[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 181 (Monday, September 20, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 57249-57250]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-23444]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 100830405-0405-02]
RIN 0648-BA09


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast (NE) 
Multispecies Fishery; Charter/Party Fishery Control Date

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

ACTION:  Advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR).

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SUMMARY:  NMFS and the New England Fishery Management Council (Council) 
announce that they are seeking public comment on the reaffirmation of 
the current control date of March 30, 2006, in anticipation of 
developing a limited access program for the NE multispecies open access 
charter and party boat (charter/party) fishery. This component of the 
fishery includes vessels with open access charter/party permits, as 
well as limited access NE multispecies permits, while not on a NE 
multispecies day-at-sea (DAS) or fishing under the sector management 
program. The Council has not made a determination that limiting the 
number of participants in this fishery is necessary, but reaffirming 
the current control date keeps the stakeholders informed of possible 
future consideration of the issue and promotes awareness of potential 
eligibility criteria for future access so as to discourage speculative 
entry into the fishery, while the Council considers whether and how 
access to the charter/party fishery should be controlled. By this 
notification, NMFS reaffirms, on behalf of the Council, that March 30, 
2006, may be used as a ``control date'' to establish eligibility 
criteria for determining levels of future access to the fishery.

DATES:  Written comments must be received by 5p.m., local time October 
20, 2010.

ADDRESSES:  You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
    Written comments (paper, disk, or CD ROM) should be sent to Paul J. 
Howard, Executive Director, New England Fishery Management Council, 50 
Water Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950. Mark the outside of the 
envelope, ``Comments- Multispecies Charter/Party Control Date.''
    Comments also may be sent via facsimile (fax) to (978) 465 3116.
    Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
    Instructions: No comments will be posted for public viewing until 
after the comment period has closed. All comments received are a part 
of the public record and will generally be posted to http://www.regulations.gov without change. All Personal Identifying 
Information (for example, name, address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by 
the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit Confidential 
Business Information or otherwise sensitive or protected 
information.NMFS will accept anonymous comments (enter N/A in the 
required fields, if you wish to remain anonymous). You may submit 
attachments to electronic comments in Microsoft Word, Excel, 
WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats only.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Travis Ford, Fishery Management 
Specialist, (978) 281-9233; fax (978) 281-9135.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The charter/party industry targets the 
following species: Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), pollock (Pollachius 
virens); haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus); and winter flounder 
(Pleuronectes americanus); and, to a lesser extent, white hake 
(Urophycis tenuis) and wolffish (Anarhichas lupus). In light of the 
restrictions imposed by Framework 42 to the FMP in 2006 and their 
impacts, members of the charter/party industry and the Council's 
Recreational Advisory Panel recommended at that time that the Council 
restrict new entrants to the charter/party fishery to reduce the need 
for further restrictions on the recreational catch of cod and other 
groundfish. The Council did not take action to restrict entrants but, 
instead, established a control date of March 30, 2006. A ``control 
date'' is a time certain that may be used to limit access to a future 
limited access fishery by vessel owners who enter the fishery after the 
control date, versus those that entered the fishery before the control 
date. One of the purposes of the control date is to discourage 
speculative entry into the fishery by vessels hoping to qualify under 
any new limited access program, thereby ramping up fishing effort 
during the period the limited access program is being developed. The 
control date also serves as notice to any new entrants into the fishery 
that their financial investment to participate in the fishery may be 
jeopardized if they do not qualify to fully participate in any new 
limited access program that is adopted.
    With the implementation of Amendment 16, many participants in the 
recreational fishery have expressed concern that the number of party/
charter operators will increase due to low allocation of some stocks to 
the commercial fishery. The Council has decided to reaffirm the 
original control date in order to discourage further speculative entry 
while it takes time to develop appropriate measures for the 
recreational fishery.
    This notification reiterates that March 30, 2006, is the control 
date for potential use in determining historical or traditional 
participation in the NE multispecies charter/party fishery. 
Consideration of a control date does not commit the Council or NMFS to 
develop any particular management system or criteria for participation 
in this fishery. The Council may choose a different control date, or 
may choose a

[[Page 57250]]

management program that does not make use of such a date. Fishers are 
not guaranteed future participation in the fishery, regardless of their 
entry dates or level of participation in this fishery before or after 
the control date. The Council may choose to give variably weighted 
consideration to fishers active in the fishery before and after the 
control date. The Council may also choose to take no further action to 
control entry or access to the fishery, in which case the control date 
may be rescinded. Any action by the Council will be taken pursuant to 
the requirements for the development of FMP amendments established 
under the Magnuson-Stevens Act. This notification also gives the public 
notice that interested participants should locate and preserve records 
that substantiate and verify their participation in the NE multispecies 
charter/party fishery in Federal waters.

Classification

    This ANPR has been determined to be not significant for purposes of 
Executive Order 12866.

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

    Dated: September 15, 2010.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-23444 Filed 9-17-10; 8:45 am]
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