Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 206 / Thursday, October 25, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 60585 

and the time it went into effect, thereby 

rendering the action obsolete and 

ineffective. Nevertheless, NMFS 

recognizes the need for fishermen to 

have time to either modify or remove (if 

not in compliance with the required 

restrictions) their gear from a DAM zone 

once one is approved. Thus, NMFS 

makes this action effective 2 days after 

the date of publication of this document 

in the Federal Register. NMFS will also 

endeavor to provide notice of this action 

to fishermen through other means upon 

issuance of the rule by the AA, thereby 

providing approximately 3 additional 

days of notice while the Office of the 

Federal Register processes the 

document for publication. 

NMFS determined that the regulations 

establishing the DAM program and 

actions such as this one taken pursuant 

to those regulations are consistent to the 

maximum extent practicable with the 

enforceable policies of the approved 

coastal management program of the U.S. 

Atlantic coastal states. This 

determination was submitted for review 

by the responsible state agencies under 

section 307 of the Coastal Zone 

Management Act. Following state 

review of the regulations creating the 

DAM program, no state disagreed with 

NMFS’ conclusion that the DAM 

program is consistent to the maximum 

extent practicable with the enforceable 

policies of the approved coastal 

management program for that state. 

The DAM program under which 

NMFS is taking this action contains 

policies with federalism implications 

warranting preparation of a federalism 

assessment under Executive Order 

13132. Accordingly, in October 2001 

and March 2003, the Assistant Secretary 

for Intergovernmental and Legislative 

Affairs, Department of Commerce, 

provided notice of the DAM program 

and its amendments to the appropriate 

elected officials in states to be affected 

by actions taken pursuant to the DAM 

program. Federalism issues raised by 

state officials were addressed in the 

final rules implementing the DAM 

program. A copy of the federalism 

Summary Impact Statement for the final 

rules is available upon request 

(ADDRESSES). 

The rule implementing the DAM 

program has been determined to be not 

significant under Executive Order 

12866. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq. and 50 

CFR 229.32(g)(3) 

Dated:October 19, 2007. 

William T. Hogarth, 

Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 07–5291 Filed 10–22–07; 2:45 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 061228342–7068–02] 

RIN 0648–XD55 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Atlantic Herring Fishery; Total 

Allowable Catch Harvested for 

Management Area 1A 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Closure of Atlantic herring 

fishery for Management Area 1A. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that 

effective 0001 hours, October 25, 2007, 

federally permitted vessels may not fish 

for, catch, possess, transfer or land more 

than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of Atlantic 

herring in or from Management Area 1A 

(Area 1A) per trip or calendar day until 

January 1, 2008, when the 2008 TAC 

becomes available, except for transiting 

purposes as described in this notice. 

This action is based on the 

determination that 95 percent of the 

Atlantic herring total allowable catch 

(TAC) allocated to Area 1A for 2007 is 

projected to be harvested by October 25, 

2007. Regulations governing the 

Atlantic herring fishery require 

publication of this notification to advise 

vessel and dealer permit holders that no 

TAC is available for the directed fishery 

for Atlantic herring harvested from Area 

1A. 

DATES: Effective 0001 hrs local time, 

October 25, 2007, through 2400 hrs local 

time, December 31, 2007. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Don 

Frei, Fishery Management Specialist, at 

(978) 281–9221. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Regulations governing the Atlantic 

herring fishery are found at 50 CFR part 

648. The regulations require annual 

specification of optimum yield, 

domestic and foreign fishing, domestic 

and joint venture processing, and 

management area TACs. The 2007 TAC 

allocated to Area 1A (72 FR 17807, 

April 10, 2007) is 50,000 mt 

(1,10,231,000 lb). 

The regulations at 50 CFR 648.202 

require the Administrator, Northeast 

Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator) 

to monitor the Atlantic herring fishery 

in each of the four management areas 

designated in the Fishery Management 

Plan for the Atlantic Herring Fishery 

and, based upon dealer reports, state 

data, and other available information, to 

determine when the harvest of Atlantic 

herring is projected to reach 95 percent 

of the TAC allocated. When such a 

determination is made, NMFS is 

required to publish notification in the 

Federal Register of this determination. 

Effective upon a specific date, NMFS 

must notify vessel and dealer permit 

holders that vessels are prohibited from 

fishing for, catching, possessing, 

transferring or landing more than 2,000 

lb (907.2 kg) of herring per trip or 

calendar day in or from the specified 

management area for the remainder of 

the closure period. Transiting of Area 

1A with more than 2,000 lb of herring 

on board is allowed under the 

conditions specified below. 

The Regional Administrator has 

determined, based upon dealer reports 

and other available information, that 95 

percent of the total Atlantic herring TAC 

allocated to Area 1A for the 2007 fishing 

year is projected to be harvested by 

October 25, 2007. Therefore, effective 

0001 hrs local time, October 27, 2007, 

federally permitted vessels may not fish 

for, catch, possess, transfer or land more 

than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of Atlantic 

herring in or from Area 1A per trip or 

calendar day through December 31, 

2007; except a vessel may transit Area 

1A with more than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) 

of herring on board, or land more than 

2,000 lb (907.2 kg) provided such 

herring were not caught in Area 1A, and 

provided all fishing gear is stowed and 

not available for immediate use as 

required by § 648.23(b). Effective 

October 25, 2007, federally permitted 

dealers are also advised that they may 

not purchase Atlantic herring from 

federally permitted Atlantic herring 

vessels that harvest more than 2,000 lb 

(907.2 kg) of Atlantic herring from Area 

1A through December 31, 2007, 2400 

hrs local time. 

Classification 

This action is required by 50 CFR part 

648 and is exempt from review under 

Executive Order 12866. 

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

Dated: October 19, 2007. 

Emily H. Menashes, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 07–5293 Filed 10–22–07; 2:45 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 


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