[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 224 (Friday, November 20, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64463-64464]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-31085]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D.110298A]
Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic;
Essential Fish Habitat Amendment to the Fishery Management Plans of the
U.S. Caribbean
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability of an amendment to the fishery
management plans of the U.S. Caribbean; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Caribbean Fishery Management Council
(Council) has submitted its Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) Generic
Amendment to the Fishery Management Plans of the U.S. Caribbean (FMPs)
for its review, approval, and implementation. Written comments are
requested from the public.
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before January 19, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Comments must be mailed to the Southeast Regional Office,
NMFS, 9721 Executive Center Drive N., St. Petersburg, FL 33702.
Requests for copies of the amendment, which includes an
environmental assessment, should be sent to the Caribbean Fishery
Management Council, 268 Munoz Rivera Avenue, Suite 11108, San Juan,
Puerto Rico 00918-2577, Phone: 787-766-5926; Fax: 787-766-6239.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Georgia Cranmore, 813-570-5305.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation
and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires each regional
fishery management council to submit any fishery management plan or
amendment it prepares to NMFS for review and approval, disapproval, or
partial approval. The Magnuson-Stevens Act also requires that NMFS,
after receiving an amendment, immediately publish a notice in the
Federal Register that the amendment is available for public review and
comment. This document constitutes such notice for the EFH amendment.
NMFS will consider the public comments received during the comment
period in determining whether to approve, disapprove, or partially
approve this amendment.
NMFS published guidelines to assist regional fishery management
councils in the description and identification of EFH in FMPs,
including identification of adverse impacts from both fishing and non-
fishing activities on EFH and identification of actions required to
conserve and enhance EFH (62 FR 66531, December 19, 1997). These
guidelines encourage ecosystem approaches to protecting and conserving
EFH. Identification of ecological roles (i.e., prey, competitors,
trophic links within foodwebs, and nutrient transfer between
ecosystems) should be incorporated into EFH recommendations. The
guidelines also specify that sufficient EFH be protected and conserved
to support sustainable fisheries and managed species' contribution to a
healthy ecosystem.
The Council's EFH generic amendment includes information on
important factors in the relationships between species in the fishery
management units and their habitats during each of the species' life
stages, including eggs, larvae, juveniles, adults, and spawning adults.
Available information is not sufficient to provide for the
identification of EFH for each species in all FMPs. There are more than
1,149 species of finfish and over 1,170 mollusks reported in Puerto
Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Council has identified, to the
extent possible, the environmental, trophic, and biological
characteristics of species managed by each FMP prepared by the Council.
The Council has emphasized selected species, and in the absence of
habitat information, has used them as ``indicators'' of such habitats.
Following is a summary of the EFH generic amendment:
1. EFH is identified and described based on areas where various
life stages of the 17 selected, managed species and the coral complex
commonly occur. The selected species are: Nassau grouper, Epinephelus
striatus; red hind, Epinephelus guttatus; coney, Epinephelus fulvus;
yellowtail snapper,Ocyurus chrysurus; mutton snapper, Lutjanus analis;
schoolmaster,Lutjanus apodus; grey snapper, Lutjanus griseus; silk
snapper, Lutjanus vivanus; butterfly fish, Chaetodon striatus; squirrel
fish, Holocentrus ascensionis; white grunt, Haemulon plumieri; queen
triggerfish, Balistes vetula; sandtilefish, Malacanthus plumieri;
redtail parrotfish, Sparisoma chrysopterum; trunkfish, Lactophrys
quadricornis; spiny lobster, Panulirus argus; and queen conch, Strombus
gigas.
2. The selected species represent some of the key species under
management by the Council. Collectively, these species commonly occur
throughout all the marine and estuarine waters of the U.S. Caribbean.
EFH for the remaining managed species will be addressed in future FMP
amendments, as information becomes available.
3. EFH is defined as everywhere that the selected species commonly
occur. Because these species collectively occur in all habitats of the
U.S. Caribbean, the EFH of all species combined includes all waters and
substrates (mud, sand, shell, rock, and associated biological
communities), including coral habitats (coral reefs, coral hard
bottoms, and octocoral reefs), sub-tidal vegetation (seagrasses and
algae) and adjacent
[[Page 64464]]
intertidal vegetation (wetlands and mangroves). Therefore, collectively
EFH includes virtually all marine waters and substrates from the
shoreline to the seaward limit of the exclusive economic zone.
4. Threats to EFH from fishing and non-fishing activities are
identified.
5. Whenever possible, options to conserve and enhance EFH are
provided and research needs are identified.
6. No management measures and, therefore, no regulations are
proposed at this time. Measures to minimize any identified impacts are
deferred to future amendments when the Council has the information
necessary to decide if the measures are practicable.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: November 16, 1998.
Dean Swanson,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 98-31085 Filed 11-19-98; 8:45 am]
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