implementing the FMP 

appear at 50 CFR part 648, subparts A 

and J. The regulations requiring annual 

specifications are found at § 648.16. 

The FMP requires the Council to 

recommend, on an annual basis, annual 

catch limit (ACL), annual catch target 

(ACT), and total allowable landings 

(TAL) that will control fishing mortality 

(F). An estimate of annual discards is 

deducted from the ACT to calculate the 

TALs that can be harvested during the 

year by the commercial and recreational 

fishing sectors. The FMP requires that 

17 percent of the ACT be allocated to 

the commercial fishery, with the 

remaining 83 percent allocated to the 

recreational fishery. The Council may 

also recommend a research set-aside 

(RSA) quota, which is deducted from 

the bluefish TALs (after any applicable 

transfer) in an amount proportional to 

the percentage of the overall TAL as 

allocated to the commercial and 

recreational sectors. 

The annual review process for 

bluefish requires that the Council’s 

Bluefish Monitoring Committee and 

Scientific and Statistical Committee 

(SSC) review and make 

recommendations based on the best 

available data, including, but not 

limited to, commercial and recreational 

catch/landing statistics, current 

estimates of fishing mortality, stock 

abundance, discards for the recreational 

fishery, and juvenile recruitment. Based 

on the recommendations of the 

Monitoring Committee and SSC, the 

Council makes a recommendation to the 

NMFS Northeast Regional 

Administrator. Because this FMP is a 

joint plan, the Commission also meets 

during the annual specification process 

to adopt complementary measures. 

The Council’s recommendations must 

include supporting documentation 

concerning the environmental, 

economic, and social impacts of the 

recommendations. NMFS is responsible 

for reviewing these recommendations to 

ensure that they achieve the FMP 

objectives, and may modify them if they 

do not. NMFS then publishes proposed 

specifications in the Federal Register, 

and after considering public comment, 

NMFS will publish final specifications 

in the Federal Register. 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 31 / Wednesday, February 15, 2012 / Proposed Rules 8777 

Proposed Specifications 

Updated Model Estimates 

According to Amendment 1 to the 

FMP, overfishing for bluefish occurs 

when F exceeds the fishing mortality 

rate that allows maximum sustainable 

yield (FMSY), or the maximum F 

threshold to be achieved. The stock is 

considered overfished if the biomass (B) 

falls below the minimum biomass 

threshold, which is defined as 1⁄2 BMSY. 

Amendment 1 also established that the 

long-term target F is 90 percent of FMSY

(FMSY = 0.19, therefore Ftarget = 90 

percent of FMSY, or 0.17), and the longterm target B is BMSY = 324 million lb 

(147,052 mt). 

An age-structured assessment 

program (ASAP) model for bluefish was 

approved by the 41st Stock Assessment 

Review Committee (SARC 41) in 2005 to 

estimate F and annual biomass. In June 

2011, the ASAP model was updated in 

order to estimate the current status of 

the bluefish stock (i.e., 2010 biomass 

and F estimates) and enable the 

Monitoring Committee and SSC to 

recommend 2012 specifications using 

landings information and survey indices 

through the 2010 fishing year. The 

results of the assessment update were as 

follows: (1) An estimated stock biomass 

for 2010, B2010 = 309.301 million lb 

(140,297 mt); and (2) an estimated 

fishing mortality rate for 2010, F2010 = 

0.14. Based on the updated 2010 

estimate of bluefish stock biomass, the 

bluefish stock is not considered 

overfished: B2010 is slightly less than 

BMSY, but well above the minimum 

biomass threshold, 1⁄2 BMSY = 162 

million lb (73,526 mt). Estimates of F 

have declined from 0.41 in 1991 to 0.14 

in 2010. The updated model results also 

conclude that the Atlantic bluefish stock 

is not experiencing overfishing; i.e., the 

most recent F (F2010 = 0.14) is less than 

the maximum F overfishing threshold 

specified by SARC 41 (FMSY = 0.19). 

Bluefish was declared rebuilt in 2009. 

