[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 32 (Thursday, February 18, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 8052-8053]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-3999]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 622
[I.D. 020899A]
RIN 0648-AL42
Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic;
Compliance with Sustainable Fisheries Act Provisions for Management
Plans in the South Atlantic; Comprehensive Amendment to the Fishery
Management Plans of the South Atlantic Region
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability of a comprehensive amendment to fishery
management plans (FMPs) for the South Atlantic Region addressing
certain requirements of the Sustainable Fisheries Act; request for
comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the South Atlantic Fishery Management
Council (Council) has submitted to NMFS for review, approval, and
implementation a comprehensive amendment to its FMPs that addresses the
requirements of the Sustainable Fisheries Act other than those
regarding essential fish habitat. Among several SFA requirements, this
amendment would set criteria for determining when a fish stock is
overfished and, in the case of a fishery approaching an overfished
condition or that is overfished, establish measures to prevent or end
overfishing and rebuild the fishery. Written comments are requested
from the public.
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before April 19, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Comments must be mailed to the Southeast Regional Office,
NMFS, 9721 Executive Center Drive N., St. Petersburg, FL 33702.
[[Page 8053]]
Requests for copies of the comprehensive amendment, which includes
an Environmental Assessment, a Regulatory Impact Review, and a Social
Impact Assessment/Fishery Impact Assessment, should be sent to the
South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, One Southpark Circle, Suite
306, Charleston, SC 29407-4699; Phone: 843-571-4366; Fax: 843-769-4520.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steve Branstetter, NMFS, 727-570-5305.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation
and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.,
requires each Regional Fishery Management Council to submit FMPs or
amendments 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 document in the Federal
Register stating that the amendment is available for public review and
comment.
Section 303 of the Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that the Regional
Fishery Management Councils submit, by October 11, 1998, amendments to
their FMPs to comply with provisions set forth in the SFA regarding the
required provisions of FMPs (P. L. 104-297). These required FMP
provisions include defining overfishing (and related terms such as
maximum sustainable yield (MSY) and optimum yield (OY)); preventing
overfishing and rebuilding overfished stocks; assessing and minimzing
bycatch; assessing the effects of conservation and management measures
on fishing communities, specifying data requirements for commercial,
recreational, and charter fishing; assessing and minimizing fish
mortality in catch-and-release recreational fisheries; and fairly and
equitably allocating harvest restrictions and stock recovery benefits
among commercial, recreational, and charter fisheries.
NMFS published revised national standard guidelines (63 FR 24212,
May 1, 1998) to assist the Regional Fishery Management Councils in
amending their FMPs to address these SFA requirements. NMFS also
provided the Councils (August 1998) with technical guidance in
addressing the new definition requirements of the SFA, as more
generally explained in the revised national standard guidelines, for
MSY, OY, overfishing, and overfished. Based on the statutory
requirements of the SFA and NMFS' guidelines/guidance, the Council
developed its comprehensive amendment.
The Council concluded that the definitions and word usage currently
in its FMPs and implementing regulations were already consistent with
SFA section 102 requirements regarding definitions. It also concluded
that no action to amend existing bycatch management measures in its
FMPs was required to meet the SFA requirements regarding bycatch.
Descriptions of each fishing sector and recent trends in landings
are already provided in each of the Council's FMPs, and the Council
determined that those descriptions and data are consistent with SFA
section 108 provisions.
The comprehensive amendment contains a measure amending the
existing framework procedures of the Council's FMPs. These procedures
are used for making annual or periodic regulatory adjustments without
requiring FMP amendments and allow the Council and NMFS to add or
modify management measures in a timely manner through a streamlined
rulemaking process. The proposed action would allow the Council to
incorporate biomass-based stock estimates of MSY into FMPs as
replacements for spawning potential ratio proxies for MSY as data
become available to calculate such estimates. The comprehensive
amendment's measure amending the framework procedures of the FMPs would
be implemented, if approved, through regulations. In accordance with
the Magnuson-Stevens Act, NMFS is evaluating a proposed rule for this
measure to determine whether it is consistent with the comprehensive
amendment, the FMPs, the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other applicable
law. If that determination is affirmative, NMFS will publish the
proposed rule in the Federal Register for public review and comment.
NMFS will consider comments received by April 19, 1999, whether
specifically directed to the comprehensive amendment or to the proposed
rule, in its decision to approve, disapprove, or partially approve the
comprehensive amendment. Comments received after that date will not be
considered by NMFS in this decision. All comments received by NMFS on
the comprehensive amendment and on the proposed rule during their
respective comment periods will be addressed in the final rule.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: February 11, 1999.
Gary C. Matlock,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 99-3999 Filed 2-17-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F
