The purpose of this rule development effort is to close what has become an enforcement loophole for persons violating the Commission’s netting rules. Recovery and disposal of monofilament netting is being used as a defense to rules prohibiting possession of monofilament gill or entangling nets and requiring direct transit for persons seeking to use such nets in federal waters where they are legal. The effect of these rule changes should be to improve enforcement of those net provisions and make prosecutions of net violations more successful.