[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 244 (Monday, December 21, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70391-70392]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-33732]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 121598F]


Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council; Public 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 Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) will 
convene public meetings of the Ad Hoc Sustainable Fisheries Amendment 
Act (SFA) Advisory Panel (AP) and the Standing Scientific and 
Statistical Committee (SSC).

DATES: The meeting of the SFA AP will begin at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, 
January 5, 1999 and conclude by 4:00 p.m. The meeting of the Standing 
SSC will begin at 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, January 6, 1999 and conclude 
by 4:00 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Doubletree Hotel _ New 
Orleans, 300 Canal Street, New Orleans, LA; telephone 504-581-1300.
    Council address: Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, 3018 
U.S. Highway 301 North, Suite 1000, Tampa, FL 33619.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wayne Swingle, Executive Director, 
Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council; telephone: 813-228-2815.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The AP, consisting of recreational and 
commercial fishery representatives, and SSC will review the Sustainable 
Fisheries Act (SFA) Amendment.
    In 1996, Congress passed the SFA. The SFA implemented new 
requirements for marine fisheries managed by the Gulf Council and other 
Regional Councils. The Council has responded to this by developing the 
SFA Amendment which includes alternative management measures for 
reporting of bycatch by Gulf fishermen, for minimizing bycatch or 
bycatch mortality, for specifying higher standards for overfishing 
criteria that will restore fishery stocks to maximum sustainable yield 
(MSY), for rebuilding periods for overfished stocks (e.g., red snapper, 
king mackerel, and red drum) and a section identifying communities 
economically dependent on fishing.
    Under the section on reporting of bycatch, five alternatives 
related to submission of data by fishermen and vessel observers are 
considered. The Council proposes that NMFS have authority to collect 
bycatch information by the most appropriate methods, but to use 
mandatory observers only when the Council agrees.
    Under the section on measures to minimize bycatch or bycatch 
mortality, the Council proposes that stone crab traps used in Federal 
waters be constructed according to Florida law.
    Under the section on overfishing criteria and rebuilding period for 
stocks, the Council has proposed that MSY, optimum yield (OY), and the 
overfishing thresholds be set at higher standards as follows: at 26 
percent spawning potential ratio (SPR) for red snapper (with OY set at 
36 percent SPR); at 30 percent SPR for red drum, all the coastal 
migratory species (including the mackerels) and for all reef fish 
species except red snapper, gag, Nassau grouper, and jewfish; at 50 
percent SPR for Nassau grouper and jewfish; the Council has not 
selected a proposal for gag.
    The rebuilding periods proposed for overfished stocks are as 
follows: red snapper by year 2033; king mackerel by 2009; no rebuilding 
periods are proposed for red drum, Nassau grouper, or jewfish because 
there was insufficient information to compute the periods.
    Similarly, the amendment does not contain proposed overfished 
thresholds for any of the finfish stocks because there was insufficient 
information to compute these parameters in terms of biomass (weight). 
Alternatives for overfished thresholds in terms of SPR are included.

[[Page 70392]]

    Under the section on overfishing criteria and rebuilding period for 
stocks for the crustacean fisheries, the Council has proposed that MSY, 
OY, and the overfishing thresholds be set as follows:
    For penaeid shrimp - as the parent stock numbers (as indexed from 
current virtual population analysis [VPA] procedures) for the 3 penaeid 
species of shrimp in the Gulf of Mexico at or above the following 
levels:
    Brown Shrimp - 125 million individuals, age 7+ months during the 
November through February period;
    White shrimp - 330 million individuals, age 7+ months during the 
May through August period;
    Pink shrimp - 100 million individuals, age 5+ months during the 
July through June year.
    For royal red shrimp - as 650,000 pounds
    For spiny lobster - as 20 percent transitional SPR or SSBR 
(spawning stock biomass per recruit), except OY is set at 30 percent 
SPR.
    For stone crab - as the harvest that results from a realized egg 
production per recruit at or above 70 percent of potential production. 
This harvest capacity is currently estimated at between 3.0 and 3.5 
million pounds (MP) of claws (minimum 70mm propodus length).
    Overfished thresholds are specified as one-half of MSY or slightly 
higher for the crustacean stocks, none of which are overfished.
    The effect of specifying overfishing criteria at a higher level for 
the finfish stocks is that additional stocks may be classified as 
overfished when NMFS approves the SFA amendment in 1999. The amendment 
also identified Gulf fishing communities dependent on fishing so that 
eventually the impact of fishery management measures on these 
communities can be assessed.
    Although other issues not on the agenda may come before the AP and 
SSC for discussion, in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act, those issues may not be the subject of 
formal action during the meeting. Actions will be restricted to those 
issues specifically identified in the agenda listed as available by 
this notice.

Special Accommodations

    This meeting is 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 
December 29, 1998.

    Dated: December 16, 1998.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 98-33732 Filed 12-18-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F