60892 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 199 / Friday, October 13, 2000 / Rules and Regulations

safe boarding without causing further

damage/injury to the turtle, line clippers

described in paragraph (c)(5)(i)(A) of

this section must be used to clip the line

and remove as much line as possible

prior to releasing the turtle.

* * * * *

4. In § 635.71, paragraphs (a)(33) and

(a)(34) are added to read as follows:

§ 635.71 Prohibitions.

* * * * *

(a)* * *

(33) Deploy or fish with any fishing

gear from a vessel with pelagic longline

gear on board without carrying a dipnet

and line clipper as specified at

§ 635.21(c)(5)(i).

(34) Fail to disengage any hooked or

entangled sea turtle with the least harm

possible to the sea turtle as specified at

§ 635.21(c)(5)(ii).

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 00–26400 Filed 10–10–00; 3:01 pm]

BILLING CODE: 3510–22 –S

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 991104295–0259–02; I.D.

100599D]

RIN 0648–AM74

Fisheries of the Northeastern United

States; Dealer and Vessel Reporting

Requirements

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: NMFS issues a final rule to

amend the existing reporting regulations

for dealers and owners whose vessels

are federally permitted to operate in the

summer flounder, scup, black sea bass,

Atlantic sea scallop, Northeast (NE)

multispecies, monkfish, Atlantic

mackerel, squid, butterfish, surfclam,

ocean quahog, spiny dogfish or Atlantic

bluefish fisheries. Changes to the

existing regulations are needed to

improve the monitoring of commercial

landings and to enhance the

enforceability of the reporting

regulations. The intent of this action is

to improve the collection of fisheriesdependent data.

DATES: Effective November 13, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Regulatory

Impact Review supporting this action

are available from Patricia A. Kurkul,

Regional Administrator, Northeast

Region, NMFS, One Blackburn Drive,

Gloucester, MA 01930. Comments

regarding the collection-of-information

requirements contained in this final rule

should be sent to Patricia A. Kurkul and

to the Office of Information and

Regulatory Affairs, Attention: NOAA

Desk Officer, Office of Management and

Budget, Washington, D.C. 20503. Send

comments regarding any ambiguity or

unnecessary complexity arising from the

language used in this rule to Patricia

Kurkul.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Sandra Arvilla, (978) 281–9255, Kelley

McGrath, (978) 281–9307 or Gregory

Power, (978) 281–9304.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

In order to improve monitoring of

commercial landings and to enhance

enforceability of the reporting

regulations, this final rule clarifies or

modifies several of the existing

reporting requirements for dealers and

owners whose vessels are federally

permitted in the summer flounder, scup,

black sea bass, Atlantic sea scallop, NE

multispecies, monkfish, Atlantic

mackerel, squid, butterfish, surfclam,

ocean quahog, spiny dogfish or Atlantic

bluefish fisheries. Regulations

implementing the fishery management

plans (FMPs) for the summer flounder,

scup, black sea bass, Atlantic sea

scallop, NE multispecies, monkfish,

Atlantic mackerel, squid, butterfish,

surfclam, ocean quahog, spiny dogfish

and Atlantic bluefish fisheries were

prepared under the authority of the

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery

Conservation and Management Act and

are found at 50 CFR part 648. A

proposed rule to implement these

changes was published on December 2,

1999 (64 FR 67551). NMFS reopened the

comment period on the proposed rule to

ensure that affected fishmen and dealers

were aware of the proposed reporting

changes and had an opportunity to

provide comments (65 FR 7820,

February 16, 2000).

Trip Identifier

One of the data elements that dealers

are required to provide on the weekly

reports is a trip identifier for each trip

from which fish are purchased. This

requirement is in the existing

regulations. However, the term ‘‘trip

identifier’’ has not been defined and,

thus, has not been reported by industry.

Supplying a trip identifier for each trip

from which fish are purchased would

aid in matching dealer data with the

corresponding vessel data by using a

uniquely identifiable serial number

from the vessel logbook, if applicable, or

a combination of the date sailed, and, if

the vessel sailed more than once on the

same day, the sequential trip number

within that date sailed. To enable

dealers to provide the trip identifier to

NMFS, vessel owners/operators would

have to provide each dealer with the

trip identifier information at the time of

offloading.