2012 Catch Limits 

Following the framework 

implemented by the Council’s ACL 

Omnibus Amendment, the Council 

recommended that ACL be set to 

acceptable biological catch (ABC) 

(32.044 million lb, 14,535 mt). No 

deductions were recommended to 

account for management uncertainty, 

therefore ABC = ACL = ACT. The ACT 

is initially allocated between the 

recreational fishery (83 percent = 26.597 

million lb, 12,064 mt) and the 

commercial fishery (17 percent = 5.448 

million lb, 2,471 mt). After deducting an 

estimate of recreational discards 

(commercial discards are considered 

negligible), the recreational TAL would 

be 22.247 million lb (10,091 mt) and the 

commercial TAL would be 5.448 

million lb (2,471 mt). 

The FMP specifies that, if 17 percent 

of the ACT is less than 10.5 million lb, 

and recreational fishery is not projected 

to land its harvest limit for the 

upcoming year, the commercial fishery 

may be allocated up to 10.5 million lb 

as its quota, provided that the 

combination of the projected 

recreational landings and the 

commercial quota does not exceed the 

ACT. The recreational harvest limit 

(RHL) would then be adjusted 

downward so that the ACT would be 

unchanged. 

The Council postponed projections of 

estimated recreational harvest for 2012 

until Marine Recreational Fisheries 

Statistics Survey (MRFSS) landings data 

through Wave 5 of 2011 became 

available. In the interim, the 3-year 

average of recreational landings from 

2008 through 2010 (16.216 million lb, 

7,355 mt) was applied as the estimated 

recreational harvest for 2012. As such, 

it was expected that a transfer of up to 

5.052 million lb (2,291 mt) from the 

recreational sector to the commercial 

sector could be approved. This option 

represents the preferred alternative 

recommended by the Council in its 

specifications document. The actual 

transfer amount in the final rule, if any, 

will depend on the 2011 recreational 

landings data. 

RSA 

Three research projects that would 

utilize bluefish RSA quota have been 

preliminarily approved and forwarded 

to NOAA’s Grants Management 

Division. An 847,997-lb (385-mt) RSA 

quota is preliminarily approved for use 

by these projects during 2012. 

Proportional adjustments of this amount 

to the commercial and recreational 

allocations would result in a final 

commercial quota of 10.185 million lb 

(4,620 mt) and a final RHL of 17.234 

million lb (7,817 mt). NMFS staff will 

update the commercial and recreational 

allocations based on the final 2012 RSA 

awards as part of the final rule for the 

2012 specifications. 

Proposed Recreational Possession Limit 

The Council recommended, and 

NMFS proposes, to maintain the current 

recreational possession limit of up to 15 

fish per person to achieve the RHL. 

Proposed State Commercial Allocations 

The proposed state commercial 

allocations for the recommended 2012 

commercial quota are shown in Table 1, 

based on the percentages specified in 

the FMP. These quotas do not reflect 

any adjustments for quota overages that 

may have occurred in some states in 

2011. Any potential deductions for 

states that exceeded their quota in 2011 

will be accounted for in the final rule. 

TABLE 1—PROPOSED BLUEFISH COMMERCIAL STATE-BY-STATE ALLOCATIONS FOR 2012 

[Including RSA deductions] 

State Percent share 

2012 Council-proposed commercial 

quota (lb) 

2012 Council-proposed commercial 

quota (kg) 

ME .............................................................................................................................. 0.6685 68,087 30,884 

NH .............................................................................................................................. 0.4145 42,217 19,149 

MA .............................................................................................................................. 6.7167 684,096 310,301 

RI ............................................................................................................................... 6.8081 693,405 314,523 

CT .............................................................................................................................. 1.2663 128,973 58,501 

NY .............................................................................................................................. 10.3851 1,057,722 479,775 

NJ ............................................................................................................................... 14.8162 1,509,030 684,485 

DE .............................................................................................................................. 1.8782 191,295 86,770 

MD ............................................................................................................................. 3.0018 305,733 138,678 

VA .............................................................................................................................. 11.8795 1,209,927 548,814 

NC .............................................................................................................................. 32.0608 3,265,392 1,481,158 

SC .............................................................................................................................. 0.0352 3,585 1,626 

GA .............................................................................................................................. 0.0095 968 439 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
8778 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 31 / Wednesday, February 15, 2012 / Proposed Rules 

1Some of these vessels were also identified in the 

Northeast dealer data; therefore, double counting is 

possible. 

