[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 177 (Wednesday, September 13, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 47544-47545]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-22645]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 227
[Docket No.9508830222-5222-01; I.D. 062795B]
RIN 0648-AH89
Sea Turtle Conservation; Restrictions Applicable to Shrimp
Trawling Activities
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR); notice of receipt
of petition for rulemaking; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that it is considering proposing regulations
that would identify special sea turtle management areas in the
southeastern Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico and impose additional
conservation measures to protect sea turtles in these areas. This ANPR
is in response to the need for such measures identified in NMFS'
biological opinions on shrimp trawling, as well as NMFS' recent
experience and additional information regarding the need to more
effectively protect sea turtles from incidental capture and mortality
in the shrimp trawl fishery. NMFS also received a petition for
rulemaking from the Texas Shrimp Association (TSA) to revise the
current sea turtle conservation requirements for the shrimp trawl
fishery in the southeastern United States. The petition is based on a
report: ``Sea Turtle and Shrimp Fishery Interactions--Is a New
Management Strategy Needed?'' prepared by LGL Ecological Research
Associates, Inc., for TSA (LGL Report). NMFS is soliciting public
comment on the LGL Report and information on sea turtles and shrimp
trawling and the need for identification of certain areas in the
southeastern United States that require special management measures,
and what those measures should be.
DATES: Written comments will be accepted through November 13, 1995.
[[Page 47545]]
ADDRESSES: Written comments on this ANPR and the LGL Report and
requests for copies of the Shrimp Fishery Emergency Response Plan (ERP)
and the LGL Report may be submitted to the Chief, Endangered Species
Division, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway,
Silver Spring, MD 20910.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charles A. Oravetz, 813-570-5312, or
Phil Williams, 301-713-1401.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
All sea turtles that occur in U.S. waters are listed as either
endangered or threatened under the ESA. The Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys
kempii), leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), and hawksbill
(Eretmochelys imbricata) are listed as endangered. Loggerhead (Caretta
caretta) and green (Chelonia mydas) turtles are listed as threatened,
except for breeding populations of green turtles in Florida and on the
Pacific coast of Mexico, which are listed as endangered.
NMFS consults on shrimp fishing operations in the southeastern
United States that may affect listed sea turtles, pursuant to section 7
of the ESA. These shrimp fishing operations are managed, in part, under
the Gulf of Mexico Shrimp Fishery Management Plan and the South
Atlantic Shrimp Fishery Management Plan, both implemented pursuant to
the Magnuson Fisheries Management and Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 1801
et seq.), and the sea turtle conservation regulations at 50 CFR part
227, subpart D, implemented under the ESA.
Unprecedented levels of sea turtle strandings in Texas, Louisiana,
and Georgia associated with shrimp fishing during 1994 resulted in a
reinitiation of consultation pursuant to 50 CFR 402.16 on shrimp
fishing in the southeastern United States. The resulting Biological
Opinion (Opinion), issued on November 14, 1994, concluded that
continued long-term operation of the fishery under the current
management regime is likely to jeopardize the continued existence of
the Kemp's ridley and prevent the recovery of loggerheads, but it
identified a reasonable and prudent alternative to allow the fishery to
continue while avoiding jeopardy. One component of the alternative
required the establishment of sea turtle special management areas and
permanent rules to reduce the impacts of intensive nearshore shrimping
and prevent repeated incidental capture of individual turtles in those
areas. An additional component required the development of a Shrimp
Fishery Emergency Response Plan (ERP) to identify the actions NMFS
would take in response to sea turtle stranding events and to ensure
compliance with sea turtle conservation regulations. NMFS approved the
ERP on March 14, 1995, and circulated it widely on March 17, 1995. A
notice of the ERP's availability was published on April 21, 1995 (60 FR
19885).
NMFS has implemented several temporary restrictions on shrimp
trawling during the 1995 season in both the Gulf and the southeast
Atlantic, based on the guidance provided in the ERP. Temporary
conservation measures restricting the use of certain types of turtle
excluder devices (TEDs) and other fishing gear and were first imposed
in areas off Texas (60 FR 21741, May 3, 1995) and were modified based
on comments from industry (60 FR 26691, May 18, 1995). The same
restrictions, as modified, were then imposed in areas off Georgia (60
FR 32121, June 20, 1995). Based on further public comment, restrictions
were modified and, through separate rulemaking, were again imposed on
August 11, 1995 (60 FR 42809, August 17, 1995) in areas off Georgia and
South Carolina. NMFS was prepared to impose similar restrictions in
areas off Texas, but a court order eliminated the need for these
restrictions; instead, NMFS implemented the restrictions identified in
the court order on August 24, 1995 (60 FR 44780, August 29, 1995).
NMFS intended the ERP to be an interim plan to guide its actions
and to ensure compliance with sea turtle conservation regulations when
strandings approached or met the authorized incidental take levels.
Indeed, the Opinion requires that NMFS identify areas requiring special
sea turtle management consideration, due to high sea turtle abundance
or important nesting or foraging habitats, propose permanent management
measures to mitigate the impacts of intensive nearshore shrimping, and
prevent repeated incidental capture of individual turtles. These
proposed conservation measures could include prohibitions on nighttime
shrimping, restrictions on the number and size of trawl nets,
restriction on the size of trynets, authorization of only top-opening
hard-grid TEDs, reducing the density of shrimp vessels, and temporary
area closures. The Opinion requires that the areas be identified by
November 14, 1995, and that NMFS propose certain management measures in
these areas. NMFS is inviting public comment on what areas and what
measures should be included in such a rulemaking.
NMFS received a request from TSA that the LGL Report be treated as
a petition for issuance, amendment or repeal of a rule under the
rulemaking petition provision of the Administrative Procedures Act, at
5 U.S.C. 553 (e).
NMFS is inviting public comment to assist in determining what, if
any, conservation measures should be required of the shrimp trawl
fishery to reduce unusual mortalities of sea turtles. NMFS considers
the LGL Report as a proposal to revise the existing sea turtle
conservation regulations. Through this ANPR, all interested parties are
invited to submit comments and information (see ADDRESSES).
Copies of the ERP and LGL Report, are available (see ADDRESSES).
Dated: September 6, 1995.
Gary Matlock,
Program Management Officer, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 95-22645 Filed 9-12-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F
