66390 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 247 / Wednesday, December 26, 2001 / Proposed Rules

satisfies the reporting requirements of

paragraph (c) of this section.

3. In § 635.20, paragraph (a) is revised

to read as follows:

§ 635.20 Size limits.

(a) General. The CFL will be the sole

criterion for determining the size and/or

size class of whole (head on) Atlantic

tunas. The LJFL will be the sole

criterion for determining the size of an

Atlantic swordfish possessed on board,

or landed from, a vessel that has not

been issued a limited access swordfish

permit under § 635.4.

4. In § 635.21, paragraph (d)(4)(iv) is

added to read as follows:

§ 635.21 Gear operation and deployment

restrictions.

(d) * * *

(4) * * *

(iv) Except for persons aboard a vessel

that has been issued a limited access

swordfish permit under § 635.4, no

person may fish for swordfish with, or

possess a swordfish taken by, any gear

other than handline or rod and reel.

5. In § 635.22, paragraphs (a), (c), and

(d) are revised, and paragraphs (e) and

(f) are added to read as follows:

§ 635.22 Recreational retention limits.

(a) General. Recreational retention

limits apply to a longbill spearfish taken

or possessed shoreward of the outer

boundary of the Atlantic EEZ, to a shark

taken from or possessed in the Atlantic

EEZ, to a North Atlantic swordfish taken

from or possessed in the Atlantic Ocean,

and to bluefin and yellowfin tuna taken

from or possessed in the Atlantic Ocean.

The operator of a vessel for which a

retention limit applies is responsible for

the vessel retention limit and for the

cumulative retention limit based on the

number of persons aboard. Federal

recreational retention limits may not be

combined with any recreational

retention limit applicable in state

waters.

(c) Sharks. One shark from the large

coastal, small coastal, or pelagic group

may be retained per vessel per trip,

subject to the size limits described in §

635.20(e), and, in addition, one Atlantic

sharpnose shark may be retained per

person per trip. Regardless of the length

of a trip, no more than one Atlantic

sharpnose shark per person may be

possessed on board a vessel. No

prohibited sharks listed in table 1(d) of

appendix A to this part may be retained.

The recreational retention limit for

sharks applies to a person who fishes in

any manner, except to a person aboard

a vessel who has been issued a limited

access vessel permit under § 635.4 for

Atlantic sharks.

(d) Yellowfin tuna. Three yellowfin

tunas per person per day may be

retained. Regardless of the length of a

trip, no more than three yellowfin tuna

per person may be possessed on board

a vessel. The recreational retention limit

for yellowfin tuna applies to a person

who fishes in any manner, except to a

person aboard a vessel issued a vessel

permit under § 635.4 for Atlantic tunas

in a category other than Angling. The

yellowfin tuna retention limit applies to

all persons aboard a vessel issued an

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species

Charter/Headboat permit under § 635.4,

including captain and crew.

(e) Bluefin tuna. Refer to § 635.23 for

Atlantic bluefin tuna recreational

retention limits.

(f) North Atlantic swordfish. One

North Atlantic swordfish per vessel per

day may be retained. Regardless of the

length of a trip, no more than one North

Atlantic swordfish may be possessed on

board a vessel. The recreational

retention limit for swordfish applies to

a person who fishes in any manner,

except to a person aboard a vessel that

has been issued a limited access

swordfish permit under § 635.4.

6. In § 635.30, paragraph (d) is revised

to read as follows:

§ 635.30 Possession at sea and landing.

(d) Swordfish. Except for persons

aboard a vessel that has been issued a

limited access swordfish permit under

§ 635.4, any person who possesses an

Atlantic swordfish on board a vessel or

who lands an Atlantic swordfish in an

Atlantic coastal port must maintain

such swordfish with its head, fins, and

bill intact through offloading; persons

may eviscerate such swordfish, but it

must otherwise be maintained whole.

Persons aboard a fishing vessel that has

been issued a limited access swordfish

permit under § 635.4 must maintain

Atlantic swordfish in either round or

dressed form when possessed on board

the vessel from the time of capture

through offloading in an Atlantic coastal

port.

7. In § 635.31, paragraph (b)(2)(ii) is

revised and paragraph (b)(3) is added to

read as follows:

§ 635.31 Restrictions on sale and

purchase.

(b) Billfish.

(2) * * *

(ii) It is accompanied by a Billfish

Certificate of Eligibility (COE) form

obtained from NMFS or its equivalent

that documents that the fish was

harvested from other than the Atlantic

Ocean management unit.

(A) The Billfish COE required under

this section must indicate, in English,

the name and homeport of the

harvesting vessel, and the date and port

of offloading. Only the purchaser of the

billfish from the harvesting vessel must

complete this information.

