Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fisheries; Large Coastal Shark Species

NMFS notifies eligible participants of the length of the second semiannual fishing season for the commercial fishery for large coastal sharks (LCS) in the Western North Atlantic Ocean, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Both the ridgeback and non- ridgeback sectors of the LCS fishery will open July 1, 1999. The non- ridgeback LCS sector will close July 12, 1999, 11:30 p.m. local time. The ridgeback LCS sector will close August 8, 1999, 11:30 p.m. local time. This action is necessary to ensure that the semiannual quotas for ridgeback LCS of 310 metric tons (mt) dressed weight (dw) and non- ridgeback LCS of 98 mt dw for the period July 1 through December 31, 1999, are not exceeded.