[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 127 (Monday, July 1, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33905-33906]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-16623]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 062596A]
RIN 0648-AH58
Atlantic Coast Weakfish; Intent to Prepare a Supplemental
Environmental Impact Statement
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 written comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS announces its intent to prepare an SEIS to assess the
impact of Atlantic Coast weakfish harvests and possible proposed
regulations on the natural and human environment. This notice of intent
requests public input (written comments) on issues that NMFS should
consider in preparing the SEIS. In addition, the SEIS will examine
specific recommendations to the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) by
the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) in its
Amendment 3 to the Fishery Management Plan For Weakfish (Plan) and new
stock assessment information. Public hearings for the SEIS will be
scheduled at a later date. This notice also references the published
Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) information and announces
that NMFS is considering measures for the 1996 fishing year and beyond
for the Atlantic Coast weakfish fishery in the exclusive economic zone
(EEZ).
DATES: Written comments on the intent to prepare the SEIS will be
accepted until July 22, 1996. Public hearings will be announced in the
Federal Register at a later date.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to: Richard H. Schaefer, Director,
Office of Fisheries Conservation and Management (F/CM), National Marine
Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom Meyer, telephone (301) 713-2339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Section 804(b) of the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative
Management Act (ACFCMA) enacted in December 1993, (Public Law 103-206)
states that, in the absence of an approved and implemented fishery
management plan (FMP) under the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and
Management Act (Magnuson Act), 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq., and after
consultation with the appropriate Fishery Management Council(s)
(Council), the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) may implement
regulations to govern fishing in the EEZ that are:
1. Necessary to support the effective implementation of an Atlantic
States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) coastal fishery
management plan (CFMP); and
2. Consistent with the national standards set forth in section 301
of the Magnuson Act (16 U.S.C. 1851).
These regulations may include measures recommended by the
Commission to the Secretary that are necessary to support the
provisions of a CFMP. Regulations issued by the Secretary to implement
an approved FMP prepared by the appropriate Council(s) or the Secretary
under the Magnuson Act shall supersede any conflicting regulations
issued by the Secretary under section 804(b) of ACFCMA.
The provisions of sections 307 through 311 of the Magnuson Act (16
U.S.C. 1857 through 1861) regarding prohibited acts, civil penalties,
criminal offenses, civil forfeitures, and enforcement shall apply with
respect to regulations issued under section 804(b) of ACFCMA as if such
regulations were issued under the Magnuson Act.
In accordance with the ACFCMA, the Secretary of Commerce
(Secretary) implemented a final rule, after publishing an FEIS, to
impose a moratorium on fishing for weakfish in the EEZ, Federal
Register (60 FR 58246) on November 27, 1995. However, the rule was
vacated by the U.S. Federal District Court, Norfolk, Virginia, on
February 16, 1996. The basis for the court's decision was that the
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's (Commission) Fishery
Management Plan For Weakfish (FMP) did not contain recommendations to
the Secretary and, therefore, cannot be considered a valid FMP under
the Act.
The regulations have not been enforced since the judge issued his
order.
The Commission has recently adopted Amendment 3 to the FMP
(Amendment 3); it includes the following specific recommendations for
Secretarial action in the EEZ to support the Commission's FMP:
[[Page 33906]]
1. Require a minimum weakfish size of 12 inches total length;
2. Require that weakfish harvested in the EEZ be landed in
accordance with the landing laws of the state in which they are landed,
with the exception that weakfish harvested in the EEZ may not be landed
in a ``de minimus'' state;
3. Require minimum mesh sizes in the EEZ ``consistent'' with a 12-
inch minimum fish size. Non-directed fisheries using smaller mesh sizes
may possess no more than 150 pounds of weakfish in any one day; and
4. Require that any ``flynets'' used in the EEZ south of Cape
Hatteras be operated in compliance with the applicable regulations of
the adjacent state(s).
All states which have declared an interest in the management of
fisheries for weakfish are to implement Amendment 3 by October 1, 1996.
NMFS will assess the Commission's recommendations during the SEIS
process.
Management responsibility for weakfish resides primarily with the
coastal states through the Commission's Fishery Management Plan For
Weakfish (Plan). This Plan was adopted in 1985 by the coastal states
from Maine through Florida in response to severe declines in the
weakfish catches and populations along the coast. Increasingly strict
state regulations have been imposed by amendments to the Plan since
1985 to restrict further the harvest of weakfish by recreational and
commercial fisheries and to allow rebuilding of the stocks.
However, as indicated in the FEIS published in September 1995, even
with these restrictions, the weakfish population is not showing signs
of recovery . The FEIS clearly indicates that the weakfish stock is
overfished and beginning to suffer recruitment failure. Harvest
restrictions are definitely needed if weakfish are to recover.
Based on the recent stock assessments, NMFS will consider measures
to regulate the Atlantic Coast weakfish fishery in the EEZ for the 1996
fishing year and beyond, including: (1) A prohibition on the taking or
possession of weakfish in the EEZ; (2) applying state regulations to
the EEZ; (3) imposition of specific Federal regulations on weakfish
fishing in the EEZ as recommended by the Commission's Amendment 3 to
Plan; and (4) status quo or no action taken.
The Mid-Atlantic Council's workload will not permit it to undertake
a Plan at this time. NMFS has determined that regulations in the EEZ
must be implemented to support the CFMP for weakfish if there is to be
a cooperative state and Federal effort to rebuild the weakfish stock.
NMFS has determined that the preparation of an SEIS is appropriate,
because of the potentially significant impact of EEZ regulations on the
human environment, and because no specific EEZ recommendations were
available in the Commission's Plan when the 1995 FEIS was prepared. The
current Amendment 3 to the Plan has such recommendations (alternative
3), which will be assessed during the SEIS process. Participants in
this fishery will be affected and may face more restricted harvest of
the weakfish resource while the natural stocks of weakfish are allowed
to recover.
Date: June 25, 1996.
Richard H. Schaefer,
Director, Office of Fisheries Conservation and Management, National
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 96-16623 Filed 6-28-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F