[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 187 (Wednesday, September 25, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 50269-50270]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-24390]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 622

[I.D. 091096A]


Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council; Public Hearings

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

ACTION: Public hearings; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) will 
convene 14 public hearings on Draft Amendment 9 to the Fishery 
Management Plan for the Shrimp Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico (FMP) and 
its draft supplemental environmental impact statement (draft SEIS).

DATES: Written comments will be accepted until November 1, 1996. The 
hearings will be held from October 7 to October 17, 1996. See 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for specific dates and times.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to and copies of the draft 
amendment and SEIS are available from Dr. Richard L. Leard, Senior 
Fishery Biologist, Gulf of Mexico Council, 5401 West Kennedy Boulevard, 
Tampa, FL 33609.
    The hearings will be held in FL, AL, MS, LA and TX. See 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for locations of the hearings and special 
accommodations.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Richard L. Leard, 813-228-2815; 
Fax: 813-225-7015.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Council will hold public hearings on 
Draft Amendment 9 to the FMP and the associated draft SEIS. The purpose 
of Amendment 9 is to reduce the bycatch mortality of juvenile red 
snapper from shrimp trawling to a level that will allow the red snapper 
stock in the Gulf of Mexico to recover from its present overfished 
state. Under the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Resources of 
the Gulf of Mexico, the red snapper stock must be rebuilt to a level of 
20-percent spawning potential ratio by the year 2019. This rebuilding 
program is based on achieving a 50-percent reduction in bycatch 
mortality of juvenile red snapper in the Gulf shrimp fishery, beginning 
in 1997.
    Amendment 9 would require the installation of NMFS-approved Bycatch 
Reduction Devices (BRDs) in all nets used by vessels trawling for 
shrimp in specified areas of the Gulf of Mexico exclusive economic zone 
(EEZ). Vessels trawling for royal red shrimp beyond the 100-fathom (183 
m) contour and vessels trawling for groundfish or butterfish would be 
exempted. A single try net with a headrope length of 16 ft (4.9 m) or 
less per vessel would also be exempted. Amendment 9 also contains 
alternative areas where BRDs might be required in shrimp trawls: (1) In 
the EEZ of the Gulf of Mexico within the 100-fathom contour; (2) in the 
EEZ of the Gulf of Mexico within the 100-fathom contour west of Cape 
San Blas, FL; (3) in the EEZ of the Gulf of Mexico between the 10-and 
100-fathom contours; and (4) in the EEZ of the Gulf of Mexico between 
the 10-and 100-fathom contours and west of Cape San Blas, FL.
    In order for a BRD to be certified, the amendment would establish 
bycatch reduction criteria that would require the reduction of the 
bycatch of juvenile red snapper (age 0 and age 1) by a specified 
percentage from the average level of mortality on those age groups 
during the years 1984-1989. The amendment would also establish 
framework procedures for modifying bycatch reduction criteria, 
establishing BRD certification criteria, and a BRD testing protocol.
    The hearings are scheduled from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., as follows:
    1. Monday, October 7, 1996--Holiday Inn Beachside, 3841 North 
Roosevelt Boulevard, Key West, FL 33040
    2. Monday, October 7, 1996--Lake Charles Civic Center, 900 
Lakeshore Drive, Lake Charles, LA 70602
    3. Tuesday, October 8, 1996--Thibodaux Civic Center, 310 North 
Canal Boulevard, Thibodaux, LA 70301

[[Page 50270]]

    4. Tuesday, October 8, 1996--Radisson Inn, 12635 Cleveland Avenue, 
Fort Myers, FL 33907
    5. Wednesday, October 9, 1996--Radisson Bay Harbor Inn, 7700 
Courtney Campbell Causeway, Tampa, FL 33607
    6. Wednesday, October 9, 1996--Radisson Inn New Orleans Airport, 
2150 Veterans Memorial Boulevard, Kenner, LA 70062
    7. Monday, October 14, 1996--Franklin County Courthouse, 33 Market 
Street, Appalachicola, FL 32320
    8. Monday, October 14, 1996--Holiday Inn Fort Brown, 1900 East 
Elizabeth, Brownsville, TX 78520
    9. Tuesday, October 15, 1996--Pensacola Civic Center, 201 E. 
Gregory, Pensacola, FL 32501
    10. Tuesday, October 15, 1996--Port Aransas Civic Center 
Auditorium, 710 West Avenue A, Port Aransas, TX 78373
    11. Wednesday, October 16, 1996--Radisson Admiral Semmes Hotel, 251 
Government Street, Mobile, AL 36602
    12. Wednesday, October 16, 1996--Bauer Community Center, 2300 
Highway 35 Bypass, Port Lavaca, TX 77979
    13. Thursday, October 17, 1996--J.L. Scott Marine Education Center 
& Aquarium, 115 East Beach Boulevard, U.S. Highway 90, Biloxi, MS 39530
    14. Thursday, October 17, 1996--Texas A&M University, 200 Seawolf 
Parkway, Galveston, TX 77553
    These meetings are physically accessible to people with 
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other 
auxiliary aids should be directed to Anne Alford at the Council (see 
ADDRESSES) by September 30, 1996.

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

    Dated: September 17, 1996.
Bruce Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 96-24390 Filed 9-24-96; 8:45 am]
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