[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 196 (Tuesday, October 8, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 52769-52770]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-25800]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 229

[I.D. 093096C]


Atlantic Offshore Cetacean Take Reduction Plan; Public Meeting

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

ACTION: Public scoping meeting; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces its intention to begin scoping for the 
preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) or Environmental 
Assessment (EA) for anticipated proposed rulemaking under the Take 
Reduction Plan provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). 
The intended effect is to reduce the incidental mortality and serious 
injury of marine mammals in the course of commercial fishing 
operations.

DATES: The scoping meeting will be held on October 22, 1996, from 7 
p.m. until 10 p.m. Written comments on the scope of the EIS or EA must 
be submitted by November 23, 1996.

ADDRESSES: The scoping meeting will be held at the Inn at the Crossing, 
801 Greenwich Avenue, Warwick, RI 02886, (401) 732-6000. Scoping 
comments and requests for additional information should be sent to Doug 
Beach, National Marine Fisheries Service, Northeast Regional Office, 
One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930-2298, fax (508) 281-9301.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Doug Beach, (508) 281-9254, fax (508) 
281-9301, or Victoria Cornish, (301) 713-2322, fax (301) 713-0376.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 118(f) of the MMPA requires NMFS to 
develop and implement a Take Reduction Plan that is intended to assist 
in the recovery or that prevents the depletion of each strategic marine 
mammal stock(s) that interacts with

[[Page 52770]]

certain fisheries. The immediate goal of the plan is to reduce, within 
6 months of its implementation, the incidental mortality or serious 
injury of strategic marine mammals incidentally taken in the course of 
commercial fishing to levels less than the Potential Biological Removal 
(PBR) level established for that stock. The long-term goal of the plan 
shall be to reduce, within 5 years of its implementation, the 
incidental mortality or serious injury of marine mammals incidentally 
taken in the course of commercial fishing to insignificant levels 
approaching a zero mortality and serious injury rate, taking into 
account the economics of the fishery, the availability of existing 
technology, and existing state or regional fishery management plans.
    Each plan shall include a review of the information in the final 
stock assessment published under section 117(b) and any new 
information; an estimate of the total number and, if possible, age and 
gender, of animals from the stock that are being incidentally lethally 
taken or seriously injured each year during the course of commercial 
fishing operations; recommended regulatory or voluntary measures for 
the reduction of incidental mortality and serious injury; and 
recommended dates for achieving the specific objectives of the plan.
    In accordance with section 118(f)(6)(A), NMFS established the 
Atlantic Offshore Cetacean Take Reduction Team (TRT) for the U.S. 
Atlantic large pelagics drift gillnet, pair trawl, and longline 
fisheries on May 23, 1996 (61 FR 25846). All three fisheries interact 
with the following strategic marine mammal stocks: long-finned and 
short-finned pilot whales and the offshore stock of bottlenose dolphin. 
The U.S. Atlantic large pelagics pair trawl fishery also interacts with 
common dolphins and unidentified stocks of beaked whales, and the U.S. 
Atlantic large pelagics drift gillnet fishery also interacts with 
common dolphins, Cuvier's beaked whales, True's beaked whales, Gervais' 
beaked whales, Blaineville's beaked whales, Sowerby's beaked whales, 
Atlantic spotted dolphins, Pantropical spotted dolphins, Atlantic 
white-sided dolphins, and three species of endangered large whales: the 
humpback whale, the northern right whale, and the sperm whale. These 
stocks are considered strategic under the MMPA because they are either 
listed as an endangered or threatened species under the Endangered 
Species Act or because the levels of human-caused mortality are greater 
than their PBR levels.
    A draft plan will be developed by the Atlantic Offshore Cetacean 
TRT and will be forwarded to NMFS by November 23, 1996. NMFS then has 
60 days to publish a proposed plan, along with any proposed 
implementing regulations, as necessary.
    The purpose of the scoping meeting is to receive comments in 
anticipation of an EIS or EA that may be prepared for the final plan 
and any regulations that may be necessary to implement the provisions 
of the plan. Any EIS or EA prepared would examine the environmental 
impacts of management alternatives considered in the plan to reduce the 
incidental mortality and serious injury of marine mammals in this 
fishery, as well as assessing, based on currently available 
information, the impacts of the plan and implementing regulations on 
the human environment, marine mammals, and other protected species in 
accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act.
    The scoping meeting is scheduled to coincide with the second day of 
the last meeting of the TRT on October 21 - 22, 1996. All interested 
parties are encouraged to attend. The scoping meeting will include a 
short presentation from NMFS staff outlining the take reduction plan 
process and options that are being considered and will allow a minimum 
of 2 1/2 hours for public comment. NMFS is also requesting written 
comments to be submitted by mail or by fax, until November 23, 1996, 
and background materials are available (see ADDRESSES). The meeting is 
open to the public and is physically accessible to people with 
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other 
auxiliary aids should be directed to Doug Beach at (508) 281-9254 by 
October 14, 1996.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.

    Dated: October 3, 1996.
Patricia Montanio,
Acting Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 96-25800 Filed 10-7-96; 8:45 am]
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