28082 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 103 / Tuesday, May 30, 1995 / Proposed Rules

In addition to the cases prosecuted by

the USDOJ in Federal court, there were

numerous criminal and civil

convictions in odometer fraud cases in

State and local courts. For instance, the

Iowa Attorney General’s office referred

30 odometer fraud cases to County

Attorneys for prosecution, and the

California Department of Motor Vehicles

reported 660 convictions for odometer

fraud in 1993. These figures represent

only a fraction of the total number of

odometer fraud cases prosecuted

nationwide.

Petitioner has cited no burden that the

hand-printing requirement imposes on

itself or its members. The only concern

it expresses is that a dealer that receives

a title from state authorities who have

rejected it because of failure to meet the

hand-printing requirement will handprint the name of the person from whom

it purchased the vehicle rather than

sending it back to that person to handprint their name. This practice is of

concern to NHTSA because it is a

violation of its regulations. However,

the better solution to the problem seems

to be to educate dealers on the

importance of obtaining hand-printed

names in the first instance, rather than

dispensing with the requirement

altogether. Dealer organizations such as

that represented by petitioner can play

an important role in ensuring that

dealers are fully informed of the

requirements of the Federal odometer

disclosure law.

For the foregoing reasons, the petition

is denied.

Issued on: May 24, 1995.

John Womack,

Acting Chief Counsel.

[FR Doc. 95–13167 Filed 5–26–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–59–M

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 625

[Docket No. 950522140–5140–01; I.D.

050595E]

RIN 0648–XX22

Summer Flounder Fishery; 1995

Recreational Fishery Measures

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: NMFS issues this proposed

rule to amend the regulations

implementing the Fishery Management

Plan for the Summer Flounder Fishery

(FMP). This rule proposes season dates,

a possession limit, and a minimum fish

size for the 1995 recreational fishery.

The recreational season would be open

from January 1 through December 31,

with a possession limit of 6 fish per

person and a minimum fish size of 14

inches (35.6 cm). The proposed 1995

season, possession limit, and minimum

fish size are specified to achieve the

1995 coastwide recreational harvest

limit, which is 7.8 million lbs (3.5

million kg).

DATES: Public comments are invited

through June 23, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent

to, and copies of the environmental

assessment (EA) prepared for the 1995

summer flounder specifications are

available from the Regional Director,

NMFS, One Blackburn Drive,

Gloucester, MA 01930.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Hannah Goodale, 508-281-9101.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Section 625.20 of the regulations

implementing the FMP outlines the

process for determining annual

commercial and recreational catch

quotas and other restrictions for the

summer flounder fishery. The Summer

Flounder Monitoring Committee

(Committee), made up of representatives

from the Atlantic States Marine

Fisheries Commission, the Mid-Atlantic

Fishery Management Council (Council),

the New England Fishery Management

Council, and NMFS, is required to

review, on an annual basis, scientific

and other relevant information and to

recommend a quota and other

restrictions necessary to achieve a

fishing mortality rate of 0.53 in 1993

through 1995, and 0.23 in 1996 and

thereafter. This schedule of fishing

mortality rates is mandated by the FMP

to prevent overfishing and to rebuild the

summer flounder resource. The

Committee reviews the following

information annually: (1) Commercial

and recreational catch data; (2) current

estimates of fishing mortality; (3) stock

status; (4) recent estimates of

recruitment; (5) virtual population

analysis, a method for analyzing fish

stock abundance; (6) levels of regulatory

noncompliance by fishermen or

individual states; (7) impact of fish size

and net mesh regulations; (8) impact of

gear, other than otter trawls, on the

mortality of summer flounder; and (9)

other relevant information. Pursuant to

§ 625.20, after this review the

Committee recommends management

measures to ensure achievement of the

appropriate fishing mortality rate. These

measures include: (1) Commercial

quota, (2) commercial minimum fish

size, (3) minimum mesh size, (4)

recreational possession limit within the

range of 0 to 15 fish per person per day,

(5) recreational minimum fish size, (6)

recreational season, and (7) restrictions

on gear other than otter trawls.

