[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 242 (Tuesday, December 17, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76285-76286]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-29852]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-BD77


Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; 
Snapper-Grouper Fishery Off the South Atlantic States; Regulatory 
Amendment 17

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

ACTION: Supplemental notice of intent (NOI) to prepare a draft 
environmental impact statement (DEIS).

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SUMMARY: NMFS, Southeast Region, in collaboration with the South 
Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council), is publishing this 
supplemental NOI to announce that scoping meetings for Regulatory 
Amendment 17 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper 
Fishery in the South Atlantic Region (Regulatory Amendment 17) will be 
postponed and

[[Page 76286]]

will be announced at a later date in the Federal Register.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rick DeVictor, Southeast Regional 
Office, telephone: 727-824-5305, or email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    An NOI to prepare a DEIS for Regulatory Amendment 17 was published 
in the Federal Register on December 4, 2013 (78 FR 72867) and requested 
public comment through January 3, 2014. The NOI announced that the 
Council will consider alternatives to modify existing marine protected 
areas (MPAs) implemented through Amendment 14 to the Fishery Management 
Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery in the South Atlantic Region (74 
FR 1621, January 13, 2009) and establish new MPAs within Regulatory 
Amendment 17. Through these proposed actions, the Council intends to 
further reduce bycatch mortality of speckled hind and warsaw grouper 
and increase protection to their deep-water habitat.
    In the NOI, NMFS announced scoping meeting dates, times, and 
locations that were scheduled to occur in January 2014. However, at its 
December 2013 meeting, the Council decided to continue development of 
Regulatory Amendment 17 but postpone the scoping meetings to a future 
date that is not yet known. The Council decided to delay the scoping 
meetings to allow the Council's Snapper-Grouper Advisory Panel to 
consider additional scientific information, such as the predicted 
effectiveness of the proposed MPAs and to provide MPA recommendations 
to the Council based on that information. In addition, the Council 
decided to hold public meetings on their snapper-grouper fishery 
visioning project before holding the Regulatory Amendment 17 scoping 
meetings. This would allow for an improved decision making process that 
incorporates the results of the Council's visioning project into the 
development of Regulatory Amendment 17. NMFS will announce, through a 
document published in the Federal Register, the exact dates, times, and 
locations of future scoping meetings for Regulatory Amendment 17.

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

    Dated: December 11, 2013.
Sean Corson,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-29852 Filed 12-16-13; 8:45 am]
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