[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 38 (Friday, February 25, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10051-10053]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-4474]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Docket No. 960223046-0042-05; I.D. 101299G]
RIN 0648-ZA09


Proposed FY 2001 Scope and Funding Priorities for Financial 
Assistance for Research and Development Projects to Strengthen and 
Develop the U.S. Fishing Industry

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

ACTION: Notification of proposed priorities; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS (hereinafter referred to as ``we'' or ``us'') issues this 
document to describe the proposed scope and funding priorities for the 
Saltonstall-Kennedy (S-K) Grant Program for fiscal year (FY) 2001 and 
to ask interested members of the public (``you'') for comments. This is 
not a solicitation for grant applications.

DATES: We must receive your comments by close of business March 13, 
2000, in the office listed in ADDRESSES.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to: Alicia L. Jarboe, S-K Program Manager, 
Financial Services Division (F/SF2), 1315 East West Highway, Silver 
Spring, MD 20901.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alicia L. Jarboe, S-K Program Manager, 
(301) 713-2358.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Introduction

    Under the S-K Grant Program, we provide financial assistance on a 
competitive basis for research and development projects that address 
various aspects of U.S. fisheries (commercial or recreational). We 
solicit applications once each year through a notice published in the 
Federal Register. Applicants have 60 days from the date that notice is 
published to submit applications. This document is not a solicitation 
for applications.
    We expect to publish the next solicitation notice for the S-K 
Program around March 15, 2000. That solicitation will seek applications 
for FY 2001, which begins on October 1, 2000. That notice will describe 
the scope and funding priorities, as well as eligibility requirements, 
application instructions, and the deadline for applying.
    To be considered for possible funding, applications must propose 
activities that address one of the published funding priorities within 
the scope of the program. However, the S-K Program does not fund 
projects that primarily involve infrastructure construction, port and 
harbor development, or start-up or operational costs for private 
business ventures.
    We invite you to comment on any aspect of the proposed scope and 
priorities for FY 2001, especially whether the priorities are 
sufficiently detailed and specific as to the types of proposals sought.
    To obtain information about the S-K Program and other related 
documents mentioned in this notice, you can contact the NMFS Regional 
Administrator located at any office listed here:
    Northeast Region, NMFS, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930; 
(978) 281-9267.
    Southeast Region, NMFS, 9721 Executive Center Drive, North, St. 
Petersburg, FL 33702-2432, (727) 570-5324.
    Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 West Ocean Boulevard, Suite 4200, Long 
Beach, CA 90802-4213, (562) 980-4033.
    Northwest Region, NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way, N.E., BIN C15700, 
Building 1, Seattle, WA 98115, (206) 526-6115.
    Alaska Region, NMFS, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802 or Federal 
Building, 709 West 9th Street, 4th Floor, Juneau, AK 99801-1668, (907) 
586-7224.

Background

    The Saltonstall-Kennedy Act (S-K Act), as amended (15 U.S.C. 713c-
3), established a fund (known as the S-K fund) that the Secretary of 
Commerce uses to provide grants or cooperative agreements for fisheries 
research and development projects addressed to any aspect of U.S. 
fisheries, including, but not limited to, harvesting, processing, 
marketing, and associated infrastructures. U.S. fisheries \1\ include 
any fishery, commercial or recreational, that is or may be engaged in 
by citizens or nationals of the United States, or citizens of the 
Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, 
Republic of Palau, and the Federated States of Micronesia.
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    \1\ For purposes of this document, a fishery is defined as one 
or more stocks of fish, including tuna, and shellfish that are 
identified as a unit based on geographic, scientific, technical, 
recreational and economic characteristics, and any and all phases of 
fishing for such stocks. Examples of a fishery are Alaskan 
groundfish, Pacific whiting, New England whiting, and eastern 
oysters.
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    The objectives of the S-K Grant Program, and, therefore, the 
funding priorities, have changed over the years since the program began 
in 1980. The program has evolved as Federal fishery management laws and 
policies, and research needs, have evolved in response to changing 
circumstances.
    The original focus of the program was to develop underutilized 
fisheries within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). This focus was 
driven in part by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). The Magnuson-Stevens Act, 
originally passed in 1976, directed us to give the domestic fishing 
industry priority access to the fishery resources in the EEZ. In 1980, 
the American Fisheries Promotion Act amended the S-K Act to stimulate 
commercial and recreational fishing efforts in underutilized fisheries. 
The competitive S-K Program that was initiated as a result included 
fisheries development and marketing as funding priorities.
    In the following years, the efforts to Americanize the fisheries 
were successful to the point that most nontraditional species were 
fully developed and some traditional fisheries became overfished. 
Therefore, we changed the emphasis of the S-K Program to address 
conservation and management issues and aquaculture.
    In 1996, the Sustainable Fisheries Act (SFA) (Public Law 104-297), 
was enacted. The SFA amended the Magnuson-Stevens Act and supported 
further adjustment to the S-K Program to address the current condition 
of fisheries.
    The Magnuson-Stevens Act, as amended by the SFA, requires us to 
undertake efforts to prevent overfishing, rebuild overfished fisheries, 
insure conservation, protect essential fish habitats, and realize the 
full potential of U.S. fishery resources. It further requires that we 
take into account the importance of fishery resources to fishing 
communities; provide for the sustained participation of such 
communities; and, to the extent possible, minimize the adverse economic 
impacts of conservation and management measures on such communities. 
The Magnuson-Stevens Act defines a ``fishing community'' as ``a 
community which is substantially dependent on or substantially engaged 
in the harvest or processing of fishery resources to meet social and 
economic needs, and includes fishing vessel owners, operators, and crew 
and United States fish processors that are based in such community.'' 
(16 U.S.C. 1802(16)). We have refocused the S-K Program to address the 
needs of fishing communities as defined by the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
    The NOAA Strategic Plan, updated in 1998, has also shaped the S-K 
Program. The Strategic Plan has three goals under its Environmental 
Stewardship Mission: Build Sustainable Fisheries (BSF), Recover 
Protected Species, and Sustain Healthy Coasts. The fisheries research 
and development mission of the S-K Program directly relates to the BSF 
goal. There are three BSF objectives in the Strategic Plan:
    1. Eliminate and prevent overfishing and overcapitalization.
    2. Attain economic sustainability in fishing communities.
    3. Develop environmentally and economically sound marine 
aquaculture.
    The goal of the FY 2001 S-K Grant Program will be to address the 
needs of fishing communities in terms of the preceding BSF objectives. 
This goal is reflected in the proposed funding priorities. These are 
similar to the priorities for the FY 2000 S-K Program (64 FR 33050). 
However, for FY 2001 we propose to limit the scope of the priorities to 
only federally managed species. Up to now, we have accepted 
applications that addressed Great Lakes as well as marine species, and 
species under state management plans. While many worthwhile proposals 
have been funded for non-federally managed species in the past, the 
available funds are expected to be inadequate to cover every important 
and deserving project.

