[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 193 (Wednesday, October 6, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 54272-54273]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-25978]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 660
[I.D. 092999C]
Pelagics Fisheries of the Western Pacific Region
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS); Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA);
scoping meetings; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces its intention to prepare an EIS on Federal
management of the fishery for pelagic species in the Exclusive Economic
Zone (EEZ) waters of the Western Pacific Region. The scope of the EIS
analysis will include all activities related to the conduct of the
fishery authorized and managed under the Fishery Management Plan for
the Pelagic Fisheries of the Western Pacific Region (FMP) and all
amendments thereto. Additionally, NMFS announces its intention to
prepare an EA on the fishery for pelagic species in the EEZ waters of
the Western Pacific Region. The scope of the analysis of the EA will
include all activities related to the conduct of the fishery for the 2-
year period NMFS anticipates is necessary to prepare the EIS. Both the
EIS and EA will examine the impacts of pelagics harvest on, among other
things, sea turtles and seabirds.
NMFS will hold concurrent scoping meetings to provide for public
input into the range of actions, alternatives, and impacts that the EIS
and EA should consider. Scoping for the EIS and EA commences with
publication of this document. In addition to holding the scoping
meetings, NMFS is accepting written comments on the range of actions,
alternatives, and impacts it should be considering for this EIS, as
well as comments on the scope of the EA.
DATES: Written comments will be accepted through December 6, 1999.
See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for meeting times.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and requests to be included on a mailing
list of persons interested in the EIS should be sent to Marilyn
Luipold, Pacific Islands Area Office, NMFS, 1601 Kapiolani Blvd., Suite
1110, Honolulu, HI 96814-4700.
See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for meeting locations and special
accommodations.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marilyn Luipold, 808-973-2937 or 2935
extension 204.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act, the United States has exclusive
fishery management authority over all living marine resources within
the EEZ between the seaward boundary of each state or U.S. island
possession seaward to 200 nautical miles from the baseline used to
measure the territorial sea. The management of these marine resources
is vested in the Secretary of Commerce and in eight regional fishery
management councils. The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council
(Council) has the responsibility to prepare FMPs for the marine
resources that require conservation and management in the Western
Pacific Region. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires
preparation of EISs for major Federal actions significantly impacting
the quality of the human environment (40 CFR 1502.9(a)).
The FMP was developed by the Council, and regulations implementing
management measures were published on February 17, 1987 (52 FR 5983).
An EA was prepared for the action implementing the FMP. The FMP has
been amended seven times, and NEPA environmental documents
(environmental assessments, categorical exclusions, findings of no
significant impact, and an EIS) have been prepared for each FMP and
regulatory amendment. However, many of these earlier documents have
become outdated and/or focused on individual management actions, making
it difficult to obtain a comprehensive view of issues and management
options for the fishery as it exists today. NMFS is undertaking
preparation of a comprehensive EIS in order to analyze the fishery as
it is currently conducted, to address any and all impacts that might
have been overlooked in earlier analyses, and to improve management of
the fishery. The Federal action under review is defined as, among other
things, all activities authorized and managed under the FMP, as
amended.
The EIS will present an overall picture of the environmental
effects of fishing as conducted under the FMP, rather than focusing
narrowly on one management action, and will include a range of
reasonable management alternatives and an analysis of their impacts in
order to define issues and provide clear basis for choice among options
by the public, the Council, and NMFS. NMFS intends to assess the
biological and socio-economic impacts that result from regulation of
the pelagic fisheries of the Western Pacific Region, including license
limitation, as well as present and potential controls on effort,
harvest levels, location, timing, and methods of fishing. The effects
on associated species, including interactions with protected species,
will be assessed. NMFS intends to evaluate the significant changes that
have occurred in the pelagic fisheries, including the significant
cumulative effects of changes in fishing activities, socio-economics,
the environment, and management. The assessment will include analysis
of the cumulative or incremental impacts of actions and alternatives.
