[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 213 (Thursday, November 4, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 60157]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-28937]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 679
[I.D. 102699B]
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Bering Sea
and Aleutian Islands; Amendment 58 to Revise the Chinook Salmon Savings
Area
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; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) has
submitted Amendment 58 to the Fishery Management Plan for the
Groundfish Fishery in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area (FMP)
for Secretary of Commerce review. The intended effect of this amendment
is to reduce bycatch of chinook salmon by trawl fisheries in the Bering
Sea Aleutian Islands Area (BSAI).
DATES: Comments on Amendment 58 must be submitted by January 3, 2000.
ADDRESSES: Comments on Amendment 58 should be submitted to Sue
Salveson, Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries,
Alaska Region, NMFS, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802, Attn: Lori
Gravel, or delivered to the Federal Building, 709 West 9th Street,
Juneau, AK. Comments will not be accepted if submitted by e-mail or
Internet. Copies of Amendment 58 and the Environmental Assessment/
Regulatory Impact Review/Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
prepared for this action may be obtained from the same address or by
calling the Alaska Region, NMFS, at 907-586-7228.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shane Capron, 907-586-7228 or
shane.capron@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: To reduce bycatch of chinook salmon by trawl
fisheries in the BSAI, the Council recommended changes to both the FMP
and the regulations implementing it. Amendment 58 would revise the
FMP's management measures for chinook salmon by (1) removing the
prohibited species catch (PSC) limit of 48,000 chinook salmon from the
FMP and replacing it with a framework that would allow NMFS to
establish the chinook PSC limit through regulations; and (2) revising
the boundaries of the chinook salmon savings area (CHSSA).
The Council also recommended that NMFS use the framework proposed
in Amendment 58 to reduce the chinook PSC limit from 48,000 to 29,000
salmon over a 4-year period, to implement year-round accounting of
chinook salmon bycatch in the pollock fishery beginning on January 1 of
each year, to revise the boundaries of the CHSSA, and to set new CHSSA
closure dates.
The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act
(Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires that each Regional Fishery Management
Council submit any fishery management plan (FMP) or FMP amendment it
prepares to NMFS for review and approval, disapproval, or partial
approval. The Magnuson-Stevens Act also requires that NMFS, upon
receiving an amendment, immediately publish a notification in the
Federal Register that the amendment is available for public review and
comment. NMFS will consider all public comments received during the
comment period in determining whether to approve the FMP or amendment.
Public comments on Amendment 58 must be received by January 3, 2000 to
be considered by NMFS in the decision to approve/disapprove this
amendment. After evaluating Amendment 58 pursuant to the Magnuson-
Stevens Act, NMFS will publish a proposed rule to implement the
amendment and the related regulatory changes the Council recommended in
the Federal Register for public comment. Public comments on the
proposed rule must be received by January 3, 2000, the end of the
comment period for this notice of availability on Amendment 58, to be
considered in the approval/disapproval decision on the amendment.
Comments received after that date will not be considered in the
approval/disapproval decision on the amendment. All comments received
on the amendment or on the proposed rule will be responded to in the
preamble to the final rule.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: October 29, 1999.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 99-28937 Filed 11-3-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F
