[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 95 (Wednesday, May 17, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 26403-26404]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-12027]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 659
[I.D. 050595A]
Shrimp and Calico Scallop Fisheries Off the Southern Atlantic
States; Public Hearings and Scoping Meetings
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of public hearings and scoping meetings.
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SUMMARY: The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) is
holding public hearings to solicit comments on management options for
Amendment 1 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Shrimp Fishery
of the South Atlantic Region (Shrimp FMP) that would add rock shrimp to
the management unit. Immediately after the hearings, the Council will
hold public scoping meetings to solicit comments on the development of
an FMP for the calico scallop fishery and on Amendment 2 to the Shrimp
FMP dealing with fishery bycatch issues. See the SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION section for additional information on the hearings and
scoping meetings.
DATES: The hearings are scheduled as followed:
1. Monday, May 22, 1995, 7 p.m., Wilmington, NC
2. Tuesday, May 23, 1995, 7 p.m., Charleston, SC
3. Wednesday, May 24, 1995, 7 p.m., Cocoa Beach, FL
4. Thursday, May 25, 1995, 7 p.m., Mobile, AL
The public scoping meetings on an FMP for calico scallops and on
Amendment 2 to the Shrimp FMP will be held immediately after the public
hearings on May 22 and 23. Also, a public scoping meeting on calico
scallops will be held immediately after the public hearing on May 24.
ADDRESSES: The hearings will be held at the following locations:
1. Wilmington--Ramada Conference Center, 5001 Market Street,
Wilmington, NC 28405; public hearing and scoping meeting.
2. Charleston--Department of Natural Resources, Fort Johnson
Auditorium, 217 Fort Johnson Road, Charleston, SC 29412; public hearing
and scoping meeting.
3. Cocoa Beach-Holiday Inn, 300 N. Atlantic Avenue, Cocoa Beach, FL
32931; public hearing and scoping meeting.
4. Mobile--Holiday Inn Downtown, 301 Government Street, Mobile, AL
36602; public hearing.
Written comments regarding the issues being discussed at the
hearings and scoping meetings must be received on or before June 2,
1995. Requests for copies of the public hearing documents should be
sent to the Council at the following address: South Atlantic Fishery
Management Council, One Southpark Circle, Suite 306, Charleston, SC
29407-4699.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sharon Coste (Council staff);
telephone: 803-571-4366; fax: 803-769-4520.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Public hearings will be held to solicit
comments on management options for Amendment 1 to the Shrimp FMP that
proposes to add rock shrimp to the management unit, prohibit trawling
for rock shrimp in designated areas, and implement mandatory permitting
and reporting requirements for vessels fishing for and dealers handling
rock shrimp in the South Atlantic region. In addition, a mandatory
vessel operator license and other management measures to enhance law
enforcement are under consideration.
Public scoping meetings will be held to solicit comments on the
development of an FMP for the calico scallop fishery. The Council may
consider the following measures as possible management options for this
fishery: (1) No action; (2) prohibit calico scallop trawling (trawling)
south of 28 deg.30' N. lat.; (3) prohibit trawling south of 28 deg. N.
lat.; (4) allow trawling south of Cape Canaveral only with
transponders; (5) prohibit trawling west of Oculina Bank; (6) prohibit
trawling south of Bethal Shoals; (7) prohibit trawling in depths less
than 120 ft. (8) allow trawling with transponders only from Duval
through St. Lucie Counties; (9) limit trawling to Duval through St.
Lucie Counties; and (10) prohibit trawling south of Cape Canaveral,
Florida (i.e., south of 28 deg.35.1' N. lat).
The Council will also hold public scoping meetings to solicit
comments on Amendment 2 to the Shrimp FMP to address the issue of
finfish bycatch in the shrimp trawl fishery. The Shrimp FMP was
prepared by the Council in 1992 and approved and implemented by NMFS in
1993. At the time of FMP implementation, the Council was concerned
about finfish bycatch in the shrimp trawl fishery and intended, at that
time, to begin developing management measures through an FMP amendment
that would reduce bycatch. The Council's goal for bycatch reduction was
affected by the 1990 Amendments to the Magnuson Fishery Conservation
and Management Act that mandated a 3-year research program to assess
the impacts of shrimp trawl bycatch on fishery resources under
management of the Council before management action is taken. The
results of this research program have been recently summarized in a
NMFS report to Congress titled ``A Report to Congress--Cooperative
Research Program Addressing Finfish Bycatch in the Gulf of Mexico and
South Atlantic Shrimp Fisheries--April 1995.''
These research results will be considered by the Council as an
important basis for any specific management actions. Recent advances in
gear development through cooperative efforts of Federal and state
governments and the shrimp industry have produced Bycatch Reduction
Devices (BRDs) that successfully exclude juvenile fish from shrimp
trawls with a minimum of shrimp loss. At its October 1994 meeting in
Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, the Council recommended that NMFS
emphasize the development of efficient and effective BRDs in its
bycatch reduction research efforts in the South Atlantic; this would
provide the Council and the South Atlantic states with expanded options
to reduce finfish bycatch in the shrimp trawl fishery. Both the Council
and the South Atlantic states have requested that NMFS proceed as
rapidly as possible to obtain the research information needed to
identify and assess options for requiring the use of BRDs under the
Shrimp FMP and under coastal fishery management plans (CFMPs) developed
by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) under
provisions of the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act
of 1993 (Atlantic Coastal Act).
The Council has asked NMFS to conduct a bycatch characterization of
the rock shrimp fishery off Cape [[Page 26404]] Canaveral, Florida.
Concerns still exist relative to the impacts of shrimp bycatch on the
Spanish and king mackerel resources. In addition, under the current
Amendment 2 to the CFMP for Weakfish, prepared by the Commission under
the Atlantic Coastal Act, all South Atlantic states must implement
management measures to reduce the bycatch of weakfish by 50 percent in
the shrimp trawl fisheries for the 1996 fishing season. Bycatch
reduction plans must be submitted to the Commission's Weakfish
Technical Committee by October 1, 1995.
The Council is closely coordinating their efforts with the marine
resource agencies of the South Atlantic states and has also initiated
action on the shrimp trawl bycatch issue by beginning the scoping
process on the development of Amendment 2 to the Shrimp FMP. Among
several management alternatives under consideration by the Council are
the use of BRDs by season and/or area as well as areal or seasonal
closures.
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 by May 19,
1995. For special accommodations regarding the hearings and meetings,
contact the Council (see ADDRESSES).
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et. seq.
Dated: May 11, 1995.
Richard W. Surdi,
Acting Director, Office of Fisheries Conservation and Management,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 95-12027 Filed 5-16-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F
