[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 203 (Friday, October 21, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-26158]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: October 21, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 651

[I.D. 101194D]

 

Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Public Hearings

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a supplemental environmental impact 
statement (SEIS); request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the intention of the New England Fishery 
Management Council (Council) to prepare an SEIS for proposed Amendment 
7 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The most 
recent Northeast Fisheries Science Center's (NEFSC) Stock Assessment 
Workshop (SAW 18) for Georges Bank cod and Georges Bank yellowtail 
flounder recommends that, in order to avert a collapse of cod and 
improve stock rebuilding for yellowtail, fishing mortality should be 
reduced to as low a level as possible, approaching zero. In the 
development of Amendment 7, the Council proposes to adopt the SAW's 
recommendation and consider all options in meeting this objective while 
addressing the issue of displacement of fishing effort. The Council 
also announces a continuing public process to determine the scope of 
issues under consideration. The purpose of this document is to inform 
the public of this process and of the opportunity to participate in the 
further development of Amendment 7 to the FMP. All persons affected by, 
or otherwise interested in, the proposed amendment are invited to 
participate in determining the scope of significant issues to be 
considered in the SEIS by submitting written comments. The scoping 
process also will identify and eliminate issues that are not 
significant from detailed study.

DATES: The Council and its Groundfish Oversight Committee will discuss 
Amendment 7 at regularly scheduled meetings. The public will be 
notified (by Federal Register notice) of the specific agendas and 
starting times at least 2 weeks prior to Council meetings. The 
currently scheduled meetings are as follows:
    1. October 14, 1994, 9:30 a.m, Groundfish Committee, Boston, MA
    2. October 26-27, 1994, Council, Danvers, MA
    3. December 7-8, 1994, Council, Danvers, MA

ADDRESSES: Send written comments on the scoping process and scope of 
the SEIS to Douglas G. Marshall, Executive Director, New England 
Fishery Management Council, 5 Broadway, Saugus, MA 01906-1097.
    The meetings will be held at the following locations:
    1. Boston--Captain John Foster Williams Coast Guard Building, 408 
Atlantic Avenue, Boston, MA 02202
    2. Danvers--King's Grant Inn, Route 128 & Trask Lane, Danvers, MA 
01923
    3. Danvers--King's Grant Inn, Route 128 & Trask Lane, Danvers, MA 
019230
    As additional meetings are scheduled, they will be announced by 
notice in the Federal Register. Public hearings will be scheduled after 
completion of the Draft SEIS; notice of the hearings will be published 
in the Federal Register.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Douglas G. Marshall, Executive 
Director, 617-231-0422.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Many of the New England multispecies stocks 
are over-exploited and at extremely low levels of abundance. Scientists 
believe that cod, haddock and yellowtail flounder, the three main 
species making up the Northeast multispecies stock group, are near or 
at the point of collapse. Under such conditions, the fishery can expect 
a prolonged period during which landings from the resource are 
substantially below their long-term potential. Due to the reduced 
spawning stock size, the probability is low that sufficient numbers of 
fish will be produced to replace those being removed, further 
jeopardizing or delaying stock recovery.
    Amendment 5 to the FMP was implemented on March 1, 1994 (59 FR 
9872), and was intended to eliminate overfishing through an incremental 
effort-reduction program, mesh-size increase, expanded spawning area 
closures and other measures. When the Council adopted objectives for 
the amendment more than 3 years ago, cod, haddock, and yellowtail 
flounder stocks were being fished at a rate that was on average twice 
what could be sustained over the long term, so it designed a plan to 
reduce fishing effort by half.
    In the fall of 1993, NMFS informed the Council that the condition 
of the Georges Bank haddock stock was deteriorating and in need of more 
protection than was provided by Amendment 5. NMFS implemented emergency 
regulations on January 3, 1994 (59 FR 26), which essentially limited 
the possession limit of haddock to 500 lb (226.8 kg) and extended the 
time and area closure for Closed Area II, and subsequently prepared and 
implemented these measures on a permanent basis under Amendment 6 (59 
FR 32134, June 22, 1994).
    During the Amendment 5 development and implementation period, 
fishing mortality rates increased and the downward trends in stock size 
and yields continued. The recent stock assessment from the NEFSC (SAW 
18) addresses the status of Georges Bank cod and yellowtail flounder 
stocks and concludes that Amendment 5 is clearly inadequate to achieve 
the reductions in fishing mortality rates needed to allow for 
appreciable stock rebuilding. Further, SAW 18 advises that fishing 
mortality levels need to be reduced to as low a level as possible, 
approaching zero, in order to avert a collapse of cod and improve the 
prospects of stock rebuilding for yellowtail flounder. This assessment 
coupled with the severely depleted condition of the haddock stock and 
similar advice from the NEFSC (SAW 17) concerning Southern New England 
yellowtail, presents an alarming picture of the overall status of the 
New England multispecies fishery. Thus, even though the effort 
reductions required by Amendment 5 are very restrictive, they are 
insufficient. The Council now intends to prevent an even worse scenario 
for the multispecies resource by severely reducing fishing effort 
sooner and perhaps by more than what is required by Amendment 5.
    The Council voted at its September 21-22, 1994 meeting to recommend 
that the Groundfish Committee (Committee) immediately begin the 
development of an amendment to the FMP to implement the recommendations 
of SAWs 17 and 18 for severely depleted groundfish stocks including 
Georges Bank yellowtail flounder, Southern New England yellowtail 
flounder, haddock, Georges Bank cod, and others as needed. Also, the 
Council voted that the Committee needs to consider all available 
options in meeting this objective while ensuring that in the 
Committee's analysis, consideration of fishing effort displacement into 
other fisheries and other groundfish fisheries is taken into account. 
The range of measures include, but is not limited to, a closure of all 
fisheries capable of catching multispecies and those fisheries not 
protected from effort displacement resulting from this closure, a 
closure of very large areas in the Northwest Atlantic for long periods 
of time, prohibitions or limitations on the use of specific gear types 
capable of catching multispecies, selective gear requirements such as 
increased mesh size or square mesh, limits on total allowable catch 
and/or individual vessel catch, and increased limits on vessel days at 
sea.
    The Council expects that regulations sufficient to implement the 
recommendations of the NEFSC stock assessment advisors will have 
significant economic and social impacts. The Council recognizes that 
these impacts will extend beyond the individuals, families, and 
communities that principally depend on multispecies and will affect 
other fisheries in the region due to the displacement of fishing effort 
caused by the regulations or through possible restrictions on the 
incidental catch of multispecies in those other fisheries. For this 
reason the Council has determined that it will prepare an SEIS.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: October 17, 1994.
Joe P. Clem,
Acting Director, Office of Fisheries Conservation and Management, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 94-26158 Filed 10-20-94; 8:45 am]
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