Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 181 / Monday, September 20, 2010 / Proposed Rules 57249 

Federal Register for publication 

notification of the opening dates of the 

shark fishery for each species/complex. 

Before making any decisions, NMFS 

would consider the following criteria 

and other relevant factors in 

establishing the opening dates: 

(A) The available annual quotas for 

the current fishing season for the 

different species/complexes based on 

any over- and/or underharvests 

experienced during the previous 

commercial shark fishing seasons; 

(B) Estimated season length based on 

available quota(s) and average weekly 

catch rates of different species/ 

complexes in the Atlantic and Gulf of 

Mexico regions from the previous years; 

(C) Length of the season for the 

different species/complexes in the 

previous years and whether fishermen 

were able to participate in the fishery in 

those years; 

(D) Variations in seasonal 

distribution, abundance, or migratory 

patterns of the different species/ 

complexes based on scientific and 

fishery information; 

(E) Effects of catch rates in one part 

of a region precluding vessels in another 

part of that region from having a 

reasonable opportunity to harvest a 

portion of the different species/ 

complexes quotas; 

(F) Effects of the adjustment on 

accomplishing the objectives of the 2006 

Consolidated HMS FMP and its 

amendments; and/or, 

(G) Effects of a delayed opening with 

regard to fishing opportunities in other 

fisheries. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2010–23443 Filed 9–17–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

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). 

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 


jdjones on DSK8KYBLC1PROD with PROPOSALS-1
57250 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 181 / Monday, September 20, 2010 / Proposed Rules 

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] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 


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