[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 159 (Wednesday, August 16, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49969-49970]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-20845]



[[Page 49969]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Docket No. 000803225-0225-01; I.D. 062900B]
RIN 0648-AO34


Shad and River Herring; Interstate Fishery Management Plans

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

ACTION: Notice of determination of noncompliance; notice of declaration 
of a moratorium.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative 
Management Act of 1993 (Act), NMFS, upon a delegation of authority from 
the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) has determined that the State of 
South Carolina is not in compliance with the Atlantic States Marine 
Fisheries Commission's (Commission) Interstate Fishery Management Plan 
(ISFMP) for Shad and River Herring and that the measures in the ISFMP 
that the state has failed to implement are necessary for the 
conservation of American shad. Pursuant to the Act, a Federal 
moratorium on fishing for American shad within South Carolina state 
waters is hereby declared, and will be effective on January 5, 2001, if 
by December 15, 2000, South Carolina is not found to be in compliance 
with the ISFMP for Shad and River Herring. The purpose of this action 
is to support and encourage the development, implementation, and 
enforcement of the Commission's ISFMPs to conserve and manage Atlantic 
coastal fishery resources.

DATES: The moratorium and any necessary regulations will become 
effective on January 5, 2001, through a separate notification and rule 
unless, by December 15, 2000, the State of South Carolina is found to 
have adopted and implemented measures to return to compliance with the 
Commission's ISFMP for Shad and River Herring.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard H. Schaefer, Chief, Staff 
Office for Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries, NMFS, 301-427-
2014.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Act was enacted to support and encourage the development, 
implementation, and enforcement of the Commission's ISFMPs to conserve 
and manage Atlantic coastal fishery resources. Section 806 of the Act 
specifies that, after notification by the Commission that an Atlantic 
coastal state is not in compliance with an ISFMP of the Commission, the 
Secretary must make a finding, no later than 30 days after receipt of 
the Commission's notification, on: (1) whether the state has failed to 
carry out its responsibilities to implement and enforce the 
Commission's ISFMP; and (2) whether the measures that the state has 
failed to implement and enforce are necessary for the conservation of 
the fishery in question. In making such a finding, the Act requires the 
Secretary to give careful consideration to the comments of the 
Commission, the Atlantic coastal state found out of compliance by the 
Commission, and the appropriate Regional Fishery Management Councils. 
If the Secretary finds that the state is not in compliance with the 
Commission's ISFMP and that the measures the state has failed to 
implement are necessary for the conservation of the fishery, the 
Secretary must declare a moratorium on fishing in that fishery within 
the waters of the noncomplying state. The Secretary must specify the 
moratorium's effective date, which may be any date within 6 months 
after the declaration of the moratorium.

Commission Findings of Non-Compliance

    The Commission adopted Amendment 1 to the ISFMP for Shad and River 
Herring in October 1998. Under Amendment 1, states are required to 
implement and enforce an aggregate 10-fish daily creel limit in 
recreational fisheries for American shad or hickory shad. As of July 1, 
2000, South Carolina has a 20-fish American shad creel limit for the 
Santee River and a reduction in the number of days that the fishery can 
operate in the lower part of the river. South Carolina does not have an 
American shad creel limit for any other waters. Therefore, the 
Commission found that the State of South Carolina is not in compliance 
with the ISFMP for Shad and River Herring.
    The Commission notified the Secretary of its finding on June 9, 
2000, and suggested that the Secretary use his discretionary authority 
under the Act to delay the date of the moratorium, if declared, for up 
to 6 months, because the State of South Carolina is making an effort to 
come into compliance.

NMFS Determination Regarding Compliance by the State of South 
Carolina

    Based on a careful analysis of all relevant information, and taking 
into account comments presented by the State of South Carolina and the 
New England Fishery Management Council, NMFS has determined that the 
State of South Carolina is not in compliance with the Commission's 
ISFMP for Shad and River Herring. This determination is based on South 
Carolina's failure to implement and enforce the creel limits of the 
Commission's ISFMP for Shad and River Herring as specified in Amendment 
1. Therefore, South Carolina must implement and enforce the American 
shad creel limit of 10 fish consistent with Amendment 1 to the ISFMP 
for Shad and River Herring in order to come back into compliance. 
Further, the NMFS has determined that implementation and enforcement of 
the creel limit by South Carolina is necessary for the conservation of 
the resource. The American shad resource is comprised of a number of 
related populations that are in varying conditions, ranging from 
healthy to severely overfished. Each major river along the Atlantic 
coast appears to have a discrete spawning stock of American shad, yet 
the actual status of only seven of those several dozen stocks is 
currently known. As the stocks move from their natal rivers they are 
taken in mixed-stock ocean-intercept fisheries. The contribution that 
each stock makes to these intercept fisheries is not currently known. 
The coast-wide creel limit is designed to use the precautionary 
approach to limit fishing mortality on each stock in their native 
waters and addresses the uncertainty of the status of most American 
shad stocks. The failure of any state to implement and enforce the 
requirements of Amendment 1 to the ISFMP for Shad and River Herring 
increases the likelihood that additional stocks will become overfished.
    Although the State of South Carolina is not in compliance with the 
Commission's ISFMP for Shad and River Herring, because the state is 
making expeditious efforts to promulgate regulations that would bring 
the state into compliance, NMFS is delaying implementation of the 
moratorium until January 5, 2001. If NMFS determines that the State of 
South Carolina has complied with Amendment 1 to the ISFMP, NMFS will 
publish an appropriate announcement in the Federal Register rescinding 
the moratorium with respect to the State of South Carolina. If by 
December 15, 2000, the State of South Carolina has not been found to 
have complied with Amendment 1 to the ISFMP, NMFS will issue an interim 
final rule implementing the moratorium effective January 5, 2001. The 
interim rule may include

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measures necessary to implement the moratorium, such as prohibition on 
possession of American shad in South Carolina waters and a prohibition 
on landing American shad in South Carolina. Delaying the effective date 
of the moratorium until January 5, 2001, will allow South Carolina time 
to complete its legislative process, and have the Commission review the 
new regulations for compliance. This delay will not significantly 
diminish American shad conservation efforts because the fishery will 
not begin again until January 2001.
    If the moratorium goes into effect, NMFS will terminate it as soon 
as possible upon determination that the State has taken appropriate 
remedial actions to bring it into compliance with the ISFMP.

    Dated: August 10, 2000.
Penelope D. Dalton,
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Services.
[FR Doc. 00-20845 Filed 8-15-00; 8:45 am]
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