[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 230 (Wednesday, November 30, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74046-74048]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-30853]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XA849


Snapper-Grouper Fishery off the Southern Atlantic States; 
Amendments 18A, 18B, 18C, 20A, and 20B

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

ACTION: Supplemental Notice of intent (NOI) to prepare draft 
environmental impact statements (DEISs); request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) 
previously published a NOI for Amendment 18 to the Fishery Management 
Plan (FMP) for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region 
(Amendment 18), on January 28, 2009, which has subsequently been 
divided into five separate amendments to the FMP for the Snapper-
Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (Snapper-Grouper FMP). The 
new amendments to the Snapper-Grouper FMP are: Amendment 18A, which is 
supported by an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS); Amendment 18B, 
which is supported by an Environmental Assessment (EA); Amendment 18C, 
for which the specific National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 
document type (EIS or EA) has not yet been determined; Amendment 20A, 
which is supported by an EA; and Amendment 20B, for which the specific 
NEPA document has also not yet been determined. If Amendments 18C and 
20B to the Snapper-Grouper FMP subsequently require the development of 
DEISs, NOIs for those amendments will be published in the Federal 
Register at a later date.
    This supplemental NOI is intended to inform the public of the 
Council's decision to divide the actions in Amendment 18 into five 
separate amendments and subsequently prepare separate supporting NEPA 
documents for the new amendments. Comments are being solicited on each 
of the Amendments, regardless of the specific NEPA document being 
prepared.

DATES: Written comments on the scope of the issues to be addressed in 
these amendments will be accepted until December 30, 2011, at 5 p.m.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the supplemental NOI identified 
by NOAA-NMFS-2011-0242 by any of the following methods:
     Electronic submissions: Submit electronic comments via the 
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Kate Michie, Southeast Regional Office, NMFS, 263 
13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.
    Instructions: 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 (for example, name, 
address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly 
accessible. Do not submit Confidential Business Information or 
otherwise sensitive or protected information.
    To submit comments through the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov, click on ``submit a comment'', then enter ``NOAA-
NMFS-2011-0242'' in the keyword search and click on ``search''. To view 
posted comments during the comment period, enter ``NOAA-NMFS-2011-
0242'' in the keyword search and click on ``search''. NMFS will accept 
anonymous comments (enter N/A in the required field if you wish to 
remain anonymous). You may submit attachments to electronic comments in 
Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats only. 
Comments received through means not specified in this rule will not be 
considered. Electronic copies of the draft documents may be obtained 
from the Southeast Regional Office Web site at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sf/SASnapperGrouperHomepage.htm.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kate Michie, telephone: (727) 824-
5305, email: [email protected] or the South Atlantic Fishery 
Management Council, 4055 Faber Place Drive, Suite 201, North 
Charleston, SC 29405; telephone: (843) 571-4366; fax: (843) 769-4520; 
email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The snapper-grouper fishery of the South Atlantic region in the 
exclusive economic zone is managed under the Snapper-Grouper FMP. The 
Snapper-Grouper FMP was prepared by the Council and implemented by NMFS 
under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) by regulations at 50 CFR part 
622. Of the 98 species managed by the Council, 73 of these are included 
in the snapper-grouper management complex.
    A NOI for Amendment 18 was published on January 22, 2008 (73 FR 
3701), and contained a notice of consideration of developing a limited-
access privilege (LAP) program for the commercial snapper-grouper 
fishery in the South Atlantic. However, the Council has postponed 
consideration of a LAP program for the entire snapper-grouper fishery. 
A second NOI for Amendment 18 was published on April 7, 2008 (73 FR 
18782) to announce the development of an amendment to establish a 
rebuilding plan for the red snapper stock and various management 
measures to end its overfishing. The Council subsequently moved these 
management actions to Amendment 17A to the FMP (December 9, 2010, 75 FR 
76874).
    A third NOI for Amendment 18 was published on January 28, 2009 (74 
FR 4944) to inform the public of the preparation of a DEIS in support 
of the new Amendment 18 to the FMP, which at that time, contained 
actions to extend the management range of snapper-grouper north of the 
Council's current jurisdiction; designate essential fish habitat for 
snapper-grouper species in the extended management range (New England 
and Mid-Atlantic); change the

[[Page 74047]]

golden tilefish fishing year; separate the snowy grouper quota into 
regions; improve data reporting; limit participation and effort in the 
golden tilefish and black sea bass fisheries; establish state or 
regional Annual Catch Limits (ACLs) and Annual Catch Targets for the 
recreational harvest of gag; and modify the Individual Transfer Quota 
(ITQ) program for wreckfish.
    This supplemental NOI is intended to inform the public of the 
Council's decision to divide the actions in Amendment 18 into five 
separate amendments, not all of which require the development of DEISs, 
to reduce the number of actions contained in each amendment.

