[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 32 (Wednesday, February 16, 2000)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 7820-7823]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-3720]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[I.D. 020900B]


Western Pacific Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

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

ACTION: Notice of public meeting; public scoping hearings; public 
hearing.

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SUMMARY: The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council will hold its 
102nd meeting in Honolulu, HI. A public hearing will be held 
on alternatives for managing sharks and creating area closures in 
American Samoa. These measures will be implemented by amendments to the 
Fishery Management Plan for the Pelagic Fisheries of the Western 
Pacific Region (Pelagics FMP). A public scoping hearing will be held on 
the intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the 
Fishery Management Plan for the Precious Corals Fisheries of the 
Western Pacific Region (Precious Corals FMP).

DATES: The Council's Standing Committees will meet on February 28, 
2000. The full Council meeting will be held on February 29, 2000 and 
March 1, and 2, 2000. The public hearings will be

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held on March 1 and 2, 2000. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for specific 
dates and times for these meetings and hearings.

ADDRESSES: The Council meeting will be held at the Hibiscus Ballroom I 
at the Ala Moana Hotel, 410 Atkinson Drive, Honolulu, HI 96814; 
telephone: 808-955-4811.
    Council address: Western Pacific Fishery Management Council, 1164 
Bishop St., Suite 1400, Honolulu, HI, 96813.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kitty M. Simonds, Executive Director; 
telephone: 808-522-8220.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Dates and Times

Committee Meetings

    The following Council's Standing Committees will meet on February 
28, 2000. Enforcement/Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) (including meeting 
with industry) from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.; International Fisheries/
Pelagics from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.; Bottomfish, Crustaceans, and 
Ecosystem & Habitat from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.; Native and Indigenous 
Rights from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m; Precious Corals from 3:00 p.m. to 
4:00 p.m.; and Executive/Budget and Program from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Full Council meeting

    The full Council will meet on February 29, and March 1-2, 2000, 
from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., each day.

Public Hearings

    The public hearing on shark management options and area closures 
around American Samoa will be held on Wednesday, March 1, 2000, at 4:00 
p.m. The scoping hearing to add the Commonwealth of the Northern 
Mariana Islands (CNMI) and the Pacific Remote Island Areas (PRIA) to 
the Fishery Management Plan for the Bottomfish Fisheries of the Western 
Pacific Region (Bottomfish FMP) will be held on March 2, 2000, at 9:30 
a.m.The scoping hearing to add the CNMI and the PRIA to the Fishery 
Management Plan for the Crustacean Fisheries of the Western Pacific 
Region (Crustacean FMP) will be held on Thursday, March 2, 2000, at 
4:00 p.m. The scoping hearing on the intent to prepare an EIS and to 
add the CNMI and the PRIA to the Precious Corals FMP will

Agenda

    The agenda during the full Council meeting will include the items 
below. The order in which agenda items are addressed may change. The 
Council will meet as late as necessary to complete scheduled business.
    1. Introductions
    2. Approval of Agenda
    3. Approval of 101st Meeting Minutes
    4. Island Reports
    A. American Samoa
    B. Guam
    C. Hawaii
    D. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)
    5. Fishery Agency and Organization Reports
    A. DOC
    (1) NMFS
    (a) Southwest Region, Pacific Island Area Office
    (b) Southwest Fisheries Science Center La Jolla and Honolulu 
Laboratories
    (2) NOAA General Counsel, Southwest Region
    B. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)
    6. Enforcement
    A. U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) activities
    B. NMFS activities
    C. Cooperative agreements for Guam/CNMI
    D. Status of violations
    7. VMS
    A. Regional VMS report
    B. National VMS efforts
    C. Report on FFA VMS program
    8. Ecosystems and Habitat
    A. Draft Coral Reef Ecosystem FMP/Preliminary DEIS
    (1) Review of Council's preferred alternative
    (a) fishing permit and reporting
    (b) restriction of gear and methods
    (c) marine protected areas
    (d) framework provision
    (e) process for Plan Team (PT) coordination
    (2) Review of comments from region-wide public meetings
    (3) Federal initiatives
    (a) Congressional coral reef bills
    (b) U.S. Coral Reef Task Force action plan
    (4) Agency research plans for coral reefs
    B. Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI)
    (1) Concerns regarding existing fisheries
    (a) status of monk seals
    (b) Marine Mammal Commission
    (c) Monk Seal Recovery Team
    (d) agencies:
    (1) NMFS
    (2) Coral Reef Task Force
    (3) FWS
    (4) Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources (HDLNR)
    (5) U.S. Navy/USCG
    2. Hawaii advisory body recommendations
    (a) Coral Reef Ecosystem PT
    (b) Ecosystem and Habitat Advisory Panel (AP)
    (c) Bottomfish PT/AP
    (d) Crustacean PT/AP
    (e) Precious Corals PT/AP
    9. Fishery Rights of Indigenous People
    A. Status of Marine Conservation Plans (MCPs)
    B. Status of eligibility criteria for Community Development Program 
CDP and Demonstration Projects
    C. Limited entry permits for CDP
    10. Pelagic Fisheries
    A. 3rd and 4th quarters 1999 Hawaii and 
American Samoa longline fishery reports
    B. American Samoa, Framework measure (see agenda item under 10.H)
    The Council will hold a public hearing and take final action on a 
framework measure under the Pelagics FMP to implement a closed area for 
pelagic fishing vessels around the islands of American Samoa. In 
December 1997, at its 94th meeting, the Council voted to 
recommend a closed area from which large (greater than 50 ft (15.24 m)) 
pelagic fishing vessels would be excluded to protect the small vessel 
longline fishery in American Samoa. That proposed revision was adopted 
under the two meeting framework process. That measure would have 
established a 50- nautical mile (nm) closure to pelagic fishing vessels 
larger than 50 ft (15.24 m) around Tutuila and Manua Islands, and a 30-
nm closure around Swains Island. The recommended closure was sent to 
the NMFS Southwest Regional Administrator in October 1998 but was 
disapproved in March 1999, with the advice that it could be revised to 
include greater justification for closed areas under National Standard 
8 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
(Magnuson-Stevens Act).
    Subsequently, a revised draft of the framework measure has been 
drafted which includes a preferred alternative which would implement a 
50-nm closure to pelagic fishing vessels larger than 50 ft (15.24 m) 
around Tutuila and Manua Islands, and a 30-nm closure around Swains 
Island. A copy of the draft document is available from the Council 
office.
    (2) MCP
    C. Shark management
    (1) Shark catch and disposition in 1999 in Hawaii longline fishery
    (2) Blue shark stock assessment
    (3) Report of cultural study of sharks and shark finning in the 
western Pacific region
    (4) National Plan of Action-Sharks
    (5) Proposals for shark management
    (6) Pelagics FMP amendment for shark management

