[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 184 (Friday, September 23, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-23616]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: September 23, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Parts 285 and 678
[I.D. 091494B]
Atlantic Shark and Tuna Fisheries
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Public hearings and scoping meetings; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS will hold 14 combination public hearing and scoping
meetings to receive comments from fishery participants and other
members of the public on bluefin tuna, yellowfin and other tuna, and
Atlantic shark management issues. The purpose of this document is to
notify the public of hearings and provide for public participation in
the management process.
DATES: Hearings and meetings will be held October 3 through 6 and
October 12 through 13, 1994. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for specific
dates and times of these combination meetings. Input for the issues/
options statement should be submitted by September 28, 1994. Written
comments on the issues must be received on or before November 22, 1994.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to Richard H. Schaefer,
Director, Office of Fisheries Conservation and Management (F/CM),
National Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver
Spring, MD 20910. Clearly mark the outside of the envelope ``Atlantic
Tuna Comments'' and/or ``Shark Comments.'' Input for the issues/options
statement may also be provided to the same address, or by sending a fax
to Richard B. Stone at 301-713-0596. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for
the addresses of these combination meeting locations.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John D. Kelly for Atlantic tunas or
general information, telephone: 301-713-2347, fax: 301-713-0596; C.
Michael Bailey for sharks, telephone: 301-713-2347, fax: 301-713-0596.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico
shark fisheries are managed under authority of the Magnuson Fishery
Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.). Fishing by
U.S. vessels is governed by regulations implementing the fishery
management plan (FMP) at 50 CFR part 678. The Atlantic tuna fisheries
are managed under regulations at 50 CFR part 285 implementing the
Atlantic Tunas Convention Act (16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.), regulating the
harvest of Atlantic tunas by persons and vessels subject to U.S.
jurisdiction.
Issues for each combination meeting are:
1. Public hearing on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement
(DEIS) for Atlantic bluefin tuna.
2. Scoping meeting on the Atlantic bluefin tuna fishery quota
adjustments, allocation by user group, delayed season, moratorium on
entry, and other issues.
3. Scoping meeting on the other Atlantic tunas, including
permitting and reporting requirements for dealers and fishermen,
changes in minimum size, catch levels, and special management zones.
4. Scoping meeting on the Atlantic shark fishery quota adjustment.
Atlantic Tunas, Bluefin
NMFS released a DEIS for Atlantic bluefin tuna in April 1994. One
purpose of these announced meetings is to obtain comments on the DEIS
in a public hearing. The DEIS examines a wide range of quota allocation
alternatives under different levels of total quota, and should serve as
background for discussion for a proposed 1995 rule. Copies of the DEIS
are available upon request (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
These meetings will also provide a forum for open discussions on
issues related to the 1995 Atlantic tunas rule. Recommendations from
the 1993 meetings of the International Commission for the Conservation
of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) call for reduction of the western Atlantic
bluefin tuna quota in 1995 of 55 percent from 1991 levels, unless ICCAT
scientific information indicates otherwise. This reduction would result
in a U.S. quota of 743.2 metric tons. The management alternatives
presented in the DEIS should provide the basis for discussions on
options for the 1995 fishery.
Specific management issues for the bluefin tuna fishery that will
be discussed include: Moratorium on new permits for all commercial gear
categories, definition of a harpoon vessel, modifications to the
relative shares of various user-group categories, and issues raised in
the petitions for rulemaking.
Other Atlantic Tunas
Recommendations from the 1993 meetings of ICCAT call for countries
to maintain fishing effort for yellowfin tuna at 1992 levels, since
yellowfin stocks are now considered fully exploited, other specific
management issues to be considered for Atlantic yellowfin, bigeye, and
skipjack tunas include: Permitting and reporting requirements for
fishermen and dealers, changes in the minimum size, and establishment
of catch levels.
Petitions for Rulemaking
NMFS has received two petitions for rulemaking within the past
year. A petition received from the National Fishing Association
addresses the establishment of special management zones for
recreational fisheries for Atlantic tunas, as well as other issues. The
petition from the General Category Tuna Association requests a larger
allocation of Atlantic bluefin tuna to the General category,
prohibition of incidental catch of bluefin tuna, and modification of
the definition of ``benefit'' in benefit-cost analyses such that
employment be considered a benefit rather than a cost. The proposals in
these petitions will also be discussed at the scoping meetings on
Atlantic tunas.