Amendment 18A

    The Council will prepare an EIS for Amendment 18A. The Council is 
concerned that increased harvest restrictions imposed through the 
implementation of Amendment 13C (September 21, 2006, 71 FR 55096) and 
Amendment 16 (July 29, 2009, 74 FR 30964) will increase the incentive 
to harvest black sea bass, for which the fishing seasons have 
progressively been shortened due to meeting the commercial and 
recreational ACLs early in the fishing season and subsequently 
implementing their respective accountability measures (AMs) to close 
those segments of the fishery. Currently, there is no limit to the 
number of pot tags issued to fishermen to harvest black sea bass or the 
number of pots that may be fished. The Council and NMFS are looking 
into how increasing or decreasing black sea bass fishing effort may 
affect migrating endangered right whales during the calving season of 
November 15 through April 15. Additionally, to avoid increases in 
effort that could lead to the continuation of early commercial quota 
closures, the Council is considering the implementation of a black sea 
bass pot endorsement program, a limitation on the number of pots on 
board a vessel to reduce fishing effort in the black sea bass pot 
component of the snapper-grouper fishery, and the implementation of 
bycatch mitigation measures for the pot component of the fishery.
    To further control effort in the black sea bass fishery and reduce 
the likelihood of protected species interactions, the Council is 
considering modifying or adding new management measures such as 
seasonal closures, trip limits, and size limits. Amendment 18A also 
includes actions to modify the recreational AMs for black sea bass, 
improve data reporting in the commercial sector and for-hire component 
of the snapper-grouper fishery, and actions to update management 
reference points for black sea bass. Additionally, Amendment 18A would 
update the current rebuilding strategy for black sea bass to take into 
account results from the most recent stock assessment (South East Data, 
Assessment, and Review, SEDAR 25). As part of the rebuilding strategy, 
Amendment 18A would modify current management reference points 
including sector ACLs, allowable biological catch, and optimum yield.

Amendment 18B

    Amendment 18B is being developed to address management actions for 
golden tilefish. Amendment 18B will consider possible effort shifting 
into the longline and hook-and-line components of the commercial sector 
for golden tilefish due to harvest restrictions on other snapper-
grouper species. Amendment 18B would also address potential 
modifications to the golden tilefish fishing year to ensure that the 
regulations for golden tilefish do not impact select fishermen 
disproportionately. Additionally, Amendment 18B would address the 
establishment of an endorsement program for the longline and hook-and-
line components of the golden tilefish commercial sector of the 
snapper-grouper fishery to control commercial fishing effort on golden 
tilefish. The actions in Amendment 18B are not likely to result in 
significant impacts on the human environment. Therefore an EA is being 
prepared to support the actions contained therein.

Amendment 18C

    Amendment 18C would contain actions to potentially extend the range 
of selected snapper-grouper species in the FMP northward into the mid-
Atlantic in order to better conserve and manage these species. The 
current regional jurisdictional boundaries between the South Atlantic 
and Mid-Atlantic fishery management councils would not be addressed in 
Amendment 18C for golden tilefish, black sea bass, and scup. 
Additionally, Amendment 18C would address the establishment of 
essential fish habitat for snapper-grouper species in the extended 
management area. At this time, the determination on whether either an 
EIS or EA will be prepared has not been made.

Amendment 20A

    In Amendment 20A the Council is considering reverting inactive 
wreckfish ITQ shares and redistributing those shares to active fishery 
participants. Amendment 20A would also consider actions to establish an 
ITQ share cap in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Act requirement 
to limit excessive share holdings by any one entity. The amendment 
would also include an appeals process by which participants may contest 
the wreckfish share redistribution.
    Amendment 20A was initially part of Amendment 20 to the FMP for the 
Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (Amendment 20), 
which was determined to require development a DEIS. Subsequent to that 
determination, the actions to revert and redistribute inactive 
wreckfish shares were separated out of Amendment 20 in order to prevent 
unnecessary economic impacts on the fishery caused by the combination 
of a pending reduction in ACL and a large percentage of inactive 
shares. The actions in Amendment 20A will not have significant impacts 
on the human environment. Therefore, an EA is being developed for 
Amendment 20A rather than a DEIS.

Amendment 20B

    Amendment 20B would address Magnuson-Stevens Act requirements 
associated with the wreckfish ITQ system. Amendment 20B would update 
and possibly modify various aspects of the current wreckfish ITQ system 
as needed in order to better manage the wreckfish commercial sector 
according the Magnuson-Stevens Act requirements for LAP programs such 
as cost recovery and overall efficiency. At this time, the 
determination on whether either an EIS or EA will be prepared has not 
been made.

Public Hearings, Times, and Locations

    Public hearings for Amendments 18A, 18B, and 20A were held in 
November 2011. Additional public hearings for these amendments may be 
held in the future. Exact dates, times, and locations will be announced 
by the Council. The public will be informed, via a notification in the 
Federal Register, of future scoping meetings and public hearings for 
Amendments 18C and 20B when they are scheduled to occur. The meetings 
will be physically accessible to people with disabilities. Requests for 
information packets or for sign language interpretation or other 
auxiliary equipment should be directed to the Council (see FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT).

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


[[Page 74048]]


    Dated: November 23, 2011.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-30853 Filed 11-29-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P