[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 38 (Monday, February 27, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10574-10576]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-4652]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[Docket No. 950210047-5047-01; I.D. 011195B]
RIN 0648-XX08


Atlantic Monkfish Fishery; Control Date

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of control date for entry into the Atlantic monkfish 
fishery.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces that anyone entering the Atlantic 
monkfish fishery after February 27, 1995 (control date), will not be 
assured of future access to the Atlantic monkfish resource in Federal 
waters if a management regime is developed and implemented under the 
Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson Act) that 
limits the number of participants in the fishery. This announcement is 
intended to promote awareness of potential eligibility criteria for 
future access to the Atlantic monkfish resource and to discourage new 
entries into this fishery based on economic speculation, while the New 
England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils (Councils) 
contemplate whether and how access to the Atlantic monkfish fishery 
should be controlled. The potential eligibility criteria may be based 
on historical participation, defined as any number of trips having any 
documented amount of monkfish landings. This announcement, therefore, 
gives the public notice that they should locate and preserve records 
that substantiate and verify their participation in the monkfish 
fishery.

EFFECTIVE DATE: February 27, 1995.

[[Page 10575]] FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Douglas G. Marshall, 
Executive Director, New England Fishery Management Council, 617-231-
0422, David R. Keifer, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery 
Management Council, 302-674-2331 or Paul H. Jones, Fishery Policy 
Analyst, NMFS Northeast Regional Office, 508-281-9273.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Monkfish (Lophius americanus, also known as goosefish or 
anglerfish) are widely distributed in the northwest Atlantic Ocean from 
the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence to Cape Hatteras, NC. This species is 
found from the tideline to depths as great as 840 m (2,756 ft). They 
reach 48 cm (19 in) in length by age 4, when most monkfish are mature. 
The maximum observed age has been 9 and 11 years for males and females, 
respectively.
    Landings of monkfish tails have increased markedly since the mid-
1970's, from 600 metric tons (mt) in 1975 to 2,300 mt in 1980 and then 
to 4,300 mt in 1989. Landings for 1993 (tails) totalled 6,600 mt; total 
live weight landed including tails, livers, and other body parts and 
monkfish landed round totalled 18,600 mt. This continued increase 
reflects both increased effort in other fisheries (primarily for 
groundfish and sea scallops) in which monkfish are taken as bycatch and 
increasing levels of directed effort towards this species. Since 1990, 
increased directed effort has occurred from vessels employing trawls, 
scallop dredges and sink gillnets, generally in deeper waters, and this 
component of the fishery now accounts for nearly 30 percent of the 
total landings. Interest in fishing for monkfish is being fueled by 
increasing value of monkfish livers and increasing market acceptance of 
small tails. This trend is likely to continue as fishermen seek 
alternatives to the traditional scallop and groundfish fisheries, which 
are severely depleted and intensively regulated.
    Developing markets for monkfish tails and livers allowed fishermen 
to fish more profitably and land increasingly smaller monkfish over the 
past several years. Because of this trend, several Atlanic coast states 
recently implemented minimum fish size requirements for monkfish. 
Monkfish liver prices are now at or near all-time highs, and some 
dealers have reportedly been unable to fill market demand for small 
tails, since many coastal states have imposed minimum size limits. 
Landings of excessively small monkfish with tails as small as 9 inches 
(22.9 cm), and occasionally as small as 5 inches (12.7 cm), are of 
major concern.
    Abundance, as measured by research vessel surveys, has declined to 
near record lows, and average sizes of monkfish in commercial landings 
and in research vessel surveys have declined to record lows in recent 
years. A steady decline in proportion of mature fish in the population 
has also been noted (to 25% or less in the Gulf of Maine, the lowest 
observed percentage in the time series) with potential adverse effects 
on future recruitment.
    Recent increases in landings of monkfish to record high levels, 
declines in abundance and biomass to at or near record lows, and the 
declining proportion of mature individuals in the population all 
indicate that this resource is overfished and in a deteriorating 
condition; and if current fishery trends continue, recovery of this 
resource will become increasingly problematical. Guidelines Relating to 
Intent of the Councils in Establishing a Control Date for the 
