Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 28 / Thursday, February 10, 2000 / Proposed Rules 6577

for one area might be different from

those in another area.

Comments Requested

The Council and the Commission are

particularly interested in answers to the

following questions:

(1) Should there be a limited entry or

controlled access system in the Atlantic

herring fishery?

(2) If there is a limited entry or

controlled access system, should it be

adopted for the entire fishery or only for

certain management areas?

(3) When should the limited entry or

controlled access system become

effective? Should it become effective on

different dates in different areas?

(4) In a limited entry or controlled

access system, what type of

qualification criteria should be used to

determine who receives a limited entry

permit? For example, should permits be

issued based on past landings or on a

vessel holding another permit?

(5) If past landings are used to

determine who qualifies for a permit,

what should the level of landings be to

qualify? What is the appropriate time

period to be examined?

(6) What types of permit categories

should be considered? For example,

should there be directed fishery permits

and incidental catch permits, or

different permits for different gear

types?

(7) Should permits be freely

transferable, or should they be subject to

limits?

(8) Should there be upgrading

restrictions on permits?

(9) What other management measures,

if any, should be included in the limited

entry or controlled access system? For

example, should days-at-sea limits, trip

limits, or gear restrictions be used to

further control effort?

(10) Should an individual quota

system be part of the controlled access

program? (Under current law, an

individual quota system may not be

submitted to the Secretary for approval

and implementation before October 1,

2000.) If an individual quota system is

considered,—

(a) How should individual fishing

quotas be allocated?

(b) Should they be allocated to

vessels, individuals, or communities?

(c) Should there be limits on the

transferability of individual fishing

quotas?

(d) Should there be limits on how

much quota can be obtained by one

permit holder?

(e) How should present and historical

participation in the fishery be

considered?

(f) If an individual fishing quota

program is developed, how should

effective enforcement, management, and

observer coverage be provided, and how

should fees to recover actual

enforcement and management costs be

structured?

(g) If an individual fishing quota is

developed, how should a portion of the

annual harvest be allocated to entry

level fishermen, small vessel owners,

and crew members who do not qualify

for individual quotas?

(11) What communities do you think

would be most affected by a limited

entry program for Atlantic herring? How

would they be affected?

(12) What social and/or cultural

factors within these communities

should the Council consider when

developing a limited access program for

Atlantic herring?

(13) What do you think are the

potential social impacts (negative and/

or positive) of a limited access program

for Atlantic herring?

Scoping Process

All persons affected by or otherwise

interested in herring fisheries

management are invited to participate in

determining the scope and significance

of issues to be analyzed by submitting

written comments (see ADDRESSES) or by

attending one of the scoping hearings.

Scope consists of the range of actions,

alternatives, and impacts to be

considered. Alternatives include the

following: Not amending the

management plan (taking no action),

developing an amendment that contains

such management measures as the ones

previously mentioned in this notice, or

other reasonable courses of action.

Impacts may be direct, individual, or

cumulative. The scoping process will

also identify and eliminate from

detailed study issues that are not

significant. If, after the scoping process

is completed, the Council proceeds with

the development of an amendment to

the FMP, the Council will prepare an

SEIS or Environmental Assessment, as

appropriate, depending on the nature of

the amendment to be developed. The

Council and the Commission will hold

public hearings to receive comments on

the draft amendment and on the

analysis of its impacts on the human

environment.

Public Hearing Schedule

The Council and the Commission will

discuss and take scoping comments at

public meetings as follows:

Tuesday, February 22, 2000, 7 p.m.,

Cape May County Extension Office, 355

Courthouse–South Dennis road, Cape

May Courthouse, New Jersey. Telephone

(609) 465–5115.

Wednesday, February 23, 2000, 1

p.m., Trade Winds Hotel, 2 Park Drive,

Rockland, ME 04841. Telephone (207)

596–6661.

Thursday, February 24, 2000, 3 p.m.,

Radisson Airport Hotel, 2081 Post Road,

Warwick, RI 02886. Telephone (401)

739–3000.

Tuesday, February 29, 2000, 3 p.m.

King’s Grant Inn, Trask Road, Route

128, Exit 21N, Danvers, MA 01923.

Telephone (978) 774–6800.

Special Accommodations

The meetings are physically

accessible to people with disabilities.

Requests for sign language

interpretation or other auxiliary aids

should be directed to Paul J. Howard

(see ADDRESSES) at least 5 days prior to

this meeting date.

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

Dated: February 4, 2000.

Bruce C. Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 00–3005 Filed 2–9–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[Docket No. 000124018–0018–01; I.D.

122999A]

RIN 0648–AN38

Fisheries off West Coast States and in

the Western Pacific; Pacific Coast

Groundfish Fishery; Advance Notice of

Proposed Rulemaking to Establish a

Control Date

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed

rulemaking; request for comments.

SUMMARY: The Pacific Fishery

Management Council (Council) is

considering management measures to

reduce harvest capacity in the open

access portion of the Pacific Coast

groundfish fishery in Federal waters off

Washington, Oregon, and California.