Because dealer compliance would be

dependent upon compliance by the

vessel owner/operator, establishing

responsibility for compliance would be

difficult, making fair and equitable

enforcement of the requirement equally

difficult. Thus, a requirement to provide

a trip identifier is not being imposed at

this time. Due to the importance of

establishing a link between the dealer

and vessel data, NMFS intends to make

reporting a trip identifier mandatory in

the near future. NMFS will work with

industry members to explore various

options for transferring trip identifier

information from vessels to dealers

without overly burdening either party.

NMFS encourages the industry to assist

in the development of alternative

methods for providing this information.

Dealer Reporting Changes

This final rule modifies two

requirements affecting summer

flounder, scup, black sea bass, Atlantic

sea scallop, NE multispecies, monkfish,

Atlantic mackerel, squid, butterfish,

spiny dogfish or Atlantic bluefish

dealers, and two requirements affecting

surfclam or ocean quahog dealers.

To collect more comprehensive and

accurate data on the processing segment

of the industry, dealers who have been

issued a summer flounder, scup, black

sea bass, Atlantic sea scallop, NE

multispecies, monkfish, Atlantic

mackerel, squid, butterfish, spiny

dogfish or an Atlantic bluefish permit

must complete all sections of the

Annual Processed Products Report.

Federally permitted dealers must

retain copies of reports, and records

upon which the reports were based, for

a total of 3 years after the date of the last

entry on the report. This time frame is

in keeping with standard business

practices and will allow for validating

the compliance of past landings

reported by dealers and vessels.

To ensure that quotas in the surfclam

and ocean quahog fisheries are not

exceeded, harvest levels must be

monitored on a timely basis. While

dealers have historically provided these

data on a weekly basis, this action

specifies that reports must be

postmarked or received within 3 days of

the end of the reporting week.

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 199 / Friday, October 13, 2000 / Rules and Regulations 60893

Vessel Reporting Changes

This final rule modifies three

requirements affecting vessels that have

been issued a summer flounder, scup,

black sea bass, Atlantic sea scallop, NE

multispecies, monkfish, Atlantic

mackerel, squid and butterfish, spiny

dogfish or Atlantic bluefish permit. This

final rule also modifies two

requirements affecting vessels federally

permitted in the surfclam or ocean

quahog fisheries.

Regulations requiring vessel owners/

operators to submit fishing log reports

are clarified to indicate that a vessel

logbook report needs to be submitted

only for each trip taken, rather than for

each day within a trip. The current

regulations state that vessel owner/

operators must submit an ‘‘accurate

daily fishing log report’’ for all trips. To

clarify that a report must be submitted

only for each fishing trip, the word

‘‘daily’’ is removed from the existing

regulations.

Vessel owners/operators are required

to report the pounds, by species, of all

fish landed or discarded. This final rule

clarifies that ‘‘hail weight’’ should be

reported rather than exact weight.

Because many vessel owners/operators

interpret the pounds landed to be the

exact pounds sold to the dealer, many

vessel operators copy the catch

information from the dealer receipts

after the catch has been sold. ‘‘Hail

weight’’ is defined to mean a good-faith

estimate, in pounds for commercial

vessels and in numbers of individual

fish for party and charter vessels, by

species, or parts of species, such as

monkfish livers, of all fish landed or

discarded for each trip.

To clarify, for enforcement purposes,

which logbook information must be

completed prior to the vessel entering

port with fish, this final rule specifies

that all information, other than that

which is not able to be ascertained (i.e.,

dealer name, dealer permit number, and

date sold) must be completed prior to

entering port with fish.

Vessel log reports and any records

upon which the reports were based

must be kept on board the vessel for at

least 1 year and retained for a total of

3 years after the date of the last entry on

the report. This time frame is in keeping

with standard business practices and

will allow for validation of compliance

of past landings reported by dealers and

vessels.

To better monitor harvest levels of

surfclams and ocean quahogs, surfclam

and ocean quahog vessel log reports

must be postmarked or received within

3 days of the end of the reporting week.

While vessel owners have historically

provided these data on a weekly basis,

this action clarifies that reports must be

submitted within the specified time

frame.

