[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 198 (Thursday, October 14, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 55688-55689]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-26838]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[I.D. 092799B]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Petition for 
Rulemaking for Seasonal Area Closures, Bycatch Quotas, and Related 
Measures to Reduce Scup Bycatch

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

ACTION: Notice of receipt of petition for rulemaking; request for 
comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces receipt of, and requests public comment on, an 
amended petition for rulemaking to: Reduce scup bycatch through 
seasonal area closures and a bycatch quota; monitor the Loligo fishery 
through a vessel monitoring system (VMS) and observers; and develop new 
gear designs. The Natural Resources Defense Council, the Environmental 
Defense Fund, the Center for Marine Conservation, the National Audubon 
Society, and the American Oceans Campaign (Petitioners) have petitioned 
NMFS and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) to 
implement these measures beginning November 1999, to reduce the amount 
of scup caught incidentally in the Loligo squid fishery.

DATES: Comments on the amended petition are requested on or before 
November 15, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the amended petition for rulemaking are available 
upon request from Gary C. Matlock, Ph.D., Director, Office of 
Sustainable Fisheries, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 
20910. Comments on the amended petition should be directed to Dr. Gary 
C. Matlock at the above address. Please mark the outside of the 
envelope ``Scup Petition for Rulemaking.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark R. Millikin, 301-713-2341.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The fisheries affected by this petition for 
rulemaking and the petition's amendment are primarily the scup (or 
porgy, Stenotomus chrysops) fishery, which is managed jointly by the 
Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission under the 
Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan (FMP) 
and the Loligo squid fishery, which is managed by the Council under the 
Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish FMP. The Secretary of Commerce 
has management authority for these species in the exclusive economic 
zone (EEZ) under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). The management unit for the scup 
fishery is scup in the U.S. waters of the Atlantic Ocean from 
35 deg.15.3' N. lat., the latitude of Cape Hatteras Light, N.C., 
northward to the U.S.-Canadian border. Regulations governing the scup 
fishery in the EEZ are found at 50 CFR part 648, subparts A and H. 
Regulations governing the Loligo squid fishery in the EEZ are found at 
50 CFR part 648, subparts A and B.
    The Petitioners assert that incidentally-caught juvenile scup are 
discarded in several small mesh fisheries, in particular the Loligo 
squid fishery. Discarded scup is ``bycatch,'' according to the 
Magnuson-Stevens Act, because it is not landed and sold or kept for 
personal use. For the commercial fishery, the FMP requires the discard 
of scup: (1) smaller than a minimum size of 9 inches (22.9 cm), and (2) 
when the amount of scup on board exceeds the poundage threshold 
requiring a minimum mesh size in the codend of the net (either 100 or 
200 lb (45.4 or 90.7 kg), depending on the season).
    The Petitioners contend that because bycatch in small-mesh 
fisheries is a significant problem, management of the directed scup 
fishery alone is inadequate to rebuild the overfished scup stock. In 
addition, the Petitioners note that NMFS recently partially disapproved 
Amendment 12 to the FMP because it failed to address adequately the 
bycatch issue. Consequently, the Petitioners argue, ``there are no 
legally sufficient measures in place to protect the scup from this 
major source of mortality.''
    Thus, in order to protect the scup stock, the Petitioners proposed 
two different actions (either one or both) to be implemented in 1999, 
and further actions to be implemented in 2000 and beyond. For 1999, the 
Petitioners proposed (a) a closure of the Loligo fishery in NMFS 
Northeast Statistical Area 613 (area 613) for the Winter II (November-
December) season, (b) the imposition of a scup bycatch quota throughout 
the Loligo management unit for the Winter II season, or (c) both 
options (a) and (b). The Petitioners note that combining the two 
management measures could eliminate ``hotspots'' of discards and 
protect scup from being discarded on Loligo trips redirected into other 
open areas.
    Since submitting their original petition for rulemaking, the 
Petitioners amended their request based upon new information. The 
Petitioners reference an analysis of the 1997 and 1998 vessel trip 
report data conducted by Council staff for presentation to the FMP's 
Scup Monitoring Committee. These data showed high scup discards in 
statistical areas 537 and 539 in the Loligo fishery during the Winter 
II (November-December) season, as well as in area 613. Further, the 
data showed high scup discard rates in statistical areas 616 and 622 
for the Loligo fishery during the Winter I (January-April) season. 
These areas were included in the Monitoring Committee's August 1999 
recommendations for area closures of the Loligo fishery to prevent 
bycatch of scup. Since the Council did not recommend closure of those 
areas to Loligo fishing, the Petitioners have requested in their 
amended petition immediate implementation of the Monitoring Committee's 
recommendation in order to reduce scup bycatch. The Petitioners also 
request that the above measures (time/area closures, bycatch quota, or 
both) be part of the specifications for the 2000 Loligo squid fishery.
    Area 613 is defined as Federal waters off Long Island, NY, bounded 
by straight lines connecting the following points in the order stated:

                   NMFS Northeast Statistical Area 613
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                       Point                         N. Lat.    W. Long.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LI1                                                    (\1\ )  73 deg.00
                                                                       '
LI2                                                 40 deg.00  73 deg.00
                                                            '          '
LI3                                                 40 deg.00  71 deg.40
                                                            '          '
LI4                                                 41 deg.00  71 deg.40
                                                            '          '
LI5                                                 41 deg.00        (2)
                                                            '
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The intersection the longitude line with the 3 nautical mile line
  south of Patchogue, NY.
\2\ The intersection the latitude line with the 3 nautical mile line
  south of Montauk, NY.

