[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 33 (Tuesday, February 19, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4796-4797]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-02697]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XG723
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Mackerel,
Squid, and Butterfish Fisheries; Scoping Process
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement
(EIS); notice of initiation of scoping process; notice of public
scoping meetings; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council announces its
intent to prepare, in cooperation with NMFS, an amendment to the
Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan. An
environmental impact statement may be necessary for the amendment to
analyze the impacts of potential management measures in accordance with
the National Environmental Policy Act. The Council has initiated this
amendment to review and consider modifications to both the permitting
system for Illex squid and the fishery management plan goals and
objectives. This notice announces a public process for determining the
scope of issues to be addressed, and for identifying the significant
issues related to this action. This notice alerts the interested public
of the scoping process, the potential development of a draft
environmental impact statement, and to provide for public participation
in that process.
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before 11:59 p.m., EST,
on April 12, 2019. Public scoping meetings will be held during this
comment period. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for dates, times, and
locations.
ADDRESSES: Written comments may be sent by any of the following
methods:
Email to the following address:
[email protected]. Include ``Illex Permits and FMP
Goals Amendment Scoping Comments'' in the subject line;
Mail or hand deliver to Dr. Christopher M. Moore,
Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 800 North
State Street, Suite 201, Dover, Delaware 19901. Mark the outside of the
envelope ``Illex Permits and FMP Goals Amendment Scoping Comments''; or
Fax to (302) 674-5399.
Comments may also be provided at the April 2019 Council meeting.
See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for the meeting date, time, and location.
The scoping document may be obtained from the Mid-Atlantic Fishery
Management Council office at the previously provided address, by
request to the Council by telephone (302) 674-2331, or at http://www.mafmc.org/msb/ msb/.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Christopher M. Moore, Mid-Atlantic
Fishery Management Council, 800 North State Street, Suite 201, Dover,
DE 19901; telephone (302) 674-2331.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Council initiated this action to review and consider
modifications to both the permitting system for Illex squid and the
goals and objectives of the entire Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and
Butterfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP). In June 2017, the Council
considered, but did not adopt, revisions to Illex squid permits as part
of Amendment 20 to the FMP (December 14, 2018; 83 FR 64257). Since
then, effort has increased and the fishery has been closed in both 2017
and 2018 after fully harvesting available Illex squid quota. Given
recent fishery performance, the Council is evaluating if permitted
access to the Illex fishery should be modified based on recent and
historical participation. Existing FMP goals and objectives have not
been revised since they were originally established in 1983. The
Council is seeking input whether these goals and objectives are still
appropriate for managing the Atlantic mackerel, squid, and butterfish
fisheries or if they should be modified. More details may be found in
the Scoping Document (see ADDRESSES for how to obtain scoping document)
and on the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish page of the
Council's website at http://www.mafmc.org/msb/.
The scoping period is an important 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 public input to identify
management issues, develop effective alternatives, and identify
possible impacts to be considered. Public comments early in the
amendment development process will help the Council address issues of
public concern in a thorough and appropriate manner. Comments can be
made during the scoping hearings or as described above (see ADDRESSES).
After this initial phase of information gathering, if the Council
decides to proceed with the amendment the Council will evaluate
potential management alternatives. The Council will then develop a
draft amendment, incorporating the identified management alternatives,
for public review. The Council will also prepare draft environmental
analyses, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act, and
provide those analyses for review and comment by the public as
appropriate. Finally, the Council will choose preferred management
measures for submission with the appropriate environmental analyses to
the Secretary of Commerce to publish a proposed and then final rule,
both of which have additional comment periods. While there are many
opportunities for public comment in the process, this initial scoping
comment opportunity is particularly important for assisting the Council
in establishing the overall focus and direction of the amendment.
Scoping Hearings
Although the Council did not ultimately revise Illex squid permits
as part of Amendment 20 to the FMP, the public provided scoping
comments during the development of that action in response to a Notice
of Intent published in the Federal Register on March 26, 2015 (80 FR
15991), which the Council considered as part of that action. To solicit
further public comment on Illex squid permits and potential updates to
the FMP objectives, the Council accepted additional comments at the
following four meetings:
[[Page 4797]]
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Date Address
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Monday, February 4, 2019, at 6:00 p.m.. Corless Auditorium, University
of Rhode Island Bay Campus,
215 South Ferry Road,
Narragansett, RI 02882, 401-
874-6440.
Tuesday, February 5, 2019, at 5:30 p.m. Gurney's Inn, 290 Old Montauk
Road, Montauk, NY 11954, 631-
668-2345.
Wednesday, February 6, 2019, at 5:30 Congress Hall Hotel, 200
p.m. Congress Place, Cape May, NJ
08204, 609-884-8421.
Thursday, February 7, 2019, at 6:00 p.m Internet webinar: http://mafmc.adobeconnect.com/msb-scoping-2019/, Webinar help:
302-397-1131, With a listening
station at the new Virginia
Marine Resources Commission
location:, 380 Fenwick Road,
Ft. Monroe, VA 23651, 757-247-
2200.
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Due to the late 2018/early 2019 government shutdown, prior notice
of these meetings was not published in the Federal Register and NMFS
was not able to publish this Notice of Intent before the above
hearings. To facilitate comments within the comment period for this
notice, an additional internet webinar scoping hearing will be
conducted on Wednesday, March 13, 2019, at 7:00 p.m. via this link:
http://mafmc.adobeconnect.com/msb-scoping-2019/. The Council will also
accept additional in-person scoping comments provided at its April 9-
11, 2019, meeting at the Icona Golden Inn, 7849 Dune Drive, Avalon, NJ
08202 (telephone number: 609-368-5155). The date and time for the
scoping hearing during the April Council meeting will be published in a
future separate Federal Register notice specific to that meeting. When
further developing this action, the Council will consider all relevant
public comments received during previously scheduled 2019 hearings even
though they occurred prior to the official comment period defined in
this Notice of Intent.
Special Accommodations
The scoping hearings are accessible to people with disabilities.
Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aid should
be directed to M. Jan Saunders (302-674-2331, ext 251) at least 5 days
prior to the meeting date.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: February 13, 2019.
Karen H. Abrams,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-02697 Filed 2-15-19; 8:45 am]
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