[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 94 (Friday, May 15, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27897-27898]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-11759]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC); Fisheries of the 
Northeastern United States; Public Meetings

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

ACTION: Notice of public scoping meetings.

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SUMMARY: The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will hold five 
scoping hearings in June 2015 related to blueline tilefish management. 
The Council is considering developing a fishery management plan (FMP) 
for blueline tilefish and/or other deepwater species, or adding 
blueline tilefish to the existing golden tilefish FMP. There will also 
be a separate written comment period for Amendment scoping, which will 
be described in an upcoming Federal Register announcement as a ``Notice 
of Intent (NOI)'' to potentially develop an EIS that accompanies the 
Amendment. That NOI will also contain information regarding these 
scoping hearings, but to provide the public with sufficient advance 
notice of the hearings, this notice is being published now since the 
NOI will likely publish shortly before these hearings.

DATES: The meetings will be held over several weeks between June 1, 
2015 and June 18, 2015 as described in SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION below.

ADDRESSES: See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for locations.
    Council address: Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 800 N. 
State St., Suite 201, Dover, DE 19901; telephone: (302) 674-2331.
    Comments: Comments will be taken at all scoping hearings. A 
separate Federal Register announcement will be

[[Page 27898]]

published soon that provides additional information on how to make 
written comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christopher M. Moore, Ph.D., Executive 
Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council; telephone: (302) 
526-5255. The Council's Web site, www.mafmc.org (see ``Upcoming 
Events'') also has details on the meeting locations and background 
materials. A scoping informational document and presentation recording 
will be posted to http://www.mafmc.org/actions/blueline-tilefish no 
later than May 26, 2015.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: There will be five scoping meetings with the 
following dates/times/locations:
    1. Monday, June 1, 2015, 6 p.m., Hyatt Place Long Island/East End, 
451 E. Main St., Riverhead, NY 11901; telephone: (631) 208-0002.
    2. Tuesday, June 2, 2015, 6 p.m., Congress Hall Hotel, 251 Beach 
Ave., Cape May, NJ 08204; telephone: (888) 944-1816.
    3. Tuesday, June 16, 2015, 6 p.m., Dare County Administration 
Building, Commissioners Meeting Room, 954 Marshall C. Collins Drive, 
Manteo, NC 27954; telephone: (252) 475-5700.
    4. Wednesday, June 17, 2015, 6 p.m., Hilton Virginia Beach 
Oceanfront, 3001 Atlantic Ave., Virginia Beach, VA 23451; telephone: 
(757) 213-3000.
    5. Thursday, June 18, 2015, 5 p.m., Ocean City Chamber of Commerce, 
Eunice Q. Sorin Visitor & Conference Center, 12320 Ocean Gateway, Ocean 
City, MD 21842; telephone: (410) 213-0552.
    The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) manages 
blueline tilefish south of Virginia, but there is currently (as of May 
11, 2015) no management of blueline tilefish in Federal waters north of 
North Carolina. Virginia and Maryland have instituted regulations for 
state waters, but catches in any Federal waters north of North Carolina 
may be landed from Delaware north without restriction. Blueline 
tilefish are susceptible to overfishing due to their biology 
(relatively long-lived, sedentary, slow growing, and late maturing) so 
the Council is considering developing management measures. These 
potential measures could be considered via an amendment to the 
Council's golden tilefish FMP, or a new FMP for blueline tilefish and/
or other deep-water fish such as sand tilefish, snowy grouper, and 
black-bellied rosefish. Management measures could include a definition 
of the management unit, as well as acceptable biological catches, 
annual catch limits, trip limits, essential fish habitat, etc.
    For waters north of North Carolina, in response to recent catch 
increases the Council has already requested that NMFS take emergency 
action to implement a 300 pound (whole weight) commercial trip limit 
and a seven fish per-person recreational possession limit. This request 
was the result of a February 25, 2015 Council Meeting, the details of 
which may be found at: http://www.mafmc.org/briefing/2015/february-2014-blueline-tilefish-webinar-meeting. These emergency measures are 
intended to prevent depletion of blueline tilefish off the Mid-Atlantic 
on an interim basis (for a maximum of 360 days) while the Council 
develops long-term management measures through the normal rulemaking 
process. NMFS has not decided whether and/or how to respond to the 
Council's request.
    Through the SAFMC's Amendment 32 (http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_fisheries/s_atl/sg/2014/am32/), NMFS implemented a 112 
pound (whole weight) commercial trip limit and a one fish per boat per 
trip recreational trip limit (with a limited season) for the South 
Atlantic management unit that extends to waters off the North Carolina/
Virginia border. The SAFMC has also requested that the Amendment 32 
limits be extended north for all Federal waters off the U.S. East Coast 
via an emergency rule. The outcome of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery 
Management Council's and SAFMC's emergency requests was not known at 
the time this notice was submitted. However, because any emergency rule 
can only be in effect for a maximum of 360 days, the Council is moving 
ahead with scoping for an amendment to develop long-term management and 
conservation measures for blueline tilefish off the Mid-Atlantic 
through the normal rule-making process.
    This is the first and best opportunity for members of the public to 
raise concerns related to the scope of issues that will be considered 
in the Amendment. The Council needs your input both to identify 
management issues and develop effective alternatives. Your comments 
early in the amendment development process will help us address issues 
of public concern in a thorough and appropriate manner. Comment topics 
could include the scope of issues in the amendment, concerns and 
potential alternatives related to blueline tilefish management, and the 
appropriate level of environmental analysis. Comments can be made 
during the scoping hearings as detailed above or in writing once the 
official NOI publishes. After scoping, the Council plans to develop a 
range of management alternatives to be considered and prepare a draft 
Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and/or other appropriate 
environmental analyses. These analyses will consider the impacts of the 
management alternatives being considered. Following a review of any 
comments on the draft analyses, the Council will then choose preferred 
management measures for submission with a Final EIS or Environmental 
Assessment to the Secretary of Commerce for publishing of a proposed 
and then final rule, both of which have additional comment periods.

Special Accommodations

    These meetings are physically accessible to people with 
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other 
auxiliary aid should be directed to M. Jan Saunders, (302) 526-5251, at 
least 5 days prior to the meeting date.

    Dated: May 12, 2015.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-11759 Filed 5-14-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P