[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 229 (Wednesday, November 29, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61243-61244]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-29164]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 112195C]


Workshops on Limited Access for Atlantic Swordfish and Atlantic 
Shark Fisheries

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

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

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SUMMARY: On December 6-8, 1995, NMFS will conduct the first in a series 
of workshops to design potential limited access management systems for 
the Atlantic swordfish and Atlantic shark fisheries.
DATES: December 6 and 7, 1995, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and December 8, 1995, 
8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The workshop will be held at the Quality Hotel, 8727 
Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD 20910; Telephone (301) 589-5200. 
Send comments to Richard B. Stone, Chief, Highly Migratory Species 
Management Division (FCM4), Office of Fisheries Conservation and 
Management, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pamela Mace, Sarah McLaughlin or John 
Kelly, telephone: (301) 713-2347, Fax (301) 713-0596.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Over the past few years, NMFS has received increasing numbers of 
comments from fishermen and other stakeholders who think that some form 
of limited access is essential for effective management of highly 
migratory species (HMS) fisheries. In response to this input, NMFS 
prepared an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) on July 28, 
1995 (60 FR 38785) announcing the availability of a Concept Paper 
entitled ``Towards Rationalization of Fisheries for Atlantic Highly 
Migratory Species'' and two Supplemental Papers detailing options for 
establishing an interim permit moratorium and eligibility criteria for 
the Atlantic swordfish and Atlantic shark fisheries. For swordfish and 
sharks, NMFS has designed a two-phase process: (1) A proposed rule to 
implement a moratorium on the issuance of permits for the Atlantic 
shark and swordfish commercial fisheries, based on comments on the ANPR 
and discussion papers; and (2) limited access workshops, which will 
commence before the outcome of the permit moratorium rulemaking process 
is known but could be modified depending on whether a permit moratorium 
is actually implemented. NMFS staff is currently drafting fishery 
management plan amendments and associated documents required to 
implement the permit moratorium for each species.
    The limited access workshops are viewed as input to long-term 
management strategies, whereas a permit moratorium is seen as a stopgap 
measure to temporarily restrict new entrants. NMFS plans to schedule 
the limited access workshops to last 2-3 days each, and to occur 
approximately once every 2 months for a period of approximately 1 year, 
with provision to continue into a second year if necessary. 
Participants in the workshops will provide input to NMFS on the pros 
and cons of various limited access options. NMFS will prepare written 
summaries of the discussions at each workshop and make these freely 
available to the public. NMFS also expects that industry 
representatives and others who attend the workshops will report to 
their associates and by this means solicit additional input that can be 
presented at the next workshop. In addition, NMFS will accept written 
suggestions and comments at any time beginning December 6, 1995. 
Comments should be sent to (see ADDRESSES).
    Ultimately, NMFS will prepare a ``strawman'' proposal for long-term 
management strategies that could replace permit moratoria for swordfish 
and sharks, if the moratoria are implemented. The strawman proposal is 
likely to include identification of viable options for each component 
of the proposal, based on input received during and between the 
workshops, and may form the basis for a concept paper or a proposed 
rule. In either case, NMFS will conduct extensive public hearings on 
the proposal over a prolonged period to maximize the opportunity for 
comment from the broadest possible cross-section of the fishing 
industry and other stakeholders.

Participation

    There are more than 1,200 permit holders in the Atlantic swordfish 
fishery, and more than 2,000 current permit holders in the Atlantic 
shark fishery, as well as many other types of stakeholders. NMFS 
considers it to be impractical to work through the large number of 
complex issues associated with limited access with several hundred 
participants at any given time. NMFS believes that the number of 
participants in a working group setting should not exceed about 20-25, 
including NMFS staff. Therefore, NMFS has requested that specific 
commercial fishermen's organizations (both harvesters and dealers), 
recreational organizations, marine conservation groups, Fishery 
Management Councils, and Marine Fisheries Commissions each select one 
representative to attend and participate in the workshops. The 

