[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 39 (Wednesday, February 27, 2008)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 10415-10417]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-3697]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 679

RIN 0648-AW06


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Groundfish 
Fisheries of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area

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: The North Pacific Fishery Management Council has submitted

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Amendment 89 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the 
Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (FMP) to establish 
Bering Sea habitat conservation measures. This amendment, if approved, 
would prohibit nonpelagic trawling in certain waters of the Bering Sea 
subarea to protect bottom habitat from the potential adverse effects of 
nonpelagic trawling. This amendment also would establish the Northern 
Bering Sea Research Area for studying the impacts of nonpelagic 
trawling on bottom habitat. This action is necessary to protect 
portions of the Bering Sea subarea bottom habitat from the potential 
adverse effects of nonpelagic trawling. This action is intended to 
promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act, the FMP, and other applicable laws. 
Comments from the public are welcome.

DATES: Written comments on the amendment must be received by 1700 
hours, A.l.t. on April 28, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Sue Salveson, Assistant Regional 
Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, 
Attn: Ellen Sebastian. You may submit comments, identified by 0648-
AW06, by any one of the following methods:
     Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov.
     Mail: P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802.
     Hand delivery: 709 West 9th Street, Room 420A, Juneau, AK.
     Fax: 907-586-7557.
    All comments received are a part of the public record and will 
generally be posted to http://www.regulations.gov without change. All 
Personal Identifying Information (e.g., name, address) voluntarily 
submitted by the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit 
Confidential Business Information or otherwise sensitive or protected 
information.
    NMFS will accept anonymous comments. Attachments to electronic 
comments will be accepted in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or 
Adobe portable document file (pdf) formats only.
    Copies of the FMP amendment, maps of the Bering Sea subarea 
nonpelagic trawl closure areas and Northern Bering Sea Research Area, 
and the Environmental Assessment/Regulatory Impact Review/Initial 
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (EA/RIR/IRFA) for this action may be 
obtained from the Alaska Region NMFS address above or from the Alaska 
Region NMFS website at http://www.fakr.noaa.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Melanie Brown, 907-586-7228 or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 
and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires that the North 
Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) submit any FMP 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 amendment, immediately publish a notice in the Federal 
Register that the amendment is available for public review and comment.
    If approved by NMFS, this amendment would revise the FMP by 
establishing areas closed to nonpelagic trawling in the Bering Sea 
subarea. In June 2007, the Council recommended certain portions of the 
Bering Sea subarea be closed to nonpelagic trawling to prevent the 
potential adverse effects of nonpelagic trawling on portions of bottom 
habitat of the Bering Sea subarea. These closed areas would include 
locations that have not been previously fished with nonpelagic trawl 
gear, nearshore bottom habitat areas that may support subsistence 
marine resources, and a research area that could be used for studying 
the potential impacts of nonpelagic trawling on bottom habitat. Maps of 
the four areas that would be closed to nonpelagic trawling and the 
research area are available from the Alaska Region NMFS website at 
http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/habitat/efh.htm. Each proposed closed area and 
the research area are described below.

Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area

    The Council recommended preventing expansion of the nonpelagic 
trawl fisheries into portions of the Bering Sea subarea not previously 
fished with nonpelagic trawl gear by limiting nonpelagic trawling to 
locations historically fished with nonpelagic trawl gear. Areas not 
historically fished with nonpelagic trawl gear include portions of the 
Bering Sea subarea located in the deep water basin southwest of the 
continental slope and in the northern portion of the subarea. The 
portion of the Bering Sea subarea historically fished with nonpelagic 
trawl gear is on the continental slope northeast of the deep water 
basin, not including existing trawl closures (such as the Pribilof 
Island Area Habitat Conservation Zone and the Chum and Chinook Salmon 
Savings Areas) and south of Nunivak and St. Matthew Islands. Several 
closures that cover the entire northern portion of the Bering Sea 
subarea also were recommended by the Council for this proposed 
amendment and are further explained below.
    The Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area (BSHCA) is designed to 
prevent expansion of the nonpelagic trawl fishery. The BSHCA would be 
located primarily in the deep waters of the Bering Sea subarea 
including statistical area 530 and portions of areas 518, 523, 533, and 
531. The BSHCA would cover 46,776 square nautical miles (nm\2\).

