[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 138 (Wednesday, July 19, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 37044-37045]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-17687]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
50 CFR Chapter VI

[I.D. 071095A]


South Atlantic Fishery Management Council; Public Hearings

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

ACTION: Public hearings.

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SUMMARY: The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will 
hold public hearings to solicit comments on management measures for a 
new Fishery Management Plan for Golden Crab (FMP).

DATES: Written comments regarding the issues being discussed at the 
hearings will be accepted through August 18, 1995.
    The hearings are scheduled as follows:
    1. Tuesday, August 1, 1995, 7.00 p.m., Cocoa Beach, FL;
    2. Wednesday, August 2, 1995, 7.00 p.m., Fort Lauderdale, FL;
    3. Thursday, August 3, 1995, 7.00 p.m., Marathon, FL; and

[[Page 37045]]

    4. Monday, August 7, 1995, 7.00 p.m., Charleston, SC.

ADDRESSES: To send comments, and to request copies of public hearing 
documents, write to: Robert K. Mahood, Executive Director, South 
Atlantic Fishery Management Council, One Southpark Circle, Suite 306, 
Charleston, SC 29407-4699. The hearings will be held at the following 
locations:
    1. Cocoa Beach--Holiday Inn, 1300 N. Atlantic Avenue, Cocoa Beach, 
FL 32931; telephone (407) 783-2271;
    2. Fort Lauderdale--Sheraton Design Center Hotel, 1825 Griffin 
Road, Dania, FL 33004; telephone (305) 920-3500;
    3. Marathon--Hawk's Cay Resort, MM61, Duck Key, FL 33050; telephone 
(305) 743-7000; and
    4. Charleston--Town and Country Inn, 2008 Savannah Highway, 
Charleston, SC 29407; telephone (803) 571-1000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sharon Coste, (803) 571-4366; Fax: 
(803) 769-4520.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Increasing interest in fishing opportunities 
for golden crab has prompted the Council to consider management of this 
species along the U.S. Atlantic coast from the tip of Key West on the 
east coast of Florida to the North Carolina/Virginia border. Other 
deep-water crabs, such as red crab and jonah crab, are included in the 
FMP for data collection purposes only. No management actions are 
planned for these species under the initial FMP. Although all three 
species of crab are harvested in the exclusive economic zone off the 
Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic coast, the Council believes that the 
species are sufficiently separated from one another to be managed 
independently. The following types of management measures are under 
consideration by the Council:
    (1) Definition of terms, including: Optimum yield, overfishing, and 
crustacean trap;
    (2) Gear controls, including: Use of traps only and a limit on 
their size, requirements for trap escape gaps, and degradable escape 
panels;
    (3) Effort limitations, including: Quotas ranging from 100,000 to 
5,000,000 lb (45,359 to 2,267,962 kg) live weight, which may differ by 
subarea, limited access with mechanisms (i.e. fees) for recovering 
incurred administrative costs, restrictions on the number of traps/pots 
per vessel ranging from 100 to 1,000 traps/pots per vessel, and, trip 
limits of 10,000 lb (4,536 kg) live weight or 5,000 lb (2,268 kg) 
butchered;
    (4) Crab size/sex restrictions, including: Minimum size limits of 4 
and 3/4 inch (12 cm) carapace width and no retention of females;
    (5) Area restrictions, including: Limiting use of traps to depths 
of 900 ft (274 m) or greater;
    (6) Bait restrictions to protect snapper and grouper;
    (7) Enforcement provisions, including: Vessel permits, trap 
identification tags, vessel location transponders, and dealer permits;
    (8) Collection of information requirements for science and research 
purposes, such as use of information from sales reports, and logbook 
requirements, and;
    (9) Framework procedures to provide administrative flexibility to 
change management measures in a timely manner.
    The Council plans to finalize the FMP at the Council meeting in 
Charleston, SC, from August 21 to 25, 1995. The public will have an 
opportunity to comment at the full Council session before the options 
are approved. Once finalized, the FMP will be submitted to the 
Secretary of Commerce for review. Also, NMFS will provide a 45-day 
formal written comment period during the 110-day review period.
    The Council hearings are physically accessible to people with 
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other 
auxiliary aids should be directed to the Council office by July 18, 
1995 (see ADDRESSES).

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

    Dated: July 12, 1995.
Richard W. Surdi,
Acting Director, Office of Fisheries Conservation and Management, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 95-17687 Filed 7-18-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-22-F