[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 147 (Friday, July 31, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45641-45642]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-18736]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XE027


Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; 
Snapper-Grouper Fishery off the South Atlantic States; Amendment 37

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

ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an environmental impact 
statement (EIS); request for comments; notice of scoping meetings.

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SUMMARY: NMFS, Southeast Region, in collaboration with the South 
Atlantic Fishery Management Council (South Atlantic Council), intends 
to prepare an EIS to evaluate a range of alternative management actions 
in association with Amendment 37 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) 
for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (Amendment 
37). The purpose of this NOI is to solicit public comments on the scope 
of issues to be addressed in the EIS and to announce a scoping meeting.

DATES: The Council will discuss alternatives and take scoping comments 
at a public meeting held via webinar beginning at 6 p.m. on August 10, 
2015.
    Written comments on the scope of issues to be addressed in the EIS 
will be accepted until August 31, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Registration and technical information for the public 
scoping meeting held via webinar is found under the Scoping Meeting 
heading below.
    Written comments may be submitted on the NOI identified by ``NOAA-
NMFS-2015-0083'' by either of the following methods:
     Electronic submissions: Submit electronic comments via the 
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2015-0083, click the ``Comment Now!'' icon, 
complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.
     Mail: Submit written comments to Nikhil Mehta, NMFS 
Southeast Regional Office (SERO), 263 13th Avenue South, St. 
Petersburg, FL 33701.
    Instructions: Comments sent by any other method, to any other 
address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, 
may not be considered by NMFS. All comments received are a part of the 
public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on 
www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying 
information (e.g., name, address, etc.), confidential business 
information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily 
by the sender will be publicly accessible. NMFS will accept anonymous 
comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to remain 
anonymous).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nikhil Mehta, NMFS SERO, telephone: 
727-824-5305, or email: [email protected]. Kim Iverson, Public 
Information Officer, South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council, 4055 
Faber Place Drive, Suite 201, North Charleston, SC 29405; telephone: 
843-571-4376, or email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Currently, hogfish are managed under two 
FMPs. The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Gulf of Mexico 
Council) manages one hogfish stock in the FMP for the Reef Fish 
Resources of the Gulf of Mexico. The South Atlantic Council manages the 
other hogfish stock in the FMP for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the 
South Atlantic Region. In August 2014, the Florida Fish and Wildlife 
Conservation Commission completed a benchmark stock assessment for 
hogfish as part of the Southeast Data, Assessment, and Review (SEDAR) 
process (SEDAR 37). Amendment 37 responds to the August 2014 benchmark 
stock assessment of hogfish that defined three separate stocks in the 
South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, including one stock that is subject 
to overfishing and is overfished. Amendment 37 and the associated EIS 
consider new reference points, status determination criteria, catch 
levels, and management measures for the two new stocks in the South 
Atlantic, including a rebuilding plan for the stock that is overfished.
    In October 2014, the South Atlantic Council's Scientific and 
Statistical Committee (SSC) reviewed the stock assessment and provided 
recommended approaches for calculating fishing level recommendations, 
which the South Atlantic Council reviewed at their December 2014 
meeting. Based on genetic evidence used in the stock assessment, the 
SSC supported the assessment's approach of defining two separate 
hogfish stocks in the South Atlantic, one stock off Georgia and North 
Carolina (GA-NC) and one stock off the Florida Keys and eastern Florida 
(FLK/EFL), and a third stock in the eastern Gulf of Mexico off the west 
coast of Florida (WFL).
    The SSC determined that the stock assessment for the GA-NC stock 
does not represent the best scientific information available for 
determining stock status, i.e., whether the stock is subject to 
overfishing or is overfished, or for informing management decisions. 
Instead, they recommended that catch level recommendations for the GA-
NC hogfish stock be developed using the Only Reliable Catch Stocks 
(ORCS) approach set forth in Level 4 of the Council's acceptable 
biological catch (ABC) control rule. Using the ORCS approach, the ABC 
for the GA-NC stock recommended by the SSC is 28,161 pounds whole 
weight (lb ww).
    For the FLK/EFL stock, the SSC determined that the benchmark stock 
assessment represents the best scientific information available and 
recommended it for use in management decisions. The assessment results 
indicate the FLK/EFL stock is undergoing overfishing and is overfished.
    Amendment 37 and the associated EIS consider and evaluate a number 
of management actions responding to this new scientific information and 
the recommendations from the South Atlantic Council's SSC. The 
management actions include modifying the hogfish management unit from 
one stock to two separate stocks in the South Atlantic, and defining 
individual stock boundaries, including the boundary between the FLK/EFL 
stock managed by