Comments and Responses

NMFS received three written

comments during the initial comment

period from December 2, 1999, through

January 3, 2000, and 12 additional

comments during the reopening of the

comment period, which ran from

February 16, 2000, through March 2,

2000. Only comments received during

the comment periods were considered

for response. Seven comments were

received after one or both comment

periods were closed. Those comments

were not considered. However, all but

one of those comments were contained

in comments received during the

comment period.

Comment 1: Eight commenters cited

increased costs and compliance issues

as the two primary reasons for

opposition to the trip identifier

requirement. One concern was the

requirement for fishermen to supply

dealers with a trip identifier at the time

of offloading. This would be difficult in

cases where product is being shipped,

sold on consignment, or sold to multiple

dealers, as the owner/operator would

not be in contact with the dealer. The

commenters felt that the burden

imposed on dealers would be

significant, causing a halt to production

in the crucial period of offloading to fill

out logbooks. Several commenters were

also concerned about potential

violations and who would be held

responsible if the trip identifier is not

reported. Since dealer compliance

would be dependent upon compliance

by the vessel owner/operator,

establishing responsibility for

compliance would be difficult.

Three commenters supported the rule

to provide a trip identifier, expressing

that it would not be unreasonable or

cumbersome for dealers to provide the

information. One commenter felt that

this change would help improve the

accuracy of landings data and it would

also make it easier to determine the

location of catches.

Response: While the requirement for

federally permitted dealers to provide a

trip identifier is in the existing

regulations, trip identifier has not been

defined, and, thus, has not been

reported by industry. Supplying a trip

identifier for each trip from which fish

are purchased would aid in matching

dealer data with the corresponding

vessel data by using a uniquely

identifiable serial number from the

vessel logbook, if applicable, or a

combination of the date sailed, and, if

the vessel sailed more than once on the

same day, the sequential trip number

within that date sailed. NMFS believes

that having a unique trip identifier to

link dealer and vessel data is critical to

provide accurate data for fishery

scientists, managers and analysts to

quantify harvest rates, set quotas,

predict closures, and assess stocks.

Because of its importance, reporting a

trip identifier will be mandatory in the

near future.

Comment 2: Five commenters

opposed the requirement to complete

trip reports prior to entering port with

fish because of a variety of physical

conditions at sea that sometimes make

it impossible to complete a vessel trip

report. Also, loss of revenue may result

from having to complete trip reports

rather than actually fishing while at sea.

One commenter expressed that although

the Agency requires ‘‘hail weight,’’ a

captain may not have the ability to

estimate weights accurately and that

actual weights would allow

assessments, analyses and management

decisions to be based on more accurate

data. One commenter also perceived the

requirement as an excuse to revoke

licenses for non-compliance. Another

commenter expressed concern that

completing trip reports at sea does not

promote legibility and/or accuracy.

Response: Although NMFS

understands the industry’s concerns, the

Agency’s objective is to collect the most

accurate data. To ensure that NMFS is

receiving the most accurate data, the

information should be recorded at the

time of the vessel’s trip. The

information submitted on the vessel trip

reports, such as the vessel’s gear type

and statistical area fished, is used to

augment the dealer data, which provide

exact weight and value. These data are

used by fishery scientists, managers,

and analysts to quantify harvest rates,

set quotas, predict closures, and assess

stock status. This modification would

enhance the enforceability of the

reporting requirements.

Therefore, NMFS is requiring that all

information in the logbooks, other than

that which is not able to be ascertained,

be completed prior to entering port with

fish. To complete the log books within

this time frame, this action clarifies that

vessel owners/operators must report

hail weight, defined as a good faith

estimate, by species, or parts of species,

such as monkfish livers, of all fish

landed or discarded.

Comment 3: Two commenters were

concerned with NMFS over- burdening

the industry with reporting

requirements. Another concern was that

additional data-collection measures will

impose increased costs of compliance

60894 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 199 / Friday, October 13, 2000 / Rules and Regulations

(without improvements in data

collection); present unnecessary

complexity due to differences between

primary versus secondary product sales

at auction; and introduce administrative

burdens, increasing both risk and

liability to dealers.

Response: The intention of the

proposed changes is to improve the

collection of fisheries-dependent data

by modifying or clarifying several dealer

and vessel reporting requirements. It

will also improve the monitoring of

commercial landings and enhance the

enforceability of the reporting

regulations. The modifications and

clarifications of the existing regulations

being implemented by this rule do not

add any new reporting requirements.