Management of Monkfish
    1. The Councils are currently considering that, in the event that a 
system of assigning fishing rights is developed as part of an FMP for 
monkfish, such assignments shall be based upon historical levels of 
participation in the fishery prior to February 27, 1995, with the 
following considerations for recent investment.
    2. The current intent of the Councils is that newly constructed 
vessels will be given consideration in the assignment of fishing rights 
if they were under construction as of February 27, 1995, as evidenced 
by written construction contracts.
    3. The public is further notified that it is the current intent of 
the Councils that historical participation will transfer with a vessel, 
for transfers made after February 27, 1995, unless such transfers are 
accompanied by a written document indicating the agreement of both 
buyer and seller that any future fishing rights applicable to that 
vessel are not being transferred via sale, lease, or any other means of 
conveyance. Any such transfers or explicit retention of fishing rights 
may only be executed with any and all fishing rights presently assigned 
to said vessel or which may be assigned based on that vessel's prior 
participation in any other fishery. This potential restriction may 
mean, for example, that no transfers or explicit retention of monkfish 
fishing rights may be made without also transferring or retaining the 
vessel's or the former owner's right to fish for groundfish, scallops, 
or another regulated species.
    If a vessel's fishing rights were transferred to a new owner prior 
to February 27, 1995, the new owner may have the option of excluding 
the previous owner's history of participation when qualifying for a 
limited access fishery. If a vessel is transferred with its fishing 
rights to a new owner after February 27, 1995, the entire history of 
fishing for monkfish may be required when determining eligibility.
    4. The Councils' current intent is that if fishing rights are 
explicitly retained by a previous owner as described above, or a 
qualifying vessel is lost or destroyed, the owner of said vessel or its 
rights may qualify for a limited access fishery for monkfish without 
having title to a replacement vessel. Upgrades or replacements of 
vessels after February 27, 1995 that are inconsistent with the 
Multispecies, Scallop, or Summer Flounder Fishery Management Plans may 
disqualify the vessel from the limited access monkfish fishery.
    5. Further, the Councils currently intend that any system of 
assigning fishing rights may consider the following concerns relative 
to individuals or corporations that have sold a vessel within the time 
that may be chosen to determine historical fishing rights:
    a. Extent of past participation in the Atlantic monkfish fishery;
    b. Demonstration of intent prior to February 27, 1995 to re-enter 
the Atlantic monkfish fishery with a different vessel.
    c. Requirement that a vessel's history may be applied such that no 
more than one vessel may rely on that history to qualify for the 
limited access fishery.
    The Councils intend to address whether and how to limit entry of 
commercial vessels into this fishery in a Monkfish FMP. The Councils' 
intent in making this announcement is to discourage speculative entry 
into the commercial monkfish fishery while potential management regimes 
to control access into the fishery are discussed and possibly developed 
by the Council. The control date will help to distinguish bona fide 
established fishermen from speculative entrants to the fishery. 
Although fishermen are notified that entering the fishery after the 
control date will not assure them of future access to the monkfish 
resource on the grounds of previous participation, additional and/or 
other qualifying criteria also may be applied.
    The Councils may choose different and variably weighted methods to 
qualify fishermen based on the type and length of participation in the 
fishery or on the quantity of landings. The 
[[Page 10576]] qualification criteria may be structured such that 
vessels fishing for other species and having incidental catches of 
monkfish would be able to continue to do so without qualifying for a 
limited access permit.
    This notice hereby establishes February 27, 1995 for potential use 
in determining historical or traditional participation in a monkfish 
fishery. This action does not commit the Councils to develop any 
particular management regime or to use any specific criteria for 
determining entry to the fishery. The Councils may choose a different 
control date, or may choose a management program that does not make use 
of such a date. The Councils may choose also to take no further action 
to control entry or access to the fishery. Any action by the Councils 
will be taken pursuant to the requirement for FMP development 
established under the Magnuson Act.

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

    Dated: February 17, 1995.
Gary Matlock,
Program Management Officer, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 95-4652 Filed 2-24-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F