[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 177 (Wednesday, September 13, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 47544-47545]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-22645]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 227

[Docket No.9508830222-5222-01; I.D. 062795B]
RIN 0648-AH89


Sea Turtle Conservation; Restrictions Applicable to Shrimp 
Trawling Activities

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

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR); notice of receipt 
of petition for rulemaking; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that it is considering proposing regulations 
that would identify special sea turtle management areas in the 
southeastern Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico and impose additional 
conservation measures to protect sea turtles in these areas. This ANPR 
is in response to the need for such measures identified in NMFS' 
biological opinions on shrimp trawling, as well as NMFS' recent 
experience and additional information regarding the need to more 
effectively protect sea turtles from incidental capture and mortality 
in the shrimp trawl fishery. NMFS also received a petition for 
rulemaking from the Texas Shrimp Association (TSA) to revise the 
current sea turtle conservation requirements for the shrimp trawl 
fishery in the southeastern United States. The petition is based on a 
report: ``Sea Turtle and Shrimp Fishery Interactions--Is a New 
Management Strategy Needed?'' prepared by LGL Ecological Research 
Associates, Inc., for TSA (LGL Report). NMFS is soliciting public 
comment on the LGL Report and information on sea turtles and shrimp 
trawling and the need for identification of certain areas in the 
southeastern United States that require special management measures, 
and what those measures should be.

DATES: Written comments will be accepted through November 13, 1995.


[[Page 47545]]

ADDRESSES: Written comments on this ANPR and the LGL Report and 
requests for copies of the Shrimp Fishery Emergency Response Plan (ERP) 
and the LGL Report may be submitted to the Chief, Endangered Species 
Division, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, 
Silver Spring, MD 20910.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charles A. Oravetz, 813-570-5312, or 
Phil Williams, 301-713-1401.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    All sea turtles that occur in U.S. waters are listed as either 
endangered or threatened under the ESA. The Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys 
kempii), leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), and hawksbill 
(Eretmochelys imbricata) are listed as endangered. Loggerhead (Caretta 
caretta) and green (Chelonia mydas) turtles are listed as threatened, 
except for breeding populations of green turtles in Florida and on the 
Pacific coast of Mexico, which are listed as endangered.
    NMFS consults on shrimp fishing operations in the southeastern 
United States that may affect listed sea turtles, pursuant to section 7 
of the ESA. These shrimp fishing operations are managed, in part, under 
the Gulf of Mexico Shrimp Fishery Management Plan and the South 
Atlantic Shrimp Fishery Management Plan, both implemented pursuant to 
the Magnuson Fisheries Management and Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 
et seq.), and the sea turtle conservation regulations at 50 CFR part 
227, subpart D, implemented under the ESA.
    Unprecedented levels of sea turtle strandings in Texas, Louisiana, 
and Georgia associated with shrimp fishing during 1994 resulted in a 
reinitiation of consultation pursuant to 50 CFR 402.16 on shrimp 
fishing in the southeastern United States. The resulting Biological 
Opinion (Opinion), issued on November 14, 1994, concluded that 
continued long-term operation of the fishery under the current 
management regime is likely to jeopardize the continued existence of 
the Kemp's ridley and prevent the recovery of loggerheads, but it 
identified a reasonable and prudent alternative to allow the fishery to 
continue while avoiding jeopardy. One component of the alternative 
required the establishment of sea turtle special management areas and 
permanent rules to reduce the impacts of intensive nearshore shrimping 
and prevent repeated incidental capture of individual turtles in those 
areas. An additional component required the development of a Shrimp 
Fishery Emergency Response Plan (ERP) to identify the actions NMFS 
would take in response to sea turtle stranding events and to ensure 
compliance with sea turtle conservation regulations. NMFS approved the 
ERP on March 14, 1995, and circulated it widely on March 17, 1995. A 
notice of the ERP's availability was published on April 21, 1995 (60 FR 
19885).
    NMFS has implemented several temporary restrictions on shrimp 
trawling during the 1995 season in both the Gulf and the southeast 
Atlantic, based on the guidance provided in the ERP. Temporary 
conservation measures restricting the use of certain types of turtle 
excluder devices (TEDs) and other fishing gear and were first imposed 
in areas off Texas (60 FR 21741, May 3, 1995) and were modified based 
on comments from industry (60 FR 26691, May 18, 1995). The same 
restrictions, as modified, were then imposed in areas off Georgia (60 
FR 32121, June 20, 1995). Based on further public comment, restrictions 
were modified and, through separate rulemaking, were again imposed on 
August 11, 1995 (60 FR 42809, August 17, 1995) in areas off Georgia and 
South Carolina. NMFS was prepared to impose similar restrictions in 
areas off Texas, but a court order eliminated the need for these 
restrictions; instead, NMFS implemented the restrictions identified in 
the court order on August 24, 1995 (60 FR 44780, August 29, 1995).
    NMFS intended the ERP to be an interim plan to guide its actions 
and to ensure compliance with sea turtle conservation regulations when 
strandings approached or met the authorized incidental take levels. 
Indeed, the Opinion requires that NMFS identify areas requiring special 
sea turtle management consideration, due to high sea turtle abundance 
or important nesting or foraging habitats, propose permanent management 
measures to mitigate the impacts of intensive nearshore shrimping, and 
prevent repeated incidental capture of individual turtles. These 
proposed conservation measures could include prohibitions on nighttime 
shrimping, restrictions on the number and size of trawl nets, 
restriction on the size of trynets, authorization of only top-opening 
hard-grid TEDs, reducing the density of shrimp vessels, and temporary 
area closures. The Opinion requires that the areas be identified by 
November 14, 1995, and that NMFS propose certain management measures in 
these areas. NMFS is inviting public comment on what areas and what 
measures should be included in such a rulemaking.
    NMFS received a request from TSA that the LGL Report be treated as 
a petition for issuance, amendment or repeal of a rule under the 
rulemaking petition provision of the Administrative Procedures Act, at 
5 U.S.C. 553 (e).
    NMFS is inviting public comment to assist in determining what, if 
any, conservation measures should be required of the shrimp trawl 
fishery to reduce unusual mortalities of sea turtles. NMFS considers 
the LGL Report as a proposal to revise the existing sea turtle 
conservation regulations. Through this ANPR, all interested parties are 
invited to submit comments and information (see ADDRESSES).
    Copies of the ERP and LGL Report, are available (see ADDRESSES).

    Dated: September 6, 1995.
Gary Matlock,
Program Management Officer, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 95-22645 Filed 9-12-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F