[[Page 61244]]
organizations expected to participate include:

Commercial Fishermen's Organizations

    Blue Water Fishermen's Association
    National Fisheries Institute
    Southern Offshore Fishermen's Association
    Directed Shark Fishery Association
    North Carolina Commercial Fisheries Association
    New Jersey Seafood Harvesters' Association
    Northeast Atlantic Swordfish Net Association

Recreational Groups

    National Fishing Association
    A representative from the charter/headboat industry

Marine Conservation Group

    Ocean Wildlife Campaign

Fishery Management Councils

    New England Fishery Management Council
    Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council
    South Atlantic Fishery Management Council
    Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council
    Caribbean Fishery Management Council

Marine Fisheries Commissions

    Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
    Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission
    NMFS staff and members of the academic community will also be 
invited to participate as needed.
    The criteria used by NMFS to specify the commercial and 
recreational organizations included the size of the membership of 
fishermen or dealers/processors who target swordfish or sharks, and 
geographic representation. NMFS has already provided preliminary, 
informal notifications and requests for comments about the suggested 
composition of the workshops in two open letters distributed via the 
HMS Fax network on October 10, 1995 and November 3, 1995. There was 
very little response to the first open letter, but subsequently NMFS 
has received several additional requests to attend and participate in 
the first workshop. Therefore, NMFS is extending the invitation to 
attend the first workshop to other organizations or associations that 
are directly involved in the Atlantic swordfish or Atlantic shark 
fisheries. NMFS requests that each such organization or association 
limit the number of representatives to one individual and that everyone 
who plans to attend the workshop should notify (see FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT) no later than November 30, 1995. Format and 
representation in future workshops will be one of the agenda items for 
the first workshop.
    In future workshops, if any organizations or individuals feel their 
views are not represented, and that other opportunities for providing 
comment and input are inadequate, they may attend all or a part of a 
workshop, provided they give NMFS at least 2 weeks notice so that an 
appropriate meeting room can be organized. Such organizations or 
individuals may attend the meeting as observers and/or may request a 
specific time slot to present their views.

Objectives and Format

    The objectives of the first workshop are:
    (i) Information exchange: What general types of limited access have 
previously been proposed or implemented; what are their biological, 
economic, social, legal and enforcement implications; what practical 
lessons can be learned from systems already implemented in the United 
States?
    (ii) Scoping of options: Is limited access an essential part of any 
long-term management strategy for Atlantic swordfish and Atlantic shark 
fisheries; if so, what is the range of options that are relevant or 
viable for these fisheries?
    Two other important issues that are considered beyond the scope of 
the workshops and will not be discussed in these workshops are the 
annual quotas for Atlantic swordfish and shark fisheries and 
allocations of annual quotas between user groups and geographic 
regions.
    The first two workshops will include several presentations by 
invited speakers knowledgeable about various forms of limited access. 
Other speakers will be invited as the need arises. NMFS staff will also 
collate important background papers and summaries concerning limited 
access. Background documents may be provided in advance of the 
workshops. The workshops will use a moderated, open-discussion 
framework to present and discuss issues and options. At the end of each 
workshop, participants will discuss a preliminary agenda for the next 
workshop. There will be no consensus recommendation from the workshops.
    NMFS staff will summarize workshop discussions as quickly as 
possible and disseminate them via the HMS Fax Network, and upon written 
or verbal request from members of the public. NMFS staff will finalize 
the agenda for each upcoming workshop at least one week prior to the 
workshop, and disseminate it by the same means. The objectives of the 
workshops will not be subject to substantive change, but the format and 
procedures adopted to ensure orderly progress in the workshops may be 
modified over time.

Special Accommodations

    This meeting is physically accessible to people with disabilities. 
Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids 
should be directed to John Kelly at (301) 713-2347 at least 5 days 
prior to the meeting date.

    Dated: November 22, 1995.
Richard H. Schaefer,
Director, Office of Fisheries Conservation and Management, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 95-29164 Filed 11-24-95; 3:17 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F