[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 219 (Monday, November 13, 2000)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 67709]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-28954]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 600

[I.D. 102500A]


Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; General Provisions for Domestic 
Fisheries; Applications for Exempted Fishing Permits (EFPs)

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notification of a denial of a proposal for EFPs.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS 
(Regional Administrator), has denied the request to issue EFPs to 
conduct fishing operations otherwise restricted by the regulations 
governing the fisheries of the Northeastern United States due to 
enforcement difficulties. A delegation of the City of Gloucester, 
composed of representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the 
Gloucester Mayor's Office, local industry, the Gloucester Fisheries 
Commission, and the Massachusetts Fisheries Recovery Commission, 
requested the issuance of EFPs to conduct a 3-month pilot study 
beginning October 1, 2000. The EFPs would have allowed commercial 
vessels to enter Gloucester Harbor with overages of haddock to seek 
refuge from unsafe weather conditions related to wind and sea state.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bonnie Van Pelt, Fishery Management 
Specialist, 978-281-9244.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 29, 2000, NMFS published 
notification of an application for an EFP to address safety issues 
associated with haddock trip limits (65 FR 52404). The EFP would have 
allowed commercial vessels to enter Gloucester Harbor with overages of 
haddock when unsafe conditions caused by wind or sea state prevent the 
vessels from remaining at sea. A more detailed description of the 
proposed EFP pilot program was contained in that notice and is not 
repeated here.
    The Joint Enforcement Oversight and Advisory Panel (Enforcement 
Committee), consisting of members of the NMFS Office of Enforcement, 
the U.S. Coast Guard, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, met on 
September 21, 2000, to discuss the EFP pilot program application. The 
Enforcement Committee passed a motion that was carried forward to the 
New England Fishery Management Council (Council) that the pilot program 
not be approved in its current form due to the difficulty in adequately 
enforcing the EFP conditions. The Council agreed that the pilot program 
should not be pursued in its current form and advised NMFS not to 
approve the pilot program. Therefore, because of the enforcement 
concerns, and the recommendation of the Council, the Regional 
Administrator has denied the EFP application.
    Additionally, because projections of the total allowable catch 
(TAC) target for haddock indicate that the haddock target TAC will not 
be harvested by the end of the current fishing year (April 30, 2001), 
the Regional Administrator has recently suspended the daily trip limits 
for haddock through February 28, 2001 (65 FR 63549, October 24, 2000), 
while maintaining the per trip maximum possession limit, as authorized 
under 50 CFR 648.86(a)(iii)(B). Eliminating the daily trip limit for 
haddock during the period when weather-related sea conditions have 
historically been the worst also eliminates the need for vessels 
fishing for haddock to wait out hazardous weather conditions at sea and 
relieves the need for the proposed EFP.

    Dated: November 6, 2000.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 00-28954 Filed 11-09-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S