[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 2 (Wednesday, January 4, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 825-827]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-31864]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XF094


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Skate 
Complex Fishery; 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: Notice of intent to prepare a draft environmental impact 
statement and initiate scoping process; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council announces its 
intent to prepare, in cooperation with NMFS, a draft environmental 
impact statement consistent with the National Environmental Policy Act. 
A draft environmental impact statement may be necessary to provide 
analytic support for Amendment 5 to the Northeast Skate Complex Fishery 
Management Plan. This notice alerts the interested public of the 
scoping process for a potential draft environmental impact statement 
and outlines opportunity for public participation in that process.

DATES: Written and electronic scoping comments must be received on or 
before March 6, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Written scoping comments on Amendment 5 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.
    Requests for copies of the Amendment 5 scoping document and

[[Page 826]]

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 New England Fishery Management Council, working through its 
public participatory committee and meeting processes, anticipates the 
development of an amendment that may require an environmental impact 
statement (EIS) to meet applicable criteria in the Council on 
Environmental Quality regulations and guidance for implementing the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Amendment 5 will consider 
limited access to the skate (bait and non-bait) fishery.
    The Northeast Skate Complex is comprised of seven species 
(barndoor, clearnose, little, rosette, smooth, thorny, and winter 
skate), managed as a single unit along the east coast from Maine to 
Cape Hatteras, NC. The skate bait fishery primarily targets little 
skate, with a small component of winter skate catch. The non-bait 
fishery, including the wing fishery, primarily targets winter skate.
    Following the first skate stock assessment in 1999, the Northeast 
Skate Complex Fishery Management Plan was adopted in 2003. Amendment 3 
established an annual catch limit and annual catch target for the skate 
complex, total allowable landings for the skate bait and non-bait 
fisheries, seasonal quotas for the bait fishery, new possession limits, 
and in-season possession limit triggers.
    The skate fishery is an open access fishery--any vessel may join or 
leave the fishery at any time. Skate fishermen are concerned that 
increasingly strict regulations in other fisheries--particularly in the 
Northeast Multispecies (groundfish) fishery where several stocks are 
overfished and subject to strict catch restrictions--might cause these 
fishermen to switch their fishing effort onto skates. An increase in 
effort in the skate fishery could cause the fishery to harvest its 
catch limit in a shorter time period, trigger reduced skate trip 
limits, or have other negative economic impacts on current participants 
since developing skate markets could be negatively impacted by a flood 
of product.
    A control date for the bait fishery was established on July 30, 
2009 (74 FR 37977). A control date for the non-bait fishery was 
established on March 31, 2014 (79 FR 18002). The control dates may be 
used as a reference date for future management measures related to such 
rulemaking.
    The Council has initiated the development of this amendment to 
address three issues:
     Limited access qualification criteria that would determine 
whether vessels may target skate. These criteria may differ by stock or 
management area and may treat older history differently than newer 
history;
     Limited access permit conditions (transfers, ownership 
caps, `history' permits, etc.); and
     Permit categories and associated measures.
    The amendment's objective would be to establish qualification 
criteria for skate (bait and non-bait ``wing'') fishing permits and 
possibly different qualification criteria or catch limits for each 
fishery, considering how they operate differently. For example, in the 
wing fishery, it may be desirable to have different permit tiers that 
distinguish between skate vessels that currently target skate, 
historically targeted, and/or vessels that catch and land small 
quantities. Qualification criteria might include several factors such 
as, but not limited to, the time period vessels have participated in 
the fishery (possibly using the control dates established for this 
fishery), historic levels of landings, and dependency on the fishery.
    The Council may consider limiting access to the skate (bait and 
non-bait) fishery in a manner that may affect individual permit holder 
access to skates depending on the qualification criteria and other 
permit conditions developed. Based on individual fishing history, a 
vessel that has targeted skate may be distinguished differently from a 
vessel that caught and landed skates while fishing for other species. 
Landing limits for qualifiers and non-qualifiers could therefore be 
more consistent with the type of fishing that these vessels conduct in 
order to minimize discarding and economic effects. For example, the 
bait skate fishery currently requires a letter of authorization, but 
has substantially larger landing limits than the wing fishery. Some 
historic participants in the Northeast Skate Complex fisheries also may 
desire limited access privileges (a catch share program, for example).
    Following the scoping period, the Council and its Skate Committee 
will identify the specific goals and objectives of the amendment and 
develop alternatives to meet the purpose and need of the action. With 
input from its committees and the public, the Council would select a 
range of alternatives to implement limited access in the skate fishery.

Public Comment

    All persons affected by or otherwise interested in Northeast skate 
management are invited to comment on the scope and significance of 
issues to be analyzed by submitting written comments (see ADDRESSES) or 
by attending one of the six scoping meetings for this amendment. 
Scoping consists of identifying the range of actions, alternatives, and 
impacts to be considered. At this time in the process, the Council 
believes that the alternatives considered in Amendment 5 should include 
limited access to the skate fishery. After the scoping process is 
completed, the Council will begin development of Amendment 5 and, if 
necessary, will prepare a draft EIS to analyze the impacts of the range 
of alternatives under consideration. Impacts may be direct, individual, 
or cumulative.
    The Council will hold public hearings to receive comments on the 
draft amendment and on the analysis of its impacts presented in the 
draft EIS. In addition to soliciting comment on this notice, the public 
will have the opportunity to comment on the measures and alternatives 
being considered by the Council through public meetings and public 
comment periods consistent with NEPA, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act. 
Any amendment developed and approved by the Council would have to be 
approved and implemented by NMFS.
    The Council will take and discuss scoping comments on this 
amendment at the public meetings listed in Table 1.

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         Table 1--Amendment 5 Public Scoping Meeting Information
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         Meeting date and time                   Meeting location
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Portsmouth, NH, Tuesday, January 24,     Sheraton Harborside Hotel, 250
 2017, 5:00 p.m. (or immediately          Market Street, Portsmouth, NH
 following the Council Meeting).          03801 04101, Telephone: (603)
                                          431-2300.
Via Webinar, Tuesday, January 31, 2017,  Webinar Hearing, Register to
 6:00-8:00 p.m.                           participate: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/194149773 194149773, Call in info: Toll:
                                          +1 (646) 749-3122, Access
                                          Code: 194-149-773.
Buzzards Bay, MA, Tuesday, February 7,   Mass Maritime, 101 Academy
 2017, 6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.                Drive, Buzzards Bay, MA 02532,
                                          Telephone: (508) 830-5000.
Narragnasett, RI, Thursday, February 9,  Graduate School of
 2017, 6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.                Oceanography, Coastal
                                          Institute Building--Hazard
                                          Room, 215 S Ferry Rd,
                                          Narragansett, RI 02882,
                                          Telephone: (401) 874-6222.
Montauk, NY, Wednesday, February 15,     Montauk Playhouse Community
 2017, 6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.                Center Foundation, Inc., 240
                                          Edgemere St., Montauk, New
                                          York 11954, Telephone: (631)
                                          668-1124.
Cape May, NJ, Thursday, February 16,     Grand Hotel of Cape May, 1045
 2017, 6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.                Beach Avenue, Cape May, NJ
                                          08204, Telephone: (609) 884-
                                          5611.
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    A scoping document with additional background information is 
available on the Council's Web site at http://www.nefmc.org/management-plans/skates or may be obtained by contacting the Council. Additional 
information on the scoping meetings can be accessed online at http://www.nefmc.org/.

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 each meeting date.

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

    Dated: December 29, 2016.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-31864 Filed 1-3-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P