TABLE 1—PROPOSED BLUEFISH COMMERCIAL STATE-BY-STATE ALLOCATIONS FOR 2012—Continued 

[Including RSA deductions] 

State Percent share 

2012 Council-proposed commercial 

quota (lb) 

2012 Council-proposed commercial 

quota (kg) 

FL ............................................................................................................................... 10.0597 1,024,580 464,742 

Total .................................................................................................................... 100.0001 10,185,000 4,619,840 

Classification 

Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act), the NMFS 

Assistant Administrator has determined 

that this proposed rule is consistent 

with the Atlantic Bluefish FMP, other 

provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act, and other applicable law, subject to 

further consideration after public 

comment. 

These proposed specifications are 

exempt from review under Executive 

Order 12866. 

An IRFA was prepared, as required by 

section 603 of the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act (RFA), which describes the 

economic impact this proposed rule, if 

adopted, would have on small entities. 

A description of the action, why it is 

being considered, and the legal basis for 

this action are contained at the 

beginning of this preamble and in the 

SUMMARY. A summary of the analysis 

follows. A copy of this analysis is 

available from the Council (see 

ADDRESSES). 

Small businesses operating in 

commercial and recreational (i.e., party 

and charter vessel operations) fisheries 

have been defined by the Small 

Business Administration as firms with 

gross revenues of up to $4.0 and $6.5 

million, respectively. The categories of 

small entities likely to be affected by 

this action include commercial and 

charter/party vessel owners holding an 

active Federal permit for Atlantic 

bluefish, as well as owners of vessels 

that fish for Atlantic bluefish in state 

waters. All federally permitted vessels 

fall into the definition of small 

businesses; thus, there would be no 

disproportionate impacts between large 

and small entities as a result of the 

proposed rule. 

An active participant in the 

commercial sector was defined as any 

vessel that reported having landed 1 or 

more lb (0.45 kg) in the Atlantic bluefish 

fishery in 2010 (the most recent year for 

which there are complete data). The 

active participants in the commercial 

sector were defined using two sets of 

data. The Northeast seafood dealer 

reports were used to identify 718 vessels 

that landed bluefish in states from 

Maine through North Carolina in 2010. 

However, the Northeast dealer database 

does not provide information about 

fishery participation in South Carolina, 

Georgia, or Florida. South Atlantic Trip 

Ticket reports were used to identify 732 

vessels 1 that landed bluefish in North 

Carolina and 827 vessels that landed 

bluefish on Florida’s east coast. Bluefish 

landings in South Carolina and Georgia 

were near zero in 2010, representing a 

negligible proportion of the total 

bluefish landings along the Atlantic 

Coast. Therefore, this analysis assumed 

that no vessel activity for these two 

states took place in 2010. In recent 

years, approximately 2,063 party/charter 

vessels may have been active in the 

bluefish fishery and/or have caught 

bluefish. 

There are no new reporting or 

recordkeeping requirements contained 

in any of the alternatives considered for 

this action. In addition, NMFS is not 

aware of any relevant Federal rules that 

may duplicate, overlap, or conflict with 

this proposed rule. 

The IRFA in the Draft EA addressed 

three alternatives (including a no 

action/status quo alternative) for the 

2012 Atlantic bluefish fishery. All quota 

alternatives considered in this analysis 

are based on various commercial harvest 

levels for bluefish (a low, medium, and 

high level of harvest). For analysis of 

impacts of Alternatives 1 and 2, the 

maximum potential RSA quota of 3 

percent of the TAL (847,997 lb, 384 mt) 

was used. For analysis of impacts of 

Alternative 3, the status quo RSA quota 

of 105,000 lb (48 mt) was used. For 

analysis of impacts of Alternative 1, the 

recommended transfer of 5.052 million 

lb (2,291 mt) from the recreational 

sector to the commercial sector was 

used. For analysis of impacts of 

Alternative 3, the transfer of 4.770 

million lb (2,164 mt) from the 

recreational sector to the commercial 

sector was used, which is the same as 

the 2011 transfer amount. Under 

Alternative 2, no transfer of bluefish 

would be made from the recreational 

sector to the commercial sector, and the 

allocation of the TAL would be based 

strictly on the percentages specified in 

the FMP (17 percent commercial, 83 

percent recreational). 

