[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 95 (Friday, May 16, 2003)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 26557-26558]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-12315]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[I.D. 050703A]


Fisheries off the West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; 
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Amending the Notice to Prepare a 
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement 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 revise the scope of a Programmatic 
Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS); request for written comments.

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SUMMARY: On April 10, 2001, NOAA announced in the Federal Register its 
intention to prepare a PEIS, in accordance with the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), to assess the impacts of Federal 
management of the Pacific Coast groundfish fishery on the human 
environment. The proposed scope of the PEIS analysis included many 
issues related to the conduct of the fishery, including the effects of 
the groundfish fishery on essential fish habitat (EFH). As a result of 
public comments received during the scoping process, NMFS enhanced the 
description of the purpose and need for NMFS' action, clearly 
identified significant issues related to the proposed action, and a 
distinction between proposed actions related to EFH and the broader 
management program for Pacific groundfish. To avoid confusion as a 
result of this distinction, NMFS decided to prepare a separate EIS to 
address EFH issues. Subsequent to that decision, the Pacific Fishery 
Management Council (Council) and NMFS have taken a number of management 
actions to prevent overfishing and to rebuild overfished groundfish 
stocks. In addition, a number of court cases have affected the fishery 
regulatory processes and have required additional analysis of 
environmental impacts of the Federal groundfish fishery management 
program. NMFS believes these events and activities have influenced the 
purpose of and need for action and is considering revision to the scope 
of the alternatives and analysis. The intent of this document is to 
describe the rationale for revising the purpose and need for action and 
the scope of the analysis.

DATES: Written comments will be accepted on or before June 13, 2003. A 
public scoping meeting is scheduled for June 16, 2003 (see 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION).

ADDRESSES: Written comments on suggested alternatives and potential 
impacts, and any other issues or concerns related to the proposed 
action which should be analyzed in detail in the PEIS, as described in 
this scoping notice, should be sent to Robert Lohn, Administrator, 
Northwest Region, NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., BIN C15700, Bldg. 1, 
Seattle, WA 98115 0070. Comments also may be sent via facsimile (fax) 
to 206 526 6736. Comments will not be accepted if submitted via e-mail 
or Internet.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim Glock, Northwest Region, NMFS, 
503-231-2178; fax: 503-872-2737 and email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Electronic Access

    This Federal Register scoping notice is also available on the 
Government Printing Office's website at: http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/1sustfsh/gdfsh01.htm.

Background

    In June 2001, NMFS concluded the initial scoping process for a PEIS 
on the Federal management of the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery and 
published a summary report. Scoping was initiated on April 10, 2001, 
through publication of a Notice of Intent (66 FR 18586). The report was 
initially published on the NMFS, Northwest Region website in August 
2001 to provide a summary of all comments received and key issues 
identified during the scoping process. In February 2002 NMFS clarified 
the purpose and need for Federal action and revised the scope of 
analysis, which resulted in the preparation of two separate EISs. The 
PEIS was intended to be a broad analysis of the Federal fishery 
management program, and the additional EIS was specific to the 
designation of EFH and associated management measures, including 
measures to reduce effects of fishing on EFH. This separation was 
intended to improve public understanding and participation in the NEPA 
process, make

[[Page 26558]]

