[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 99 (Wednesday, May 22, 2019)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 23519-23521]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-10578]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 635
RINs 0648-BI08, 0648-BI10, 0648-BI59
Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Amendments 13 and 14 to the
2006 Consolidated Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Fishery Management
Plan; Spatial Fisheries Management
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of scoping meetings.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces scoping meetings and webinars for three actions
that will evaluate possible revisions to measures implemented under the
2006 Consolidated Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fisheries
Management Plan (FMP). The public process for these actions commences
with scoping to determine the range of issues for each action. For each
action, a notice announcing NMFS' intent to prepare an environmental
analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act, and availability
of an issues and options paper, is published in a separate Federal
Register Notice. In Amendment 13 to the HMS FMP, NMFS considers
refining the Individual Bluefin Tuna Quota (IBQ) Program, reassessing
allocation of bluefin tuna quotas, including the discontinuing or
phasing out of the Purse Seine category, and other regulatory
provisions regarding bluefin directed fisheries and incidental pelagic
longline fisheries. Amendment 14 explores options to implement the
newly-revised National Standard 1 (NS1) guidelines in the context of
shark annual catch limits (ACLs), including how to account for
uncertainty stemming from either stock assessments or the management
process. In the third action, NMFS considers ways to perform research
and collect data in closed areas to assess the effectiveness of spatial
HMS management.
DATES: Scoping meetings and webinars will be held on the dates listed
below in Table 1 of SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
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ADDRESSES: Scoping meetings will be held at the locations listed below
in Table 1 of SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Warren or Sarah McLaughlin by
phone at 978-281-9260 (Amendment 13); Gu[yacute] DuBeck or Ian Miller
by phone at (301) 427-8503 (Amendment 14); Tobey Curtis by phone at
(978) 281-9260 or Steve Durkee by phone at (202) 670-6637 (Spatial
Management Regulatory Amendment).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Atlantic HMS (tunas, sharks, swordfish and billfish) are managed
under the dual authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Management and
Conservation Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) and the Atlantic Tunas
Convention Act. Under these authorities, regulations at 50 CFR part 635
implement the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP as amended (copies are
available upon request).
NMFS announces scoping meetings and webinars for three actions that
will evaluate possible revisions to measures implemented under the 2006
Consolidated HMS FMP. The public process for these actions commences
with scoping to determine the range of issues for each action. For each
action, a notice announcing NMFS' intent to prepare an environmental
analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act, and availability
of an issues and options paper, published in separate Federal Register
notices. While each of these actions are separate, they are
interrelated in some ways. Depending on the outcomes, each action and
results could have impacts on the other actions. During the rulemaking
process, NMFS will coordinate these actions and clarify any interaction
among the actions, or cumulative impacts.
NMFS recently released its ``Draft Three-Year Review of the
Individual Bluefin Quota (IBQ) Program'' (Draft Three-Year Review). The
IBQ Program, adopted in Amendment 7 to the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP
(Amendment 7), is a catch share program that introduced individual
vessel accountability for bluefin tuna bycatch in the pelagic longline
fishery. Formal reviews of such catch share programs are required to
evaluate whether their objectives are met. In Amendment 7, NMFS
proposed and finalized a plan to formally evaluate the success and
performance of the IBQ Program after three years of operation, and to
provide the HMS Advisory Panel with a publicly-available written
document with its findings. This is the draft review, which is expected
to be finalized by September 2019 after consideration by the HMS
Advisory Panel.
NMFS also recently released a scoping document (Issues and Options:
Amendment 13) for use in 2019 for scoping, a public process during
which NMFS will consider a range of issues and objectives, as well as
possible options, for Atlantic bluefin tuna management. The options
presented in the issues and options paper consider the preliminary
results of the Draft Three-Year Review, and respond to recent changes
in the bluefin tuna fishery, and input from the public and HMS Advisory
Panel. The options include refining the IBQ program, reassessing
allocation of bluefin tuna quotas (including the potential
discontinuation or phasing out of the Purse Seine category) and other
regulatory provisions regarding bluefin tuna directed fisheries and
bycatch in the pelagic longline fishery, to determine if existing
measures are the best means of achieving current management objectives
for bluefin tuna management. During scoping, public feedback will be
accepted via written comments or at scoping meetings as described in a
separate Federal Register notice.
NMFS has also recently published an issues and options paper for
Amendment 14 that reviews annual catch limits and various target
reference points for sharks. This action could result in a different
process for establishing the annual catch limits for sharks, and
therefore could affect all fishermen, commercial and recreational, that
target or incidentally catch sharks. During scoping, public feedback
will be accepted via written comments or scoping meetings as described
in a separate Federal Register notice.