Alternatives 1 and 2 would 

implement a TAL of 27.694 million lb 

(12,562 mt). Alternative 3 would 

implement status quo management 

measures for 2012, which would result 

in a TAL identical to the 2011 TAL, or 

27.293 million lb (12,380 mt). The 

proposed 2012 Atlantic bluefish 

specification alternatives are shown in 

Table 2, along with the resulting 

commercial quota and RHL after any 

applicable transfer described earlier in 

the preamble and after deduction of the 

RSA quota. Alternative 1 (Council’s 

preferred) would allocate 10.185 million 

lb (4,620 mt) to the commercial sector 

and 17.234 million lb (7,817 mt) to the 

recreational sector. Alternative 2 would 

result in the most restrictive commercial 

quota and would allocate 5.284 million 

lb (2,397 mt) to the commercial sector 

and leave 22.134 million lb (10,040 mt) 

available to the recreational sector. 

Alternative 3 (status quo) would allocate 

9.375 million lb (4,252 mt) to the 

commercial sector and 17.813 million lb 

(8,080 mt) to the recreational sector. 

This alternative would also implement 

the status quo RSA level, which is 

currently approved for 105,000 lb (48 

mt). 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 31 / Wednesday, February 15, 2012 / Proposed Rules 8779 

TABLE 2—PROPOSED 2012 ATLANTIC BLUEFISH SPECIFICATION ALTERNATIVES FOR TAL, COMMERCIAL QUOTA, AND RHL 

(MILLION LB) 

TAL Commercial quota RHL 

Alternative 1 ................................... 27.694 (12,562 mt) ....................... 10.185 (4,620 mt) ......................... 17.234 (7,817 mt). 

Alternative 2 ................................... 27.694 (12,562 mt) ....................... 5.284 (2,397 mt) ........................... 22.134 (10,040 mt). 

Alternative 3 ................................... 27.293 (12,380 mt) ....................... 9.375 (4,252 mt) ........................... 17.813 (8,080 mt). 

Commercial Fishery Impacts 

To assess the impact of the 

alternatives on commercial fisheries, the 

Council conducted a threshold analysis 

and analysis of potential changes in exvessel gross revenue that would result 

from each alternative, using Northeast 

dealer reports and South Atlantic Trip 

Ticket reports. 

Under Alternative 1, the 

recommended commercial quota for 

2012 is approximately 40 percent higher 

than 2010 commercial landings. When 

this commercial quota is distributed to 

the states from Maine to Florida (based 

on the percentages specified in the 

FMP), each state’s 2012 quota is higher 

than its 2010 landings. Results of the 

threshold analysis from dealer data 

estimated that there would be no 

revenue change relative to 2010 for 

vessels that reported landings of 

bluefish in 2010. If commercial quota is 

transferred from a state or states that do 

not land their entire bluefish quota for 

2012, as was done in 2011 and 

frequently in previous years, the 

number of affected entities could 

change, thus changing the adverse 

economic impact on vessels landing in 

the state(s) receiving quota transfers. 

Alternative 2 would result in a 

commercial quota 28 percent below the 

2010 commercial landings. Although 

the overall commercial quota is lower 

than 2010 commercial landings, when 

distributed to the states, each state’s 

2012 quota is higher than its 2010 

landings, except for Massachusetts, New 

York, New Jersey, and North Carolina. 

