[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 34 (Tuesday, February 21, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Page 8846]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-2411]



[[Page 8846]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 021306D]


Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; 
Western Pacific Crustacean Fisheries; 2006 Harvest Guideline

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

ACTION: Notification of harvest guideline for crustaceans.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the annual harvest guideline for the 
commercial lobster fishery in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) 
for calendar year 2006 is established at zero lobsters.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Harman, NMFS Pacific Islands 
Regional Office, at (808) 944-2207.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the regulations implementing the 
Fishery Management Plan for Crustacean Fisheries of the Western Pacific 
Region (Crustaceans FMP) at 50 CFR 660.50(b)(2), every year NMFS is 
required to publish a harvest guideline for lobster Permit Area 1, 
which encompasses the Exclusive Economic Zone around the NWHI.
    The fishery has been closed since 2000 for several reasons, 
including: (a) as a precautionary measure to prevent overfishing of the 
lobster resources while NMFS conducts biological research and 
assessment on the lobster stocks; (b) to comply with an order of the 
U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii to keep the NWHI 
commercial lobster fishery closed until an environmental impact 
statement and a biological opinion have been prepared for the 
Crustaceans FMP; and (c) to be consistent with the NWHI Coral Reef 
Ecosystem Reserve, and the current process of designating certain 
waters of the NWHI as a national marine sanctuary.
    NMFS announces the harvest guideline for the NWHI commercial 
lobster fishery for calendar year 2006 is established as zero lobsters, 
and no harvest of NWHI lobster resources is allowed. NMFS intends to 
continue to study and assess the status of the lobster populations in 
the NWHI and examine the resulting information to determine the 
appropriate direction for future fishery management actions.

    Dated: February 14, 2006.
James P. Burgess,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E6-2411 Filed 2-17-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S