[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 71 (Monday, April 14, 2003)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 17903-17905]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-9059]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[I.D. 032803F]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Herring 
Fishery; Scoping Process

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) and notice of re-initiation of scoping process; 
request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) announces 
its intent to prepare an amendment to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) 
for Atlantic Herring (Clupea harengus) and to prepare an SEIS to 
analyze the impacts of any proposed management measures. The Council is 
also formally re-initiating a public process to determine the scope of 
alternatives to be addressed in the amendment and SEIS. The purpose of 
this notification is to alert the interested public of the re-
commencement of the scoping process and to provide for public 
participation in compliance with environmental documentation 
requirements.

DATES: The Council will discuss and take scoping comments at public 
meetings in April and May 2003. For specific dates and times of the 
scoping meetings, see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. Written scoping 
comments must be received on or before 5 pm., local time, June 2, 2003.

ADDRESSES: The Council will take scoping comments at public meetings in 
Maine, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. For specific locations, see 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. 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. The 
scoping document is accessible electronically via the Internet at 
http://www.nefmc.org. Comments may also be sent via facsimile (fax) to 
(978) 465-3116. Comments will not be accepted if submitted via e-mail 
or the Internet.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The U.S. Atlantic herring fishery is managed as one stock complex 
along the east coast from Maine to Cape Hatteras, NC, although evidence 
suggests that separate spawning components exist within the stock 
complex. The Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries 
Commission (ASMFC or Commission) adopted management measures for the 
herring fishery in state and Federal waters in 1999, and NMFS approved 
most of the management measures contained in the Federal Herring FMP on 
October 27, 1999. The Federal Atlantic Herring FMP became effective on 
January 10, 2001.
    The state and Federal management plans contain similar management 
measures.The state and Federal management plans for herring establish 
total allowable catches (TACs) levels in each of four management areas. 
In state waters, there are spawning area restrictions and requirements 
for vessels to take specified days out of the fishery (under the 
Commission plan). Both plans include limits on the size of vessels that 
can take, catch, or harvest herring. Each plan includes administrative 
elements such as

[[Page 17904]]

requirements for vessel, dealer, and processor permits and reporting 
requirements. A control date of September 16, 1999, was established for 
the Atlantic herring fishery in Federal waters (64 FR 50266, September 
16, 1999).
    Additional measures for the Federal Herring FMP are being 
considered for two reasons: (1) a new stock assessment for herring is 
available; and (2) the Council made a commitment to consider limited or 
controlled access in the herring fishery shortly after developing the 
Herring FMP.
    In February 2003, the Transboundary Resource Assessment Committee 
(TRAC), composed of both U.S. and Canadian scientists, met in St. 
Andrew's, New Brunswick, to undertake a joint peer review of the status 
of the transboundary herring resource and to provide collective 
guidance for fisheries managers to consider. The TRAC assessment will 
be used in considering possible adjustments to the FMP, which may 
include changes to the herring overfishing definition and its 
associated reference points, revisions to the estimates of maximum 
sustainable yield (MSY) and optimum yield (OY) for the herring fishery, 
adjustments to management areas, and/or adjustments to area-specific 
TAC calculations. The Herring Plan Development Team (PDT) will review 
the TRAC information and provide technical guidance on these and other 
issues as the development of this amendment proceeds.
    While the overall TAC for herring is more than twice recent landing 
levels, the TAC in the inshore Gulf of Maine (Area 1A) represents more 
than 60 percent of the total landings and has triggered a closure of 
the herring fishery in this area every year. Some fishermen believe 
that harvesting capacity in this area should be restricted to avoid 
problems that result from excess fishing capacity. One of these 
problems is a ``race to fish'' as increasing numbers of vessels try to 
catch the TAC before the others. Besides generating inefficiencies, the 
available TAC in this area will likely continue to be taken before the 
fishing year is over. This can disrupt the supply of herring for 
various markets and affect stability in the fishery.
    Management of a number of fisheries in the Northeast Region is 
complicated by excess fishing capacity which makes it difficult to 
reduce fishing mortality to levels necessary for stock rebuilding. In 
order to avoid the problems experienced in these fisheries, there is 
interest in developing a limited access system for the herring fishery 
to possibly address existing capacity problems in Area 1A and avoid 
such problems in other areas as the fishery continues to develop.
    In July 1999, the Council made a formal commitment to develop a 
limited or controlled access program for the herring fishery. Scoping 
meetings were conducted in early 2000, and comments were sought on 
limited/controlled access in the herring fishery, particularly in Area 
1A. At that time, concern about excess capacity was focused on Area 1A, 
as Areas 2 and 3 (southern New England and Georges Bank) could support 
increased fishing effort and additional capacity in the fishery. 
However, some new markets have emerged, additional harvesting and 
processing capacity has developed, and catches from Areas 2 and 3 have 
increased somewhat, suggesting that capacity concerns in these areas 
may be different than they were in 2000. For this reason, the Council 
may consider a limited access program for all herring management areas.
    This amendment may address one or more of the following issues:
    1. According to the best available scientific information, 
overfishing is not occurring on the herring resource at this time, but 
may occur in the future if effort and capacity are not monitored and 
controlled in a proactive manner.
    2. Allocation issues have arisen since the establishment of the 
TACs in the herring fishery, and these issues should be examined and 
minimized to the extent practicable (examples include the race to fish 
and gear conflicts resulting from the TACs).
    3. Interactions of herring with other species and other fisheries 
are becoming increasingly important, especially as all stocks in the 
Northeast Region continue to increase. These interactions and their 
associated impacts should be examined so that negative impacts can be 
minimized where possible and appropriate.

