[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 99 (Thursday, May 22, 2003)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 27972]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-12885]



[[Page 27972]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[I.D.051403C]
RIN 0648-AQ68


Fisheries off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; 
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Amendment 17

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

ACTION: Notice of availability of an amendment to a fishery management 
plan; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Pacific Fishery Management Council 
(Council) has submitted Amendment 17 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish 
Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Secretarial review. Amendment 17 
would revise the Council's annual groundfish management process so that 
it would become a biennial process with a NMFS public notice and 
comment period prior to implementation of the biennial specifications 
and management measures. Amendment 17 is intended to ensure that the 
specifications and management measures process comports with a Court 
ruling to make the Council's development process for specifications and 
management measures more efficient, and to streamline the NMFS 
regulatory process for implementing the specifications and management 
measures.

DATES: Comments on Amendment 17 must be received on or before July 21, 
2003.

ADDRESSES: Comments on Amendment 17 or supporting documents should be 
sent to D. Robert Lohn, Administrator, Northwest Region, NMFS, Sand 
Point Way NE., BIN C15700, Seattle, WA 98115-0070; or to Rodney 
McInnis, Acting Administrator, Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 West Ocean 
Boulevard, Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802-4213.
    Copies of Amendment 17 and the Environmental Assessment/ Regulatory 
Impact Review (EA/RIR) are available from Donald McIsaac, Executive 
Director, Pacific Fishery Management Council, 2130 SW Fifth Ave., Suite 
224, Portland, OR 97201.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Yvonne deReynier (Northwest Region, 
NMFS), phone: 206-526-6140; fax: 206-526-6736 and; e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Electronic Access

    This Federal Register document is also accessible via the Internet 
at the Web site of the Office of the Federal Register's Web site at: 
http://www/access/gpo.gov/su_docs/aces140.html.
    The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
(Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires each regional fishery management 
council to submit fishery management plans or plan amendments to NMFS 
for review and approval, disapproval, or partial approval. The 
Magnuson-Stevens Act also requires NMFS, immediately upon receiving a 
fishery management plan or amendment, to publish notification in the 
Federal Register that the fishery management plan or plan amendment is 
available for public review and comment. At the end of the comment 
period, NMFS considers the public comments received during the comment 
period described above in determining whether to approve, partially 
approve, or disapprove the fishery management plan or plan amendment.
    Amendment 17 is administrative in nature and is intended to revise 
Council and NMFS processes associated with the specifications and 
management measures. This annual process establishes harvest 
``specifications,'' which are harvest levels or limits such as 
acceptable biological catches, optimum yields, or allocations for 
different user groups. Management measures, such as trip limits, closed 
times and areas, and gear restrictions are also set in the annual 
regulatory process. Since 1990, in order to use the most recent 
scientific information possible, the Council has annually developed its 
recommendations for specifications and management measures in a two-
meeting process (usually its September and November meetings) followed 
by a NMFS final action published in the Federal Register and made 
available for public comment after the effective date of the action. In 
2001, NMFS was challenged on this process in Natural Resources Defense 
Council, Inc. v. Evans, 168 F.Supp. 2d 1149 (N.D. Cal. 2001) and the 
Court ordered NMFS to provide prior public notice and allow public 
comment on the annual specifications. Amendment 17 would amend the 
FMP's framework for developing annual specifications and management 
measures to include time for NMFS to publish a proposed rule for the 
specifications and management measures, followed by a final rule.
    In addition to needing to revise the notice and comment procedure 
associated with the specifications and management measures, the Council 
wished to take a new look at efficiency in the annual management 
process. Groundfish management workload levels have grown in recent 
years, particularly those associated with setting annual harvest levels 
for both depleted and healthy stocks. Because of the increasing 
workload associated with developing specifications and management 
measures, the Council and NMFS have had less time for addressing many 
other important groundfish fishery management issues. NMFS has recently 
asked all of the fishery management councils to consider how they might 
streamline their processes for developing regulatory recommendations. 
Amendment 17 responds to this request by setting the specifications and 
management measures process for biennial, rather than annual, 
development and implementation.
    Public comments on Amendment 17 must be received by July 21, 2003, 
to be considered by NMFS in the decision whether to approve, 
disapprove, or partially approve Amendment 17. A proposed rule to 
implement Amendment 17 has been submitted for Secretarial review and 
approval. NMFS expects to publish and request public comment on 
proposed regulations to implement Amendment 17 in the near future.

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

    Dated: May 16, 2003.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 03-12885 Filed 5-21-03; 8:45 am]
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