For these states, 2012 commercial 

landings would be constrained by the 

2012 commercial quota under 

Alternative 2. The threshold analysis 

projected that 464 vessels could incur 

revenue losses of less than 5 percent 

and 62 vessels could incur revenue 

losses of 5 percent or more. Of the 

vessels likely to be impacted with 

revenue reductions of 5 percent or more, 

34 percent had gross sales of $1,000 or 

less and 55 percent had gross sales of 

$10,000 or less, which may indicate that 

the dependence on fishing for some of 

these vessels is small. 

Under Alternative 3, the 2011 

commercial quota is approximately 29 

percent higher than the 2010 

commercial landings. Most states show 

a similar increase in fishing 

opportunities under this alternative; 

however, North Carolina’s 2012 

commercial quota would be lower than 

its 2010 commercial landings. Analysis 

of Alternative 3 concluded that 644 

vessels would likely have no change in 

revenue relative to 2010, and 74 vessels 

were projected to incur revenue losses 

of less than 5 percent. No revenue 

reduction would be expected for vessels 

that land bluefish in North Carolina or 

Florida under Alternative 3. If 

commercial quota is transferred from a 

state or states that do not land their 

entire bluefish quota for 2012, as was 

done in 2011 and frequently in previous 

years, the number of affected entities 

described above could decrease, thus 

decreasing the adverse economic impact 

on vessels landing in the state(s) 

receiving quota transfers. 

Recreational Fishery Impacts 

For Alternative 1, the recommended 

RHL for the recreational sector (17.234 

million lb, 7,817 mt) is approximately 7 

percent above the recreational landings 

for 2010 (16.166 million lb, 7,333 mt) 

and 3 percent below the RHL 

implemented for 2011 (17.813 million 

lb, 8,080 mt). It is not anticipated that 

the recommend RHL will result in 

decreased in the demand for party/ 

charter boat trips or affect angler 

participation in a negative manner. At 

the present time, there are neither 

behavioral or demand data available to 

estimate how sensitive party/charter 

boat anglers might be to proposed 

fishing regulations. However, given the 

level of the adjusted recreational harvest 

limit for 2012 and recreational landings 

in recent years, it is possible that given 

the proposed recreational harvest limits 

under Alternative 1, the demand for 

party/charter boat trips may not be 

negatively impacted. The impacts under 

Alternative 2 and 3 are expected to be 

similar to the recreational impacts 

under Alternative 1. The IRFA analyzed 

the maximum transfer amount from the 

recreational sector to the commercial 

sector, but future updates of recreational 

harvest projections could result in a 

smaller transfer amount, resulting in a 

high RHL. 

The 2012 RHL under Alternative 2 

would be 37 percent higher than the 

recreational landings in 2010 and 49 

percent higher than the 2011 RHL. 

Under Alternative 3, the 2012 RHL 

would be 37 percent higher than 2010 

recreational landings and less than 1 

percent lower than the 2011 RHL. Thus, 

Alternatives 2 and 3 are not expected to 

have any negative effects on recreational 

fishermen or the demand for party/ 

charter boat trips. In addition, neither of 

these alternatives are expected to result 

in recreational landings in excess of the 

RHL. 

RSA Quota Impacts 

For analysis of each alternative, the 

maximum RSA quota amount (3 percent 

of the TAL) was deducted from the 

initial overall TAL for 2012 to derive the 

adjusted 2012 commercial quota and 

RHL under each alternative. Thus, the 

threshold analyses for each alternative 

accounted for overall reductions in 

fishing opportunities due to RSA. 

Specification of RSA quota for 2012 is 

expected to benefit all participants in 

the fishery as a result of improved data 

and information for management or 

stock assessment purposes. 

Summary 

The Council recommended 

Alternative 1 over Alternatives 2 and 3 

because it is projected to achieve the 

target F in 2012, while providing the 

second least restrictive commercial 

quota among the alternatives analyzed. 

Alternative 2 was not recommended by 

the Council because it would yield the 

lowest commercial fishing opportunities 

among the alternatives due to an 

absence of a quota transfer under this 

alternative. Alternative 3 was not 

selected because it would more 

restrictive than necessary given the 

advice of the SSC and Monitoring 

Committee. 

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

Dated: February 9, 2012. 

Alan D. Risenhoover, 

Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–3563 Filed 2–14–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS