[Federal Register: December 17, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 242)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 70679-70681]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr17de99-47]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 660
[I.D. 120999A]
Western Pacific Fishery Management Council; Public Scoping
Meetings
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Public scoping meetings; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) will
convene public scoping meetings on its draft Coral Reef Ecosystem
Fishery Management Plan (CREFMP), preliminary draft Environmental
Impact Statement (PDEIS) for the CREFMP, and associated documents for
the CREFMP.
The Council announces its intention to prepare an environmental
impact statement (EIS) on the Federal management of crustaceans in the
Western Pacific Region. The scope of the EIS analysis will include all
activities related to the conduct of the fisheries and will examine the
impacts of crustacean harvest on, among other things, protected
species. The Council will hold public scoping meetings and accept
written comments to provide for public input into the range of actions,
alternatives, and impacts that the EIS should consider. The Council
will continue scoping meetings for the EIS on bottomfish and seamount
groundfish fisheries with meetings planned throughout Hawaii.
The Council also announces its intention to develop an amendment to
the Fishery Management Plan for Pelagic Species Fisheries of the
Western Pacific Region (Pelagics FMP) which will consider a range of
alternatives and impacts for management of incidental and directed
catches of management unit species of sharks, including finning. The
Council will hold a series of meetings to give the public an
opportunity to comment.
DATES: Written comments will be accepted until January 24, 2000. Public
scoping meetings will be held from December 20, 1999, to January 13,
2000. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for specific dates, times and
locations.
ADDRESSES: Comments on the Council's draft CREFMP and PDEIS, intent to
prepare EISs for crustacean fisheries, scoping for crustacean,
bottomfish, and seamount groundfish fisheries and intent to develop an
amendment to the pelagics FMP concerning shark catches should be sent
to Kitty M. Simonds, Executive Director, Western Pacific Regional
Fishery Management Council, 1164 Bishop St., Suite 1400, Honolulu, HI
96813. Copies of the draft CREFMP, PDEIS and documents for the
crustacean EIS, bottomfish EIS and shark management are available from
the Council office. Public scoping meetings will be held in American
Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI),
and Hawaii. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for specific scoping meeting
locations and for special accommodations.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kitty M. Simonds, Executive Director;
Western Pacific Fishery Management Council, 808-522-8220.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. A summary of the Coral Reef Ecosystem FMP/PDEIS will be
presented including the preferred alternatives identified by the
Council for management action, as described below. Comments will be
solicited from the public on these management alternatives.
At its 101st meeting, held from October 18-21, 1999, the
Council took initial action to approve the following preferred
alternatives for the FMP:
1. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs): (a) For the unincorporated
atolls: MPAs would be zoned for limited take, subject to a special
permit (see permit requirements below), to a depth of 50 fm around each
island/atoll, with exceptions granted for personal consumption by
island residents and for fishing for species managed under existing
FMPs.
(b) For the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI): the MPA would
include all substrate from the shoreline to a depth of 50 fm and be
zoned for no take from 0-10 fm and for limited take, by special permit
only (see permit requirements below), from 10-50 fm, with exceptions
granted for fishing for species managed under existing FMPs.
(c) For Guam's offshore southwest banks: This area would be
designated a MPA, with the only initial restriction being a prohibition
on anchoring on the banks by fishing vessels >50 ft. long.
2. Allowable Gear and Methods: Allowable gear would be limited to
remotely operated vehicles (ROV)/
[[Page 70680]]
submersible, hand harvest, handline, hook-and-line, rod and reel,
spear, slurp gun, hand net/dip net, barrier net (aquarium), and
surround/purse net (for akule and aku bait fishing only). The use of
hookah, and possession or use of any poisons, explosives or
intoxicating substances would be prohibited. Fish traps (fish defined
generally to include other organisms) would additionally be allowed in
appropriate areas and with appropriate conditions if permanently marked
to identify the owner. Nets would be allowed for use in limited
applications permitted here and should always be tended. Also, the use
of scuba with spear should be prohibited at night only.
3. Permits and Reporting: Include in the FMP two types of permits:
a general permit for taxa harvested in non-MPA areas, and a special
permit for non-targeted taxa in all areas and for targeted taxa in MPA
areas:
(a) Regular (General) permits: To harvest Coral Reef Ecosystem
(CRE) Management Unit Species/taxa (MUS) within the non-MPA areas, a
regular permit would be required (subject to standard eligibility
requirements such as completed Federal application, vessel
documentation, US citizenship, etc.).
(b) Special coral reef ecosystem permit: The permit will be issued
on a case-by-case basis, by the Southwest Regional Administrator in
consultation with the Council, subject to specific conditions that
restrict access. Individual application and the issuance of a special
individual permit will be required until the Council develops, under
the framework process, general permits (based on sufficient
information) that can be applied broadly to a fleet of fishers for
harvest of particular taxa or groups of taxa, harvest of CRE taxa,
other than those covered by existing FMPs (exempt).
(c) No permits would be issued for the take of wild live rock or
live hexacorals (hard corals); except for small amounts for brood-stock
for breeding/aquaculture, (where consistent with local laws). Regulated
culture of new live rock on labeled artificial substrates placed in the
sea without harm to wild biota could be accommodated under special
permit conditions.
(d) Permits issued under other FMPs would be unaffected by the
above permit requirements.
4. MUS: The MUS would include essentially all biota in the
ecosystem, divided into two groups. One group, ``Harvested Coral Reef
Taxa,'' contains those species/taxa that are currently harvested or are
believed to be subject to immediate harvest. For many of these taxa,
enough may be known to make some reasonable estimates about their
ability to support harvest. The other group, ``Non-targeted Coral Reef
Taxa,'' includes those taxa for which there is no known harvest and, in
many cases, no biological information to support decisions about
sustainable harvest.
5. Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) requirements:
(a) EFH: Link MUS to specific habitat composites consistent with
the depth of the ecosystem to 50 fm and to the limit of the exclusive
economic zone (EEZ).
(b) For Habitat Areas of Particular Concern (HAPC): Based on the
established criteria for HAPC designation and the list of ``Harvested
CRE taxa'', revise the list to focus/refine HAPC based on established
criteria. This list may include existing protected areas/reserves as
HAPC.
6. Overfishing/Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) requirements:
Determine overfishing and MSY as follows:
(a) For MUS/taxa with a good history of harvest, use existing catch
data and other available information to make best estimates of MSY.
(b) When insufficient catch data exist from EEZ sources,
extrapolate data from other similar areas where fishing has occurred.
(c) When no information exists, estimate MSY by proxy, state
assumptions clearly, and/or explain why estimates cannot be made.
7. Bycatch requirement: Note that the highly selective gear listed
in the allowable gear list should minimize bycatch. Other bycatch
provisions should similarly follow those for existing FMPs.
8. Fishing communities requirement: Approve the Scientific and
Statistical Committee's approach that coral reef ecosystem fishing
communities be defined based on island areas: Guam, CNMI, American
Samoa, and each of the major inhabited islands of Hawaii.
9. Fishing sectors requirement: Employ standard data reporting
systems already developed for each island area, similar to those
provisions for existing FMPs, with no exemption to the reporting
requirement for subsistence fishermen.
10. Non-regulatory measures: Follow a formal process to be
described in the FMP regarding interaction among the various FMP Plan
Teams to coordinate in the monitoring and addressing of ecosystem
impacts.
The CREFMP, and its associated EIS, will be the Council's fifth FMP
for the EEZ for all US Pacific Islands. This area includes nearly
11,000 km2 (4,000 square miles) of coral reefs. Development
of the FMP is timely considering new mandates and initiatives such as
the April 1999 report to Congress by the Ecosystem Principles Advisory
Panel on Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management, the President' 1998
Executive Order on Coral Reefs (E.O. 13089) and priorities of the U.S.
Coral Reef Task Force and the U.S. Coral Reef Initiative, as well as
the provisions of the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act, including provisions of the Sustainable Fisheries Act.
The draft FMP describes the importance of coral reef resources to the
region and current and potential threats that warrant a management plan
at this time. Information regarding the harvest of these resources in
the EEZ is largely unknown. Potential for unregulated harvest and bio-
prospecting for reef fish, live grouper, live rock and coral exists
throughout the region. Marine debris, largely from fishing gear, is
impacting reefs in the NWHI.
B. Scoping meetings for the crustacean EIS will held at all
locations as listed under the ``Date'' section above. Bottomfish and
seamount groundfish scoping meetings will be held at the Hawaii
locations only. Public scoping meetings on the bottomfish and seamount
groundfish EIS were completed for American Samoa, Guam, and the CNMI in
July and August of 1999.
A summary of the current Federal management system for crustaceans,
bottomfish and seamount groundfish will be reviewed during public
scoping hearing. The Council will hear comments on the current
management system and any proposed changes. A principal objective of
the scoping and public input process is to identify a reasonable set of
management alternatives that, with adequate analysis, will sharply
define critical issues and provide a clear basis for choice among the
alternatives. The intent of the EIS is to present an overall picture of
the environmental effects of fishing as conducted under the FMPs.
Rather than focusing narrowly on one management action, the EIS will
include a range of reasonable management alternatives and an analysis
of their impacts in order to define issues and provide clear basis for
choice among options by the public and the Council.
The EIS will discuss the impacts of bottomfish, seamount
groundfish, and crustacean harvest accruing with present management
regulations and under a range of representative alternative management
regulations on Western Pacific ecosystem issues. These issues include:
EFH, target and non-target species of fish, fish that are discarded,
marine mammals (Hawaiian
[[Page 70681]]
monk seals and cetaceans), and other protected species present in the
Western Pacific ecosystem. In addition, the environmental consequences
section will contain an analysis of socio-economic issues associated
with conduct of the fishery on the following groups of individuals: (1)
Those who participate in harvesting the fishery resources and other
living marine resources, (2) those who process and market the fish and
fishery products, (3) those who are involved in allied support
industries, (4) those who consume fishery products, (5) those who rely
on living marine resources in the management area either for
subsistence needs or for recreational benefits, (6) those who benefit
from non-consumptive uses of living marine resources, (7) those
involved in managing and monitoring fisheries, and (8) fishing
communities.
C. At its 101st meeting on October 18-21, 1999, the
Council took initial action to approve the following preferred
alternatives for incidental and directed shark catches in and around
Hawaii's EEZ to be implemented by an amendment to the Pelagics FMP.
a. Establish a fleet-wide quota of 50,000 sharks harvested by
vessels with a Hawaii longline limited entry permit. This limit would
be established as a precautionary measure to prevent further expansion
of fishing mortality on shark stocks caught by the Hawaii longline
fishery.
b. Establish a framework mechanism which would adjust the shark
quota annually based on changes in catch per unit effort or other
objective indicators of the health of the stocks.
c. Prohibit the use of demersal longline to fish for pelagics in
the NWHI protected species zone, and within the Main Hawaiian Islands
longline 3-75 nm closed area.
Dates, Times, and Locations
The public scoping meetings will be held on:
Monday, December 20, 1999, from 3:00-6:00 p.m., Department of
Marine and Wildlife Resources (DMWR) Conference Room, AS. Phone contact
c/o DMWR 684-633-4456
Tuesday, December 28, 1999, from 7:00-9:00 p.m, Guam Fishermen's
Cooperative Association, Hagatna, GU. Phone contact c/o Guam Dept. of
Commerce 671-475-0321
Wednesday, December 29, 1999, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Joeten-Kiyu
Public Library Conference Room, Saipan, CNMI. Phone Division of Fish
and Wildlife Resources (DFWR) 670-322-9834 for information;
Tuesday, December 28, 1999, from 6:00-7:00 p.m., King Kamehameha
Hotel, Kamakahonu Ballroom, Kona, HI;
Wednesday, December 29, 1999, from 6:00-7:00 p.m., College of
Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service Conference Room A, 875
Komahana St., Hilo, HI;
Tuesday, January 4, 2000, from 6:00-9:00 p.m., Maui Beach Hotel,
Maui Room, Kahalui, Maui, HI;
Wednesday, January 5, 2000, from 6:00-9:00 p.m., Haleiwa Alii Beach
Park, John Kalili Surf Center, Oahu, HI;
Thursday, January 6, 2000 from 6:00-9:00 p.m., Wilcox Elementary
School, Lihue, Kauai; Monday, January 10, 2000 from 6:00-9:00 p.m.,
Waianae Public Library, Oahu, HI;
Tuesday, January 11, 2000 from 6:00-9:00 p.m., Lanai Airport
Conference Room, Lanai, HI;
Wednesday, January 12, 2000 from 6:00-9:00 p.m., Mitchell Pauole
Center Conference Room, Kaunakakai, Molokai, HI and Thursday, January
13, 2000 from 6:00-9:00 p.m., Ala Moana Hotel, Carnation Room,
Honolulu, HI. Phone: Council office-808-522-8220.
These meetings will be advertised in the local newspapers.
Special Accommodations
These meetings are physically accessible to people with
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other
auxiliary aids should be directed to Kitty M. Simonds, 808-522-8220
(voice) or 808-522-8226 (fax), at least 5 days prior to the meeting
date.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: December 14, 1999.
Richard W. Surdi,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 99-32781 Filed 12-16-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F