Impacts associated with status quo management (i.e., continuation of
fishing as currently conducted) will be presented and compared to
situations simulating limits on fishing areas and/or gears over all or
parts of the management area. Possible alternatives to the current
conduct of the fishery include a range of area and/or seasonal closures
for the longline fishery, gear restrictions and/or modifications,
including prohibitions on the use of longline gear in some or all of
the management area, and adjustments to requirements for handling
incidental hookings and takings of protected species. The impacts of
EEZ fishing activity and harvest on the marine environment will be
assessed under representative alternative management scenarios that
will ensure consideration of impacts that may reach beyond the EEZ. As
the number of possible alternatives is virtually infinite, the EIS will
not consider detailed alternatives for every aspect of the FMP.
Therefore, a principal objective of the scoping and public input
process is to identify a reasonable set of management alternatives
that, with adequate analysis, will sharply define critical
[[Page 54273]]
issues and provide a clear basis for choice among the alternatives.
Issues
The environmental consequences section of the EIS will display the
impacts of pelagics harvest accruing with present management
regulations and under a range of representative alternative management
regulations on Western Pacific ecosystem issues. These issues include:
essential fish habitat (EFH), target and non-target species of fish
(including tunas, swordfish, and sharks), fish that are discarded,
marine mammals (Hawaiian monk seals and cetaceans), sea turtles, and
seabirds present in the Western Pacific ecosystem. In addition, the
environmental consequences section will contain a summary,
interpretation, and predictions for socio-economic issues associated
with conduct of the fishery on the following groups of individuals: (1)
Those who participate in harvesting the fishery resources and other
living marine resources, (2) those who process and market the fish and
fishery products, (3) those who are involved in allied support
industries, (4) those who consume fishery products, (5) those who rely
on living marine resources in the management area either for
subsistence needs or for recreational benefits, (6) those who benefit
from non-consumptive uses of living marine resources, (7) those
involved in managing and monitoring fisheries, and (8) fishing
communities.
EA Issues
In the EA, NMFS intends to evaluate whether the conduct of the
current fisheries over the next 2 years will have significant
environmental impacts. The Federal action under review in the EA is
defined as all activities authorized and managed under the FMP, as
amended, for the 2-year period anticipated to be necessary for
preparation of the EIS. The EA will present an overall picture of the
environmental effects over the next 2 years of fishing as conducted
under the FMP. Efforts will be made to quantify and explain the
intensity of projected impacts on EFH, target and non-target species of
fish (including tunas, swordfish, and sharks), fish that are discarded,
marine mammals. (Hawaiian monk seals and cetaceans), sea turtles, and
seabirds present in the Western Pacific ecosystem. Additionally, the EA
will evaluate socio-economic impacts associated with the fishery on
groups of individuals, including fishing communities, harvesters,
processors and marketers, consumers, subsistence and recreational users
of living marine resources in the management area, non-consumptive
users, and individuals involved in allied support industries and
management and monitoring of the fisheries. Although the focus of the
EA will be analysis of impacts associated with continuation of fishing
as currently conducted, reasonable alternatives for application in the
2-year period, including area and/or seasonal closures for the longline
fishery, gear restrictions and/or modifications including prohibitions
on the use of longline gear in part or all of the management area, and
adjustments to requirements for handling incidental hookings and
takings of protected species, will be addressed.
Public Involvement and Meeting Times and Locations
Scoping for the EIS and EA begins with publication of this
document. An informational presentation of the project will be made in
conjunction with the Council's October meeting and will be at the
Sheraton Waikiki Hotel, 2255 Kalakaua Ave., Honolulu, HI, October 19,
1999, at 6:30 p.m. Subsequent scoping meetings are planned during
October and November for the Hawaii Islands of Oahu, Maui, Hawaii, and
Kauai, and during November in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands,
and American Samoa. Specific times and locations will be announced in a
separate Federal Register document. The Responsible Program Manager for
this EIS is Rodney R. McInnis, Acting Southwest Regional Administrator,
NMFS.
Special Accommodations
Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids
should be directed to Marilyn Luipold, (see ADDRESSES), 808-973-2937
(voice) or 808-973-2941) (fax), at least 5 days before the meeting
date.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et. seq.
Dated: October 1, 1999.
Gary C. Matlock,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 99-25978 Filed 10-1-99; 4:29 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-M