    Area 537 is defined as Federal waters off Nantucket and Martha's 
Vineyard Islands, MA, bounded by straight lines connecting the 
following points in the order stated:

                   NMFS Northeast Statistical Area 537
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                       Point                         N. Lat.    W. Long.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CI1                                                       (1)  70 deg.00
                                                                       '
CI2                                                 39 deg.50  70 deg.00
                                                            '          '
CI3                                                 39 deg.50  71 deg.40
                                                            '          '
CI4                                                 40 deg.50  71 deg.40
                                                            '          '
CI5                                                 40 deg.50  71 deg.20
                                                            '          '

[[Page 55689]]

 
CI6                                                 41 deg.10  71 deg.20
                                                            '          '
CI7                                                 41 deg.10  71 deg.10
                                                            '          '
CI8                                                 41 deg.20  71 deg.10
                                                            '          '
CI9                                                 41 deg.20        (2)
                                                            '
CI10                                                      (3)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The intersection the longitude line with the 3 nautical mile line
  south of Nantucket Island, MA.
\2\ The intersection the latitude line with the 3 nautical mile line
  east of Gay Head, Martha's Vineyard, MA.
\3\ The 3 nautical mile line proceeding easterly along the south of
  Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, back to the starting point.

    Area 539 is defined as Federal waters off the State of Rhode 
Island, bounded by straight lines connecting the following points in 
the order stated:

                   NMFS Northeast Statistical Area 539
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                       Point                         N. Lat.    W. Long.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
RI1                                                       (1)  71 deg.10
                                                                       '
RI2                                                 41 deg.10  71 deg.10
                                                            '          '
RI3                                                 41 deg.10  71 deg.20
                                                            '          '
RI4                                                 40 deg.50  71 deg.20
                                                            '          '
RI5                                                 40 deg.50  71 deg.40
                                                            '          '
RI6                                                       (2)  71 deg.40
                                                                       '
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The intersection the longitude line with the 3 nautical mile line
  south of approximately Sakonnet, RI.
\2\ The intersection the longitude line with the 3 nautical mile line
  south of approximately Quonochontaug, RI.

    Area 616 is defined as offshore Federal waters off Southern New 
Jersey, bounded by straight lines connecting the following points in 
the order stated:

                   NMFS Northeast Statistical Area 616
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                       Point                         N. Lat.    W. Long.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NJ1                                                 40 deg.00  71 deg.40
                                                            '          '
NJ2                                                 39 deg.00  71 deg.40
                                                            '          '
NJ3                                                 39 deg.00  73 deg.00
                                                            '          '
NJ4                                                 40 deg.00  73 deg.00
                                                            '          '
NJ1                                                 40 deg.00  71 deg.40
                                                            '          '
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Area 622 is defined as Federal waters off Ocean City, MD, bounded 
by straight lines connecting the following points in the order stated:

                   NMFS Northeast Statistical Area 622
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                       Point                         N. Lat.    W. Long.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
OC1                                                 39 deg.00  73 deg.00
                                                            '          '
OC2                                                 38 deg.00  73 deg.00
                                                            '          '
OC3                                                 38 deg.00  74 deg.00
                                                            '          '
OC4                                                 39 deg.00  74 deg.00
                                                            '          '
OC1                                                 39 deg.00  73 deg.00
                                                            '          '
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In addition, the Petitioners request that NMFS institute adequate 
enforcement mechanisms and observer coverage for these bycatch 
reduction measures. For instance, in closing area 613, the Petitioners 
suggest NMFS require a VMS in the Loligo fleet. If a bycatch quota is 
implemented, the Petitioners suggest observer coverage be required at 
levels sufficient to ensure observations of a statistically significant 
percentage of Loligo catch.
    In addition, the Petitioners request that, for 2001, NMFS and the 
Council oversee the development, testing, and implementation of 
appropriately modified gear as an effective and equitable means of 
reducing scup bycatch. Such gear, the Petitioners feel, would obviate 
the need for the measures proposed by this amended petition.
    NMFS requests comments on the amended petition for rulemaking. NMFS 
will consider this information in determining whether to proceed with 
the development of regulations requested by the amended petition.

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

    Dated: October 7, 1999.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 99-26838 Filed 10-13-99; 8:45 am]
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