Measures Under Consideration

    At this time, the Council is seeking comments on a wide range of 
management measures it is considering to address a range of issues. The 
measures under consideration include, but are not limited to, the 
following:

Limited Access

    One or more kinds of permits may be issued to vessels fishing in 
one or more of the management areas. Qualification criteria for limited 
access permits could take many different forms. For example, 
qualification criteria could be based on catch levels over a particular 
period of time, possession of another permit, future performance in the 
fishery, or any combination of these standards.
    If the Council does develop a limited access program in this 
amendment, it may develop separate qualifying criteria for the directed 
herring fishery and the incidental catch herring fishery. The Council 
also may consider a quota-based limited access program for participants 
in the herring fishery. Under such a program, TACs for herring could be 
specifically allocated to a limited number of individuals or entities. 
This allows the individuals or entities to be responsible for 
controlling their own capacity and harvesting their share of the 
resource in a way that maximizes their economic benefits and the 
overall benefits to the fishery. Some examples of quota-based programs 
that may be considered include Individual Fishing Quotas (IFQs), group 
quota shares, and community quota shares.
    In addition to establishing some kind of limited access program, 
the Council will consider the ``no action alternative;'' that is, to 
allow the herring fishery to remain an open-access fishery. 
Consideration of the no action alternative is a legal requirement and 
is based on the fact that domestic catches are currently less than one-
half the overall TAC. New markets and additional harvesting capacity to 
fully utilize the herring resource are currently being examined for the 
herring fishery. In addition, an open access system provides the most 
flexibility to fishermen to move into the herring fishery as an 
alternative to other fisheries.

Other Effort Controls

    A limited access program by itself may or may not address potential 
capacity problems in the herring fishery, especially in Area 1A. For 
this reason, the Council is considering and seeking comments on other 
types of effort controls for the fishery, if necessary. These include, 
but are not limited to, the following:
    1. Vessel Upgrade Restrictions--Restrictions on the overall size 
and capacity of herring vessels is already included in the FMP. 
However, additional restrictions on the ability of herring vessels to 
upgrade (increase their size and/or horsepower) may be an effective 
tool for controlling existing capacity in the fishery.
    2. Trip Limits--Trip limits may slow down the race to fish and 
prevent early closure of the fishery, especially in Area 1A. For the 
herring fishery, it would be important to consider the high-volume 
nature of the directed fishery and the need to minimize regulatory 
discarding.
    3. Days at Sea (DAS) for the Herring Fishery--Limits on the number 
of days that vessels can fish for herring is

[[Page 17905]]

another way to control effort in the fishery.
    4. Days Out of the Herring Fishery--Requirements for vessels to 
take days out of the herring fishery were included in the Herring FMP, 
but were not approved by NMFS for several reasons. The Commission 
implemented days out of the fishery in state waters through the 
Interstate FMP for herring and has found it to be an effective tool to 
slow the race to fish. For this reason, the Council may re-consider a 
program for days out of the Federal fishery. Such a program may be 
based on no-fishing days or no-landing days (as is currently in the 
Comission plan).

