[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 111 (Friday, June 9, 2006)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 33432-33433]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-9027]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[I.D. 060606A]
RIN 0648-AU12


Fisheries Off West Coast States; Notice of Availability of 
Amendment 18 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Management Plan

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

ACTION: Availability of an amendment to a fishery management plan; 
request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Pacific Fishery Management Council 
(Council) has submitted Amendment 18 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish 
Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Secretarial review. Amendment 18 
would modify the FMP to implement a bycatch minimization program for 
the Pacific coast groundfish fisheries. Amendment 18 is intended to 
respond to court orders in to establish a bycatch minimization program 
in the FMP.

DATES: Comments on Amendment 18 must be received on or before August 8, 
2006.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by I.D number 060606A by 
any of the following methods:
     E-mail: [email protected]. Include the I.D. number 
in the subject line of the message.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Fax: 206-526-6736, Attn: Yvonne deReynier.
     Mail: D. Robert Lohn, Administrator, Northwest Region, 
NMFS, Attn: Yvonne deReynier, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 
98115-0070.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Yvonne deReynier (Northwest Region, 
NMFS), phone: 206-526-6129; fax: 206-526-6736; and e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Electronic Access: This Federal Register 
document is also accessible via the internet at the website of the 
Office of the Federal Register: http://www.access.gpo.gov/su-docs/aces/aces140.html.
    The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
(Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires that each regional fishery management 
council submit any FMP or plan amendment it prepares to NMFS for review 
and approval, disapproval, or partial approval. The Magnuson-Stevens 
Act also requires that NMFS, upon receiving an FMP or amendment, 
immediately publish a notice that the FMP or 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 Amendment 18 to the FMP.
    Amendment 18 would modify the FMP to implement a bycatch 
minimization program. Over the past several years, the Council and NMFS 
have managed the groundfish fisheries with a broad suite of bycatch 
minimization policies that would be formally organized and brought into 
the FMP through Amendment 18. This FMP amendment would also set the 
Council's future plans for bycatch minimization programs into the FMP 
to provide comprehensive direction for its current and future bycatch 
minimization efforts in Pacific Coast groundfish fishery management. 
Amendment 18 is intended to respond to court orders in Pacific Marine 
Conservation Council v. Evans, 200 F.Supp.2d 1194 (N.D. Calif. 2002) to 
establish a bycatch minimization program in the FMP. NMFS has 
previously complied with the court's orders from this same case under 
Amendment 16-1 to the FMP, in which it established a standardized 
bycatch reporting methodology as a required element of the FMP. 
Regulations to implement Amendment 18 would, among other measures: 
require species co-occurrence ratios to be used in setting trip limits 
and other management measures; authorize the use of area closures as 
routine management measures to protect all species, not just overfished 
species; and, require vessels that participate in open access 
groundfish fisheries to carry observers when directed by NMFS.
    NMFS welcomes comments on the proposed FMP amendment through the 
end of the comment period. A proposed rule to implement Amendment 18 
has been submitted for Secretarial review and approval. NMFS expects to 
publish and request public review and comment on proposed regulations 
to implement Amendment 18 in the near future. Public comments on the 
proposed rule

[[Page 33433]]

must be received by the end of the comment period on the amendment to 
be considered in the approval/disapproval decision on the amendment. 
All comments received by the end of the comment period for the 
amendment, whether specifically directed to the amendment or the 
proposed rule, will be considered in the approval/disapproval decision.

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

    Dated: June 6, 2006.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E6-9027 Filed 6-8-06; 8:45 am]
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