[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 33 (Tuesday, February 19, 2002)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 7344]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-3979]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 622

[I.D. 012802D]


Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; 
Shrimp Fishery off the Southern Atlantic States; Amendment 6

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

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a draft supplemental environmental 
impact statement (DSEIS); request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) 
intends to prepare a DSEIS to assess the impacts on the natural and 
human environment of the management measure being developed in its 
draft Amendment 6 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Shrimp Fishery 
of South Atlantic Region (FMP).

DATES: Written comments on the scope of issues to be addressed in the 
preliminary DSEIS will be accepted through March 21, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Comments and requests for copies of the scoping documents 
should be sent to Robert K. Mahood, Executive Director, South Atlantic 
Fishery Management Council, One Southpark Circle, Suite 306, 
Charleston, SC 29407-4699, FAX: 843-769-4520; email: 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kim Iverson, Public Information 
Office; 843-571-4366 or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The shrimp fishery off the South Atlantic 
States in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is managed under the FMP. 
Following Council preparation, the FMP was approved and implemented by 
NMFS under the authority of the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act in June of 1993. Currently, the Council is preparing 
draft FMP Amendment 6 and a DSEIS as an integrated part of the 
Amendment. The DSEIS will discuss the proposed Amendment 6 management 
measures in conjunction with reasonable alternatives. Each alternative 
will be assessed in relation to the environmental consequences with a 
no-action alternative considered as one of the options.
    The South Atlantic shrimp fishery consists of white (Penaeus 
setiferus), brown (Penaeus aztecus), pink (Penaeus duorarum), rock 
(Sicyonia brevirostris), and royal red shrimp (Hymenopenaeus robustus). 
The FMP applies to the shrimp fishery in the South Atlantic EEZ from 
the southeast coast of Florida to the North Carolina/Virginia border. 
The management unit consists of white and rock shrimp, which were added 
under the original FMP and amendment 1 respectively. Amendment 2 added 
both brown and pink shrimp.
    Current management measures are intended to reduce and protect 
shrimp populations and habitat. One key element of the management plan 
allows the states bordered by the South Atlantic EEZ to request a 
closure in Federal waters adjacent to closed state waters for white 
shrimp following severe cold weather that results in an 80-percent or 
greater reduction in the population of white shrimp (whiting, royal red 
and rock shrimp fisheries are exempt from a Federal closure for white 
shrimp). During such closure, no trawling is allowed with a net having 
less than 4 inches (10.16 cm) stretch mesh within a zone extending 
seaward from shore 25 nautical miles.
    The FMP has curbed the potential negative effects of trawling 
through the protection of bottom habitat in specific areas and by 
requiring the use of bycatch reduction devices (BRD) by all penaeid 
shrimp trawlers. A crucial component for habitat protection was 
established in Amendment 1 with the prohibition of rock shrimp trawling 
within the Oculina Bank Habitat Area of Particular Concern. In 
addition, NMFS is currently reviewing the Council's proposed Amendment 
5, which would require vessel monitoring systems and standard mesh 
sizes on all rock shrimp vessels.
    Through Amendment 6, the Council is considering adjusting the 
overfishing definitions; establishing minimum stock size thresholds 
(MSSTs) and maximum fishing mortality thresholds (MFMTs); and modifying 
the requirements for testing and approving BRDs (BRD protocol).
    The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
(Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires that FMPs include overfishing 
definitions and criteria for determining when overfishing is occurring. 
NMFS has published guidance on using tools such as MSST and MFMT to 
assess the condition of a fishery and avoid overfished situations. The 
Council is reviewing its overfishing definitions in light of current 
information and is considering establishing values for MSST and MFMT.
    In addition, the Magnuson-Stevens Act requires FMPs to minimize 
bycatch to the extent practicable. The Council believes that by 
revising the BRD protocol, they could facilitate development of 
improved BRD technology that could lead to further reductions in 
bycatch. Following the mandates set by Shrimp FMP Amendment 2 to 
develop a protocol for BRD testing, the Bycatch Reduction Device 
Testing Protocol Manual was developed in 1997. In this manual, the 
specifications test the effectiveness of any new or modified BRD in 
reducing bycatch of targeted species. The Council is considering 
modification of the protocol, and how it is administered, to insure 
that more efficient BRDs are allowed in the fishery.
    A scoping meeting to determine the scope of significant issues to 
be addressed in the DSEIS and the associated Amendment 6 will be 
conducted at the Council's March 4-8, 2002, meeting in Savannah, GA.

    Authority: 6 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: February 12, 2002.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 02-3979 Filed 2-15-02; 8:45 am]
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