[[Page 45642]]

the South Atlantic Council and the WFL stock managed by the Gulf of 
Mexico Council. These boundary demarcations will aid in enforcing 
regulations and in tracking the annual catch limits (ACLs) and annual 
catch targets (ACTs) for each stock.
    On February 17, 2015, NMFS notified the South Atlantic and Gulf of 
Mexico Councils that the FLK/EFL stock is overfished and undergoing 
overfishing, based on the results of the 2014 benchmark stock 
assessment. Within two years of such a notification, the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) 
requires an FMP amendment or proposed regulations be prepared and 
implemented to end overfishing immediately and to rebuild the affected 
stock. Therefore, Amendment 37 and the associated EIS also contain 
rebuilding plan alternatives to increase the biomass of the FLK/EFL 
stock to a sustainable level within a specified time period.
    Finally, for both the FLK/EFL and GA-NC stocks, Amendment 37 and 
the associated EIS also contain alternatives for management reference 
points (optimum yield and maximum sustainable yield), status 
determination criteria (overfishing limit and minimum stock size 
threshold), ACLs (including by sector), ACTs, accountability measures, 
and new or modified commercial and recreational minimum size limits, 
commercial trip limits, and recreational bag limits.
    In accordance with NOAA's Administrative Order 216-6, Section 
5.02(c), Scoping Process, NMFS, in collaboration with the South 
Atlantic Council, is conducting scoping to help identify significant 
environmental issues related to these proposed actions and 
alternatives. The public is invited to attend the scoping meeting (date 
and address below) and provide written comments on the actions and 
alternatives in the Amendment 37 scoping document. A copy of the 
Amendment 37 scoping document is available at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_fisheries/s_atl/sg/index.html. The 
preliminary actions and alternatives included in the scoping document 
may not represent the full range of actions and alternatives that will 
be considered and evaluated in Amendment 37 and the associated EIS. The 
South Atlantic Council will review scoping comments at their September 
meeting.
    After the draft EIS (DEIS) associated with Amendment 37 is 
completed, it will be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA). After filing, the EPA will publish a notice of availability of 
the DEIS for public comment in the Federal Register. NMFS will solicit 
public comment on the DEIS for 45 days pursuant to regulations issued 
by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) for implementing the 
procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 
40 CFR parts 1500-1508) and to NOAA's Administrative Order 216-6 
regarding NOAA's compliance with NEPA and the CEQ regulations.
    The South Atlantic Council and NMFS will consider public comments 
received on the DEIS in developing the final EIS (FEIS), and before the 
South Atlantic Council votes to submit Amendment 37 to NMFS for 
Secretarial review, approval, and implementation under the Magnuson-
Stevens Act. NMFS will announce in the Federal Register the 
availability of the final amendment and proposed implementing 
regulations for public review during the Magnuson-Stevens Act 
Secretarial review period. The EPA will announce the availability of 
the FEIS for public review. NMFS will consider all public comments 
received during the Secretarial review period, whether they are on the 
final amendment, the proposed regulations, or the FEIS, prior to final 
agency action.

Scoping Meeting

    The scoping meeting will be held via webinar on August 10, 2015. 
The scoping meeting will begin at 6 p.m. and will be accessible via the 
internet from the South Atlantic Council's Web site at www.safmc.net. 
Registration for the webinar is required. Registration information will 
be posted on the South Atlantic Council's Web site at www.safmc.net as 
it becomes available. Webinar registrants may test or confirm their 
computer setup for the webinar one hour prior to the meeting and 
contact Mike Collins at 843-763-1050 to address any questions regarding 
webinar setup.

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

    Dated: July 27, 2015.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-18736 Filed 7-30-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P