[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 237 (Monday, December 10, 2001)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 63666-63667]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-30464]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[I.D. 112701C]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Monkfish 
Fishery; Scoping Process

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

ACTION: Notification of intent to prepare a Supplemental Environmental 
Impact Statement (SEIS) and notice of scoping process; request for 
comments.

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SUMMARY: The New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils 
(Councils) announce their intent to prepare Amendment 2 to the Monkfish 
Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and to prepare an SEIS in accordance with 
the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to analyze the impacts of 
any proposed management measures on the human environment. The 
Councils, with New England Council having the lead authority, jointly 
manage the fishery. The amendment would be developed pursuant to the 
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-
Stevens Act). The Councils also formally announce the initiation of a 
public process to determine the scope of issues to be addressed in the 
environmental impact statement (EIS). The purpose of this notice is to 
alert the interested public of the scoping process and to provide for 
public participation in compliance with NEPA.

DATES: The Councils will discuss and take scoping comments at public 
meetings in January and February 2002. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION 
for specific dates and times. Written scoping comments must be received 
on or before 5 p.m. local time, February 11, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and requests for copies of the scoping 
document and other information should be directed to Paul J. Howard, 
Executive Director, New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water 
Street, Newburyport, MA, 01950, Telephone (978) 465-0492. Comments may 
also be submitted via facsimile (fax) to (978) 465-3116. Comments and 
requests for information should be marked ``Monkfish Amendment 2.'' The 
Council will not accept unsigned faxes or comments by email.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact Paul J. Howard, Executive 
Director, telephone (978) 465-0492.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The FMP, implemented November 8, 1999 (64 CFR 54732, October 7, 
1999), contains management programs for the Northern and Southern 
Fishery Management Areas (NFMA and SFMA, respectively) based on 
incremental reductions in fishing mortality rates to stop overfishing 
and rebuild monkfish stocks by 2009. The FMP calls for elimination of 
the directed fishery for monkfish in Year 4, starting May 1, 2002, 
unless a plan review during Year 3 indicates that the Councils should 
use another management measure. The 31st Northeast Regional stock 
Assessment Workshop SAW 31) conducted by NMFS in 2000 concluded that 
the current proxy-based biological reference points on which the plan 
is based are unreliable, and that current fishing mortality rates could 
not be reliably estimated. Based on this assessment, the Councils are 
considering a 1-year delay in the Year 4 default measures.
    A new assessment, scheduled for January, 2002 will address many of 
the issues raised at SAW 31, and incorporate data collected during a 
cooperative survey with the monkfish industry in the spring of 2001. 
The Councils intend to consider this new scientific information and 
take appropriate action to modify the FMP so that the goal of 
rebuilding the stocks can be achieved by 2009.
    In addition, while the Councils were developing the original 
Monkfish FMP, a new fishery for monkfish emerged in the waters south of 
the North Carolina/Virginia border. Some vessels from that area began 
participating in the fishery shortly after publication of a notice of 
control date for limited entry into the Atlantic monkfish fishery on 
February 27, 1995 (60 FR 10574). These vessels did not hold any 
northeast fishery permits and, therefore, did not receive timely notice 
of the actions related to the monkfish fishery being considered by the 
Councils. Although the management unit for the FMP was initially 
defined as ending at the North Carolina/Virginia border, which would 
have excluded those vessels from the FMP provisions, the boundary was

[[Page 63667]]

shifted southward (to the North Carolina/South Carolina border) during 
the development of the FMP. Meanwhile, the public hearing document 
mistakenly retained the original management unit definition with the 
North Carolina/Virginia boundary as its Southern border. As a result of 
the circumstances described above, a number of vessels failed to 
qualify for limited access permits. Because of some confusion regarding 
the correct southern boundary line, the Councils are considering 
options for addressing this issue in Amendment 2.
    Third, in response to a U.S. District Court Order (AOC v. Daley, 
September 14, 2000), NMFS and the Councils are re-evaluating the 
essential fish habitat (EFH) components of the FMP. NMFS has already 
initiated scoping on this matter (66 FR 46979, September 10, 2001) and 
the Councils will consider scoping comments submitted in that process 
when preparing Amendment 2. NMFS and the Councils will jointly develop 
EFH analysis and management alternatives to minimize adverse effects of 
fishing activities on EFH for consideration in the FMP.

Scoping Process

    The public will have an opportunity to provide oral comments at the 
January meetings of the Councils and may submit written comments 
through February 11, 2002 [see DATES and ADDRESSES]. The New England 
Council meeting is scheduled for January 15-17, 2002 at the Courtyard 
by Marriott, Portsmouth, NH and the Mid-Atlantic Council meeting for 
January 29-31 at the Meadowlands Plaza Hotel, Secaucus, NJ. The 
Councils will notify the public of the specific times on the agendas 
where the public scoping comments will be heard when those agendas are 
finalized.
    All persons affected by, or otherwise interested in monkfish 
fisheries management, are invited and encouraged to participate in this 
process, and to assist the Councils in developing the scope of issues 
to be considered and alternatives to be analyzed in the SEIS. The 
Councils will also use the scoping process to identify and eliminate 
from consideration issues that are not significant.

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

    Dated: December 4, 2001.
Valerie L. Chambers,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 01-30464 Filed 12-7-01; 8:45 am]
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