Comment 4: One commenter was

concerned that requiring a vessel

logbook report to be submitted for ‘‘each

trip taken’’ rather than for ‘‘each day of

the trip’’ would result in the loss of

detailed catch and area information, and

that the vessel logbook information

would be diminished in value.

Response: This rule would not change

the current regulations that require a

separate logbook report to be completed

for each statistical area fished, and each

change in gear or mesh size within a

trip. Existing regulations state that

vessels must submit an ‘‘accurate daily

fishing log report’’ for all trips. This has

resulted in misinterpretation of when a

logbook report must be completed and

submitted. To clarify that reports must

be submitted only for each fishing trip,

the word ‘‘daily’’ would be removed

from the existing regulations. Because a

separate report will continue to be

required for any change in gear type,

mesh or statistical area, this change will

not cause any pertinent data to be lost.

Comment 5: One commenter was

concerned that an extra paperwork

burden would be imposed on the Maine

Mahogany Quahog dealers to report the

ocean quahog landings to NMFS

because Maine Mahogany Quahog

dealers are also required to submit

monthly reports to the state of Maine.

The commenter expressed that detailed

weekly reports are too burdensome to an

industry with limited clerical staff.

Response: As part of the final rule

implementing Amendment 10 for the

Atlantic Surfclam and Ocean Quahog

Fisheries (63 FR 27481, May 19, 1998)

and joint management between NMFS

and the state of Maine, NMFS is

responsible for setting and monitoring

Maine Mahogany quahog quotas. Maine

dealers are currently required to submit

weekly reports to NMFS. Although

state- certified dealers submit monthly

reports to the state of Maine, they need

to submit weekly reports, within 3 days

of the end of the reporting week, to

NMFS so that the Agency may

effectively monitor quotas. NMFS is

working with the state of Maine in an

effort to eliminate duplicate reporting,

where possible.

Comment 6: Two comments received

stated that the additional record

retention from 1 year to 3 years is not

justified, and that 2 more years of

additional storage is unreasonable.

Response: Increasing the record

retention requirement for dealer and

vessel reports from 1 year to a total of

3 years, after the date of the last entry

on the report, is consistent with

standard business practices and the

Internal Revenue Service requirements.

In keeping with current regulations,

vessel owner/operators will continue to

be required to retain logbooks on board

the vessel for at least 1 year. It will

allow for validating the compliance of

past landings reported by dealers and

vessel owners or operators. Requirement

of records for storage for the total

retention period would be minimal

since many companies keep their

records for at least 3 years for business

purposes already. In addition, only 1

year need be stored on board. Thus, the

actual amount of records required to be

on board a vessel has not changed.

Comment 7: Two commenters who

were opposed to the requirement for

dealers to fill out an annual processing

report on all processed seafood stated

that most product is in some way

processed, whether purchased from

vessels, domestic dealers or foreign

countries. One commenter felt that

NMFS should currently have enough

data with landing data, import data and

employment data to assess economic

factors in the processing industry. One

commenter stated that completion time

would exceed the estimated 30 minutes

per annual report.

Response: The data on volume and

value are used by NMFS and Regional

Fishery Management Council

economists to estimate processing

capacity and to forecast and

subsequently measure the economic

impact of fishery management

regulations on fish and shellfish

supplies. The information collected

through all sections of the Annual

Processed Product survey is a necessary

part of the economic and social analyses

NMFS must perform when proposing

and evaluating management actions

affecting federally managed fisheries.

Many of the species under Federal

management are considered overfished

and some stocks have reached critically

low levels. In order to manage these

fisheries effectively and balance the

needs of the resource and the industry

members, NMFS must have a

comprehensive database that accurately

represents the fishing industry,

including the processing segment of the

industry. If decisions affecting the

fisheries are based on inadequate or

incomplete data, the long-term viability

and economic yield from those fisheries,

as well as the credibility of the fishery

management process itself, are

jeopardized.

Direct feedback from respondents

provide the estimate for average

response time. The 30 minutes per

response was based on a statistical

analysis of 1,260 respondents.

Comment 8: Two commenters felt that

NMFS should place the same level of

reporting requirements on the

recreational sector, including party/

charter vessels and head boats, as exist

for the commercial vessels. They were

concerned that statistical information on

the recreational sector is lacking.

