[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 157 (Wednesday, August 15, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45739-45740]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-16010]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XC01


Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; 
Snapper-Grouper Fishery off the South Atlantic States; Amendment 16

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

ACTION:  Notice of intent (NOI) to prepare a draft environmental impact 
statement (DEIS); notice of scoping meetings; request for comments.

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SUMMARY:  The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) 
intends to prepare a DEIS to assess the impacts on the natural and 
human environment of the management measures proposed in its draft 
Amendment 16 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper 
Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (FMP).

DATES:  Written comments on the scope of issues to be addressed in the 
DEIS will be accepted through September 14, 2007, at 5 p.m.

ADDRESSES:  Comments should be sent to Jack McGovern, NMFS, Southeast 
Regional Office, 263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701; 
phone: 727-824-5305; fax: 727-824-5308; e-mail: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Kim Iverson, Public Information 
Officer, South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council, 4055 Faber Place 
Drive, Suite 201, North Charleston, SC 29405; phone: 843-571-4966, toll 
free 1-866-SAFMC-10; fax: 843-769-4520; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The snapper-grouper fishery off the South 
Atlantic region in the economic exclusive zone is managed under the 
FMP. Following Council preparation, the FMP was approved and 
implemented by NMFS under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) in March of 
1983.
    A stock assessment for gag and an update of a 2003 stock assessment 
for vermilion snapper were completed through the Southeast Data, 
Assessment, and Review (SEDAR) process in 2007. The stock assessments 
were reviewed by the Council's Scientific and Statistical Committee at 
their June 2007 meeting and were determined to be based on the best 
available science. The stock assessments have revealed both species are 
experiencing overfishing conditions and gag is approaching an 
overfished condition. Model projections show the gag stock becoming 
overfished in 2007. Furthermore, the vermilion snapper stock assessment 
update indicates recent management measures implemented in 2006 (1.1. 
million lb (499,000 kg) quota and increase in recreational size limit 
to 12 inches (30 cm) total length) are not adequate to end overfishing.
    It is anticipated that the regulations designed to reduce fishing 
mortality developed in Amendment 16 will be in place by January 1, 
2009. By reducing fishing mortality beginning in 2009, the Council 
intends to end overfishing of vermilion snapper and gag and allow 
biomass of gag to increase to a level produced when fishing at a rate 
that would produce the optimum yield. Thus, the potential adverse 
biological, economic, and social impacts associated with further 
decline of these stocks would be avoided with implementation of these 
management measures.
    To prevent overfishing, the Magnuson-Stevens Act provides national 
standards that must be satisfied within the FMPs. The national 
standards require parameters, including maximum sustainable yield 
(MSY), optimum yield (OY), minimum stock size threshold (MSST), and 
maximum fishing mortality rate threshold (MFMT), which are used to 
avoid overfished and overfishing situations. Currently, static spawning 
potential ratio proxies are used to define MSY, OY, and MFMT. In 
Amendment 16, the Council intends to specify the required parameters 
for gag and vermilion snapper, based on results from recent SEDAR 
assessments.
    This NOI is intended to inform the public of the preparation of a 
DEIS in support of an amendment to the snapper-grouper FMP. The DEIS 
will specify the required parameters for gag and vermilion snapper, 
consider alternatives to establish a shallow-water grouper unit to 
minimize bycatch of shallow-water grouper species, and consider 
alternatives to end overfishing of gag and vermilion snapper.
    To end overfishing, the Council must reduce fishing mortality. The 
Council, at its September 2007 meeting, will consider various 
management measures that will end overfishing. Possible management 
measures the Council could consider include (but are not limited to): 
recreational and commercial catch limits; allocations; quotas; seasonal 
closures (both recreational and commercial); changes to recreational 
bag limits; and changes to size limits. Following publication of this 
NOI, the Council will conduct public scoping meetings to determine the 
range of issues to be addressed in the DEIS and the associated 
Amendment 16 at the following locations: (1) September 4, 2007, Hilton 
Wilmington Riverside, 301 North Water Street, Wilmington, NC 28401, 
phone: 910-763-5900; (2) September 4, 2007, Sombrero Cay Clubs, 19 
Sombrero Boulevard, Marathon, FL 33050, phone: 305-743-2250; (3) 
September 5, 2007, Sheraton Atlantic Beach, 2717 West Fort Macon Road, 
Atlantic Beach, NC 28512, phone: 252-240-1155; (4) September 6, 2007, 
Hampton Inn Daytona Speedway, 1715 West International Speedway 
Boulevard, Daytona Beach, FL 32114, phone: 386-257-4030; (5) September 
10, 2007, Holiday Inn Charleston Airport and Convention Center, 5624 
International Boulevard, North Charleston, SC 29418, phone: 843-576-
0300; and (6) September 17, 2007, Avista Resort, 300 North Ocean 
Boulevard, North Myrtle Beach, SC 29582, phone: 843-249-2521.
    All scoping meetings will start at 6 p.m. The meetings will be 
physically accessible to people with disabilities. Requests for 
information packets and for sign language interpretation or other 
auxiliary aids should be directed to the South Atlantic Fisheries 
Management Council, 4055 Faber Place Drive, Suite 201, North 
Charleston, SC 29405; phone: 843-571-4966, toll free 1-866-SAFMC-10; 
fax: 843-769-4520. Requests may also be sent by e-mail to 
[email protected].
    Following consideration of public comments, the Council plans to 
prepare the draft Snapper-Grouper Amendment

[[Page 45740]]

16/DEIS in November 2007. The Council and its Scientific and 
Statistical Committee will review the draft Snapper-Grouper Amendment 
16/DEIS at the December 2007 Council meeting. If the Council approves 
the document, public review will take place beginning in January 2008. 
A comment period on the DEIS is planned, which will include public 
hearings to receive comments. Availability of the DEIS, the dates of 
the public comment period, and information about the public hearings 
will be announced in the Federal Register and in local news media.

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

    Dated: August 10, 2007.
Emily Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E7-16010 Filed 8-14-07; 8:45 am]
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