[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 194 (Friday, October 5, 2001)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 51000-51001]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-25036]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[I.D. 092501C]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast 
Multispecies Fishery

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

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact 
Statement (SEIS); request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) announces 
its intention to prepare an SEIS in accordance with the National 
Environmental Policy Act for Framework Adjustment 36 to the Northeast 
Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The intent of this action 
is to reduce regulatory discards in the Gulf of Maine (GOM) cod 
fishery; address reductions in fishing mortality needed to ensure that 
the mortality objectives for Georges Bank (GB) cod, GB haddock, GB 
yellowtail flounder, GOM cod, and Southern New England (SNE) yellowtail 
flounder are achieved; allow tuna purse seine vessels access to the 
current closed areas; and expand the current Small Mesh Northern Shrimp 
Fishery Exemption Area.

DATES: Written comments on the intent to prepare the SEIS must be 
received on or before 5 p.m., local time, November 5, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to Paul J. Howard, Executive 
Director, New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water Street,

[[Page 51001]]

Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950. Comments may also be sent via fax to 
(978) 465-0492. Comments will not be accepted if submitted via e-mail 
or Internet.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul J. Howard, Executive Director, 
New England Fishery Management Council, (978) 465-0492.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Amendment 7 to the FMP (61 FR 27710, May 31, 1996) specifies a 
procedure for setting annual target total allowable catch (TAC) levels 
for GB cod, GB haddock, GB yellowtail flounder, GOM cod, SNE yellowtail 
flounder and an aggregate TAC for the remaining regulated multispecies. 
This procedure requires that the Council's Multispecies Monitoring 
Committee (MSMC) annually review the best available scientific 
information, and recommend annual target TAC levels for these key 
groundfish stocks, as well as management options to achieve the FMP 
objectives.
    Calculation of the annual TAC levels by the MSMC is based on the 
biological reference points of Fmax for GOM cod and F0.1 for the 
remaining stocks of cod, haddock, and yellowtail flounder. The MSMC 
also intends to estimate the TAC associated with F0.1 for GOM cod, 
since this is considered the more appropriate biological reference 
point by the MSMC and is expected to be incorporated into Amendment 13, 
which is currently under development by the Council.
    For the 2001 fishing year, the MSMC developed recommendations for 
target TACs that were consistent with the rebuilding targets specified 
in Amendment 7. However, the status of GOM cod was not clear due to the 
difficulty in characterizing discards in the fishery in 1999 and 2000. 
The MSMC report for the 2001 fishing year noted that better estimates 
of the fishing mortality rate (F) in 1999 and 2000 for GOM cod would be 
available once results from the 33rd Stock Assessment Review Committee 
(SARC 33) were completed in June 2001.
    Although the Council did not develop an annual adjustment framework 
for fishing year 2001, in response to the MSMC report and public 
comment concerning regulatory discards in the GOM cod fishery, the 
Council voted to make the January 2001 Council meeting the first 
framework (Framework 36) meeting for adjustment measures that would 
decrease regulatory discards of GOM cod.
    At its initial framework meeting in January 2001 to address 
regulatory discards in the GOM cod fishery, the Council voted to 
maintain the fishing year 2000 management measures for GOM cod for the 
2001 fishing year until additional information was available from SARC 
33. Results from SARC 33 were presented to the Council at its July 2001 
meeting. For the GOM cod fishery, SARC 33 advised that fishing 
mortality be reduced by approximately 63 percent to meet the Amendment 
7 F target of Fmax=0.27. If this F value is achieved for GOM 
cod in 2002, then the above average 1998 year class will likely 
experience enhanced spawning potential.
    In light of the SAW 33 advice, the Council tasked its Multispecies 
Oversight Committee to develop management options to reduce regulatory 
discards and address the fishing mortality reductions needed for the 
GOM cod fishery. Management measures considered by the Committee thus 
far include additional GOM closures and/or closure modifications, 
extension or adjustment to the Western GOM Closed Area, trip limit 
revisions, mesh-size increases, modifications to the days-at-sea 
accounting scheme, and equivalent measures to reduce recreational 
catch. Although the measures discussed to date focus on the GOM cod 
fishery, the Council also intends that this action be the annual 
adjustment for the 2002 fishery. Therefore, other management measures 
may also be developed to ensure that the Amendment 7 F objectives are 
reached for GB cod, GB haddock, GB yellowtail flounder, and SNE 
yellowtail flounder if so recommended by the MSMC.
    However, given the complexity of this task and the magnitude of the 
required reductions in F and their associated impacts, the Council and 
NMFS have determined that significant impacts on the human environment 
may result, and preparation of an SEIS for this action will be 
necessary to examine the cumulative effects and consequences of the 
short-term measures on the human environment. In preparing the SEIS, 
the Council and NMFS will take into account, in addition to comments 
received in response to this document, all comments that have already 
been submitted and all discussions that have occurred in Council 
meetings before the publication of this document.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: October 1, 2001.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 01-25036 Filed 10-4-01; 8:45 am]
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