Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act Provisions; Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Regulations Governing Northeast Multispecies and Monkfish Days-at-Sea

Résumé

NMFS proposes a regulatory amendment that would revise the monkfish days-at-sea (DAS) regulations found at 50 CFR part 648 in order to provide vessels possessing limited access Category C or D monkfish permits the opportunity to fish their full allocation of up to 40 monkfish DAS, regardless of the amount of Northeast (NE) multispecies DAS available to an individual vessel as of August 1, 2002. These regulations were modified as part of a August 1, 2002, interim final rule implementing the Settlement Agreement Among Certain Parties (Settlement Agreement), ordered by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in a Remedial Order issued on May 23, 2002. However, the August 1, 2002, interim final rule unintentionally restricted monkfish DAS allocated under the Monkfish Fishery Management Plan (Monkfish FMP) for limited access Category C or D monkfish vessels that used NE multispecies DAS not in conjunction with a monkfish DAS, during May through July, 2002. This regulatory amendment would also revise ambiguous language to clarify that a vessel fishing under a Southern New England (SNE) and Mid-Atlantic (MA) Yellowtail Flounder Possession/Landing Letter of Authorization (LOA)