[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 36 (Tuesday, February 24, 2004)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 8367-8368]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-4018]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[I.D. 021104B]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Essential Fish 
Habitat (EFH) Components of Fishery Management Plans (FMPs) for 
Northeast Multispecies, Atlantic Sea Scallop, Monkfish, Herring, 
Skates, Atlantic Salmon and Red Crab Fisheries 5-year Review; Scoping 
Process

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

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a programmatic Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS); notice of initiation of scoping process; request for 
comments.

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SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) in 
cooperation with NMFS announces its intent to prepare a programmatic 
EIS and Omnibus Amendments to the FMPs for Northeast Multispecies, 
Atlantic Sea Scallop, Monkfish, Herring, Skates, Atlantic Salmon and 
Red Crab. The Amendments (Omnibus) will review the EFH components of 
all the Council's FMPs, identify and consider new Habitat Areas of 
Particular Concern (HAPCs), consider Dedicated Habitat Research Areas 
(DHRA), integrate alternatives to minimize any adverse effects of 
fishing on EFH for all species managed by the Council, and analyze the 
impacts of any proposed management measures. The Council is also 
formally initiating a public process to determine the scope of 
alternatives to be addressed in the Omnibus and EIS. The purpose of 
this notification is to alert the interested public of the 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 March 2004. For specific dates and times of the scoping 
meetings, see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. E-mail and written scoping 
comments must be received on or before 5 pm EST, April 30, 2004.

ADDRESSES: The Council will take scoping comments at public meetings in 
Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut and North Carolina. For specific 
locations, see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. The mailing address for 
submitting paper, disk, or CD-ROM comments and for requests for copies 
of the scoping document and other information is: Paul J. Howard, 
Executive Director, New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water 
Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950, telephone (978) 465-0492. 
Written comments should be marked ``Comments on Omnibus EFH 
Amendment''. Comments may also be sent via facsimile (fax) to (978) 
465-3116. Comments on this notice of intent may be submitted by e-mail. 
The mailbox address for providing e-mail comments is 
[email protected]. For e-mail comments ``Comments on Omnibus EFH 
Amendment'' should be used in the subject line. The scoping document is 
accessible electronically via the Internet at http://www.nefmc.org.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976, since renamed 
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-
Stevens Act), established eight Regional Fishery Management Councils 
(Councils) that manage the living marine resources within the U.S. 
Exclusive Economic Zone (between 3 and 200 nautical miles offshore) . 
The 18-member New England Fishery Management Council's authority 
extends from Maine to Connecticut and, in some cases, to the Mid-
Atlantic because of the range of the managed species. The 1996 
amendments to the Magnuson-Stevens Act, known as the Sustainable 
Fisheries Act (SFA), changed the focus of the Magnuson-Stevens Act by 
emphasizing the importance of habitat protection to healthy fisheries 
and by strengthening the ability of NMFS and the Councils to better 
protect, conserve, and enhance the habitat for all species managed by 
the Council. This habitat is termed EFH, and is broadly defined to 
include ``those waters and substrate necessary to fish for spawning, 
breeding, feeding, or growth to maturity.''
    The Council's Omnibus EFH Amendment of 1998 recognized that all 
species are dependent on the quantity and quality of their habitat and, 
accordingly, the Council approved a policy to promote and encourage the 
conservation, restoration, and enhancement of the habitat upon which 
living marine resources depend. This policy is supported by four policy 
objectives, which are to:
    1. Maintain and enhance the current quantity and quality of 
habitats supporting harvested species, including their prey base;
    2. Restore and rehabilitate fish habitats that have already been 
degraded;
    3. Create and develop fish habitats where increased availability of 
fishery resources will benefit society; and
    4. Modify fishing methods and create incentives to reduce the 
impacts on habitat associated with fishing.
    These objectives are based on ensuring the sustainability of 
harvested species and optimizing the societal benefits of our marine 
resources. The Council assumed an active role in the protection and 
enhancement of habitats important to marine and anadromous fish. In 
support of the Council's habitat policy, the management objectives of 
the Omnibus EFH Amendment of 1998 were:
    1. To the maximum extent possible, to identify and describe all EFH 
for those species of finfish and mollusks managed by the Council;
    2. To identify all major threats (fishing and non-fishing related) 
to the EFH of those species managed by the Council; and
    3. To identify existing and potential mechanisms to protect, 
conserve and enhance the EFH of those species managed by the Council, 
to the extent practicable.
    The purpose of the Omnibus EFH Amendment of 1998 was to identify 
and describe the EFH for all species managed by the Council to better 
protect, conserve, and enhance this habitat. This was done through the 
following FMP amendments: Northeast Multispecies (Amendment 11), 
Atlantic Sea Scallops (Amendment 9), Atlantic Salmon (Amendment 1), and 
Atlantic Herring (added to FMP later). The 1998 Omnibus EFH Amendment 
also identified the major threats to EFH from both fishing and non-
fishing related activities, as well as conservation and

