[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 157 (Wednesday, August 14, 2002)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 52928-52929]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-20663]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[I.D. 080602E]


Fisheries off the West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; 
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Intent to Prepare an Environmental 
Impact Statement (EIS) for Fishing Conducted Under the Pacific Coast 
Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP)

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

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an EIS; request for written 
comments.

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SUMMARY: The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) announces its 
intention to prepare an EIS in accordance with the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to assess the impacts of the 2003 
Pacific Coast groundfish fishery specifications and management measures 
on the human environment.

DATES: Written comments must be received no later than 5 p.m, local 
time (l.t.), on September 13, 2002. A public scoping meeting is 
scheduled as part of the Council's August 28-29, 2002, Allocation 
Committee meeting in Portland, OR (see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION).

ADDRESSES: Written comments on suggested alternatives and potential 
impacts should be sent to Donald McIsaac, Executive Director, Pacific 
Fishery Management Council (Council), 7700 NE Ambassador Place, Suite 
200, Portland, OR 97220-1384. Comments may also be sent via facsimile 
(fax) to 503-820-2299. Comments will not be accepted if submitted via 
e-mail or Internet. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for specific dates 
and times.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John DeVore, Groundfish Fishery 
Management Coordinator; phone: 503-820-2280 and e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    There are more than 80 species managed under the Pacific Coast 
Groundfish FMP, nine of which have been declared overfished. The 
groundfish stocks support an array of commercial, recreational, and 
Indian tribal fishing interests in state and Federal waters off the 
coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California. In addition, groundfish 
are also harvested incidentally in nongroundfish fisheries, most 
notably the trawl fisheries for pink shrimp, spot/ridgeback prawns, 
California halibut, and sea cucumber. Restrictive management measures 
intended to rebuild overfished species have been adopted and 
implemented over the past several years for most commercial and 
recreational fishing sectors.
    The proposed action is the identification and evaluation of 2003 
groundfish harvest level specifications and fishery management measures 
intended to meet but not exceed those specifications. These 
specifications include acceptable biological catches and optimum yields 
(OYs) for groundfish species or species groups in need of particular 
protection; OYs may be represented by harvest guidelines or quotas for 
species that need individual management. The allocation of commercial 
OYs between the open access and limited entry segments of the fishery 
is also part of the proposed action. The FMP requires that these 
specifications for groundfish be annually evaluated and revised as 
necessary, and that management measures designed to achieve the OYs be 
published in the Federal Register and made effective by January 1, the 
beginning of the fishing year. The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery

[[Page 52929]]

Conservation and Management Act and the FMP also require that NMFS 
implement actions to prevent overfishing and to rebuild overfished 
stocks. These specifications include fish caught in state ocean waters 
(0-3 nautical miles (nm) offshore) as well as fish caught in the U.S. 
exclusive economic zone (3-200 nm offshore). Management measures 
intended to control the rate at which different groundfish species or 
species groups are taken in the fisheries include trip limits, bag 
limits, size limits, time/area closures, and gear restrictions.
    For 2003, the Council is considering management measures that could 
include time/area closures of large portions of the continental shelf 
off the U.S. West Coast. These measures would be necessary to prevent 
fishing vessels from directly targeting or incidentally catching the 
overfished species that are primarily found on the continental shelf. 
In particular, large time/area closures would focus on protecting 
bocaccio, canary rockfish, darkblotched rockfish, and yelloweye 
rockfish. While other overfished species could also be expected to 
benefit from these closures, the rebuilding needs of these particular 
overfished species would likely shape the design of the closed areas. A 
more detailed description of the management alternatives that will be 
considered by the Council at its September 9-13, 2002, meeting in 
Portland, OR is available on the Council's web site at http://www.pcouncil.org.
    A principal objective of the scoping and public input process is to 
identify significant issues that will be analyzed in depth in the EIS. 
The EIS will address these significant issues through a range of 
reasonable management alternatives and an analysis of their impacts on 
the human environment. Alternatives will be analyzed for impacts on 
essential fish habitat, target and non-target species of fish, 
discarded fish, marine mammals, and other protected species present in 
the Pacific Coast ecosystem. In addition, the environmental 
consequences section of the EIS will contain an analysis of impacts 
from fishery management measures on the following groups of 
individuals: (1) Those who participate in harvesting the fishery 
resources and other living marine resources; (2) those who process and 
market the fish and fish products; (3) those who are involved in allied 
support industries; (4) those who consume fish products; (5) those who 
rely on living marine resources in the management area, either for 
subsistence needs or for recreational benefits; (6) those who benefit 
from non-consumptive uses of living marine resources; (7) those 
involved in managing and monitoring fisheries; and (8) fishing 
communities.
    Scoping documents that identify the management issues, initial 
alternatives, and an outline of the proposed analysis will be made 
available at the August 28-29, 2002, meeting.

Dates and Times of the Scoping Meeting and Associated Informational 
Meetings

    A scoping meeting for this EIS will be held in concurrence with a 
meeting of the Council's Allocation Committee on August 28-29, 2002, at 
the Shilo Inn, 11707 NE Airport Way, Portland, OR 97220. The Council 
will be particularly seeking comments on the EIS at 4 p.m., l.t., on 
August 28, 2002. The purpose of the Allocation Committee's meeting is 
to discuss the Council's proposed 2003 groundfish specifications and 
management measures prior to and in preparation for the Council's 
September 9-13, 2002 meeting in Portland, OR. Issues to be analyzed in 
this EIS were also discussed at the Council's June 18-21, 2002 meeting 
in Foster City, CA, at the meetings of the Allocation Committee and the 
Groundfish Management Team (GMT) that preceded that June Council 
meeting, and a July 29 through August 2, 2002, meeting of the Council's 
GMT. The scoping hearing held as part of the Council's August 28-29, 
2002, Allocation Committee meeting, and the earlier meetings listed 
above are intended to meet NEPA scoping guidelines at 40 CFR 1501.7(b).

Special Accommodations

    These meetings are accessible to people with physical disabilities. 
Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids 
should be directed to Carolyn Porter 503-820-2280 (voice) or 503-820-
2299 (fax), at least 5 days prior to the scheduled meeting date.

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

    Dated: August 9, 2002.
Virginia M. Fay,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 02-20663 Filed 8-13-02; 8:45 am]
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