Measures (1), (2), (3), and (7) above

were implemented on February 10, 1995

(60 FR 8958, February 16, 1995). The

management measures contained in the

final specifications were: (1) A

coastwide commercial quota of 14.7

million lbs (6.7 million kg), (2) a

coastwide recreational harvest limit of

7.8 million lbs (3.5 million kg), (3) no

change from the present minimum

commercial fish size of 13 inches (33

cm), and (4) no change in the present

minimum mesh-size restriction of 51⁄2-

inch diamond (14.0 cm) or 6-inch

square (15.2 cm).

The recreational season, possession

limit, and minimum size were not

established as part of the final

specifications because recreational catch

data for 1994 was not available for the

Committee’s use in evaluating the

effectiveness of the 1994 season and

possession limit. Shortly after this data

became available, the Committee met to

review the 1994 data and to recommend

measures for 1995. The Committee

recommended elimination of the closed

season, an individual possession limit

of 6 fish per person, and a minimum

fish size of 14 inches (35.6 cm).

These recommendations were

adopted by the Council’s Demersal

Species Committee on March 14, 1995,

but the possession limit was revised by

the ‘‘full’’ Council at its meeting of

March 15–16, 1995. The Council’s

recommendation to the Director,

Northeast Region, NMFS (Regional

Director) was for elimination of the

closed season in 1995, an individual

possession limit of 8 fish per person,

and a minimum fish size of 14 inches

(35.6 cm).

On April 12, 1995, the Regional

Director disapproved the Council’s

recommendation, citing inconsistency

with the Council’s earlier

recommendation to the Regional

Director to take all appropriate actions

to ensure that the target fishing

mortality rate is not exceeded in 1995.

The Regional Director informed the

Council that their recommendation,

being less restrictive than measures

imposed in 1994, was inconsistent with

their earlier expressed concern. The

Regional Director invited the Council to

reconsider and develop a proposal that

would address the inconsistency

without compromising conservation.
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 103 / Tuesday, May 30, 1995 / Proposed Rules 28083

On April 19, 1995, the Council

adopted the original recommendation of

the Committee and submitted it to the

Regional Director for review. This

recommendation, which is proposed in

this action, contains the following

measures: Elimination of the closed

season, an individual possession limit

of 6 fish per person, and a minimum

fish size of 14 inches (35.6 cm).

Upon publication of the final rule, the

recreational fishing measures for 1995

that are contained in the rule are likely

to become effective with less than a 30-

day delay in effective date, because the

season has already started and measures

that would be imposed either would

remove a restriction or do not require

time to come into compliance.

Classification

This action is authorized by 50 CFR

part 625 and complies with the National

Environmental Policy Act. An EA,

which analyzed the impacts and

consequences of the alternative harvest

levels, was prepared as part of the

rulemaking that established the 1995

fishery specifications, including the

coastwide recreational harvest level.

This proposed rule contains the

recreational season and possession limit

that can best achieve the specified

harvest level, and has no effects that

were not previously analyzed in the EA.

The Assistant General Counsel for

Legislation and Regulation of the

Department of Commerce certified to

the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the

Small Business Administration that this

proposed rule, if adopted, would not

have a significant economic impact on

a substantial number of small entities,

such as the charter boats and head boats

that serve the recreational fishery. The

combination of management measures

(minimum fish size, lack of a closed

season, and the six-fish possession

limit) should allow recreational

fishermen to harvest summer flounder

at a level close to, or slightly below the

coastwide harvest limit for this fishery.

As a result, a regulatory flexibility

analysis was not prepared.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 625

Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements.

Dated: May 23, 1995.

Richard H. Schaefer,

Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

For the reasons set out in the

preamble, NMFS proposes that 50 CFR

part 625 be amended to read as follows:

PART 625—SUMMER FLOUNDER

FISHERY

1. The authority citation for part 625

continues to read as follows:

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

2. Section 625.22 is revised to read as

follows:

§ 625.22 Time restrictions.

Vessels that do not possess a

moratorium permit under § 625.4 and

fishermen subject to the possession

limit may fish for summer flounder

during the period January 1 through

December 31. This time period may be

adjusted pursuant to the procedures in

§ 625.20.

3. In § 625.25, the first sentence of

paragraph (a) is revised to read as

follows:

§ 625.25 Possession limit.

(a) No person shall possess more than

six summer flounder in or harvested

from the EEZ unless that person is the

owner or operator of a fishing vessel

issued a moratorium permit under

§ 625.4. * * *

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 95–13097 Filed 5–24–95; 12:23 pm]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F