[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 187 (Wednesday, September 25, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 50269-50270]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-24390]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 622
[I.D. 091096A]
Gulf of Mexico 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 Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) will
convene 14 public hearings on Draft Amendment 9 to the Fishery
Management Plan for the Shrimp Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico (FMP) and
its draft supplemental environmental impact statement (draft SEIS).
DATES: Written comments will be accepted until November 1, 1996. The
hearings will be held from October 7 to October 17, 1996. See
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for specific dates and times.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to and copies of the draft
amendment and SEIS are available from Dr. Richard L. Leard, Senior
Fishery Biologist, Gulf of Mexico Council, 5401 West Kennedy Boulevard,
Tampa, FL 33609.
The hearings will be held in FL, AL, MS, LA and TX. See
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for locations of the hearings and special
accommodations.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Richard L. Leard, 813-228-2815;
Fax: 813-225-7015.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Council will hold public hearings on
Draft Amendment 9 to the FMP and the associated draft SEIS. The purpose
of Amendment 9 is to reduce the bycatch mortality of juvenile red
snapper from shrimp trawling to a level that will allow the red snapper
stock in the Gulf of Mexico to recover from its present overfished
state. Under the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Resources of
the Gulf of Mexico, the red snapper stock must be rebuilt to a level of
20-percent spawning potential ratio by the year 2019. This rebuilding
program is based on achieving a 50-percent reduction in bycatch
mortality of juvenile red snapper in the Gulf shrimp fishery, beginning
in 1997.
Amendment 9 would require the installation of NMFS-approved Bycatch
Reduction Devices (BRDs) in all nets used by vessels trawling for
shrimp in specified areas of the Gulf of Mexico exclusive economic zone
(EEZ). Vessels trawling for royal red shrimp beyond the 100-fathom (183
m) contour and vessels trawling for groundfish or butterfish would be
exempted. A single try net with a headrope length of 16 ft (4.9 m) or
less per vessel would also be exempted. Amendment 9 also contains
alternative areas where BRDs might be required in shrimp trawls: (1) In
the EEZ of the Gulf of Mexico within the 100-fathom contour; (2) in the
EEZ of the Gulf of Mexico within the 100-fathom contour west of Cape
San Blas, FL; (3) in the EEZ of the Gulf of Mexico between the 10-and
100-fathom contours; and (4) in the EEZ of the Gulf of Mexico between
the 10-and 100-fathom contours and west of Cape San Blas, FL.
In order for a BRD to be certified, the amendment would establish
bycatch reduction criteria that would require the reduction of the
bycatch of juvenile red snapper (age 0 and age 1) by a specified
percentage from the average level of mortality on those age groups
during the years 1984-1989. The amendment would also establish
framework procedures for modifying bycatch reduction criteria,
establishing BRD certification criteria, and a BRD testing protocol.
The hearings are scheduled from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., as follows:
1. Monday, October 7, 1996--Holiday Inn Beachside, 3841 North
Roosevelt Boulevard, Key West, FL 33040
2. Monday, October 7, 1996--Lake Charles Civic Center, 900
Lakeshore Drive, Lake Charles, LA 70602
3. Tuesday, October 8, 1996--Thibodaux Civic Center, 310 North
Canal Boulevard, Thibodaux, LA 70301
[[Page 50270]]
4. Tuesday, October 8, 1996--Radisson Inn, 12635 Cleveland Avenue,
Fort Myers, FL 33907
5. Wednesday, October 9, 1996--Radisson Bay Harbor Inn, 7700
Courtney Campbell Causeway, Tampa, FL 33607
6. Wednesday, October 9, 1996--Radisson Inn New Orleans Airport,
2150 Veterans Memorial Boulevard, Kenner, LA 70062
7. Monday, October 14, 1996--Franklin County Courthouse, 33 Market
Street, Appalachicola, FL 32320
8. Monday, October 14, 1996--Holiday Inn Fort Brown, 1900 East
Elizabeth, Brownsville, TX 78520
9. Tuesday, October 15, 1996--Pensacola Civic Center, 201 E.
Gregory, Pensacola, FL 32501
10. Tuesday, October 15, 1996--Port Aransas Civic Center
Auditorium, 710 West Avenue A, Port Aransas, TX 78373
11. Wednesday, October 16, 1996--Radisson Admiral Semmes Hotel, 251
Government Street, Mobile, AL 36602
12. Wednesday, October 16, 1996--Bauer Community Center, 2300
Highway 35 Bypass, Port Lavaca, TX 77979
13. Thursday, October 17, 1996--J.L. Scott Marine Education Center
& Aquarium, 115 East Beach Boulevard, U.S. Highway 90, Biloxi, MS 39530
14. Thursday, October 17, 1996--Texas A&M University, 200 Seawolf
Parkway, Galveston, TX 77553
These meetings are physically accessible to people with
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other
auxiliary aids should be directed to Anne Alford at the Council (see
ADDRESSES) by September 30, 1996.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: September 17, 1996.
Bruce Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 96-24390 Filed 9-24-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F