(B) The Billfish COE must be signed

and dated by each dealer in possession

of the product throughout the chain of

custody up to but not including the

consumer. This signature indicates a

declaration that the billfish were not

harvested from the management unit.

(C) A Billfish COE may refer to

billfish taken from only one harvesting

vessel. If a shipment contains billfish

taken from more than one vessel, a

separate billfish COE must accompany

the shipment for each harvesting vessel.

(D) A model Billfish COE can be

obtained by contacting the Division

Chief. An equivalent form may be used

provided it contains all of the

information required under this section.

(3) For the purposes of this paragraph

635.31(b), a dealer or seafood processor

means any individual, other than a

consumer, who engages in any activity,

other than fishing, of industry, trade, or

commerce, including but not limited to

the buying or selling of a regulated

species or parts thereof and activities

conducted for the purpose of facilitating

such buying and selling.

[FR Doc. 01–31662 Filed 12–21–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[I.D. 121701D]

Groundfish Fisheries of the Bering Sea

and Aleutian Islands Area and the Gulf

of Alaska

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of meeting to review

proposed work plan for preparing a

revised Alaska Groundfish Fisheries

Draft Programmatic Supplemental

Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS)

and to discuss draft multi-objective

policy alternatives.

SUMMARY: On November 27, 2001,

NMFS announced its intent to revise the

Alaska Groundfish Fisheries draft

Programmatic SEIS. After reviewing

more than 21,000 comment letters

received on the draft Programmatic

SEIS, NMFS determined that revisions

to the draft Programmatic SEIS are

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 247 / Wednesday, December 26, 2001 / Proposed Rules 66391

appropriate and necessary. NMFS also

determined that these revisions will

require the release of a revised draft

Programmatic SEIS. Based on these

decisions, NMFS announced a new

series of dates for preparing the revised

draft, preparing the final programmatic

SEIS, and issuing the Record of

Decision.

This document announces that NMFS

will hold three public meetings in

Seattle, WA, and in Anchorage and

Bethel, AK in January 2002 for the

purpose of presenting a work plan,

answering questions concerning the

new work plan, and schedule, and

soliciting public input on new, multiobjective policy alternatives.

DATES: See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

under the heading ‘‘Meeting Dates and

Addresses’’ for the dates of the public

meetings.

ADDRESSES: See SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION under the heading

‘‘Meeting Dates and Addresses’’ for

meeting addresses.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Steven K. Davis, Programmatic SEIS

Coordinator, Anchorage, AK, (907) 271–

3523.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On

November 27, 2001, NMFS issued a

notice informing the public of its

decision to prepare a revised draft

Programmatic SEIS and release that

draft for public comment prior to

preparing a final Programmatic SEIS.

This decision was based on the agency’s

review and preliminary analysis of the

comments received on the draft

Programmatic SEIS.

NMFS has scheduled two public

meetings and is planning a third

meeting in January 2002. The purpose of

these meetings is to present a work plan

for preparing the revised draft

programmatic SEIS, answering

questions concerning the work plan and

schedule, and soliciting suggestions for

draft multi-objective policy alternatives.

The development of these new

alternatives will be based on comments

received on the January 2001 draft

Programmatic SEIS, input received from

the public at these January meetings,

and on recommendations from the

North Pacific Fishery Management

Council (Council). The final suite of

multi-objective policy alternatives will

serve as the focus of the revised draft

Programmatic SEIS.

Information on these meetings can

also be found in the Council’s December

2001 newsletter. A meeting

announcement will also be mailed to

the Programmatic SEIS mailing list.

Additional information concerning the

meeting agenda and draft multiobjective policy alternatives will be

posted on the NMFS Alaska Region’s

website at http://www.fakr.noaa.gov and

at the Council’s website at http://

www.fakr.noaa.gov/npfmc prior to the

meetings.

Meeting Dates and Addresses

1. January 22, 2002, 9 a.m. Pacific

standard time - Alaska Fisheries Science

Center, 7600 Sand Point Way N.E.,

Building 9, Room A/B, Seattle, WA.

2. January 24, 2002, 9 a.m. Alaska

local time - Federal Courthouse, 222

West 9th Avenue, Room 154,

Anchorage, AK.

3. Bethel, AK. The meeting will begin

at 9 a.m. Alaska local time. The location

and date to be announced (see websites

for information).

Special Accommodations

The meetings will be physically

accessible to people with disabilities.

Requests for sign language

interpretation or other auxiliary aids

should be directed to Steven K. Davis

(see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT)

at least 7 working days prior to the

meeting date.

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

Dated: December 19, 2001.

Jonathan M. Kurland,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 01–31659 Filed 12–21–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S