[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 142 (Monday, July 26, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44512-44513]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-16960]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 072004B]


Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; 
Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Resources of the 
Gulf of Mexico; Red Snapper; Scoping Hearings

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

ACTION: Notice of scoping hearings; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) will 
hold 10 hearings on a scoping document to solicit public input on the 
alternative that should be used for an amendment that will create an 
individual fishing quota (IFQ) program for the commercial red snapper 
fishery.

DATES: The meetings will be held in August 2004. See SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION for specific dates, times, and locations.
    Public comments received by mail or e-mail that are received in the 
Council office by 5 p.m., September 3, 2004, will be presented to the 
Council.

ADDRESSES: See Supplementary Information section for hearing addresses.
    Written comments on, and requests for, the scoping document should 
be addressed to the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, 3018 
U.S. Highway 301, North, Suite 1000, Tampa, FL 33619; telephone: (813) 
228-2815. Comments may be sent by e-mail to 
[email protected]. A copy of the scoping document can also be 
obtained from the Council's web page: http://www.gulfcouncil.org.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wayne Swingle, Executive Director, 
Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council; telephone: (813) 228-2815.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Council will hold 10 hearings on a 
scoping document to solicit public input on the alternative that should 
be used for an amendment that will create an individual fishing quota 
(IFQ) program for the commercial red snapper fishery. The scoping 
document presented at the hearings will consist of the following two 
parts: the first part includes a section on vessel monitoring systems 
(VMS) with alternatives for requiring (or not requiring) participants 
in the red snapper IFQ program to have VMS to enhance the 
enforceability of the IFQ program, the second and principal part of the 
scoping document is an IFQ profile which contains numerous alternatives 
for structuring the IFQ program. The Council is soliciting public 
comment on alternatives that it should consider in developing the IFQ 
program. Persons with commercial reef fish licenses will be mailed a 
copy of the scoping document.

Scoping Hearings

    The scoping hearings will be held at the following locations and 
dates beginning at 7 p.m. and concluding no later than 10 p.m.:
    1. Wednesday, August 11, 2004, Harrah's Lake Charles Casino Hotel, 
505 North Lakeshore Drive, Lake Charles, LA 70601; telephone: 337-437-
1546;
    2. Thursday, August 12, 2004, Holiday Inn Houma, 210 South 
Hollywood Road, Houma, LA 70360; telephone: 877-800-9383;
    3. Friday, August 13, 2004, New Orleans Airport Hilton, 901 Airline 
Drive, Kenner, LA 70062; telephone: 504-469-5000;
    4. Monday, August 16, 2004, Holiday Inn Emerald Beach, 1102 South 
Shoreline Boulevard, Corpus Christi, TX 78401; telephone: 361-883-5731;
    5. Tuesday, August 17, 2004, Palacios Recreation Center, 2401 
Perryman,

[[Page 44513]]

Palacios, TX 77465; telephone: 361-972-2387;
    6. Wednesday, August 18, 2004, San Luis Resort, 5222 Seawall 
Boulevard, Galveston Island, TX 77551; telephone: 409-740-8616;
    7. Monday, August 23, 2004, MS Department of Marine Resources, 1141 
Bayview Drive, Biloxi, MS 39530; telephone: 228-374-5000;
    8. Tuesday, August 24, 2004, Perdido Beach Resort, 27200 Perdido 
Beach Boulevard, Orange Beach, AL 36561; telephone: 251-981-9811;
    9. Monday, August 30, 2004, National Marine Fisheries Service, 3500 
Delwood Beach Road, Panama City, FL 32408; telephone: 850-234-6541; and
    10. The time, date, and location of this meeting will be published 
in the Federal Register.
    These meetings are physically accessible to people with 
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other 
auxiliary aids should be directed to Dawn Aring at the Council (see 
ADDRESSES) by July 28, 2004.

    Dated: July 20, 2004.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 04-16960 Filed 7-23-04; 8:45 am]
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