[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 215 (Thursday, November 6, 2003)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 62763-62764]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-27994]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[I.D. 102903C]
RIN 0648-AP42


Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; 
Highly Migratory Species

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

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

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Pacific Fishery Management Council 
(Council) has submitted the Fishery Management Plan for U.S. West Coast 
Fisheries for Highly Migratory Species (FMP)for Secretarial review. The 
FMP is a response to increasing concern about the effect of fishing on 
highly migratory species (HMS) and on ocean resources caught 
incidentally to fishing HMS. Numerous species of tuna, billfish, 
oceanic sharks and other species range throughout the Pacific Ocean. A 
significant amount of information exists on some of the commercially 
important tunas, a moderate amount on other

[[Page 62764]]

commercially important tunas, lesser amounts of information on 
swordfish and other billfishes, and scant information on sharks and 
other highly migratory fishes. Comprehensive stock assessments are 
needed for many of these species, which are harvested by numerous 
coastal and distant-water fishing nations throughout the Pacific.

DATES: Comments on the FMP must be received on or before January 5, 
2004.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the FMP should be sent to Rodney R. McInnis, 
Acting Administrator, Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 West Ocean Boulevard, 
Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802.
    Copies of the FMP, which includes an environmental impact 
statement/regulatory impact review/initial regulatory flexibility 
analysis are available from Donald O. McIssac, Executive Director, 
Pacific Fishery Management Council, 7700 NE Ambassador Place, Suite 
200, Portland, OR 97220.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Morgan, Sustainable Fisheries 
Division, NMFS, at 562-980-4036 or Daniel Waldeck, Pacific Fishery 
Management Council, at 503-326-6352.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 
and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires each Regional 
Fishery Management Council to submit a fishery management plan or plan 
amendment to NMFS for review and approval, disapproval, or partial 
approval. The Magnuson-Stevens Act also requires that NMFS, upon 
receiving a fishery management plan or plan amendment, immediately 
publish notification in the Federal Register that the fishery 
management plan or plan amendment is available for public review and 
comment. NMFS will consider the public comments received during the 
comment period described above in determining whether to approve, 
disapprove, or partially approve the FMP. The FMP, if approved, would 
implement conservation and management measures necessary for management 
of highly migratory species fisheries off the States of California, 
Oregon, and Washington. The FMP would provide a foundation for future 
management actions that might be necessary as the international and 
U.S. fisheries change. In summary, the FMP would:
    1. Include in the management unit striped marlin, swordfish, common 
thresher shark, pelagic thresher shark, bigeye thresher shark, shortfin 
mako or bonito shark, blue shark, north Pacific albacore, yellowfin 
tuna, bigeye tuna, skipjack tuna, northern bluefin tuna, and dorado or 
dolphinfish, commonly referred to as mahi mahi in Hawaii;
    2. Adopt harvest guidelines for common thresher shark and shortfin 
mako shark to reduce the possibility of localized depletion;
    3. Require all commercial fishing vessels to have a permit to fish 
for HMS with an authorization for specific fishing gear;
    4. Require all recreational charter (including commercial passenger 
carrying fishing vessels or CPFV in California) vessels to have a 
permit to fish for HMS;
    5. Require all commercial and recreational charter vessels to 
maintain and submit logbooks to NMFS;
    6. Incorporate under Magnuson-Stevens Act authority regulations 
currently issued under the Endangered Species Act and state authorities 
to limit fishing by drift gillnet vessels, except for the State of 
California limited entry program and Federal regulations that limit 
fishing to protect marine mammals. California would maintain its 
limited entry program under state regulations, and Federal regulations 
governing marine mammals would remain in place under Marine Mammal 
Protection Act authority;
    7. Prohibit longline fishing in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) 
off the West Coast;
    8. Apply to West Coast-based longline fishing vessels, when fishing 
outside the EEZ and west of 150[deg] W. long., most of the restrictions 
that are currently applied to longline vessels fishing under the 
authority of longline limited entry permits issued pursuant to the 
Fishery Management Plan for the Pelagic Fisheries of the Western 
Pacific Region; and
    9. Allow West Coast-based longline fishing vessels to make shallow 
sets targeting swordfish when fishing east of 150[deg] W. long.
    Public comments on the FMP must be received by January 5, 2004, to 
be considered by NMFS in the decision to approve, disapprove or 
partially approve the FMP. NMFS expects to publish and request public 
comment on the proposed regulations to implement the FMP in the near 
future.

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

    Dated: October 31, 2003.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 03-27994 Filed 11-5-03; 8:45 am]
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