[[Page 8368]]

enhancement measures. The Council began implementation of the SFA's EFH 
requirements based on guidance provided by NMFS on interpreting the 
mandate and timelines. Amendments to the FMPs managed by the Council 
were initiated in 1998 and combined in one management action that was 
termed the ``Habitat Omnibus Amendment of 1998.'' A Notice of Intent to 
prepare an EIS to implement the EFH requirements of the SFA and request 
for scoping was issued February 25, 1998 (63 FR 9500), with comments 
due no later than March 23, 1998. A public hearing document was 
reviewed at hearings held in July 1998, and public comments were 
accepted until July 31, 1998. As a result of the environmental review 
process, the Council concluded that this action would not have a 
significant effect on the human environment and, therefore, an 
Environmental Assessment was prepared rather than an Environmental 
Impact Statement. The Council approved the final EFH FMP amendments in 
September 1998 and the Omnibus Amendment and analytical documents were 
submitted to NMFS on October 7, 1998. The Environmental Assessment 
prepared for the Omnibus Amendment described the background, purpose, 
and need for the action, the management action alternatives, and the 
environmental, social, and economic impacts of the alternatives. This 
environmental review process led NMFS to conclude that a ``Finding of 
No Significant Impact'' for the Omnibus Amendment was appropriate. The 
Amendments to the FMPs were approved by the Acting Assistant 
Administrator for Fisheries, acting on behalf of the Secretary of 
Commerce, on March 3, 1999, and announced in the Federal Register on 
April 21, 1999 (64 FR 19503).

Purpose (Goals and Objectives)

    The primary goals of this action are:
    1. To meet the requirements of NMFS' guidelines for implementation 
of the Magnuson-Stevens Act's EFH. As stated in 67 FR 2343 (01/17/02) 
and pertaining to Sec.  600.815(a)(10): ``Councils and NMFS should 
periodically review the EFH provisions as warranted based on available 
information. FMPs should outline the procedures the Council will follow 
to review and update EFH information. The review of information should 
include, but not be limited to, evaluating published scientific 
literature and unpublished scientific reports; soliciting information 
from interested parties and searching for previously unavailable or 
inaccessible data. Councils should report on their review of EFH 
information as part of the annual Stock Assessment and Fishery 
Evaluation (SAFE) report prepared pursuant to Sec.  600.315(e). A 
complete review of all EFH information should be conducted as 
recommended by the Secretary, but at least once every 5 
years.
    2. To develop a comprehensive EFH Management Plan that will 
minimize adverse effects of fishing on EFH to the extent practicable, 
through actions that will apply to all Council-managed FMPs.

Issues Under Consideration

    At this time, the Council is seeking comments on a wide range of 
management measures related to the EFH component of its FMPs and will 
consider addressing a range of issues. (See Sec.  600.815 for further 
details on the EFH-related mandatory contents of FMPs.) The measures 
under consideration include, but are not limited to, the following:
    1. Review and update the description and identification of EFH;
    2. Review and develop analytical tools used to analyze alternatives 
to minimize adverse effects of fishing on EFH to the extent 
practicable;
    3. Review and update the non-Magnuson-Stevens Act fishing 
activities that may adversely affect EFH;
    4. Review and update the non-fishing related activities that may 
adversely affect EFH;
    5. Review and update the cumulative impact analysis;
    6. Review and update the conservation and enhancement 
recommendations;
    7. Review and update the prey species information;
    8. Identify and consider new HAPCs;
    9. Review and update research and information needs including the 
consideration of DHRAs;
    10. Integrate alternatives to minimize any adverse effects of 
fishing on EFH across all FMPs principally managed by the Council by 
developing a comprehensive EFH Management Plan.
    The Council will issue two Requests for Proposals (RFPs) soliciting 
applications for HAPC and DHRA candidates at the appropriate time 
during development of the Omnibus Amendment. These RFPs will likely be 
issued approximately 9-12 months after scoping is initiated so that 
consideration of HAPC and DHRA proposals is based on current and 
revised EFH designation approaches.

Scoping Hearings

    The Council will discuss and take scoping comments at public 
meetings as follows:
    Friday, March 5, 2004, at noon - Samoset Resort, 220 Warrenton 
Street, Rockport, ME 04846; telephone: (207) 549-2511; fax: (207) 594-
0722;
    Wednesday, March 10, 2004, at 7 p.m. - Whaling Museum, 18 Johnny 
Cake Hill, New Bedford, MA 02740; telephone: (508) 997-0046; fax: (508) 
997-0018;
    Monday, March 15, 2004, at 7 p.m. - Stonington Office of Public 
Safety, 173 S. Broad St. (Route 1), Stonington, CT 06378; telephone: 
(860) 599-7510; fax: (860) 599-7533;
    Tuesday, March 16, 2004, at 6:30 p.m. - Shell Island Suites, 2700 
North Lumina Avenue, Wrightsville Beach, NC 28480; telephone: (910) 
256-8696; fax: (910) 256-0154;
    Tuesday, March 23, 2004, at 6 p.m. - Tavern on the Harbor, 30 
Western Avenue, Gloucester, MA 01930; telephone: (978) 283-4200; fax: 
(978) 283-0204.

Special Accommodations

    These 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: February 18, 2004.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 04-4018 Filed 2-23-04; 8:45 am]
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