[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 147 (Wednesday, July 31, 2002)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 49665-49666]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-19362]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 622

[I.D. 071602C]


Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; 
Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of 
Mexico; Secretarial Amendment 2; Public Hearings

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

ACTION: Notice of public hearings; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) will 
convene public hearings to receive comments on the Council's proposed 
Secretarial Amendment 2 to the Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan 
(Secretarial Amendment 2) to set greater amberjack Sustainable 
Fisheries Act (SFA) targets and thresholds and to set a rebuilding 
plan.

DATES: The public hearings will be held in August. See SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION for specific dates and times.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to and copies of the scoping 
document are available from the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management 
Council, 3018 U.S. Highway 301, North, Suite 1000, Tampa, FL 33619, 
telephone: (813) 228-2815.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Peter Hood, Fishery Biologist, 
Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council; telephone: (813) 228-2815.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The public hearings will be convened on 
Secretarial Amendment 2 to set greater amberjack SFA targets and 
thresholds and to set a rebuilding plan. The greater amberjack resource 
in the Gulf of Mexico was declared overfished by NMFS on February 9, 
2001, and was based on the 2000 greater amberjack stock assessment. The 
results of several analyses indicated that the stock biomass was below 
the level needed to sustain harvest at maximum sustainable yield (MSY), 
with the best estimate indicating that the stock biomass was at less 
than half the biomass needed to sustain MSY, below the minimum level 
allowed under the 1998 NMFS National Standard Guidelines. However, NMFS 
concluded that overfishing is not currently occurring due to the recent 
implementation of management measures that were not reflected in the 
stock assessment. These measures included: (1) a reduction in the 
greater amberjack recreational bag limit from 3 to 1 fish (implemented 
1997); (2) a commercial closed season during March, April and May 
(implemented 1998); and (3) partial protection of misidentified 
juvenile greater amberjack by establishment of a slot limit on lesser 
amberjack/banded rudderfish of 14 and 22 inches (35.6 and 55.9 cm) fork 
length plus an aggregate 5-fish recreational bag limit. As a result of 
this finding, additional measures to end overfishing are not needed, 
but a plan to rebuild the stock is needed.
    Because NMFS has declared the stock overfished, the Council is 
required to rebuild the stock to a level where it is no longer 
considered overfished. Before a plan can be put into effect, management 
targets and thresholds that the stock needs to achieve must be defined. 
These are: definitions for MSY, optimum yield (OY), the minimum stock 
size threshold (MSST) below which a stock is considered to be 
overfished, the maximum fishing mortality threshold (MFMT) above which 
a stock is considered to be undergoing overfishing. The proposed 
amendment also provides alternative rebuilding plans that will rebuild 
the stock within 10 years or less and are based on various rebuilding 
strategies.
    The public hearings will be held from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the 
following locations and dates.
    1. Tuesday, August 6, 2002: Texas A&M University, CLB Building Room 
114, 200 Seawolf Parkway, Galveston, TX; telephone: 409-740-4736; and
    2. Wednesday, August 7, 2002: City Hall Auditorium, 300 Municipal 
Drive, Madeira Beach, FL; telephone: 727-391-9951.

Special Accommodations

    These meetings are physically accessible to people with 
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other 
auxiliary aids should be directed to Anne Alford at the Council (see 
ADDRESSES) by July 30, 2002.


[[Page 49666]]


    Dated: July 24, 2002.
Richard W. Surdi,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 02-19362 Filed 7-30-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S