[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 188 (Wednesday, September 27, 2000)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 58035-58036]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-24854]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[I.D. 091800K]


Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council; Public Hearings

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

ACTION: Public hearings, request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and the 
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) will hold public 
hearings to allow for input on the public hearing draft of Amendment 13 
to the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management 
Plan (FMP). This amendment will detail the fishing impacts to summer 
flounder, scup, and black sea bass essential fish habitat (EFH) to 
bring the FMP into compliance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), as amended by 
the Sustainable Fisheries Act (SFA). This amendment will also provide 
the information and analyses necessary to implement a state system of 
conservation equivalency for the recreational fishery of summer 
flounder to achieve the annual recreational harvest limit.

DATES: Written comments will be accepted until October 30, 2000. The 
hearings will be held in October. For specific dates and times, see 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Daniel T. Furlong, Executive Director, Mid-
Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 300 S. New Street, Dover, DE 
19904, or John Dunnigan, Executive Director, Atlantic States Marine 
Fisheries Commission, 1444 Eye Street, NW, Suite 304, Washington, DC 
20005.
    The hearings will be held in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, 
New Jersey, Maryland, and North Carolina. For specific locations, see 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Daniel T. Furlong, Executive Director, 
Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 302-674-2331, ext. 19, or John 
Dunnigan, Executive Director, Atlantic States Marine Fisheries 
Commission, 202-289-6400, ext. 304.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

[[Page 58036]]

Background

    Amendment 13 to the FMP, prepared by the Council in consultation 
with the ASMFC, is intended to manage the summer flounder fishery 
pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The purpose of this amendment is 
to bring the disapproved EFH portions of Amendment 12 into compliance 
with the Magnuson-Stevens Act, as amended by the SFA, and to implement 
state conservation equivalency for the recreational summer flounder 
fishery. Although state conservation equivalency has been used for 
fishing years 1999 and 2000, it has been implemented only as an interim 
measure. The Council and ASMFC must amend the current FMP to use state 
conservation equivalency as a standard tool to regulate the summer 
flounder coastwide recreational harvest limit beginning in 2001. Six 
possible alternatives to achieving the coastwide recreational harvest 
limit include:
    1. A system that allows the Council and ASMFC to decide on an 
annual basis whether to (a) allow states to develop state-specific 
conservation equivalent management measures that result in the same 
constraint on landings as the coastwide measures, or (b) specify 
coastwide measures to achieve the coastwide recreational harvest limit 
(Preferred Alternative).
    2. A system in which three subregions of the coast develop region-
specific measures to achieve the coastwide recreational harvest limit 
(Non-preferred Alternative 1).
    3. A system where states in each subregion use subregional data to 
develop state-specific minimum size limits, possession limits, and 
closed seasons to achieve the coastwide recreational harvest limit 
(Non-preferred Alternative 2).
    4. State-by-state allocation of the coastwide recreational harvest 
limit (Non-preferred Alternative 3).
    5. Coastwide management measures to achieve the coastwide 
recreational harvest limit (No action, Non-preferred Alternative 4).
    6. A system like the one currently in place under the interim rule 
where each state can choose either a coastwide measure or equivalent 
measures to achieve the coastwide recreational limit (Non-preferred 
Alternative 5).
    The Council and ASMFC are requesting public input on all of the 
alternatives. These alternatives are discussed in further detail in the 
public hearing draft of Amendment 13.

Dates, Times, and Locations of Hearings

    1. Tuesday, October 10, 2000, 7-10 p.m.--Sanderling Inn Resort and 
Conference Center, 1461 Duck Road, Duck, NC; telephone 252-449-6664.
    2. Wednesday, October 18, 2000, 7-10 p.m.--Carousel Hotel, 118th 
Street, Ocean City, MD; telephone 410-524-1000.
    3. Thursday, October 19, 2000, 7-10 p.m.--Holiday Inn, Route 37-290 
State Highway, Toms River, NJ; telephone 732-244-4000.
    4. Thursday, October 26, 2000, 7:30-10:00 p.m.--NYSDEC Division of 
Marine Resources, 205 Belle Meade Road, E. Setauket, NY; telephone 631-
444-0453.
    There will be an additional two hearings (one in Massachusetts and 
one in Rhode Island) at a location and time yet to be determined by 
ASMFC. When this decision is made, NMFS will issue an additional 
notification in the Federal Register.
    The hearings will be tape recorded, and the tapes will be filed as 
the official transcript of the hearings.

Special Accommodations

    The hearings are physically accessible to people with disabilities. 
Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids 
should be directed to Joanna Davis at the Council, telephone 302-674-
2331, ext. 18, at least 5 days prior to the hearing date.

    Dated: September 22, 2000.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 00-24854 Filed 9-26-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S