[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 145 (Friday, July 27, 2001)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 39131-39132]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-18830]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[Docket No. 010712174-1174-01; I.D. 062701D]
RIN 0648-AP36


Eligibility Criteria and Definitions for the Western Pacific 
Community Development Program and Western Pacific Demonstration 
Projects

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

ACTION: Proposed rule; Request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS proposes criteria developed by the Council to determine 
what communities will be eligible to participate in western Pacific 
community development programs to be established by the Council and the 
Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) for fisheries under the Council's 
jurisdiction in order to promote access to such fisheries by western 
Pacific communities and to apply for and receive grants for related 
demonstration projects. NMFS also proposes definitions, developed with 
the Council, for certain terms appearing in section 305(i)(2) of the 
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-
Stevens Act), the section authorizing the Council and the Secretary to 
establish such programs, and in the criteria developed by the Council. 
NMFS is proposing these criteria and definitions so that it may have 
the benefit of public comment before deciding whether to approve the 
criteria and adopt the definitions. The intent of this proposal is to 
implement section 305(i)(2) so that appropriate programs may be 
established in the future.

DATES: Comments on this proposed rule must be received before 5 p.m. 
Eastern Daylight Savings Time on August 27, 2001. Faxed comments 
received before the deadline will be accepted provided the signed 
original is received for the record by September 5, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on this proposed rule must be sent to 
Robert Ziobro, Western Pacific Project - F, National Marine Fisheries 
Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910, or faxed to 
301-713-2258. Comments will not be accepted if submitted via e-mail or 
Internet.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert C. Ziobro at 301-713-2239 or by 
facsimile at 301-713-2258.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Electronic Access

    This Federal Register document is available through the NMFS 
Pacific Island Area Office Home Page at: http://swr.nmfs.noaa.gov/piao/index.htm and the Western Pacific Council Home Page at: http://www.wpcouncil.org.

I. Background

    Under the authority of section 305(i)(2) of the Magnuson-Stevens 
Act, 16 U.S.C. 1855(i)(2), the Council and the Secretary may establish 
western Pacific community development programs for any fishery under 
the authority of the Council in order to provide access to such fishery 
for western Pacific communities. Section 305(i)(2)(B) specifies that in 
order to be eligible to participate in western Pacific community 
development programs, a community must:
    1. Be located within the Western Pacific Regional Fishery 
Management Area;
    2. Meet criteria developed by the Council, approved by the 
Secretary and published in the Federal Register;
    3. Consist of community residents who are descended from the 
aboriginal people indigenous to the area who conducted commercial or 
subsistence fishing using traditional fishing practices in the waters 
of the Western Pacific region;
    4. Not have previously developed harvesting or processing 
capability sufficient to support substantial participation in fisheries 
in the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Area; and
    5. Develop and submit a Community Development Plan to the Council 
and the Secretary.
    Section 305(i)(2)(D) defines the Western Pacific Regional Fishery 
Management Area as the area under the jurisdiction of the Council or an 
island within such area.
    Under section 305 note of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (Section 111(b) 
of the Sustainable Fisheries Act, Public Law 104-297) western Pacific 
communities eligible to participate in western Pacific community 
development programs are eligible to apply for and receive grants for 
related demonstration projects. To be eligible for funding, a project 
must foster and promote the use of traditional indigenous fishing 
practices of western Pacific communities found on American Samoa, Guam, 
Hawaii or the Northern Mariana Islands. A project must also identify 
and apply traditional indigenous fishing practices, develop or enhance 
western Pacific community-based fishing opportunities, and involve 
research, community education, or the acquisition of materials and 
equipment necessary to carry out any such demonstration project.
    NMFS is developing the grants application process by which 
communities may apply for grants to fund projects. This process will be 
announced in a subsequent Federal Register document; that notification 
will also solicit proposals for project grants.
    The Council has developed criteria to determine what communities 
are eligible to participate in western Pacific community development 
programs and NMFS and the Council have developed definitions for 
certain terms appearing in section 305(i)(2) of the Magnuson-Stevens 
Act and the criteria.

[[Page 39132]]

II. Eligibility Criteria and Proposed Definitions

A. Eligibility Criteria

    The following criteria have been recommended by the Council. They 
incorporate all of the eligibility criteria set forth in section 
305(i)(2)(B).
    1. Be located in American Samoa, the Northern Marina Islands, Guam 
or Hawaii(Western Pacific Area);
    2. Consist of community residents descended from aboriginal people 
indigenous to the western Pacific area who conducted commercial or 
subsistence fishing using traditional fishing practices in the waters 
of the western Pacific;
    3. Consist of community residents who reside in their ancestral 
homeland;
    4. Have knowledge of customary practices relevant to fisheries of 
the western Pacific;
    5. Have a traditional dependence on fisheries of the western 
Pacific;
    6. Experience economic or other barriers that have prevented full 
participation in the western Pacific fisheries and, in recent years, 
have not had harvesting, processing or marketing capability sufficient 
to support substantial participation in fisheries in the area; and
    7. Develop and submit a Community Development Plan to the Western 
Pacific Council and the National Marine Fisheries Service.
    Because the Council's recommended criteria incorporate all of the 
criteria specified in section 205(i)(2)(B) any community meeting the 
Council's recommended criteria would be eligible would be eligible to 
participate in a western Pacific community development program.

B. Definitions

    For purposes of section 305(i)(2) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and 
the Council's recommended eligibility criteria, the following 
definitions developed by NMFS and the Council would apply:
    Community means a population of non-transient people descended from 
the aboriginal people indigenous to the area who share a common history 
based on social, cultural and economic interactions and a functional 
relationship sustained by participation in fishing and fishing related 
activities.
    Economic barriers means barriers which add to the difficulty and 
cost of participation in a fishery by descendants of the aboriginal 
people of each area. They include, but are not limited to, the 
degradation of marine habitat, localized depletion of harvested stocks, 
and loss of access to long-fished grounds because of closure and/or 
lack of access to capital and expertise to compete for marine 
resources.
    Subsistence fishing means harvesting of marine resources for 
personal, family or community use or for gifts of food to extended 
family members and friends that perpetuate community relationships and 
identities.
    Traditional fishing practices and traditional indigenous fishing 
practices means methods of fishing and fishery utilization developed 
from aboriginal customary and traditional uses and practices that can 
be conducted within existing regulations.
    The cultural and social framework relevant to the fishery means, 
for each community, the accumulation and perpetuation of ancestral 
knowledge and participation that have resulted from historical 
dependence on marine resources as a principal source of food for the 
aboriginal people indigenous to the area.

Classification

    This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
    The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce 
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business 
Administration that this proposed rule, if adopted, will not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
The proposed action is anticipated to lead to economic and social 
benefits for qualifying communities. The proposed action will allow the 
distribution of funds through direct grants to eligible communities to 
establish demonstration projects. It is anticipated that the economic 
and social benefits of approved projects will outweigh their associated 
costs.

    Dated: July 24, 2001.
William T. Hogarth,
Acting, Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 01-18830 Filed 7-26-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S