each EIS more useful in future management decisions, and to more 
clearly distinguish between programmatic groundfish fishery management 
and specific EFH issues.
    NMFS had intended the PEIS to analyze continued management of the 
Pacific Coast groundfish fishery pursuant to the FMP, and to consider 
alternative groundfish management programs. The Council prepared the 
original FMP and an EIS in the late 1970s, and NMFS implemented the FMP 
in 1982. Since then, the Council has amended the FMP 13 times and has 
three additional amendments in process. These amendments were in 
response to development of the commercial and recreational groundfish 
fisheries, changes in the groundfish resources, and amendments to the 
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-
Stevens Act). NMFS initiated this PEIS to update the original EIS to 
reflect changes in the fishery and to evaluate the impacts of the 
Federal groundfish management program on the human environment, 
including the marine fish resources, the physical ocean environment and 
ecosystem, and human society.
    The Council established an ad hoc Groundfish PEIS Oversight 
Committee (Committee) shortly after NMFS began preparation of the draft 
PEIS. The Committee met twice during 2002 to advise the drafting team 
and help develop a range of alternatives for managing the Pacific Coast 
groundfish fishery. The Council adopted the alternatives recommended by 
the Committee in October 2002. The Committee met again on April 22-23, 
2003, and reviewed the status of the PEIS and the alternatives under 
consideration. The Committee reviewed the events leading up to 
initiation of the PEIS and subsequent to the initial scoping period. 
The consensus of the Committee was to narrow the scope of the PEIS to 
deal with bycatch issues. The Committee prepared a revised set of 
alternatives to encompass the range of approaches to resolve bycatch 
and incidental catch monitoring, reporting and reduction issues. The 
following chronology summarizes the basis for the Committee's 
recommendation to focus this PEIS more narrowly on bycatch.
    Immediately before and since the initial scoping period (April-
June, 2001), several events and activities have occurred that have 
substantially affected the groundfish management program. In December 
2000, NMFS approved Amendment 13 to the FMP, which was designed to 
implement bycatch management measures to bring the FMP into compliance 
with the Magnuson-Stevens Act. In January 2001, NMFS determined that 
widow and darkblotched rockfishes were overfished, and implemented the 
Council's recommendations to impose broad harvest reductions to 
restrict the take of canary rockfish (also designated overfished) and 
darkblotched rockfish. Soon after the PEIS scoping comment period 
closed, a group of environmental organizations filed suit on NMFS' 
approval of Amendment 13, claiming NMFS had not considered all 
reasonable bycatch management and reduction alternatives. As explained 
below, the Court ultimately agreed with the plaintiffs.
    NMFS prepared a scoping summary report and made it available in 
August 2001. The agency immediately began working with the Council to 
develop a range of alternatives for consideration and analysis in the 
PEIS. In January 2002, yelloweye rockfish and Pacific whiting were 
determined to be overfished. In February 2002, NMFS determined the 
analytical requirements for a programmatic EIS were different from 
those envisioned for EFH, and decided to prepare a separate EIS to deal 
exclusively with EFH issues. In April, Amendment 13 was declared 
invalid by Federal District Court and remanded to the agency. In June, 
initial rebuilding analyses for bocaccio and canary rockfish indicated 
extensive harvest restrictions were needed immediately in order to meet 
the rebuilding mandates. In response, the Council delayed adoption of 
the PEIS alternatives in order to concentrate on preparing an immediate 
response to the new scientific information. Major groundfish fishery 
closures were imposed mid-season, and proposals for further 
restrictions were developed and evaluated as part of the annual 
management process for the 2003 fishing year. The Council prepared an 
EIS in conjunction with its management recommendations (referred to as 
the ``annual specifications''), evaluating the impacts of the proposed 
management measures on the biological resources and the social and 
economic environment. NMFS approved the Council's recommendations and 
issued a rule effectively closing much of the outer continental shelf 
from the border with Canada to the border with Mexico. Vessel catch 
allowances were developed through the use of a computer model that 
applies observed catch ratios of various depleted and healthy stocks to 
the available amounts of overfished stocks. In April 2003, NMFS and the 
Council became aware that data from the 2001-2002 Federal observer 
program clearly demonstrated some ratios substantially underestimated 
the catches of bocaccio and canary rockfish. NMFS implemented 
additional fishery restrictions on May 1, 2003 (68 FR 23901, May 6, 
2003).
    NMFS believes the most critical need at this time is improvement of 
the catch monitoring program and development of a system to enhance 
individual vessel flexibility and accountability, including 
opportunities and incentives to improve the selectivity of fishing 
operations. The current management program provides little opportunity 
or incentive for individuals to improve their catch selectivity (i.e., 
avoid overfished species). Changes to the bycatch reduction program may 
require revisions to the catch and bycatch reporting and monitoring 
systems. NMFS believes these issues should be the sole focus of the 
current PEIS. The current need is to focus the analysis on bycatch, 
incidental catch, and discard issues. A determination will be made 
after consulting with the Council at its June 2003 meeting.
    NMFS invites written public comment on these issues until June 13. 
On June 16, 2003, at 7:30 p.m., NMFS will hold a public forum in 
conjunction with the Council meeting in Foster City, CA. Scoping 
documents which identify the management issues, initial alternatives, 
and an outline of the proposed analysis are available on request (see 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, above) and will also be posted on the 
NOAA Fisheries Northwest Region website (http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/1sustfsh/gdfsh01.htm). Additional copies will be available at the 
scoping meeting.

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: May 12, 2003.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 03-12315 Filed 5-15-03; 8:45 am]
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