Response: Any recreational fishing

vessel that fishes for federally managed

species in the EEZ, under 50 CFR part

648, and takes passengers for hire, must

have been issued a Federal permit.

Federally-permitted vessels in the

recreational fisheries are subject to the

same reporting requirements as

federally permitted commercial vessels.

Under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery

Conservation and Management Act,

recreational fishing vessels that do not

fish in the EEZ are not required to be

issued a Federal permit, and therefore

are not subject to Federal reporting

requirements. Similarly, recreational

vessels that fish in the EEZ for their own

recreation and do not take passengers

for hire are also not required to obtain

a Federal permit and are not required to

report their catch. However, recreational

vessels do provide catch and effort data

to NMFS for inclusion in the Marine

Recreational Fishery Statistics Survey.

Changes From the Proposed Rule

Because reporting a trip identifier is

not being implemented at this time,

changes were made to two sections of

the proposed rule to clarify the

measures and the intent of the

regulations, and to respond to public

comments. These changes are listed

here in the order that they appear in the

regulations:

Section 648.2 is revised to delete

definitions for ‘‘Serial number’’ and

‘‘Trip identifier’’ to reflect that the ‘‘trip

identifier’’ requirement is not being

implemented at this time. The

definition for ‘‘Hail weight’’ has been

expanded to clarify that a party or

charter vessel report in numbers of

individual fish.

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 199 / Friday, October 13, 2000 / Rules and Regulations 60895

In § 648.7, paragraph (b)(1)(i) is

modified to reflect the new language

from the final rule implementing

Amendment 1 to the FMP for the

Atlantic Bluefish Fishery. The new

language was incorporated into the

Atlantic bluefish final rule to make it

easier for the public to understand

which vessel owner/operators are

affected by the reporting requirements

specified in this part. Also, in this

paragraph the phrase ‘‘hail weight, in

pounds (or count, if a party or charter

vessel) by species, of all species landed

or discarded’’ was expanded to read

‘‘hail weight, in pounds (or count of

individual fish, if a party or charter

vessel), by species, of all species, or

parts of species, such as monkfish

livers, landed or discarded.’’

The President has directed Federal

agencies to use plain language in their

communications with the public,

including regulations. To comply with

this directive, we seek public comment

on any ambiguity or unnecessary

complexity arising from the language

used in this rule. Send comments to

Patricia Kurkul (see ADDRESSES).

Classification

This final rule has been determined to

be not significant for purposes of

Executive Order 12866.

The Chief Counsel for Regulation of

the Department of Commerce certified

to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the

Small Business Administration that this

final rule would not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial

number of small entities. The basis for

this certification was contained in the

classification section of the proposed

rule and is not repeated here. No

comments were received regarding this

certification. As a result, a regulatory

flexibility analysis was not prepared.

Notwithstanding 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

with a collection of information subject

to the requirements of the Paperwork

Reduction Act (PRA) unless that

collection of information displays a

currently valid Office of Management

and Budget (OMB) control number.

This rule contains collection-ofinformation requirements subject to

review and approval by the OMB under

the PRA, and clarifies or modifies

requirements previously approved

under OMB control number 0648–0229

(2 minutes per response for dealer

purchase reports, 4 minutes for

interactive voice response reports, and

30 minutes for shellfish processor

reports); OMB control number 0648–

0212 (5 minutes per response for vessel

logbook reports and 12 minutes for

shellfish logs); and OMB control

number 0648–0018 (30 minutes per

response for processed products reports

and 15 minutes for fish meal and oil

production reports). The requirement to

complete all sections of the Annual

Processed Products Report was

approved on March 4, 2000, under OMB

control number 0648–0018. Public

reporting burden for this collection of

information is estimated to average 30

minutes per response.

The aforementioned response

estimates include the time for reviewing

instructions, searching existing data

sources, gathering and maintaining the

data needed, and completing and

reviewing the collection of information.

Send comments regarding this burden

estimate, or any other aspect of this data

collection, including suggestions for

reducing the burden, to NMFS and OMB

(see ADDRESSES).

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648

Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements.

Dated: October 6, 2000.

