[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 45 (Monday, March 9, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 12394]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-05380]



[[Page 12394]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 635

RIN 0648-BA17


Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Large Coastal and Small 
Coastal Atlantic Shark Management Measures

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

ACTION: Notice of rescheduled public hearing.

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SUMMARY: On January 20, 2015, NMFS published a proposed rule with 
public hearing dates for Draft Amendment 6 to the 2006 Consolidated 
Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP). On 
February 25, 2015, NMFS announced that the public hearing in Manteo, 
NC, would be rescheduled due to inclement weather conditions expected 
for Manteo and surrounding areas. In this notice, NMFS announces the 
date and location for the rescheduled public hearing to provide 
opportunities for members of the public to comment on the management 
measures proposed in Draft Amendment 6.

DATES: The rescheduled public hearing will be held on March 18, 2015, 
from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Written comments will be accepted until April 3, 
2015.

ADDRESSES: The rescheduled public hearing will be held in Manteo, NC, 
at the Dare Country Administration Building, Commissioner's Meeting 
Room, 954 Marshall C. Collins Drive, Manteo, NC 27954.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: LeAnn Hogan, Gu[yacute] DuBeck, Alexis 
Jackson or Karyl Brewster-Geisz by phone: 301-427-8503, or by fax: 301-
713-1917.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Atlantic sharks are managed under the 
authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management 
Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), and the authority to issue regulations has 
been delegated from the Secretary to the Assistant Administrator (AA) 
for Fisheries, NOAA. On October 2, 2006, NMFS published in the Federal 
Register (71 FR 58058) final regulations, effective November 1, 2006, 
implementing the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP, which details management 
measures for Atlantic HMS fisheries. The implementing regulations for 
the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and its amendments are at 50 CFR part 
635.
    On January 20, 2015, NMFS published a proposed rule (80 FR 2648) 
for Draft Amendment 6 to the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP. Management 
measures in the proposed rulemaking are designed to respond to the 
problems facing Atlantic commercial shark fisheries, such as landings 
that exceed the commercial quotas, declining numbers of fishing permits 
since limited access was implemented, increasingly complex regulations, 
derby fishing conditions due to small quotas and short seasons, 
increasing numbers of regulatory discards, and declining market prices. 
The primary goal of Amendment 6 to the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP is to 
implement management measures for the Atlantic shark fisheries that 
will achieve the objectives of increasing management flexibility to 
adapt to the changing needs of the Atlantic shark fisheries, and 
achieve optimum yield while rebuilding overfished shark stocks and 
ending overfishing. Specifically, the rule proposes to: Adjust the 
large coastal sharks (LCS) retention limit for shark directed Limited 
Access Permit holders; create sub-regional quotas in the Atlantic and 
Gulf of Mexico regions for LCS and small coastal sharks (SCS); modify 
the LCS and SCS quota linkages; establish total allowable catches and 
adjust quotas for non-blacknose SCS in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico 
regions based on the results of the 2013 stock assessments for Atlantic 
sharpnose and bonnethead sharks; and modify upgrading restrictions for 
shark permit holders.
    On February 25, 2015, NMFS announced via listserv notice, an 
announcement on the HMS Management Division's Web page, and phone calls 
to known interested parties that the public hearing that was scheduled 
in Manteo, NC, on February 26, 2015, would be rescheduled due to 
inclement weather conditions expected for Manteo and surrounding areas 
at that time. The public hearing in Manteo, NC, has been rescheduled 
for March 18, 2015, to provide the opportunity for public comment on 
potential management measures (see ADDRESSES and DATES).
    The public is reminded that NMFS expects participants at the public 
hearings to conduct themselves appropriately. At the beginning of each 
public hearing, a representative of NMFS will explain the ground rules 
(e.g., alcohol is prohibited from the hearing room; attendees will be 
called to give their comments in the order in which they registered to 
speak; each attendee will have an equal amount of time to speak; and 
attendees should not interrupt one another). The NMFS representative 
will attempt to structure the meeting so that all attending members of 
the public will be able to comment, if they so choose, regardless of 
the controversial nature of the subject(s). Attendees are expected to 
respect the ground rules, and, if they do not, they may be asked to 
leave the hearing.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.; 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: March 4, 2015.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-05380 Filed 3-6-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P