[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 185 (Monday, September 24, 2001)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 48853-48855]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-23793]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 697

[I.D. 091701B]


American Lobster; Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement

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

ACTION: Notice of intent (NOI) to prepare an environmental impact 
statement (EIS); request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces its intent to prepare an EIS to assess the 
impact on the human environment of potential management measures for 
the American lobster fishery in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). 
This NOI requests public input in the form of written comments 
regarding issues that NMFS should address in the EIS relative to 
Addendum II to Amendment 3 of the Interstate Fishery Management Plan 
for American lobster (ISFMP).

DATES: Written comments on the intent to prepare the EIS must be 
received no later than 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on or before 
October 24, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Written Comments should be sent to Harold C. Mears, 
Director, State, Federal, and Constituent Programs Office, Northeast 
Region, NMFS, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Comments may 
also be sent via fax to (978) 281-9117. Comments submitted via e-mail 
or Internet will not be accepted.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter Burns, (978) 281-9144, fax (978) 
281-9117, e-mail peter.burns@noaagov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The fishery for American lobster takes place 
from North Carolina to Maine. More than 50 percent of American lobsters 
harvested are landed in Maine, with the balance landed mostly in or 
from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Long Island Sound, and Georges Bank. 
Over 80 percent of the lobster harvest occurs in state waters, which 
extend from the coast to 3 nautical miles (5.56 km) from shore. The 
lobster fishery occurs year-round in the United States, including the 
summer and fall months when the lobsters are molting. Approximately 97 
percent of lobsters are taken in lobster traps. The rest are taken in 
trawls, gillnets, dredges, and by divers.
    Prior to December 1999, the American lobster resource was managed 
in state waters by the Atlantic States Marine

[[Page 48854]]

Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), and in Federal waters by NMFS under the 
authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management 
Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). Acknowledging that approximately 80 percent 
of the American lobster harvest occurs in state waters, and in an 
effort to establish a more effective lobster management regime by 
enhancing interjurisdictional cooperation, NMFS issued a final rule in 
December 1999 (64 FR 68228) for the American lobster fishery. This 
action transferred authority for the management of the lobster resource 
in the EEZ from the Magnuson-Stevens Act to the Atlantic Coastal 
Fisheries Cooperative Management Act (ACFCMA). Consequently, NMFS has 
the authority under the ACFCMA to implement regulations in Federal 
waters that are compatible with the effective implementation of the 
ISFMP and consistent with the national standards of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act. Such Federal regulations are promulgated pursuant to 
ACFCMA at 50 CFR part 697.
    Amendment 3 of the ISFMP was approved by the ASMFC in December 1997 
to achieve a healthy American lobster resource and to develop a 
management regime that provides for sustained harvest, maintains 
opportunities for participation, and provides for the cooperative 
development of conservation measures by all stakeholders. Following the 
May 2000 release of an updated peer-reviewed lobster stock assessment 
(ASMFC Stock Assessment Peer Review Report No. 00-01), which revised 
lobster egg production estimates and confirmed that overfishing of 
lobster stocks is occurring throughout the species range, the ASMFC 
developed Addendum II to Amendment 3 for implementing additional 
measures needed to rebuild American lobster stocks. Addendum II, 
approved in February 2001, establishes a revised egg production 
schedule to restore egg production in each lobster conservation 
management area (LCMA) to greater than the overfishing definition by 
the end of 2008. Measures under the addendum to help achieve this goal 
include a series of minimum gauge size increases and an increase in the 
minimum escape vent size of lobster trap gear fished in state and 
Federal waters of LCMA 2 (inshore Southern New England), LCMA 3 
(offshore waters), LCMA 4 (inshore Northern Mid-Atlantic), LCMA 5 
(inshore Southern Mid-Atlantic), and the Outer Cape Management Area, 
but not of LCMA 1 (Gulf of Maine) and LCMA 6 (Long Island Sound). The 
addendum also calls for a revised timeline for LCMA 3 lobster trap 
reductions, previously approved by the ASMFC under Addendum I. By 
approving Addendum II, the States have agreed to implement the first 
annual LCMA-specific gauge increases by December 31, 2001, and to 
implement the escape vent increase by 2003. In a letter dated February 
13, 2001, the ASMFC recommended that NMFS implement complementary 
Federal measures for Federal waters of LCMAs 2, 4, 5, and the Outer 
Cape, as well as of LCMA 3 (comprising entirely Federal waters).
    Specifically, the minimum allowable harvest size of American 
lobster in state waters of LCMAs 2, 4, 5 and the Outer Cape is 
scheduled to increase from 3 1/4 inches (in) (8.26 cm) to 3 9/32 in 
(8.33 cm) in 2001, and to be increasing 1/32 in (0.08 cm) annually 
until 2004 to an ultimate minimum size of 3 3/8 in (8.57 cm). The ASMFC 
recommends that the gauge increases in Federal waters of LCMAs 2, 4, 5, 
and the Outer Cape, as well as of LCMA 3, follow this same schedule. If 
the egg production targets of the ISFMP have not been reached by 2004, 
ASMFC further recommends additional annual increases in LCMA 3 of 1/32 
in (0.08 cm), until 2008, to an ultimate minimum size of 3 1/2 in (8.89 
cm). The current minimum allowable harvest size for American lobster in 
all Federal waters is 3 1/4 in (8.26 cm).
    Under Addendum II, states will require all lobster traps to have at 
least one rectangular escape vent measuring 2 in (5.08 cm) by 5 3/4 in 
(14.61 cm) per trap, or at least two circular escape vents per trap, 
measuring 2 1/2 in (6.35 cm) in diameter. The ASMFC recommends that 
Federal regulations implement these new lobster trap escape vent size 
requirements in Federal waters. At the current time, Federal 
regulations require that all lobster trap gear have a rectangular 
portal with an unobstructed opening not less than 1 15/16 in (4.92 cm) 
by 5 3/4 in (14.61 cm); or two circular portals with unobstructed 
openings not less than 2 7/16 in (6.19 cm) in diameter.
    Also, Addendum II recommends that the lobster trap reduction 
schedule previously adopted by the ASMFC for LCMA 3 under Addendum I of 
Amendment 3 to the ISFMP be updated to account for the elapsed time 
between the two addenda. The updated LCMA 3 trap reduction schedule 
requires that each LCMA 3 trap allocation of greater than 1,200 lobster 
traps be reduced on a sliding scale basis over 4 years, not to fall 
below 1,200 lobster traps. LCMA 3 allocations of less than 1,200 
lobster traps would remain at their initial qualifying level and not 
increase from that baseline number. No allocation would exceed 2,656 
lobster traps during the first year of implementation. At the end of 
the fourth year, the maximum number of lobster traps allowed for any 
vessel would be 2,267. Under current Federal regulations, lobster trap 
fishing effort in LCMA 3 is restricted to a fixed maximum limit of 
1,800 lobster traps per vessel. Implementation of the updated lobster 
trap reduction schedule for LCMA 3 is contingent upon Federal 
rulemaking procedures currently underway to address historical 
participation in the lobster trap fishery as recommended by the ASMFC 
in Addendum I.
    Addendum II, furthermore, recommends that NMFS require LCMA 3 
lobstermen to maintain vessel logs to record lobster harvest. Current 
Federal regulations do not require vessel logs. Another component of 
the addendum includes a review of management measures in all LCMAs, by 
June 2001, to determine whether other measures are needed to achieve 
ISFMP stock rebuilding objectives. Any adjustments would be adopted by 
ASMFC as a separate addendum by January 2002, at which time ASMFC may 
recommend further changes to Federal regulations.
    NMFS published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) in 
the Federal Register on May 24, 2001, (66 FR 28727) to seek public 
comment on whether NMFS, under the ACFCMA, should implement Addendum 
II's revised egg production schedule in all EEZ areas throughout the 
range of the lobster resource and implement the associated management 
measures (gauge increases, modifications to lobster trap gear 
requirements and LCMA 3 lobster trap reduction schedule, and vessel log 
reporting requirement) in the Federal waters of the applicable LCMAs.
    A total of 16 comments were received on or before the deadline in 
response to the ANPR, submitted by 15 individual lobster trap fishermen 
and 1 representative of a lobster fishermen's organization. Fifteen 
comments were received in favor of the recommended minimum gauge and 
escape vent size increases, one of which favored Area 3 gauge increases 
only up to a limit of 3 3/8". One commenter was opposed to any minimum 
gauge or escape vent size increases. Eleven commented that they support 
the implementation of an accelerated lobster trap reduction schedule 
for Area 3, but three fishermen supported the current 1,800 trap cap in 
Area 3, while still allowing only vessels that qualify under a 
historical participation effort reduction program to participate in the 
Area 3 trap fishery. Several of the comments emphasized

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that the implementation of the Area 3 lobster trap reduction schedule 
is necessary in order to benefit the lobster resource, minimize gear 
conflicts, and decrease the chance of interactions between lobster gear 
and marine mammals. Fourteen of the comments received support the 
implementation of a mandatory logbook requirement in Area 3. Federal 
lobster permit holders will be affected by actions resulting from the 
subsequent EIS if regulations that restrict further the minimum legal 
size of lobster, implement a revised lobster trap reduction schedule 
for LCMA 3, increase the escape vent size, and require logbooks are 
promulgated. Accordingly, NMFS requests public input on these issues to 
assist in conducting a comprehensive assessment of the impacts of these 
and other associated measures to the human and natural environment in 
the EIS.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C 5101 et seq.

    Dated: September 18, 2001.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 01-23793 Filed 9-21-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S