William T. Hogarth,

Deputy Assistant Administrator for Fisheries,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

For the reasons set out in the

preamble, 50 CFR part 648 is amended

as follows:

PART 648—FISHERIES OF THE

NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

1. The authority citation for part 648

continues to read as follows:

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

2. Section 648.2 is revised by adding

definition for ‘‘Hail Weight’’, to read as

follows:

§ 648.2 Definitions.

* * * * *

Hail Weight means a good-faith

estimate in pounds (or count of

individual fish, if a party or charter

vessel), by species, of all species, or

parts of species, such as monkfish

livers, landed or discarded for each trip.

* * * * *

3. In § 648.7 paragraphs (f)(1)(ii) and

(f)(1)(iii) are redesignated as (f)(1)(iii)

and (f)(1)(iv) respectively; new

paragraph (f)(1)(ii) is added; paragraph

(f)(2) is redesignated as paragraph

(f)(2)(i) and the first sentence is revised;

new paragraph (f)(2)(ii) is added; and

paragraphs (a)(3)(i), (b)(1)(i), (c), (e), and

(f)(1)(i) first sentence are revised to read

as follows:

§ 648.7 Recordkeeping and reporting

requirements.

(a) * * *

(3) * * *

(i) All dealers issued a dealer permit

under this part, with the exception of

those processing only surfclams or

ocean quahogs, must complete all

sections of the Annual Processed

Products Report for all species of fish or

shellfish that were processed during the

previous year. Reports must be

submitted to the address supplied by

the Regional Administrator.

* * * * *

(b) * * *

(1) * * *

(i) The owner or operator of any

vessel issued a valid permit under this

part must maintain on board the vessel,

and submit, an accurate fishing log

report for each fishing trip, regardless of

species fished for or taken, on forms

supplied by or approved by the Regional

Administrator. If authorized in writing

by the Regional Administrator, a vessel

owner or operator may submit reports

electronically, for example by using a

VMS or other media. With the exception

of those vessel owners or operators

fishing under a surfclam or ocean

quahog permit, at least the following

information and any other information

required by the Regional Administrator,

must be provided: vessel name; USCG

documentation number (or state

registration number, if undocumented);

permit number; date/time sailed; date/

time landed; trip type; number of crew;

number of anglers (if a charter or party

boat); gear fished; quantity and size of

gear; mesh/ring size; chart area fished;

average depth; latitude/longitude (or

loran station and bearings); total hauls

per area fished; average tow time

duration; hail weight, in pounds (or

count of individual fish, if a party or

charter vessel), by species, of all species,

or parts of species, such as monkfish

livers, landed or discarded; dealer

permit number; dealer name; date sold,

port and state landed; and vessel

operator’s name, signature, and

operator’s permit number (if applicable).

* * * * *

(c) When to fill out a log report. Log

reports required by paragraph (b)(1)(i) of

this section must be filled out with all

required information, except for

information not yet ascertainable, prior

to entering port with fish. Information

that may be considered unascertainable

prior to entering port with fish includes

dealer name, dealer permit number, and

date sold. Log reports must be

completed as soon as the information

becomes available. Log reports required

by paragraph (b)(1)(ii) of this section

60896 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 199 / Friday, October 13, 2000 / Rules and Regulations

must be filled out before landing any

surfclams or ocean quahogs.

* * * * *

(e) Record retention. Copies of dealer

reports, and records upon which the

reports were based, must be retained

and be available for review for a total of

3 years after the date of the last entry on

the report. Dealers must retain required

reports and records at their principal

place of business. Copies of fishing log

reports must be kept on board the vessel

for at least 1 year and available for

review and retained for a total of 3 years

after the date of the last entry on the log.

(f) * * *

(1) * * *

(i) Detailed weekly trip reports,

required by paragraph (a)(1)(i) of this

section, must be postmarked or received

within 16 days after the end of each

reporting week. * * *

(ii) Surfclam and ocean quahog

reports, required by paragraph (a)(1)(ii)

of this section, must be postmarked or

received within 3 days after the end of

each reporting week.

* * * * *

(2) * * *

(i) Fishing vessel log reports, required

by paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section,

must be postmarked or received within

15 days after the end of the reporting

month. * * *

(ii) Surfclam and ocean quahog log

reports, required by paragraph (b)(1)(ii)

of this section, must be postmarked or

received within 3 days after the end of

each reporting week.

* * * * *

FR Doc. 00–26357 Filed 10–12–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S