Atlantic Sharks
Final regulations implementing the Fishery Management Plan (FMP)
for Sharks of the Atlantic Ocean became effective on April 26, 1993.
The FMP concluded that the large coastal species group is overfished
while the pelagic and small coastal species groups are fully exploited.
In accordance with the FMP, a stock assessment workshop was held in
March 1994. Lack of evidence of improvement in the stocks of large
coastal sharks, combined with further information on life history
characteristics, resulted in a recommendation from the workshop that
the quota for large coastal sharks not be increased in 1995 as planned
in the FMP. NMFS will conduct scoping meetings on the proposed
modification in the 1995 quota for large coastal sharks. Other shark
issues may also be addressed at these meetings.
Special Accommodations
These hearings/meetings are physically accessible to people with
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other
auxiliary aids should be directed to Richard H. Schaefer by September
28, 1994, (see ADDRESSES). To accommodate people unable to attend a
scoping meeting or wishing to provide additional comments, NMFS is also
soliciting written comments on these and other issues of concern in
these fisheries, including comments on the DEIS.
In addition, NMFS requests input, by mail or by fax, to develop an
issues/options statement prior to the scoping meetings. The issues/
options statement will be used as the basis for discussion at the
hearing/meetings.
Hearing Meeting Locations
Each of these hearing/meetings (unless otherwise noted) will
include a shark discussion from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m., a non-bluefin tuna
discussion from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m., and a bluefin discussion from 7:00
to 10:00 p.m. These scheduled times may be adjusted among the three
fishery topics depending upon expressed interests of the audience. Such
adjustments are at the discretion of the Meeting Officer. The meeting
schedule is as follows:
October 3, 1994, Portland, ME
Jordan Seafood Restaurant
700 Main Street
South Portland, ME 04106
October 3, 1994, Galveston, TX
San Luis Hotel and Conference Center
5222 Seawall Blvd.
Galveston, TX 77551
October 3, 1994, Lake Worth, FL
Palm Beach Community College
Allied Health Lecture Hall, Room 101
4200 Congress Ave.
Lake Worth, FL 33461-4796
October 4, 1994, Plymouth, MA
Plymouth High School
Obery Street
Plymouth, MA 02360
October 4, 1994, New Orleans, LA
World Trade Center Building
Suite 1830, Crescent City Room
# 2 Canal St.
New Orleans, LA 70130
October 4, 1994, Manteo, NC
North Carolina State Aquarium
Airport Road
Manteo, NC 27954
October 5, 1994, Selden, NY
Suffolk Community College
533 College Road
Selden, NY 11784
October 5, 1994, Panama City, FL
NMFS Panama City Lab
3500 Delwood Beach Rd.
Panama City, FL 32407
October 5, 1994, Charleston, SC
South Carolina Wildlife
and Marine Resources Department (MRRI)
217 Fort Johnson Road
Charleston, SC 29422
October 6, 1994, Tom's River, NJ
Holiday Inn
290 Rt. 37 East
Tom's River, NJ 08753
October 6, 1994, Madeira Beach
Madeira Beach City Hall
300 Municipal Dr.
Madeira Beach, FL 33708
October 6, 1994, Norfolk, VA
Lake Wright Resort and Convention Center
6280 Northampton Blvd.
Norfolk, VA 23502
October 12, 1994, Silver Spring, MD (1 - 5 p.m.)
NMFS/NOAA/Department of Commerce
Building 4, Lobby Conference Room (1W611)
Silver Spring Metro Center
1305 East-West Highway
Silver Spring, MD 20910
October 13, 1994, Boston, MA
Hynnes Convention Center
Auditorium
900 Boyleston St.
Boston, MA 02115
Additional meetings may be announced at a later date in the Federal
Register.
Dated: September 20, 1994.
Richard H. Schaefer,
Director, Office of Fisheries Conservation and Management, National
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 94-23616 Filed 9-20-94; 3:19 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F
