Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 125 /Tuesday, June 30, 1998 /Rules and Regulations 35541

issuing carriers must submit the original

of the application letter (without

attachments), FCC Form 159, and the

appropriate fee to the Mellon Bank,

Pittsburgh, PA, at the address set forth

in § 1.1105 of this chapter. Issuing

carriers submitting tariffing fees

electronically should submit a copy of

the Form 159 and the original

application letter to the Secretary of the

Commission in lieu of the Mellon Bank.

The Form 159 should display the

Electronic Audit Code in the box in the

upper left hand corner marked

‘‘reserved’’. Issuing carriers should

submit these fee materials on the same

day as the transmission in paragraph (a)

of this section.

(c) In addition, the requirements of

§ 61.153(c) are applicable, except the

additional copy addressed to the Chief,

Tariff and Pricing Analysis Branch is

not required.

3. Section 61.52 is amended by

revising paragraph (c) to read as follows:

§ 61.52 Form, size, type, legibility, etc.

* * * * *

(c) Incumbent local exchange carriers

shall file all tariff publications and

associated documents, such as

transmittal letters, requests for special

permission, and supporting information,

electronically in accordance with the

requirements set forth in § 61.13

through § 61.17.

[FR Doc. 98–17410 Filed 6–29–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 300

[Docket No. 980225048–8059–02; I.D.

062398A]

Pacific Halibut Fisheries; Washington

Sport Fishery

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Inseason action.

SUMMARY: NMFS announces changes to

the regulations for the Area 2A sport

fishery off the south coast of

Washington. A subsection of the south

coast of Washington area, from the

Queets River south to 47°00’00’’ N. lat.,

and east of 124°40’00’’ W. long. will be

open 7 days per week, beginning June

26, 1998, until 36,648 lb (16.6 mt) are

estimated to have been taken, after

which time all sport fishing for halibut

in the south coast of Washington area

between the Queets River and

Leadbetter Point will be closed. The

purpose of this action is to allow halibut

taken as bycatch in shallow-depth sport

fishing trips to be retained, rather than

discarded.

DATES: Effective June 25, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to

William Stelle, Jr., Regional

Administrator, Northwest Region,

NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way, Seattle,

WA 98115. Information relevant to this

action is available for public review

during business hours at this address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Yvonne deReynier, 206-526-6120.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Area

2A Catch Sharing Plan for Pacific

halibut off Washington, Oregon, and

California is implemented in the annual

management measures for the Pacific

halibut fisheries published on March 17,

1998 (63 FR 13000). In accordance with

those regulations, the sport fishery in

the area from Queets River, Washington,

to Leadbetter Point, Washington opened

on May 1 and has continued for 5 days

per week (Sunday through Thursday)

since that opening. The 1998 subarea

quota for this fishery is 36,648 lb (16.1

mt). This all-depth sport fishery in this

area is scheduled to close when 1,000 lb

(0.45 mt) are projected to remain in the

subarea quota. Immediately following

that closure, the season would reopen in

the shallow-depth area from the Queets

River (47°31’42’’ N. lat.) south to

47°00’00’’ N. lat. and east of 124°40’00’’

W. long., and continue every day until

the full 36,648 lb (16.1 mt) subarea

quota is estimated to have been taken.

The best available data on June 16,

1998, indicates that as of June 14, 1998,

31,327 lb (14.2 mt) of halibut have been

taken in the area from the Queets River

south to Leadbetter Point, Washington.

Catch rate attainment for this subarea is

significantly slower than it has been in

past years, lengthening the directed

sport season over past season durations.

While a longer than usual halibut

season has been beneficial to area sport

fishery operations, the lengthened 5 day

per week fishery has had an

unanticipated impact on sport fishing

trips directed at species other than

halibut. Because the halibut fishery is

restricted to 5 days per week, halibut

must be discarded when caught

incidentally on fishing trips directed at

other species on days when halibut may

not be landed (Friday and Saturday). A

small number of halibut are taken from

the shallow depth area, where a

significant rockfish sport fishery occurs.

Allowing halibut landings for 7 days per

week from this area will eliminate

unnecessary discard of incidentallycaught halibut. Any halibut landed from

the shallow-depth fishery on a Friday or

a Saturday will count against the alldepth fishing quota of 35,648 lb (16.1

mt). NMFS has determined, in

consultation with Washington

Department of Fish and Wildlife

(WDFW), that the directed halibut

fishery for this area has been proceeding

at a sufficiently slow rate to justify

allowing Friday and Saturday halibut

landings from the shallow depth fishing

trips that are generally directed at

species other than halibut, but which

may catch halibut incidentally.

Section 24 of the 1998 Pacific halibut

regulations provides NMFS with the

flexibility to make certain inseason

management changes including, among

other things, modification of sport

fishing periods, and modification of

sport fishery days per calendar week. In

consultation with WDFW, the Pacific

Fishery Management Council, and the

International Pacific Halibut

Commission (IPHC), NMFS has

determined that the remaining quota for

this area is sufficient to open the

shallow depth fishery for 7 days per

week, beginning June 26, 1998. The alldepth fishery will continue as originally

specified in the annual management

measures, until 35,648 lb (16.6 mt) are

estimated to have been taken from the

south coast of Washington area. Once

35,648 lb (16.1 mt) are estimated to have

been taken, the shallow depth subarea

within the south coast of Washington

area (from the Queets River south to

47°00’00’’ N. lat. and east of 124°40’00’’

W. long.) will remain open every day

until 36,648 lb (16.6 mt) are estimated

to have been taken, or until September

30, whichever occurs first.

NMFS Action

For the reasons stated above, NMFS

announces the following change to the

1998 annual management measures (63

FR 13000, March 17, 1998, as amended).

For the Washington south coast subarea,

section 23(4)(C)(iii)(A) is amended as

follows:

(iii) In the area between the Queets

River, WA and Leadbetter Point, WA

(46°38’10’’ N. lat.), the quota for

landings into ports in this area is 36,648

lb (16.6 mt).

(A) The fishing season that began on

May 3 continues 5 days a week (Sunday

through Thursday) until 35,648 lb (16.1)

are estimated to have been taken and the

season is closed by the Commission.

Within the area described in this

section, above, the area from the Queets

River south to 47°00’00’’ N. lat. and east

of 124°40’00’’ W. long. is open 7 days

per week, and continues every day until
35542 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 125 /Tuesday, June 30, 1998 /Rules and Regulations

36,648 lb (16.6 mt) are estimated to have

been taken and the area is closed by the

Commission, or until September 30,

whichever occurs first.

Classification

These actions are authorized by the

regulations implementing the Area 2A

Catch Sharing Plan. The determination

to take these actions is based on the

most recent data available. Because of

the need for immediate action to

implement these changes to limit

unnecessary halibut discard, and

because the public had an opportunity

to comment on NMFS’ authority to

make inseason changes to certain

management measures when those

measures would further the objectives of

the Catch Sharing Plan, NMFS has

determined that good cause exists for

this document to be published without

affording a prior opportunity for public

comment or a 30-day delayed

effectiveness period. Public comments

will be received for a period of 15 days

after the effectiveness of this action.

This action is authorized by Section 24

of the annual management measures for

Pacific halibut fisheries published on

March 17, 1998 (63 FR 13000, 13008)

and has been determined to be not

significant for purposes of E.O. 12866.

Dated: June 24, 1998.

Bruce C. Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 98–17342 Filed 6–25–98; 1:42pm]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F