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    D. Seabird interactions in the Hawaii longline fishery
    (1) Status of amendment
    (2) Biological opinion
    (3) National Plan of Action-Seabirds
    E. Turtle management
    (1) Imposition of longline closed area north of Hawaii
    (2) Status of lawsuit
    F. International
    (1) Multilateral High Level Conference 6
    (2) International Pelagic Shark Workshop
    G. National Plan of Action-Fishing Capacity
    H. Public hearing, shark management options
    At its 101st Meeting, the Council voted to take action 
on the retention of sharks by the Hawaii longline fishery by setting an 
annual fleetwide harvest guideline (quota) of 50,000 sharks through an 
amendment to the Pelagics FMP. The need for a quota was generated by 
concerns about the level of blue shark mortality in the Hawaii-based 
longline fishery, since virtually all the shark catch comprises blue 
shark and the level of retention had risen from less than 14,000 in 
1993 to 60,000 in 1998. The same amendment will also develop 
regulations to ban demersal longline fishing for pelagic management 
unit species in the Hawaii exclusive economic zone (EEZ). In 1998 and 
1999, a fishing vessel from the U.S. mainland fished for sharks with a 
demersal longline in Hawaii in nearshore coastal waters. This type of 
longline fishing was not regulated by state and Federal regulations. 
Various Council advisory bodies found this type of longline fishing 
inappropriate for Hawaii but recognized that other islands in the 
western Pacific Region may wish to make use of this gear to exploit 
their shark stocks. Consequently, the Council was asked to ban its use 
in Hawaii, but not elsewhere in the region. A copy of the draft 
amendment is available from the Council office (see ADDRESSES).
    11. Bottomfish Fisheries
    A. Status of the fishery
    B. Review of public scoping comments on EIS alternatives
    C. Addition of CNMI and PRIA to FMP
    D. New entry to Mau Zone
    E. Public comment and scoping hearing on addition of fisheries off 
CNMI and PRIA to the FMP.
    The Council intends to develop amendments to the Fishery Management 
Plan for the Bottomfish FMP, and the Precious Corals FMP. In developing 
these amendments, the Council will consider a range of alternatives and 
impacts for management of bottomfish, crustacean, and precious coral 
fisheries of the PRIA and the CNMI. The PRIAs are defined as Kingman 
Reef, Johnston Atoll, and Howland, Baker, Jarvis, Wake, Midway, and 
Palmyra islands. The Council is evaluating the need to amend the 
bottomfish, crustacean, and precious corals FMPs to better achieve the 
management objectives of these FMPs. Currently, no Federal regulations 
are in place to manage the bottomfish, crustacean, and precious coral 
fishery resources in the EEZ waters surrounding the CNMI. There are 
also no Federal regulations for the bottomfish and crustacean fisheries 
for the EEZ waters surrounding the PRIAs. The amendments will be 
developed by considering a wide range of management alternatives to 
address data shortfalls and possible impacts from the bottomfish, 
crustacean, and precious coral fisheries in the PRIAs and the CNMI. The 
Council seeks to solicit public comment and input on a wide range of 
management alternatives, including, but not limited to, the following: 
Federal permit and data reporting requirements; limited access; VMS; 
observer program; closed season; closed areas; gear restrictions; size 
limits; catch quotas; and prohibitions on the use of destructive 
fishing techniques, including the use of explosives, poisons, bottomset 
gill-nets, bottom trawls, and tangle nets.
    12. Crustacean Fisheries
    A. Status of the stocks
    B. Harvest Guideline
    C. Review of public scoping comments on EIS alternatives
    D. Addition of the fisheries off the CNMI and PRIA to FMP
    E. Status of state regulations for NWHI import license
    F. Lawsuit to close lobster and bottomfish fisheries
    G. Public comment and scoping hearing on addition of the fisheries 
off the CNMI and PRIA (see agenda item 11.E)
    The Council intends to discuss the bank-specific harvest guidelines 
calculated by NMFS for the year 2000 lobster fishery in the NWHI, 
review new information presented by NMFS on the status of lobster 
stocks, and conservation and management issues raised by its advisory 
groups. In 1999, there was an estimated 20-30 percent decline in the 
NWHI exploitable lobster population (spiny and slipper lobster 
combined) based on commercial catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) data. The 
overall drop is attributed to lower commercial CPUE in Area 4 which had 
a considerable increase in effort that was largely exploratory and 
unsuccessful. Between 1998 to 1999, the commercial CPUE in Area 4 
lobster fishing grounds decline from 1.0 to 0.6. The Council will 
consider whether changes to the existing regulatory regime governing 
the NWHI crustacean fishery is needed, and if appropriate, may take 
action, possibly under FMP framework procedures, requesting NMFS to 
implement management measures. Alternative measures could include 
additional restrictions or a moratorium on lobster fishing NWHI-wide or 
at certain lobster fishing grounds.
    13. Precious Corals
    A. Status of the fishery
    B. Status of framework amendment
    C. Review of public scoping comments on EIS alternatives
    D. Addition of the fisheries off the CNMI to FMP
    E. Public scoping hearing on the EIS and public hearing on addition 
of the fisheries off the CNMI to FMP.
    The Council intends to prepare an EIS on the Federal management of 
precious corals in the western Pacific Region. The scope of the EIS 
analysis will include all activities related to the conduct of the 
fisheries and will examine the impacts of precious coral harvest on, 
among other things, protected species. A summary of the current Federal 
management system for precious corals in the western Pacific Region 
will be reviewed during the public scoping hearing. A principal 
objective of the scoping and public input process is to identify a 
reasonable set of management alternatives that, with adequate analysis, 
will sharply define critical issues and provide a clear basis for 
choice among the alternatives. The intent of the EIS is to present an 
overall picture of the environmental effects of fishing as conducted 
under the FMP. The EIS will discuss the impacts of potential precious 
coral harvest on the human environment and consider a range of 
alternatives. Alternatives will be assessed for impacts on essential 
fish habitat, target and non-target species of fish, discarded fish, 
marine mammals (Hawaiian monk seals and cetaceans), and other protected 
species present in the Western Pacific ecosystem. In addition, the 
environmental consequences section will contain an analysis of socio-
economic impacts of the fishery on the following groups of individuals: 
(1) Those who participate in harvesting the fishery resources and other 
living marine resources; (2) those who process and market the fish and 
fish products; (3) those who are involved in allied support industries; 
(4) those who consume fish products; (5) those who rely on living 
marine resources in the management area either for subsistence needs or 
for recreational benefits; (6) those who benefit from non-

