9814 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 29 / Monday, February 12, 2001 / Proposed Rules

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kim

Iverson, Public Information Officer,

South Atlantic Fishery Management

Council, telephone: 843-571-4366; fax:

843-769-4520; email address:

kim.iverson@noaa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

public hearing will be convened to

obtain the views of fishery participants

and the general public regarding

specific issues about the use of

powerhead gear to target reef fish

species in the FMP’s management unit.

The issues to be addressed include the

following: Conflicts/competition

between user groups; harvest of

lethargic fish during the winter months;

harvest of aggregations of spawning fish;

excessive harvesting by divers; and, the

illegal sale of fish. The Council intends

that proposed regulatory actions to

address these issues would be through

a regulatory amendment under the

FMP’s framework procedure for

regulatory adjustments.

Date, Time, and Location for Public

Hearing

The public hearing will be held on

Tuesday, February 20, 2001, beginning

at 6 p.m., and will be held at the Sea

Turtle Inn, One Ocean Boulevard,

Atlantic Beach, FL 32233; telephone:

(904) 249-7402; FAX (904) 247-1517.

Special Accommodations

This meeting is physically accessible

to people with disabilities. Requests for

sign language interpretation or other

auxiliary aids should be directed to the

Council (see ADDRESSES) by February

12, 2001.

Dated: February 6, 2001

Bruce C. Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 01–3548 Filed 2–9–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE: 3510–22–S

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[I.D. 011101A]

RIN 0648-AF87

Fisheries of the Northeastern United

States; Tilefish Fishery Management

Plan

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability of a fishery

management plan; request for

comments.

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the

Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management

Council (Council) has submitted the

Tilefish Fishery Management Plan

(FMP) for Secretarial review and is

requesting comments from the public.

The FMP would initiate Federal

management of golden tilefish

(Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps)

(tilefish) under the Magnuson-Stevens

Fishery Conservation and Management

Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). The

overall goal of the FMP is to rebuild

tilefish so that the optimum yield can be

obtained from this resource.

DATES: Comments must be received not

later than 5 p.m., Eastern Standard

Time, on April 13, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the FMP

should be sent to Patricia A. Kurkul,

Regional Administrator, 1 Blackburn

Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930–2298.

Mark the outside of the envelope,

‘‘Comments on Tilefish FMP.’’

Comments may also be sent via

facsimile (fax) to (978) 281–9135.

Comments will not be accepted if

submitted via e-mail or the Internet.

Copies of the FMP, its regulatory

impact review, initial regulatory

flexibility analysis, final environmental

impact statement, and supporting

documents are available from Daniel T.

Furlong, Executive Director, MidAtlantic Fishery Management Council,

Room 2115, Federal Building, Dover, DE

19904–6790.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Myles Raizin, Fishery Policy Analyst,

(978) 281–9104, e-mail at

M.A.Raizin@noaa.gov, fax at (978) 281–

9135.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FMPs and

amendments must meet the

requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens

Act as well as a number of other Federal

laws and regulations. The FMP has been

developed to meet all Federal

requirements and contains all the

required elements of an FMP. In

particular, the FMP addresses the

Magnuson-Stevens Act requirement that

an FMP be developed for overfished

species and that targets and thresholds

for stock size and fishing mortality be

established.

A recent NMFS stock assessment

indicates that the tilefish stock north of

North Carolina is at a low biomass level

and is overexploited. Total tilefish

biomass in 1998 was estimated to be 6.8

million lb (3.1 million kg), which is

about 35 percent of the biomass (B) that

would produce maximum sustainable

yield (MSY) or BMSY. Biomass-based

fishing mortality (F) was estimated to be

0.45, which is about double the F at

MSY (FMSY) of 0.22. Total landings in

1998 were 2.7 million lb (1.2 million kg)

and significantly below the estimated

MSY of 4.2 million lb (1.9 million kg).

Current fishing mortality rates are

unsustainable, as indicated by a shift in

the exploitation pattern towards smaller

fish.

The management unit for the FMP is

defined as all golden tilefish under

United States jurisdiction in the

Atlantic Ocean north of the Virginia/

North Carolina border. Tilefish south of

the Virginia/North Carolina border are

currently managed as part of the Fishery

Management Plan for the SnapperGrouper Fishery prepared by the South

Atlantic Fishery Management Council.

The fishing year for tilefish would be

the 12-month period beginning with the

implementation date of the FMP.

To meet the overall goal of the FMP,

the Council adopted the following

objectives: (1) Prevent overfishing and

rebuild the resource to the biomass that

would support MSY; (2) prevent

overcapitalization and limit new

entrants; (3) identify and describe

essential fish habitat; and (4) collect

necessary data to develop, monitor, and

assess biological, economic, and social

impacts of management measures

designed to prevent overfishing and to

reduce bycatch in all fisheries.

The FMP would establish: (1) An

overfishing definition; (2) a 10-year

rebuilding schedule; (3) permit and

reporting requirements for commercial

vessels, operators, and dealers; (4) an

FMP Monitoring Committee; (5) a

framework adjustment process; (6) a

commercial quota to be divided into

full-time, part-time, and incidental

categories; (7) a trip limit for the

incidental category (non-longline); (8) a

limited entry scheme for the full-time

and part-time quota categories; and (9)

an identification and description of

essential fish habitat (EFH) for tilefish.

