Summer Flounder and Scup Fishery; Notice of Availability of Amendment 8

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 625

[I.D. 042696A]

Summer Flounder and Scup Fishery; Notice of Availability of

Amendment 8

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability of an amendment to a fishery management

plan and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS issues this document to advise that the Mid-Atlantic

Fishery Management Council (Council) has submitted Amendment 8 to the

Fishery Management Plan for the Summer Flounder and Scup Fisheries

(FMP) for Secretarial review and is requesting comments from the

public. Amendment 8 would initiate management measures for the scup

fishery.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before June 24, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Dr. Andrew A. Rosenberg, Regional Director,

National Marine Fisheries Service, Northeast Regional Office, One

Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930-3799. Mark the outside of the

envelope ``Comments on Summer Flounder and Scup Plan.''

Copies of proposed Amendment 8, its Regulatory Impact Review (RIR)

and the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis contained within the

RIR, and the Final Environmental Impact Statement are available from

David R. Keifer, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management

Council, Room 2115 Federal Building, 300 S. New Street, Dover, DE

19904-6790.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Regina L. Spallone, Fishery Policy

Analyst, 508-281-9221.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson Fishery Conservation and

Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) (Magnuson Act) requires that

each regional fishery management council submit any fishery management

plan or amendment it prepares to NMFS for review. The Magnuson Act also

requires that NMFS, upon receiving the plan or amendment for review,

immediately make a preliminary evaluation of whether the amendment is

sufficient to warrant continued review, and publish a document that the

plan or amendment is available for public review and comment. NMFS will

consider the public comments received during the comment period in

determining whether to approve the plan or amendment.

Amendment 8, if approved, would revise the Summer Flounder FMP to

institute management measures that would allow the scup (Stenotomus

chrysops) resource to rebuild over a 7-year period. Scup are currently

overexploited and at a low biomass level.

Proposed management measures for scup in Year 1 of management

include: Dealer, charter/party (c/p) vessel, and operator permits;

moratorium vessel permits for the directed commercial fishery; a

requirement that permitted vessels may sell only to permitted dealers;

mandatory reporting for permitted vessels and dealers; escape vents on

scup pots or traps; degradable hinges and fasteners in scup pots or

traps; and maximum size for rollers used in roller rig trawl gear;

minimum fish sizes for the commercial and recreational fisheries; and

minimum codend mesh requirements when possessing more than a threshold

level of scup on board. In Year 2 and beyond, a coastwide quota would

also be implemented with Federal commercial permit holders being

prohibited from landing after the quota had been attained, as well as a

framework to allow time/area closures in order to reduce bycatch and

prevent quota overruns. The proposed amendment also includes a

framework measure to allow future adjustments to minimum fish sizes,

mesh size, and the threshold level of fish on board that triggers the

mesh size, and to implement a recreational possession limit and season.

NMFS disapproved six measures in Amendment 8 before publishing this

notice of availability as authorized under section 304(a)(1)(A) of the

Magnuson Act. These disapproved measures would: (1) Confer moratorium

permit eligibility upon vessels that were re-rigging on January 26,

1993, and land scup prior to the implementation of the FMP; (2) require

vessels to keep scup catches of less than 4,000 lb (1,814 kg) (the

level at which the minimum mesh requirement is triggered) in 100-lb

boxes to enhance enforcement; (3) accept state dealer permits in lieu

of the required Federal permit; (4) deny access to the exclusive

economic zone to vessels from states that do not implement recreational

measures equivalent to those specified in the Federal plan; (5) use

state regulations to define scup pots for the residents of that state;

and (6) establish annual recreational harvest limits and deduct catches

in excess of those limits from the limits for the following year.

Day 1 for this amendment is April 26, 1996. Proposed regulations to

implement this amendment are scheduled to be published within 15 days

of this date.

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

[[Page 20507]]

Dated: May 1, 1996.

Richard W. Surdi,

Acting Director, Office of Fisheries Conservation and Management,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 96-11271 Filed 5-2-96; 11:10 am]

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