Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 48 / Wednesday, March 12, 1997 / Proposed Rules 11411

ACTION: Notice of public hearings;

request for comments.

SUMMARY: NMFS will hold four public

hearings to receive comments from

fishery participants and other members

of the public regarding proposed

amendments to regulations governing

the Atlantic tuna fisheries. The

proposed rule would amend regulations

governing the Atlantic tuna fisheries to:

Divide the large school-small medium

size class quota and the large mediumgiant quotas of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna

(ABT) into north and south regional

subquotas; establish a new tuna permit

program to provide for category

changes, annual renewals and the

collection of fees; establish authority for

self-reporting for ABT landed under the

Angling category; prohibit the retention

of ABT less than the large medium size

class by vessels permitted in the General

category; prohibit all fishing by persons

aboard vessels permitted in the General

category on designated restricted-fishing

days; and prohibit the use of spotter

aircraft except in purse seine fisheries.

The proposed regulatory amendments

are necessary to achieve domestic

management objectives for the Atlantic

tuna fisheries.

DATES: See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

for dates, times, and locations of the

public hearings. Written comments on

the proposed rule must be received on

or before March 31, 1997.

ADDRESSES: See SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION for the public hearing

locations. Written comments should be

sent to Rebecca Lent, Acting Chief,

Highly Migratory Species Management

Division (F/SF1), National Marine

Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West

Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910.

Clearly mark the outside of the envelope

‘‘Atlantic Tuna Comments.’’

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mark Murray-Brown at 508–281–9260

for the Gloucester, MA, hearing or

Christopher Rogers at 301–713–2347 for

other hearings, or for general

information.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

proposed regulatory amendments that

are the subject of the hearings are

necessary to improve management and

monitoring of the U.S. Atlantic tuna

fisheries, to implement the 1996

International Commission for the

Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT)

recommendations, and to enhance

collection of data to improve assessment

of the environmental, economic, and

social impacts of the fisheries.

A complete description of the

measures, and the purpose and need for

the proposed action, is contained in the

proposed rule published March 4, 1997

(62 FR 9726) and is not repeated here.

Copies of the proposed rule may be

obtained by writing (see ADDRESSES) or

calling one of the contact persons (see

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).

The proposed rule provided a

comment period of 30 days duration

ending on March 31, 1997.

The public hearing schedule is as

follows:

Tuesday, March 18, 1997, Gloucester,

MA, 7–9 p.m. Milton Fuller School (on

Blackburn Circle) 4 School House Rd.

Gloucester, MA 01930

For information call: (508) 281–9260

Thursday, March 20, 1997, Manteo,

NC, 7–9 p.m. North Carolina Aquarium

Airport Road

Manteo, NC 27954

For information call: (301) 713–2347

Tuesday, March 25, 1997, Toms River,

NJ, 7–9 p.m. Holiday Inn

290 State Highway 37 East

Toms River, NJ 08753

For information call: (301) 713–2347

Thursday, March 27, 1997, Silver

Spring, MD, 9 a.m. - 12 noon NOAA/

NMFS

1305 East-West Highway, Room

1W611

Silver Spring, MD 20910

For information call: (301) 713–2347

The purpose of this notice is to alert

the interested public of hearings and

provide for public participation. These

hearings are physically accessible to

people with disabilities. Requests for

sign language interpretation or other

auxiliary aids should be directed to

Rebecca Lent by March 14, 1997 (see

ADDRESSES).

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.

Dated: March 6, 1997.

Bruce Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 97–6195 Filed 3–11–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

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.

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
11412 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 48 / Wednesday, March 12, 1997 / Proposed Rules

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