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consumptive uses of living marine resources; (7) those involved in 
managing and monitoring fisheries; and (8) fishing communities. (Also 
see agenda item 11.E. for adding CNMI to the FMP)
    14. Program Planning
    A. Magnuson-Stevens Act changes
    B. Report on program planning initiatives
    C. AP modifications
    D. WPacFIN
    E. Fisheries Data Coordinating Committee
    F. Recreational Fisheries Data Task Force
    15. Administrative Matters
    A. Administrative reports
    B. Advisory body membership changes
    C. Meetings and workshops
    D. 103rd Council meeting
    16. Other Business
    A. Election of Council Officers
    Although non-emergency issues not contained in this agenda may come 
before the Council for discussion, those issues may not be the subject 
of formal Council action during this meeting. Council action will be 
restricted to those issues specifically listed in this document and any 
issue arising after publication of this document that requires 
emergency action under section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, 
provided the public has been notified of the Council's intent to take 
final action to address the emergency.

Special Accommodations

    These meetings are physically accessible to people with 
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other 
auxiliary aids should be directed to Kitty M. Simonds, 808-522-8220 
(voice) or 808-522-8226 (fax), at least 5 days prior to the meeting 
date.

    Authority: 1801 et seq.

    Dated: February 11, 2000.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 00-3720 Filed 2-15-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F