Management Area Boundaries

    The recently-completed TRAC Assessment of the herring resource 
recommends, among other things, consideration of some adjustments to 
the existing management area boundaries for the herring fishery. The 
Council will consider these recommendations as well as other comments 
received during the scoping period regarding adjustments to existing 
herring management area boundaries.

Other Measures and Adjustments Under Consideration

    Because of the new TRAC Assessment and other management issues that 
have emerged over the past 3 years, the Council may consider additional 
measures for development in this amendment.
    1. Transboundary Nature of the Resource and Interactions with 
Canadian Herring Fisheries--The Council is seeking comments on more 
effective ways to address the transboundary nature of this resource. 
Specifically, the Council is seeking comments on interactions between 
U.S. herring management and the New Brunswick weir fishery, the 
southwest Nova Scotia herring fishery, and the Canadian fishery for 
herring on Georges Bank.
    2. Seine-only and/or Trawl-only Areas--To reduce gear conflicts 
associated with the TACs and the race to fish, the Council may consider 
establishing areas for fishing with purse seines and/or midwater trawls 
only.
    3. Clarification of the Definition of Midwater Trawl--The Council 
may consider revising the regulatory definition of a midwater trawl to 
improve enforcement and clarify perceptions about the gear intended to 
be fished.
    4. Spawning Area Restrictions--Spawning area restrictions were 
included in the Herring FMP, but were not approved by NMFS for several 
reasons. The Commission implemented spawning area restrictions through 
the Interstate FMP for herring. The Council is seeking comment on 
whether or not these restrictions should be re-considered in this 
amendment.
    5. Improved Coordination with Mackerel Management-- Mackerel is 
managed through the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's Squid/
Mackerel/Butterfish FMP. The Council recognizes the overlap between the 
herring and mackerel fisheries and the need to better coordinate the 
management of these resources. The Council is seeking comments on how 
to better coordinate herring and mackerel management.
    6. Bycatch and Bycatch Monitoring--The Council is seeking comments 
on measures to minimize bycatch and to better monitor the nature of 
bycatch in the herring fishery. This includes consideration of 
requirements for observer coverage in the fishery.

Scoping Process

    All persons affected by or otherwise interested in herring 
management are invited to participate in determining the scope and 
significance of issues to be analyzed by submitting written comments 
(see ADDRESSES) or by attending one of the scoping hearings. Scoping 
consists of the range of actions, alternatives, and impacts to be 
considered. Alternatives include the following: not amending the 
management plan (taking no action), developing an amendment that 
contains management measures such as those discussed in this notice, or 
other reasonable courses of action. Impacts may be direct, individual, 
or cumulative.
    This scoping process will also identify and eliminate from detailed 
analysis issues that are not significant. When, after the scoping 
process is completed, the Council proceeds with the development of an 
amendment to the Herring FMP, the Council will prepare an SEIS to 
analyze the impacts of a range of alternatives under consideration. The 
Council will hold public hearings to receive comments on the draft 
amendment and on the analysis of its impacts presented in the SEIS.

Scoping Hearing Schedule

    The Council will discuss and take scoping comments at public 
meetings as follows:
    1. Monday, April 28, 2003, 7 p.m., Holiday Inn, 31 Hampshire 
Street, Mansfield, MA 02048. Telephone (508) 339-2200.
    2. Tuesday, April 29, 2003, 7 p.m., Kings Grant Hotel, Trask Road, 
Route 128, Exit 21N, Danvers, MA 01923. Telephone (978) 774-6800.
    3. Tuesday, May 6, 2003, 7 p.m., Samoset Resort and Conference 
Center, 220 Warrenton Street, Rockport, ME 04856. Telephone (207) 594-
2511.
    4. Monday, May 12, 2003, 7 p.m., Clarion Hotel and Conference 
Center, 6821 Black Horse Pike, Egg Harbor Township/Atlantic City West, 
NJ 08234. Telephone (609) 272-0200/(800) 782-9237.

Special Accommodations

    The meetings are accessible to people with physical disabilities. 
Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids 
should be directed to Paul J. Howard (see ADDRESSES) at least 5 days 
prior to this meeting date.

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

    Dated: April 9, 2003.
Richard W. Surdi,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 03-9059 Filed 4-11-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S