[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 101 (Thursday, May 23, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25846-25847]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-12925]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 051796B]


Atlantic Offshore Fisheries Take Reduction Team Meeting

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

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Take Reduction Team (TRT) to address bycatch of Atlantic 
offshore cetaceans in the U.S. Atlantic large pelagics pair trawl 
fishery, the U.S. Atlantic longline fishery, and the U.S. Atlantic 
large pelagic drift gillnet fishery will hold its first meeting to 
develop a Take Reduction Plan (TRP) as described in the Marine Mammal 
Protection Act (MMPA) focusing on reducing bycatch in these fisheries.

DATES: The meeting will be held on May 29-30, 1996, from 8:30 a.m. to 
5:30 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The TRT meeting will be held at the Government Center 
Holiday Inn, Boston, MA 20010.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Douglas Beach, (508) 281-9254, or 
Victoria Cornish, (301) 713-2322.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 30, 1994, the 1994 Amendments to 
the MMPA were signed into law. Section 117 of the MMPA requires that 
NMFS complete stock assessment reports for all marine mammal stocks 
within U.S. waters. Each stock assessment report is required to 
categorize the status of the stock as one that either has a level of 
human-caused mortality and serious injury that is not likely to cause 
the stock to be reduced below its optimum sustainable population; or is 
a strategic stock, with a description of the reasons therefore; and 
estimate the potential biological removal (PBR) level for the stock, 
describing the information used to calculate it, including the recovery 
factor. Stock Assessment Reports and the calculated PBR were published 
by NMFS in July 1995.
    The MMPA defines a ``strategic stock'' as a marine mammal stock for 
which the level of direct human-caused mortality exceeds the PBR level; 
which, based on the best available scientific information, is declining 
and is likely to be listed as a threatened species under the Endangered 
Species Act of 1973 (ESA) within the foreseeable future; which is 
listed as a threatened species or endangered species under the ESA, or 
is designated as depleted under the MMPA. The MMPA further defines the 
term ``potential biological removal,'' or PBR, as ``the maximum number 
of animals, not including natural mortalities, that may be removed from 
a marine mammal stock while allowing that stock to reach or maintain 
its optimum sustainable population.''
    The U.S. Atlantic large pelagics pair trawl fishery, the U.S. 
Atlantic longline fishery, and the U.S. Atlantic large pelagic drift 
gillnet fishery interact with several strategic marine mammal stocks 
including: Long-finned and short-finned pilot whales, common dolphins, 
Atlantic spotted dolphins, and the offshore stock of bottlenose 
dolphin. The U.S. Atlantic large pelagic drift gillnet fishery also 
interacts with three species of endangered large whales; the humpback 
whale, the northern right whale, and the sperm whale (supporting 
documentation at 60 FR 67063, December 28, 1995).
    These stocks are considered strategic under the MMPA because they 
are either listed as an endangered or threatened species under the ESA 
or because the level of human-caused mortality is greater than their 
PBR levels.
    Section 118(f) of the MMPA requires NMFS to establish a TRT to 
prepare a draft TRP designed to assist in the recovery or prevent the 
depletion of each strategic marine mammal stock that interacts with 
certain fisheries. Section 118(f)(6)(C) requires that members of the 
TRTs have expertise regarding the conservation or biology of the marine 
mammal species that the TRP will address, or the fishing practices that 
result in the incidental mortality and serious injury of such species. 
The MMPA further specifies that members of the TRT shall include 
representatives of Federal agencies, each coastal state with fisheries 
that interact with the species or stock, appropriate Regional Fishery 
Management Councils, interstate fisheries commissions, academic and 
scientific organizations, environmental groups, all commercial and 
recreational fisheries groups and gear types which incidentally take 
the species or stock, Alaska Native organizations, or Indian tribal 
organizations, and others as deemed appropriate.
    As a result of stock assessment reports developed under section 117 
of the MMPA, and an extended interview process conducted by a NMFS-
contracted facilitator, NMFS, through a letter dated April 15, 1996, 
has asked the following individuals to be a member of the TRT, which 
will focus on reducing bycatch of the strategic marine mammals stocks 
taken as bycatch in the U.S. Atlantic large pelagics pair trawl 
fishery, the U.S. Atlantic longline fishery, and the U.S. Atlantic 
large pelagic drift gillnet fishery:
    Douglas Beach, National Marine Fisheries Service; Nelson Biederman, 
Blue Water Fishermen's Association; Joe DeAlteris, Rhode Island Sea 
Grant; Pete Dupuy, Ocean Pacific Seafood; Cliff Goudy, Massachusetts 
Institute of Technology Sea Grant; John Hoey, National Fisheries 
Institute; Thomas Hoff, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council; Gail 
Johnson, Maine Fishermen's Wives Association; Bob Kenney, University of 
Rhode Island; Fred Mattera, Northeast Atlantic Swordfish Netters 
Association; Hans Neuhauser, Georgia Land Trust; Ralph Owen, Great 
Circle Fisheries; Mark Phillips, F/V ILLUSION; Andrew Read, Duke 
University Marine Laboratory;

[[Page 25847]]

John Reimer, Offshore Resource Management Corporation; Sharon Young, 
Humane Society of the United States; Nina Young, Center for Marine 
Conservation; April Valliere, Rhode Island Division of Fish and 
Wildlife; and Billy Gell, Northeast Atlantic Swordfish Netters 
Association. Other individuals from NMFS, state and Federal agencies 
may be present as observers or for their scientific expertise. The TRT 
will be facilitated by Susan Podziba and Associates, Brookline, MA.
    NMFS fully intends to convene a TRT process in a way that provides 
for national consistency yet accommodates the unique regional needs and 
characteristics of any one team. TRTs are not subject to the Federal 
Advisory Committee Act (5 App. U.S.C.). Meetings are open to the 
public.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1387.

    Dated: May 17, 1996.
Patricia A. Montanio,
Acting Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 96-12925 Filed 5-22-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F