[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 162 (Friday, August 21, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Page 50825]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-20798]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XD784


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Herring 
Fishery; Supplemental Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental 
Impact Statement; Scoping Process; Request for Comments

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

ACTION: Supplemental notice of intent (NOI) to prepare an environmental 
impact statement (EIS); request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council is in the process 
of preparing an environmental impact statement for Amendment 8 to the 
Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan. Amendment 8 would specify a 
long-term acceptable biological catch control rule for the herring 
fishery and consider alternatives for this control rule that explicitly 
account for herring's role in the ecosystem. The Council recently 
decided to expand the scope of Amendment 8 to include consideration of 
localized depletion in inshore waters. During this comment period, the 
Council is only seeking comments on the expanded scope of Amendment 8.

DATES: Written scoping comments must be received on or before 5 p.m., 
local time, September 30, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Written scoping comments may be sent by any of the following 
methods:
     Email to the following address: [email protected];
     Mail to Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director, New England 
Fishery Management Council, 50 Water Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 
01950; or
     Fax to (978) 465-3116.
     Please indicate ``Herring Amendment 8 Re-Scoping Comment'' 
on your correspondence.
    Requests for copies of the Amendment 8 scoping document and other 
information should be directed to Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director, 
New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water Street, Mill 2, 
Newburyport, MA 01950, telephone (978) 465-0492. The scoping document 
is accessible electronically via the Internet at http://www.nefmc.org.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director, 
New England Fishery Management Council, (978) 465-0492.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The purpose of this notification is to alert the interested public 
of the Council's intent to expand the scope of Amendment 8 to consider 
localized depletion in inshore waters. In general, localized depletion 
is when harvesting takes more fish than can be replaced either locally 
or through fish migrating into the catch area within a given time 
period. The Council will consider input from the interested public as 
to how to define, measure, evaluate impacts, and minimize inshore, 
localized depletion in the herring fishery as part of the scoping 
process and during the development of Amendment 8.
    Initially, the Council proposed Amendment 8 to further consider 
long-term harvest strategies for herring, including an allowable 
biological catch (ABC) control rule that addresses the biological needs 
of the herring resource and explicitly accounts for herring's role in 
the ecosystem. A detailed description of the background and need for 
Amendment 8 can be found in the original NOI dated February 26, 2015 
(80 FR 10458).
    At its June 2015 meeting, the Council reviewed scoping comments on 
Amendment 8 and considered goals and objectives for the amendment. The 
Council recommended the following goals for Amendment 8: (1) Account 
for the role of herring within the ecosystem, including its role as 
forage; (2) stabilize the fishery at a level designed to achieve 
optimum yield; and (3) address localized depletion in inshore waters. 
The Council also recommended that an objective for Amendment 8 be to 
develop and implement an ABC control rule that manages herring within 
an ecosystem context and addresses the goals of Amendment 8.

Public Comment

    Scoping consists of identifying the range of actions, alternatives, 
and impacts to be considered. During this comment period, the Council 
is only seeking comments on Amendment 8's consideration of localized 
depletion in inshore waters. All persons affected by or otherwise 
interested in herring management are encouraged to submit comments on 
the expanded scope of Amendment 8 by submitting written comments (see 
ADDRESSES) or by attending the supplemental scoping meeting for this 
amendment. The supplemental scoping meeting will be held during the 
afternoon of the Council's Herring Committee meeting on September 15, 
2015, at the Hilton Garden Inn, 100 Boardman Street, Boston, MA 02128, 
(617) 567-6789.
    After the scoping process is completed, the Council will continue 
development of Amendment 8 and preparation of an EIS to analyze the 
impacts of the range of alternatives under consideration. Impacts may 
be direct, individual, or cumulative. The public will also have the 
opportunity to comment during public meetings and public comment 
periods throughout the development of Amendment 8, consistent with the 
National Environmental Policy Act, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act.

Special Accommodations

    The meetings are accessible to people with physical disabilities. 
Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids 
should be directed to Thomas A. Nies (see ADDRESSES) at least five days 
prior to the meeting date.

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

    Dated: August 18, 2015.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-20798 Filed 8-20-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P