27866 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 98 /Thursday, May 21, 1998 /Rules and Regulations

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 971015246–7293–02; I.D.

051498C]

Fisheries of the Northeastern United

States; Scup Fisheries; Rescission of

1998 Summer Period Scup Fisheries

Closures in Delaware, New Hampshire,

Maryland, and Massachusetts

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Rescission of closures.

SUMMARY: NMFS issues this notification

announcing the rescission of closures

previously issued for the Delaware, New

Hampshire, Massachusetts, and

Maryland Summer period scup fisheries

for 1998. This rescission is in

compliance with an April 27, 1998,

Order of the United States District Court

for Massachusetts (Court), which voided

state-by-state allocation of the Summer

period commercial scup fishing quota.

The public is advised that landings are

allowed for the Summer period in

Delaware, New Hampshire, Maryland,

and Massachusetts and that the quota is

being administered on a coastwide

basis.

DATES: Effective May 18, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Regina L. Spallone, Fishery Policy

Analyst, 978–281–9221.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS, in

compliance with regulations found at 50

CFR 648.120, closed the 1998 scup

Summer period commercial fisheries of

Delaware and New Hampshire (62 FR

66304, December 18, 1997),

Massachusetts (63 FR 3478, January 23,

1998), and Maryland (63 FR 23227,

April 28, 1998) after determining

through quota adjustments that these

States had used their entire available

Summer period commercial scup quota.

These closures were to be effective May

1, 1998, through October 31, 1998. In response to a lawsuit filed by the

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the

Court, on April 27, 1998, ordered that

the state-by-state allocation system for

the summer commercial scup fishery, as

codified in 50 CFR 648.120, is void.

Since the state closures were triggered

by the state-by-state allocation system

required under 50 CFR 648.120, the

basis for closing these fisheries is

removed, and the closures are

rescinded. The 1998 Summer period

quota of 1,780,794 lb (807,755 kg) will

be administered on a coastwide basis.

Classification

This action is required by 50 CFR part

648 and is exempt from review under

E.O. 12866.

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

Dated: May 15, 1998.

Gary C. Matlock,

Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 98–13497 Filed 5–18–98; 9:52 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 09–302051–8119–02; I.D.

021198B]

RIN 0648–AK78

Fisheries of the Northeastern United

States; Fishery Management Plan

(FMP) for the Summer Flounder, Scup,

and Black Sea Bass Fisheries;

Recreational Measures for the 1998

Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black

Sea Bass Fisheries

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: NMFS issues this final rule to

amend the regulations implementing the

FMP for the Summer Flounder, Scup,

and Black Sea Bass Fisheries. This rule

implements a possession limit of eight

fish per person and a minimum fish size

of 15 inches (38 cm) for the 1998

summer flounder recreational fishery; a

minimum fish size of 10 inches (25.4

cm) and an August 1 through August 15

seasonal closure for the 1998 black sea

bass recreational fishery; and no change

in the current regulations for the 1998

scup recreational fishery. The intent of

this rule is to comply with the

regulations implementing the FMP for

the fisheries that require NMFS to

implement measures for the upcoming

fishing year that will prevent

overfishing of these resources.

DATES: Effective June 22, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the

Environmental Assessment prepared for

the 1998 summer flounder, scup, and

black sea bass specifications and

supporting documents used by the

Monitoring Committee are available

from: Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic

Fishery Management Council, Room

2115, Federal Building, 300 S. New

Street, Dover, DE 19901–6790.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

David M. Gouveia, Fishery Management

Specialist, (978) 281–9280.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FMP

was developed jointly by the MidAtlantic Fishery Management Council

(Council) and the Atlantic States Marine

Fisheries Commission (Commission), in

consultation with the New England and

South Atlantic Fishery Management

Councils. Implementing regulations for

the fishery are found at 50 CFR part 648.

Sections 648.100, 648.120, and

648.140 outline the process for

determining annual commercial and

recreational catch quotas and other

restrictions for the summer flounder,

scup, and black sea bass fisheries.

Pursuant to these sections, the

Administrator, Northeast Region,

NMFS, implements measures for the

fishing year to ensure achievement of

the fishing mortality rate specified in

the FMP. This document announces the

following measures pertaining to the

recreational fishery, which are

unchanged from the proposed measures

that were published in the Federal

Register on March 17, 1998 (63 FR

13208): (1) An individual possession

limit of eight fish per person and a

minimum fish size of 15 inches (38 cm)

for the 1998 summer flounder

recreational fishery; (2) a minimum fish

size of 10 inches (25.4 cm) and an

August 1 through August 15 seasonal

closure for the 1998 black sea bass

recreational fishery; and (3) no-change

in the current regulations for the 1998

scup recreational fishery (a minimum

fish size of 7 inches (17.78 cm)). The

preamble to the proposed rule provided

background concerning the

development of these measures and that

information is not repeated here.

In addition to these measures, the

Council and Commission considered

measures to reduce discard mortality

associated with the recreational fishery.

Discard mortality was addressed for the

commercial fishery by requiring each

state to establish a 15 percent

commercial quota set aside for a bycatch

fishery. The Council intended to

recommend a recreational hook

requirement to address discard

mortality in that sector.

However, Commission staff presented

the results of a literature review that

revealed few available studies available

on which to base hook size

requirements for summer flounder.

Therefore, the Council and Commission

took action based on the limited studies

available and testimony from fishery

participants. During the 1998 fishery,