Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 123 / Tuesday, June 26, 2001 / Rules and Regulations 33917

possible, unless physical or behavioral

problems make it necessary to return

them to a captive breeding facility.

(11) The status of the experimental

populations will be reevaluated

periodically to determine future

management needs. This review will

take into account the reproductive

success and movement patterns of the

individuals released within the

experimental population areas.

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

BILLING CODE 4310–55–C

Dated: June 18, 2001.

Joseph E. Doddridge,

Acting Assistant Secretary for Fish and

Wildlife and Parks.

[FR Doc. 01–15791 Filed 6–25–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–C

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 622

[I.D. 061901D]

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of

Mexico, and South Atlantic; Reef Fish

Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico; Closure

of the Spring Commercial Red Snapper

Component

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notification of closure.

SUMMARY: NMFS closes the commercial

fishery for red snapper in the exclusive

economic zone (EEZ) of the Gulf of

Mexico. NMFS has determined that the

spring portion of the annual commercial

quota for red snapper will be reached on

July 6, 2001. This closure is necessary

to protect the red snapper resource.

DATES: Closure is effective noon, local

time, July 6, 2001, until noon, local

time, on October 1, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Phil

Steele, telephone 727–570–5305, fax

727–570–5583, e-mail

Phil.Steele@noaa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The reef

fish fishery of the Gulf of Mexico is

managed under the Fishery

Management Plan for the Reef Fish

Resources of the Gulf of Mexico (FMP).

The FMP was prepared by the Gulf of

Mexico Fishery Management Council

and is implemented under the authority

of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery

Conservation and Management Act by

regulations at 50 CFR part 622. Those

regulations set the commercial quota for

red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico at

4.65 million lb (2.11 million kg) for the

current fishing year, January 1 through

December 31, 2001. The red snapper

commercial fishing season is split into

two time periods, the first commencing

at noon on February 1 with two-thirds

of the annual quota (3.10 million lb

(1.41 million kg) available, and the

second commencing at noon on October

1 with the remainder of the annual

quota available. During the commercial

season, the red snapper commercial

fishery opens at noon on the first of

each month and closes at noon on the

10th of each month, until the applicable

commercial quotas are reached.

Under 50 CFR 622.43 (a), NMFS is

required to close the commercial fishery

for a species or species group when the

quota for that species or species group

is reached, or is projected to be reached,

by filing a notification to that effect in

the Federal Register. Based on current

statistics, NMFS has determined that the

33918 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 123 / Tuesday, June 26, 2001 / Rules and Regulations

available spring commercial quota of

3.10 million lb (1.41 million kg) for red

snapper will be reached when the

fishery closes at noon on July 6, 2001.

Accordingly, the commercial fishery in

the EEZ in the Gulf of Mexico for red

snapper will remain closed until noon,

local time, on October 1, 2001. The

operator of a vessel with a valid reef fish

permit having red snapper aboard must

have landed and bartered, traded, or

sold such red snapper prior to noon,

local time, July 6, 2001.

During the closure, the bag and

possession limits specified in 50 CFR

622.39 (b) apply to all harvest or

possession of red snapper in or from the

EEZ in the Gulf of Mexico, and the sale

or purchase of red snapper taken from

the EEZ is prohibited. In addition, the

bag and possession limits for red

snapper apply on board a vessel for

which a commercial permit for Gulf reef

fish has been issued, without regard to

where such red snapper were harvested.

However, the bag and possession limits

for red snapper apply only when the

recreational quota for red snapper has

not been reached and the bag and

possession limit has not been reduced to

zero. The prohibition on sale or

purchase does not apply to sale or

purchase of red snapper that were

harvested, landed ashore, and sold prior

to noon, local time, July 6, 2001, and

were held in cold storage by a dealer or

processor.

Classification

This action is taken under 50 CFR

622.43 (a) and is exempt from review

under Executive Order 12866.

Dated: June 19, 2001.

Bruce C. Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 01–16017 Filed 6–25–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 635

[I.D. 061101A]

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species

(HMS) Fisheries; Large Coastal,

Pelagic, and Small Coastal Shark

Species

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Fishing season notification.

SUMMARY: NMFS notifies eligible

participants of the opening and closing

of fishing seasons for Atlantic large

coastal sharks (LCS), small coastal

sharks (SCS), pelagic sharks, blue

sharks, and porbeagle sharks.