Nunivak Island, Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation 
Area

    The Council consulted with a working group of nonpelagic trawl 
fishing industry members and subsistence resources users to identify 
bottom habitat in the Bering Sea subarea that may support subsistence 
marine resources and to identify potential nonpelagic trawl fishery 
management measures. This group identified potential important bottom 
habitat in the Bering Sea subarea that may support subsistence marine 
resources and recommended locations to be closed to nonpelagic 
trawling. Based on this workgroup's recommendation, the Council 
recommended closing waters surrounding Nunivak Island, and within 
Etolin Strait and Kuskokwim Bay, to nonpelagic trawling. Amendment 89 
would establish this area as the Nunivak Island, Etolin Strait, and 
Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area. This habitat conservation area 
would cover 9,777 nm\2\.

St. Lawrence Island Habitat Conservation Area and St. Matthew Islands 
Habitat Conservation Area

    The Council recommended closing waters near St. Matthew and St. 
Lawrence Islands to nonpelagic trawling for the protection of blue king 
crab habitat and to protect bottom habitat areas near St. Lawrence 
Island that may support subsistence marine resources. Amendment 89 
would establish these areas as the St. Matthew Island Habitat 
Conservation Area and the St. Lawrence Island Habitat Conservation 
Area. These habitat conservation areas would cover 11,065 nm\2\.

Northern Bering Sea Research Area

    The Council also recommended establishing the Northern Bering Sea 
Research Area (NBSRA) to provide an opportunity to further understand 
the potential effects of nonpelagic trawling

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on Bering Sea subarea bottom habitat. This area would contain waters 
with little or no nonpelagic trawling in the northern portion of the 
Bering Sea subarea, including portions of statistical areas 514 and 
524, exclusive of the closure around St. Lawrence Island. This area 
would cover 65,859 nm\2\.
    The NBSRA would be closed to nonpelagic trawling to provide a 
control area to study the potential effects of nonpelagic trawling on 
bottom habitat. Nonpelagic trawling within the NBSRA would be allowed 
only within the scope of a nonpelagic trawling effects research plan. A 
research plan would be developed, in cooperation with the Alaska 
Fisheries Science Center, to address potential protection measures for 
species that may depend on bottom habitat, including king and snow 
crabs, marine mammals, and Endangered Species Act-listed species, and 
to address nearshore subsistence resources for Western Alaska 
communities. This research plan would be reviewed by the Council within 
24 months after the publication of the final rule implementing 
Amendment 89. Nonpelagic trawling in the NBSRA would be limited to 
fishing under an exempted fishing permit that would be consistent with 
the nonpelagic trawling research plan approved by the Council.
    NMFS is soliciting public comments on the proposed amendment 
through April 28, 2008. A proposed rule that would implement the 
amendment will be published in the Federal Register for public comment 
at a later date, following NMFS' evaluation under the Magnuson-Stevens 
Act procedures. Public comments on the proposed rule must be received 
by the end of the comment period on the amendment in order to be 
considered in the approval/disapproval decision on the amendment. All 
comments received on the amendment by the end of the comment period, 
whether specifically directed to the amendment or to the proposed rule, 
will be considered in the approval/disapproval decision. Comments 
received after that date will not be considered in the approval/
disapproval decision on the amendment. To be considered, comments must 
be received--not just postmarked or otherwise transmitted--by 1700 
hours, A.l.t. on the last day of the comment period.

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

    Dated: February 20, 2008.
Emily H. Menashes
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E8-3697 Filed 2-26-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S