[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 24 (Monday, February 6, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6039-6040]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-1585]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 013006A]


New England Fishery Management Council; Atlantic Sea Scallop; 
Scoping Process

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

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a supplemental environmental impact 
statement (SEIS) and notice of re-initiation of scoping process; 
request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) announces 
its intent to prepare an amendment to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery 
Management Plan (FMP) (Placopecten magellanicus (Gmelin)) and to 
prepare an SEIS to analyze the impacts of any proposed management 
measures. The Council is also formally re-initiating a public process 
to determine the scope of alternatives to be addressed in the amendment 
and SEIS. The purpose of this notification is to alert the interested 
public of the re-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 February 2006. For specific dates and times of the scoping 
meetings, see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. Written scoping comments must 
be received on or before 5 p.m., local time, March 6, 2006.

ADDRESSES: The Council will take scoping comments at public meetings in 
New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. For specific locations, 
see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
    Written comments should be submitted by any of the following 
methods:
     Mail: Paul J. Howard, Executive Director, New England 
Fishery Management Council, 50 Water Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 
01950. Mark the outside of the envelope, ``Scoping Comments on 
Amendment 11 to the Scallop FMP.''
     E-mail: [email protected]
     Fax: (978) 465-3116.
    Requests for copies of the scoping document and other information 
should be directed to Paul J. Howard, Executive Director, New England 
Fishery Management Council, 50 Water Street,

[[Page 6040]]

Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950, telephone (978) 465-0492. 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 U.S. Atlantic sea scallop fishery is managed as one stock 
complex along the east coast from Maine to Cape Hatteras, North 
Carolina. The Atlantic Sea Scallop FMP became effective on May 15, 
1982. The FMP has been amended a number of times since then. In 1994, 
Amendment 4 began a limited access program for the directed scallop 
fleet with day-at-sea (DAS) limits and other measures to manage the 
scallop resource more effectively. Limited access vessels were assigned 
to different DAS permit categories (full-time, part-time or occasional) 
according to their 1985-1990 fishing activity. A ``general category'' 
permit was created for vessels that did not qualify for limited access. 
These vessels could apply for a general category permit and land up to 
400 lb (181.4 kg) of scallops a day. At the time, this possession limit 
was deemed suitable and sufficient to accommodate scallop bycatch on 
long trips and sporadic small-scale scallop fishing near shore by non-
qualifying vessels. Until now, the Council has recommended that the 
general category permit remain open access, meaning any vessel can 
qualify for a permit. Since 1999, there has been considerable growth in 
fishing effort and landings by vessels with general category permits, 
primarily as a result of resource recovery and higher scallop prices. 
This additional effort has been a contributing factor to why the FMP 
has been exceeding the fishing mortality targets. Additional measures 
for the Atlantic Sea Scallop FMP are being considered for two reasons: 
To effectively manage the general category fishery to address capacity, 
and to change the scallop fishing year to allow better and more timely 
integration of updated science into the management process.

Measures Under Consideration

    The Council may consider a host of management measures to improve 
the effectiveness of general category management including, but not 
limited to, the following: Limited entry for the general category 
fleet; allocation of scallop resource to the general category fleet; 
restricting limited access scallop vessels from fishing under general 
category rules; use of output controls such as a hard total allowable 
catch (hard TAC) for the general category fleet; use of sectors and 
harvesting cooperatives (dedicated access privileges) for the general 
category fleet; and limits on the landings of incidental scallop catch. 
As for a change in the scallop fishing year, the amendment will 
consider a range of dates in addition to the status quo date of March 
1.
    It is possible that during the scoping process other issues will be 
raised related to the purpose of this amendment, and if appropriate, 
those issues will be considered by the Council as well.

Scoping Process

    All persons affected by or otherwise interested in scallop 
management are invited to participate in determining the scope and 
significance of issues to be analyzed by submitting written comments 
(see ADDRESSES) and/or by attending one of the scoping meetings. Scope 
consists of the range of actions, alternatives, and impacts to be 
considered. Alternatives include the following: not amending the 
management plan (taking no action), developing an amendment that 
contains management measures such as those discussed in this notice, or 
other reasonable courses of action. Impacts may be direct, indirect, or 
cumulative.
    This scoping process will also identify and eliminate from detailed 
analysis issues that are not relevant or feasible. When, after the 
scoping process is completed, the Council proceeds with the development 
of an amendment to the Scallop FMP, the Council will prepare an SEIS to 
analyze the impacts of the range of alternatives under consideration. 
The Council will hold public hearings to receive comments on the draft 
amendment and on the analysis of its impacts presented in the SEIS.

Scoping Hearing Schedule

    The Council will discuss and take scoping comments at the following 
public meetings:
    1. Tuesday, February 21, 7 p.m., Rutgers Cooperative Research & 
Extension, 4 Moore Road, Cape May, NJ 08210; telephone (609) 465-5115.
    2. Wednesday, February 22, 7 p.m., Urban Forestry Center, 45 Elwyn 
Road, Portsmouth, NH 03801; telephone (603) 431-6774.
    3. Thursday, February 23, 7 p.m., Hyannis Airport (Gourley 
Conference Room) , 480 Barnstable Road, Hyannis, MA 02601; telephone 
(508) 775-2020.

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 the meeting date.

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

    Dated: January 31, 2006.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E6-1585 Filed 2-3-06; 8:45 am]
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