32528 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 129 / Wednesday, July 8, 2009 / Proposed Rules 

the Convention Area at any time during 

the same fishing trip, the longline gear 

on the fishing vessel must, while in the 

Convention Area, be stowed in a 

manner so as not to be readily available 

for fishing; specifically, the hooks, 

branch or dropper lines, and floats used 

to buoy the mainline must be stowed 

and not available for immediate use, 

and any power-operated mainline 

hauler on deck must be covered in such 

a manner that it is not readily available 

for use. 

[FR Doc. E9–16094 Filed 7–7–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 622 

[Docket No. 0906241088–91089–01] 

RIN 0648–AX92 

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of 

Mexico, and South Atlantic; 

Commercial Sector of the Reef Fish, 

Queen Conch, and Spiny Lobster 

Fisheries of Puerto Rico and the U.S. 

Virgin Islands; Control Date 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed 

rulemaking; consideration of a control 

date. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that it is 

establishing a control date that may be 

used to control future access to the 

commercial sector of the reef fish, queen 

conch, and spiny lobster fisheries 

operating in the exclusive economic 

zone (EEZ) of the U.S. Caribbean. If 

changes to the management regime are 

developed and implemented under the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act), a control date 

could be used to limit the number of 

participants in these fisheries. This 

announcement is intended, in part, to 

promote awareness of the potential 

eligibility criteria for future access so as 

to discourage speculative entry into the 

fisheries while the Caribbean Fishery 

Management Council (Council) and 

NMFS consider whether and how access 

to the commercial sector of the reef fish, 

queen conch, or spiny lobster fishery 

should be controlled. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

August 7, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Comments, identified by 

RIN 0648–AX92, may be submitted by 

any one of the following methods: 

• Electronic submissions: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

• Mail: Jason Rueter, NMFS Southeast 

Regional Office, Sustainable Fisheries 

Division, 263 13th Avenue South, Saint 

Petersburg, Florida 33701. 

Instructions: 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. 

To submit comments through the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov enter ‘‘NOAANMFS–2009–0137’’ in the keyword 

search, then select ‘‘Send a Comment or 

Submission.’’ 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: 

Jason Rueter; phone 727–824–5305; fax 

727–824–5308; or Graciela GarciaMoliner; phone 787–766–5927; fax 787– 

766–6239. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

commercial sector of the U.S. Caribbean 

reef fish fishery is managed under the 

Fishery Management (FMP) Plan for the 

Reef Fish Resources of Puerto Rico and 

the U.S. Virgin Islands, the commercial 

sector of the U.S. Caribbean queen 

conch fishery is managed under the 

FMP for the Queen Conch Resources of 

Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, 

and the commercial sector of the U.S. 

Caribbean spiny lobster fishery is 

managed under the FMP for the Spiny 

Lobster Resources of Puerto Rico and 

the U.S. Virgin Islands. The FMPs were 

prepared by the Council, and 

implemented under the authority of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act. 

This notice would inform participants 

in the U.S. Caribbean reef fish, queen 

conch, and spiny lobster fisheries of the 

Council’s intentions to consider limiting 

access within the commercial sector of 

the U.S. Caribbean reef fish, queen 

conch, or spiny lobster fisheries. 

Specifically, the Council may consider 

requiring a permit that would limit 

fishing in the EEZ to only those 

participants that have catch histories in 

excess of some minimum landings 

threshold or to those participants who 

possess a valid Territorial/ 

Commonwealth Permit. Should the 

Council take such future action to 

further restrict participation in the 

commercial sector of the U.S. Caribbean 

reef fish, queen conch, or spiny lobster 

fishery, it intends to use March 24, 

2009, as a possible control date 

regarding the eligibility of catch 

histories. This date was announced at 

the Council’s March 2009 meeting. 

Publication of the control date in the 

Federal Register informs participants of 

the Council’s considerations, and gives 

notice to anyone entering the fisheries 

after the control date they would not be 

assured of future access should a 

management regime be implemented 

using the control date as a means to 

restrict participation. Implementation of 

any such program would require 

preparation of an amendment to the 

FMPs and subsequent rulemaking with 

appropriate public comment periods. 

Consideration of a control date does 

not commit the Council or NMFS to any 

particular management regime or 

criteria for eligibility in the commercial 

sector of the U.S. Caribbean reef fish, 

queen conch, or spiny lobster fishery. 

The Council may or may not make use 

of this control date as part of the 

qualifying criteria for participation in 

that sector of the fisheries. Fishermen 

are not guaranteed future participation 

in a fishery regardless of their entry date 

or intensity of participation in the 

fishery before or after the control date 

under consideration. The Council 

subsequently may choose a different 

control date or management regime that 

does not make use of a control date. The 

Council also may choose to take no 

further action to control entry or access 

to the fisheries, in which case the 

control date may be rescinded. 

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

Dated: July 1, 2009. 

John Oliver, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator For 

Operations, National Marine Fisheries 

Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–16069 Filed 7–7–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with PROPOSALS