DATES: The fishery opening for LCS is

effective July 1, 2001; the LCS closure

is effective from 11:30 p.m. local time

August 31, 2001, through December 31,

2001. The available quota for SCS,

pelagic sharks, blue sharks, and

porbeagles sharks is effective July 1,

2001, through December 31, 2001,

unless otherwise modified or

superseded through notification in the

Federal Register.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Karyl Brewster-Geisz, 301–713–2347;

fax 301–713–1917.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Atlantic shark fishery is managed under

the Fishery Management Plan for

Atlantic Tunas, Swordfish, and Sharks

(HMS FMP), and its implementing

regulations found at 50 CFR part 635

issued under authority of the

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery

Conservation and Management Act (16

U.S.C. 1801 et seq.).

Since 1997, NMFS has been involved

in litigation with Southern Offshore

Fishing Association (SOFA) and other

commercial fishermen and dealers

regarding the commercial regulations for

the Atlantic shark fishery. NMFS and

plaintiffs reached settlement in this

litigation, and the United States District

Court for the Middle District of Florida

Tampa Division stipulated to this

agreement in December 2000. On March

6, 2001, NMFS published an emergency

rule implementing the 1997 LCS and

SCS quotas and catch accounting/

monitoring procedures consistent with

the settlement agreement (66 FR 13441).

Additionally, the settlement

agreement required NMFS to obtain an

independent peer review of the 1998

LCS stock assessment. As of June 19,

2001, the reviews were not complete.

Thus, based on the terms of the

settlement agreement, the annual quotas

for LCS and SCS will remain at the 1997

levels of 1,285 metric tons (mt) dressed

weight (dw) and 1,760 mt dw,

respectively. Also, per the settlement

agreement, NMFS has implemented the

1999 HMS FMP annual quota levels for

pelagic, blue, and porbeagle sharks of

488 mt dw, 273 mt dw, and 92 mt dw,

respectively (66 FR 55; January 2, 2001).

Of the 642.5 mt dw available for the

first semiannual LCS season, 587.5 mt

dw was taken. NMFS is adding the

remaining 55 mt dw to the available

quota for the second semiannual 2001

fishing season. Although the settlement

agreement did not include a specific

procedure for a quota underharvest,

such carryover to the next semiannual

season was stipulated for any

overharvest. Thus, this carryover of

underharvest is consistent with the

procedure outlined in the December

2000 settlement agreement entered into

by NMFS and plaintiffs from the fishing

industry. As such, the LCS quota for the

2001 second semiannual season is 697

mt dw. The SCS second semiannual

quota for 2001 will remain at the 1997

level of 880 mt dw. The second 2001

semiannual quotas for pelagic, blue, and

porbeagle sharks will be 244 mt dw,

136.5 mt dw, and 46 mt dw,

respectively.

The prohibited species provisions

will be enforced. A list of prohibited

shark species can be found in Table 1

of Appendix A to part 635, subpart D.

The limited access provisions for

commercial harvests still apply,

including trip limits for directed and

incidental shark permit holders.

The second semiannual fishing season

of the 2001 fishing year for the

commercial fishery for LCS in the

western north Atlantic Ocean, including

the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean

Sea, will open July 1, 2001. To estimate

the closure dates of the LCS, NMFS

used the average daily catch rates for

each species group from the second

seasons from the years 1998, 1999, and

2000 while also considering the

reporting dates of permitted shark

dealers. The 1998 and 2000 data

indicate that over 60 percent of the

available quota could be taken by the

end of July and 70 to 90 percent of the

available quota could be taken within

the first 2 weeks of August. In 1999, the

second semiannual season was closed at

the end of July and re-opened in

September. Thus, 1999 catch rate data

for August is not available and NMFS

does not feel it appropriate at this time

to use the catch rates from September

and October to estimate a possible

closure in August. July 1999 data

indicate that only 30 percent of the

available quota could be taken.

However, NMFS was implementing

limited access for the Atlantic shark and

swordfish fisheries in July of 1999 and

many fishermen, who would normally

fish, may not have had the correct

permits at that time. Accordingly, the

Acting Assistant Administrator for

Fisheries (AA) has determined that the

LCS quota for the second 2001

semiannual season will likely be

attained by August 31, 2001. Thus, the

LCS fishery will close August 31, 2001,

at 11:30 p.m. local time.

During a closure, retention of, fishing

for, possessing or selling LCS are