Overfishing Definition

The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires

each fishery management plan to

specify objective and measurable status

determination criteria for identifying

when stocks or stock complexes are

overfished. Status determination criteria

for tilefish would specify a maximum

fishing mortality rate (F) threshold and

minimum stock size threshold. The

maximum F threshold would be

specified as FMSY, and the minimum

biomass threshold would be specified as

c BMSY. Guidelines for the MagnusonStevens Act National Standards suggest

that a risk-averse fishing mortality rate

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 29 / Monday, February 12, 2001 / Proposed Rules 9815

target and a biomass target be specified.

The Council adopted a target fishing

mortality rate consistent with the

recommended rebuilding schedule for

tilefish. The FMP specifies a target stock

biomass equal to BMSY.

EFH Definition

The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires

fishery management plans to identify

EFH and to address habitat issues such

as description of non-fishing and fishing

threats. EFH designations for tilefish

under the FMP would be reviewed and,

if needed, updated at least every 5 years.

The FMP provides the authority to

implement new or amended measures

through a framework process.

Permits for Commercial Vessels,

Operators, and Dealers

Vessel owners desiring to fish for

tilefish within the EEZ with the intent

to sell, transport, or deliver for sale, any

tilefish taken from the EEZ, would be

required to obtain a Federal commercial

vessel permit. Any individual who

operates a vessel for the purpose of

fishing commercially for tilefish would

be required to obtain an operator’s

permit. Any vessel fishing commercially

for tilefish would be required to have on

board at least one operator who holds an

operator’s permit. Any dealer of tilefish

would be required to have a permit.

Reporting Requirements for

Commercial Vessels, Operators and

Dealers

Federal commercial permit holders

would be required to submit completed

logbooks within 15 days of the end of

the reporting month in order to monitor

the fishery. Dealers with permits issued

pursuant to the FMP would be required

to submit weekly landings reports.

Dealers would also be required to use

the NMFS interactive voice response

reporting system. Dealers would be

required to report all purchases of

tilefish, regardless of whether a vessel

possesses a valid commercial permit

issued by NMFS. Buyers who do not

purchase directly from vessels would

not be required to submit reports under

this provision. The processing sector

would be required to submit the

Processed Product Report, as is required

in all Northeast FMPs.

Tilefish Monitoring Committee

(Monitoring Committee)

The Monitoring Committee would be

a joint committee made up of staff

representatives of the Council, the

NMFS Northeast Regional Office, the

NMFS Northeast Fisheries Science

Center, state representatives, and an

industry member. The Monitoring

Committee would annually review the

best available data and make

recommendations to the Council

through its Tilefish Committee

regarding annual specifications and

management measures consistent with

the rebuilding schedule for the tilefish

fishery.

Framework Adjustment Process

In addition to the annual specification

setting procedure, the Council could

add or modify management measures

through a framework adjustment

process. This adjustment procedure

would allow the Council to add or

modify management measures through

an expedited process while allowing

opportunities for public review.

Commercial Quota

Landings for each of the next 10

fishing years would be set at 1.995

million lb (905,172 kg). The quota

would be divided among three

categories: Incidental, part-time, and

full-time. The full-time category would

in turn be divided into two tiers.

Placement of a vessel into a full-time or

part-time category is based on qualifying

criteria that reflect historical and

present participation in the fishery. The

incidental permit, which is open access,

would allow vessels to retain up to 300

lb (138 kg) of tilefish per trip. The

‘‘target’’ estimate of landings for the

incidental category (5 percent of the

total allowable landings (TAL)) would

first be subtracted from the TAL and

then the remainder of the TAL would be

divided among the full-time tier 1

category, which would receive 66

percent; the full-time tier 2 category,

which would receive 15 percent; and

the part-time category, which would

receive 19 percent.

Stock Rebuilding Schedule

The rebuilding schedule in the FMP

would have a 50-percent probability of

rebuilding the tilefish stock to Bmsy in

10 years. The rebuilding schedule

would reduce F from the 1998 level of

0.45, to 0.31 in the first year of the FMP.

The rebuilding plan would allow for a

constant harvest of 1.995 million lb

(905,172 kg) per year for 10 years,

beginning in 2001.

Public Comments

Public comments are being solicited

on the FMP through the end of the

comment period (see DATES). A

proposed rule that would implement the

FMP may be published in the Federal

Register for public comment following

NMFS’ evaluation under MagnusonStevens Act procedures. Public

comments on the proposed rule must be

received by the end of the comment

period on the FMP in order to be

considered in the approval/disapproval

decision on the FMP. All comments

received by the end of the comment

period on the FMP, whether specifically

directed to the FMP or the proposed

rule to implement the FMP, will be

considered the approval/disapproval

decision on the FMP. All comments

received on the FMP or on the proposed

rule will be responded to in the

preamble to the final rule.

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

Dated: February 6, 2001.

Bruce C. Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 01–3546 Filed 2–9–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S