[[Page 10053]]

    The amount allocated for the S-K Program has declined from over 
$9.8 million in FY 1996 to $1.9 million for FY 2000. We expect to fund 
no more than 20 proposals from the FY 2000 program. The 
Administration's request for the FY 2001 program is also $1.9 million.
    In proposing the program scope and priorities, we also considered 
the availability of other sources of funding for fisheries research and 
development. For example, we propose to limit the funding priority for 
aquaculture to only the off-shore marine environment, not land-based or 
near-shore aquaculture, which are the focus of programs of the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture and the NOAA National Sea Grant College 
Program. We would accept only those applications that directly relate 
to eventually establishing aquaculture in the off-shore environment, or 
to minimizing barriers to such development.

Electronic Access Addresses

    The FY 2000 solicitation and this document requesting comments on 
the FY 2001 priorities are available on the NMFS S-K Home Page at: 
www.nmfs.gov/sfweb/skhome.html. The FY 2001 solicitation, when 
published, will be available at the same site.
    The 1998 updated Executive Summary of the NOAA Strategic Plan is 
available at: www.strategic.noaa.gov/ and the Magnuson-Stevens Act (as 
amended through October 11, 1996) is available at: www.nmfs.gov/sfa/magact/.
    The list of species that are currently under Federal Fishery 
Management Plans (FMPs) is in the publication, Status of Fisheries of 
the United States, available at: www.nmfs.gov/sfa/reports.html.
    If you are unable to access the electronic addresses listed in this 
section, this information can also be obtained from any of the NMFS 
offices listed in this document (see ADDRESSES).

Proposed Scope and Funding Priorities

    The scope of the FY 2001 S-K Program will be limited to federally 
managed marine species. (We will not accept applications dealing with 
Great Lakes species or state-managed species.) The proposed priorities 
listed are not in any particular order and each is of equal importance.

A. Conservation Engineering

    Reduce or eliminate adverse interactions (that affect fishing 
activity) between fishing operations and nontargeted, protected, or 
prohibited species, including the inadvertent take, capture, or 
destruction of such species. These include juvenile or sublegal-sized 
fish and shellfish, females of certain crabs, fish listed under the 
Endangered Species Act, marine turtles, seabirds, or marine mammals.
    Improve the survivability of fish discarded or intentionally 
released and of protected species released in fishing operations.
    Reduce or eliminate impacts of fishing activity on essential fish 
habitat that adversely affect the sustainability of the fishery.

B. Optimum Utilization of Harvested Fishery Resources Currently 
Under Federal Management

    Reduce or eliminate factors such as diseases, human health hazards, 
and quality problems that limit the marketability of federally managed 
species and their products, in the United States and abroad.
    Minimize harvest losses of federally managed species.
    Develop usable products from economic discards (whole fish 
discarded because they are an undesirable species, size, or sex, or 
parts of fish discarded as not commercially useful) and byproducts of 
processing of federally managed species.

C. Fishing Community Transition

    Help fishing communities to address the socioeconomic effects of 
overfishing and overcapitalized fisheries through such activities as 
planning and demonstration projects. Specific areas for these 
activities could include retraining of fishermen for alternative 
employment, alternative uses for existing fishing industry 
infrastructure, and planning for fishing capacity reduction. Activities 
may complement, but should not duplicate, programs available from other 
Federal, state, or local agencies.

D. Marine Aquaculture in the Off-Shore Environment

    Advance the implementation of marine aquaculture in the off-shore 
environment (i.e., the EEZ) by addressing technical aspects such as 
systems engineering, environmental compatibility, and culture 
technology. Applications must demonstrate that the goal is to support 
off-shore industry development.
    Reduce or eliminate legal and social barriers to off-shore 
aquaculture development, e.g., legal constraints, use conflicts, 
exclusionary mapping, and appropriate institutional roles.

Development of FY 2001 S-K Grant Program

    We will consider any comments we receive in response to this notice 
in developing the solicitation notice for the FY 2001 S-K Program. We 
expect to publish the notice of program in the Federal Register around 
March 15, 2000. Even though we are publishing this request for comments 
we are not required to solicit applications for the FY 2001 S-K 
Program.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

    The S-K Grant Program is listed in the ``Catalog of Federal 
Domestic Assistance'' under number 11.427, Fisheries Development and 
Utilization Research and Development Grants and Cooperative Agreements 
Program.

    Dated: February 16, 2000.
Penelope D. Dalton,
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 00-4474 Filed 2-24-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P