[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 48 (Wednesday, March 12, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 11411-11412]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-6071]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
50 CFR Part 648

[I.D. 022897B]


Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council; Public Hearings

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

ACTION: Public hearings; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will 
hold public hearings to allow for input on Amendment 10 to the Fishery 
Management Plan for the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass 
Fisheries (FMP).

DATES: Written comments on Amendment 10 will be accepted until April 
25, 1997. The public hearings are scheduled to be held from March 25 to 
April 10, 1997. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for specific dates and 
times.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to David R. Keifer, Executive Director, Mid-
Atlantic Fishery Management Council, Room 2115 Federal Building, 300 
South New Street, Dover, DE 19904.
    The hearings will be held in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, 
Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, and North 
Carolina. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for locations of the hearings.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David R. Keifer, Executive Director, 
302-674-2331.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Amendments 2 through 9 to the FMP, as adopted by the Council and 
the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and approved by NMFS, 
established procedures for setting annual catch specifications, 
including recreational harvest limits and commercial quotas, for summer 
flounder, scup, and black sea bass, established minimum fish sizes, 
required that commercial vessels and party and charter boats obtain 
permits, established overfishing definitions for the three species, 
established limited entry of additional vessels into the fisheries for 
the three species, implemented minimum mesh net regulations in the 
three fisheries and developed a dealer and vessel reporting system.
    The preferred management measures for Amendment 10 adopted by the 
Council for hearings are:
    1. Modify the commercial minimum mesh regulations such that the 
minimum mesh provisions (currently 5.5-inch (13.10 cm) diamond mesh) 
apply to the entire net;
    2. Continue the moratorium on entry of additional commercial 
vessels into the summer flounder fishery;
    3. Remove the requirement that a vessel with a moratorium permit 
must land summer flounder at some point during a 52-week period to 
retain the moratorium permit;
    4. Require that states document all summer flounder commercial 
landings in their state that are not otherwise

[[Page 11412]]

included in the Federal monitoring of permit holders;
    5. Implement a provision such that any state could be granted de 
minimus status if commercial summer flounder landings during the last 
preceding calendar year were less than 0.1 percent of the total 
coastwide quota;
    6. Prohibit transfer of summer flounder at sea; and
    7. Establish a special state permit for party/charter vessels to 
allow the possession of summer flounder parts smaller than the minimum 
size.
    In addition, proposed Amendment 10 will reconsider the vessel 
replacement criteria and commercial quota system implemented by 
Amendment 2.

Public Hearings

    All hearings will begin at 7 p.m., except the New York hearings, 
which will begin at 7:30 p.m. The dates and locations of the hearings 
are scheduled as follows:
    1. Tuesday, March 25, 1997--Dunes Manor Hotel, 28th Street and the 
Ocean, Ocean City, MD.
    2. Monday, April 7, 1997--North Carolina State Aquarium, Airport 
Road, Manteo, NC.
    3. Monday, April 7, 1997--Massachusetts Maritime Academy, 101 
Academy Drive, Buzzards Bay, MA.
    4. Monday, April 7, 1997--Marine and Academic Center, Kingsborough 
Community College, Manhattan Beach, NY.
    5. Tuesday, April 8, 1997--Cornell Coop Extension Office, 246 
Griffing Avenue, Riverhead, NY.
    6. Tuesday, April 8, 1997--Holiday Inn, Routes 1 and 138, S. 
Kingston, RI.
    7. Tuesday, April 8, 1997--Joslyn Hall, Carteret Community College, 
3505 Arendell Street, Morehead City, NC.
    8. Wednesday, April 9, 1997--Cape May Extension Office, Dennisville 
Road, Cape May Courthouse, NJ.
    9. Wednesday, April 9, 1997--Quality Inn Lake Wright, 6280 
Northampton Boulevard, Norfolk, VA.
    10. Wednesday, April 9, 1997--Holiday Inn, I-95 and Thames Road, 
New London, CT.
    11. Thursday, April 10, 1997--Holiday Inn, 290 State Highway, 37 
East, Toms River, NJ.
    The hearings will be tape recorded with the tapes filed as the 
official transcript of the hearings.
    These hearings are physically accessible to people with 
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other 
auxiliary aids should be directed to Joanna Davis at the Council (see 
ADDRESSES) at least 5 days prior to the hearing date.

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

    Dated: March 5, 1997.
Bruce Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 97-6071 Filed 3-11-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F