NMFS has previously made a similar

announcement relating to the limited

entry and recreational portions of the

fishery. This document announces a

control date for the open access portion

of November 5, 1999, and is intended to

promote awareness of potential

eligibility criteria for future access to the

6578 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 28 / Thursday, February 10, 2000 / Proposed Rules

open access portion of the Pacific Coast

groundfish fishery. The announcement

is intended to discourage new entries

into this fishery and increased fishing

effort based on economic speculation

while the Council contemplates whether

and how access should be controlled.

Vessels entering the fisheries after

November 5, 1999, may be subject to

restrictions different from those that

apply to vessels in the fishery prior to

November 5, 1999. If catch history is

used as a basis for future participation

or allocation, it is likely that

participation in the fishery after

November 5, 1999, would not count

toward future allocations or

participation in a limited access

scheme. Because potential eligibility

criteria for future management measures

may be based on historical

participation, fishery participants may

need to preserve records that

substantiate and verify their

participation in the groundfish fishery

in Federal waters.

DATES: Comments may be submitted in

writing by March 13, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to

Jim Lone, Chairman, Pacific Fishery

Management Council, 2130 SW Fifth

Avenue, Suite 224, Portland OR 97201.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The

Pacific Fishery Management Council at

503–326–6352; or Bill Robinson at 206–

526–6140; or Svein Fougner at 562–

980–4000.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery

Management Plan (FMP) was approved

on January 4, 1982 (47 FR 43964,

October 5 1982), and has been amended

11 times. Implementing regulations for

the FMP and its amendments are

codified at 50 CFR Part 660. On

November 16, 1992, NMFS published

final regulations implementing

Amendment 6 to the FMP. Amendment

6 and its implementing regulations

established a license limitation program

and divided the Pacific Coast

commercial groundfish fishery into

limited entry and open access segments.

The limited entry fishery is comprised

of permitted vessels using trawl,

longline and/or trap (pot) gear. The

open access fishery is comprised of

unpermitted vessels that use all other

gear, as well as vessels that do not have

limited entry permits endorsed for use

of longline or trap gear but make small

landings with longline or trap gear.

NMFS had previously made an

announcement that the Council is

considering additional management

measures to further limit harvest

capacity or to allocate between or

within the limited entry commercial

and the recreational groundfish

fisheries. In order to discourage fishers

from intensifying their fishing efforts for

the purpose of amassing catch history

for any allocation or additional limited

access program developed by the

Council, the Council announced on

April 9, 1998, that any program would

not include consideration of catch

landed after that date. NMFS announced

that the Council was planning to

consider catch history through the 1997

season (63 FR 53637, October 6, 1998).

At its April 1999 meeting, the Council

reviewed a proposal to create a limited

entry program to limit new entrants into

the open access fishery. At this same

meeting, the Council’s Groundfish

Advisory Subpanel (GAP) encouraged

the Council to move toward the

development of an individual quota (IQ)

program for the limited entry and open

access fisheries as a means of managing

harvest capacity. Under Section

303(d)(1)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens

Fishery Conservation and Management

Act, the Council cannot submit

recommendations for an IQ program to

the Secretary of Commerce before

October 1, 2000, however, the Council

is not prohibited from developing such

a program.

At its June 1999 meeting, the Council

further examined the proposal to create

a limited entry program to limit new

entrants into the open access fishery.

Members of the Council expressed

concerns that restricting new entrants

into the fishery would not adequately

address harvest capacity concerns. Even

though the need to limit new entrants

into the open access fleet was

recognized, this measure did not go

forward for further development.

Limited access and participation in the

open access fisheries were further

discussed at the November 1999

Council meeting, resulting in this

document.

Because the document published on

October 6, 1998, refers specifically to

management measures to restrain

harvest capacity in the limited entry

fishery, the Council saw a need to

establish a control date for the open

access fishery while management

measures to restrain harvest capacity

throughout the entire groundfish fishery

are being considered. At its November

meeting, the Council unanimously

recommended that a control date of

November 5, 1999, be established and

the public be notified that the Council

is considering the need to impose

additional management measures to

restrain harvest capacity in the open

access fishery. The Council announced

this control date for the open access

portion of the Pacific Coast groundfish

fishery in its November 1999 newsletter.

The newsletter was distributed to the

public in the middle of November.

Vessels entering the fishery after

November 5, 1999, may be subject to

restrictions different from those that

apply to vessels in the fishery prior to

November 5, 1999. If catch history is

used as a basis for participation or

allocation, it is likely that participation

in the fishery after the control date

would not count toward future

allocations in a limited access scheme.

Fishers are not guaranteed future

participation in the groundfish fishery,

regardless of their date of entry or level

of participation in the fishery.

This action does not commit the

Council to develop any particular

management regime or to use any

specific criteria for determining entry to

the fishery. The Council may choose a

different control date, or may choose a

management program that does not

make use of such a date.

Implementation of any management

measures for the fishery will require

amendment of the regulations

implementing the FMP, and may require

amending the FMP. Any action will

require Council development of a

regulatory proposal with public input

and a supporting analysis, NMFS

approval, and publication of

implementing regulations in the Federal

Register.

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

Dated: February 4, 2000.

Penelope D. Dalton,

Assistant Administrator for Fisheries,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 00–3150 Filed 2–9–00; 8:45 am]

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