[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 3 (Thursday, January 5, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1769-1770]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-180]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 122094B]


Shrimp Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico

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 Gulf of Mexico Fishery 
Management Council (Council) to prepare an SEIS for proposed Amendment 
9 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Shrimp Fishery of the Gulf of 
Mexico (FMP). The FMP was prepared by the Council and approved and 
implemented by NMFS under provisions of the Magnuson Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson Act). The purpose of 
Amendment 9 is to manage shrimp trawling in the Gulf of Mexico to 
reduce the bycatch mortality of fish, particularly juvenile stages.

DATES: Written comments on the scope of the SEIS must be submitted by 
February 6, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Scoping comments and requests for additional information 
should be sent to Terrance Leary, Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management 
Council, 5401 West Kennedy Boulevard, Suite 331, Tampa, FL 33609-2486.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Terrance R. Leary, 813-228-2815.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FMP was approved by NMFS and implemented 
in 1981; it documented a significant problem in the Gulf Mexico shrimp 
fishery involving adverse effects on other fisheries such as the 
groundfish and reef fish fisheries resulting from the bycatch of fish 
in shrimp trawling operations.
    In the process of trawling for shrimp, various species of fish are 
inadvertently caught. Many of these fish, often at juvenile stages, die 
before being discarded. Some overfished species, such as Gulf red 
snapper, are significantly and adversely affected because of the 
bycatch mortality which is hampering stock recovery. Annual stock 
assessments for red snapper for the period 1990-94 have indicated that 
the red snapper resource cannot recover from its overfished status, 
even with a total closure of the directed fishery, without a 50 percent 
reduction in red snapper mortality resulting from shrimp trawl bycatch.
    The Council developed a draft Fishery Management Plan for 
Groundfish in 1981 that proposed shrimp trawl-gear requirements 
contingent on development of bycatch excluder devices in shrimp trawls 
that would reduce bycatch by 50 percent, with no more than a 3-percent 
loss of shrimp. In 1990, the Council, with pledges of assistance from 
the shrimp industry, announced its intent to reduce bycatch mortality 
of juvenile red snapper in the shrimp fishery by 50 percent by 1993. 
The 3-year delay was provided to develop the methodology in cooperative 
studies with the industry. The Council's goal for bycatch reduction was 
affected by the 1990 amendments to the Magnuson Act that mandated a 3-
year research program to assess the impacts of shrimp trawl bycatch on 
fishery resources under the management of the Council. The results of 
this research program will be considered as an important basis for any 
specific management actions.
    Recent advances in gear development through government and shrimp 
industry efforts have produced Bycatch Reduction Devices (BRDs) that 
successfully exclude juvenile fish from shrimp trawls with a minimal 
loss of shrimp. In September 1994, the Council began development of 
Amendment 9 to the FMP to address bycatch reduction. The Council is 
considering the following management alternatives for this amendment:
    1. No management action;
    2. Require the use of NMFS-approved BRDs in shrimp trawls in the 
exclusive economic zone (EEZ) within the 110-fathom (201.17 m) contour;
    3. Require the use of NMFS-approved BRDs in shrimp trawls in 
specified areas of the Gulf of Mexico EEZ;
    4. Criteria for NMFS approval of BRDs, including specifications for 
exclusion of bycatch and retention of shrimp; and
    5. Seasonal and area restrictions to reduce bycatch.
    The FMP was prepared by the Council in 1980 and approved and 
implemented in 1981. A draft and final environmental impact statement 
was prepared for the FMP which evaluated the environmental effects of 
the FMP and the shrimp fishery. The SEIS to be prepared for Amendment 9 
will examine the environmental impacts of the major alternative 
management measures considered by the Council as well as assessing, 
based on currently available information, the impacts of the Gulf 
shrimp trawl fisheries on the human environment, the shrimp resources, 
protected species [[Page 1770]] (endangered or threatened), and marine 
mammals within the Gulf of Mexico.
    The Council will begin developing Amendment 9 and the draft SEIS in 
early 1995, after consulting with its Shrimp Advisory Panel and 
Scientific and Statistical Committee. Public hearings on the amendment 
documents and draft SEIS, as well as the formal filing of the draft 
SEIS with the Environmental Protection agency for a 45-day public 
comment period, are expected to occur in the summer of 1995.

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

    Dated: December 28, 1994.
Richard H. Schaefer,
Director, Office of Fisheries Conservation and Management, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 95-180 Filed 1-4-95; 8:45 am]
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