96-32282. South Atlantic Fishery Management Council; Public Hearings

[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 246 (Friday, December 20, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 67294-67295]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-32282]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 622

[I.D. 120696E]


South Atlantic Fishery Management Council; Public Hearings

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Public hearings; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will 
convene 10 public hearings on Draft Amendment 8 to the Fishery 
Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic 
Region (FMP) and its associated analyses of regulatory and 
environmental impacts, including a draft supplemental environmental 
impact statement (DSEIS).

DATES: Written comments will be accepted until 5:00 p.m. on January 22, 
1997. The hearings will be held from January 6 to January 17, 1997. See 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for specific dates and times.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to Bob Mahood, Executive 
Director, South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, One Southpark 
Circle, Suite 306, Charleston, SC 29407-4699. Copies of the draft 
amendment and SEIS are available from Susan Buchanan at 803-571-4366. 
The draft amendment and DSEIS will also be available to the public at 
the hearings.
    The hearings will be held in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and 
North Carolina. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for locations of the 
hearings and special accommodations.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan Buchanan, Public Information 
Officer, 803-571-4366; Fax: [phone]; E-mail: [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Council will hold public hearings on 
Draft Amendment 8 to the FMP and associated analyses of regulatory and

[[Page 67295]]

environmental impacts, including a DSEIS.
    Amendment 8 included the following management measures:
    1. Limit permit holders to those who can demonstrate landings of at 
least 1,000 lb (454 kg) of snapper-grouper species in 2 of the 3 years 
- 1993, 1994, and 1995, and have held a valid snapper-grouper permit 
for those years.
    2. Control fishing effort by establishing trip limits for 
identified sub-unit groups of species within the FMP's management unit.
    3. Redefine the FMP's definitions of overfishing and optimum yield 
for all species in the snapper-grouper management unit.
    4. Increase the red porgy minimum size limit from 12 inches (30.5 
cm) total length (TL) to 14 inches (36 cm) TL for recreational and 
commercial fishermen and establish a recreational fishery bag limit of 
two red porgy.
    5. Increase the black sea bass minimum size limit from 8 inches 
(20.3 cm) TL to 10 inches (25.4 cm) TL for both recreational and 
commercial fishermen.
    6. Designate a black sea bass Special Management Zone.
    7. Establish a recreational fishery bag limit of 10 black sea bass.
    8. Require escape vents and escape panels with degradable fasteners 
in black sea bass pots.
    9. Establish measures for greater amberjack that would extend the 
April closure throughout the South Atlantic EEZ and prohibit sale 
during April, reduce the recreational fishery bag limit to one fish per 
person per day, implement a commercial quota to reduce landings by 21 
percent based on average landings from 1986-1995, implement a 500-1,000 
lb (227-454 kg) trip limit, change the start of the fishing year from 
January 1 to July 1, and prohibit coring.
    10. Establish, effective January 1, 1998, an annual commercial 
quota for vermilion snapper of 600,000 lb (272,155. kg), a recreational 
fishery bag limit of five fish and a recreational fishery minimum size 
limit of 12 inches (30.5 cm). 11. Increase the gag minimum size limit 
from 20 inches (50.8 cm) TL to 24 inches (61 cm) TL for the commercial 
and recreational fisheries, and prohibit all harvest January through 
March.
    12. Require logbook reporting by the 10th of the month following 
the month of fishing activity.
    13. Establish a zone in the South Atlantic exclusive economic zone 
(EEZ) through which vessels carrying fish traps could transit if they 
have valid Gulf reef fish permits and fish trap endorsements.
    14. Restrict vessels with bottom longline gear on board to 
possessing only snowy grouper, warsaw grouper, yellowedge grouper, 
misty grouper, golden tilefish, blueline tilefish, and sand tilefish.
    15. Allow use of one bait net per boat, up to 50 ft (1,524 cm) long 
by 10 ft (305 cm) high with a stretched mesh size of 1.5 inches (3.75 
cm) or smaller; also, allow possession and use of cast nets for 
catching bait.
    16. Allow species within the snapper grouper fishery management 
unit (whether whole or fillets) caught in Bahamian waters in accordance 
with Bahamian law, to be possessed on board a vessel in the EEZ and 
landed in the United States provided the vessel is in transit from the 
Bahamas and valid Bahamian fishing and cruising permits are on board.
    17. Establish an aggregate snapper-grouper recreational fishery bag 
limit of 20-25 fish inclusive of all species in the snapper-grouper 
fishery management unit.
    18. The Council is considering a number of options under this 
action to reduce fishing mortality including establishing a closure of 
the South Atlantic EEZ for species in the snapper-grouper fishery 
management unit, or implementing a trip limit for all temperate, mid-
shelf snapper-grouper species, or establishing an aggregate temperate 
mid-shelf species quota.
    The hearings will begin at 7 p.m. and will end when business is 
completed. The dates and locations are scheduled as follows:
    1. Monday, January 6, 1997--Pooler (Savannah area) Ramada Inn, 301 
Governor Treutlen Drive, Pooler, GA 31322; telephone: [phone]
    2. Tuesday, January 7, 1997--Comfort Inn Oceanfront, 1515 N. 1st 
Street, Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250; telephone: [phone]
    3. Wednesday, January 8, 1997--Holiday Inn, 1300 N. Atlantic 
Avenue, Cocoa Beach, FL 32931; telephone: [phone]
    4. Thursday, January 9, 1997--Sheraton Hotel, 630 Clearwater Park 
Road, West Palm Beach, FL 33401; telephone: [phone]
    5. Friday, January 10, 1997---Banana Bay Resort, 4590 Overseas 
Highway, Marathon, FL 33401; 305-743-3500
    6. Monday, January 13, 1997--Town & Country Inn, 2008 Savannah 
Highway, Charleston, SC 29407; telephone: [phone]
    7. Tuesday, January 14, 1997--Holiday Inn, 1601 Virginia Dare 
Trail, Kill Devil Hills, NC 27948; telephone: [phone]
    8. Wednesday, January 15, 1997--Sheraton Atlantic Beach Resort, 
Salter Path Road, Atlantic Beach, NC 28512; telephone: [phone]
    9. Thursday, January 16, 1997--Holiday Inn, 4903 Market Street, 
Wilmington, NC 28405; telephone: [phone]
    10. Friday, January 17, 1997--Myrtle Beach Martinique Resort & 
Hotel, 7100 N. Ocean Blvd., Myrtle Beach, SC 29572; telephone: 1-803-
449-4441
    These meetings are physically accessible to people with 
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other 
auxiliary aids should be directed to the Council office (see ADDRESSES) 
by December 30, 1996.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: December 16, 1996.
Gary C. Matlock,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 96-32282 Filed 12-19-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F