NMFS also released an issues and options paper considering
approaches to collect data and perform research in areas that are
currently closed to certain gears or fishing activities for Atlantic
HMS. Such research will help evaluate and support spatial fisheries
management for Atlantic HMS. ``Spatial management'' refers to a suite
of fisheries conservation and management measures that are based on
geographic area. When some spatial management tools, such as closed
areas, are deployed, the collection of fishery-dependent data is
reduced or eliminated. This loss of data can compromise effective
fisheries management. The issues and options paper considers approaches
to collect data and perform research in areas that may otherwise
restrict commercial or recreational fishing, making the collection of
fisheries-dependent data challenging or not possible. During scoping,
public feedback will be accepted via written comments or at scoping
meetings as described in a separate Federal Register notice.
In addition to the three actions listed above, NMFS is also
currently in the process of developing a proposed rule regarding
pelagic longline bluefin tuna area-based and weak hook management
measures. For that action, NMFS recently released a Draft Environmental
Impact Statement (DEIS) and intends to release a proposed rule shortly.
The comment period of this proposed action overlaps with the comment
periods for the three scoping actions. However, the public hearings for
the DEIS and related proposed rule will be separate from the scoping
meetings announced in this notice, with the exception of the July 30,
2019 meeting listed in Table 1 below. If the proposed rule publishes in
time, the July 30 meeting in Toms River will begin with the proposed
rule public hearing, and will close with the scoping meeting for
Amendment 13. Please see the subsequent Federal Register notice
announcing the proposed rule public hearings.
Scoping Process
NMFS encourages participation, by all persons affected or otherwise
interested in recreational and commercial HMS fishing, in the process
to determine the scope and significance of options to be analyzed and
considered in the environmental analysis for these regulatory actions.
All such persons are encouraged to submit written comments (see
ADDRESSES), or comment at one of the scoping meetings or public
webinars. Persons submitting comments are welcome to address the
specific measures in the issues and options paper for each action.
Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids
should be directed to Gu[yacute] DuBeck at 301-427-8503, at least 7
days prior to the meeting.
NMFS is holding scoping meetings in the geographic areas that may
be affected by these actions, including locations on the Atlantic and
Gulf of Mexico coasts, and webinars accessible via the internet.
Scoping meetings and webinars for each action are identified in Table
1. NMFS has also asked to present information on these actions to the
Gulf of Mexico, South Atlantic, Mid-Atlantic, and New England Fishery
Management Councils at their meetings during the public scoping period.
Please see their meeting notices for dates, times, and locations. In
addition, these
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actions will be discussed at the HMS Advisory Panel meeting on May 21-
23, 2019 (March 7, 2019; 84 FR 8306).
After public comment has been gathered and analyzed, NMFS will
determine if it is necessary to proceed with preparation of an
environmental analysis and proposed rule for each action, which would
include additional opportunities for public comment. The scope of the
environmental analysis would consist of the range of actions,
alternatives, and impacts to be considered.
The process of developing a regulatory action is expected to take
approximately two years. Until the environmental analysis and proposed
rule are finalized or until other regulations are put into place, the
current regulations remain in effect.
Table 1--Dates, Times and Locations of the Scoping Meetings and Webinars Instructions
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Action Date Time Location and street address
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SCOPING MEETINGS
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Amendment 13..................... June 3, 2019........ 5:00-8:00 p.m...... Gulf of Maine Research Institute,
350 Commercial Street, Portland,
ME 04101.
Amendment 13, Spatial Management June 4, 2019........ 5:00-8:00 p.m...... National Marine Fisheries Service,
Research. Greater Atlantic Regional Office,
55 Great Republic Drive,
Gloucester, MA 01930.
Amendment 13..................... June 18, 2019....... 5:00-8:00 p.m...... Chatham Community Center, 702 Main
Street, Chatham, MA 02633.
Amendment 13..................... June 19, 2019....... 5:00-8:00 p.m...... Plymouth Public Library, 132 South
Street, Plymouth, MA 02360.
Amendment 14..................... June 24, 2019....... 5:00-8:00 p.m...... National Marine Fisheries Service,
Southeast Regional Office, 263
13th Avenue South, Saint
Petersburg, FL 33701.
All.............................. June 25, 2019....... 5:00-8:00 p.m...... Susan Broom Kilmer Branch Library,
101 Melody Lane, Ft. Pierce, FL
34950.
Amendment 13..................... July 9, 2019........ 5:00-8:00 p.m...... NC Division of Marine Fisheries,
5285 Highway 70, Morehead City,
NC 28557.
All.............................. July 10, 2019....... 5:00-8:00 p.m...... Dare County Administration
Building, 954 Marshall Collins
Dr., Commissioners Meeting Room,
Manteo, NC 27954.
All.............................. July 25, 2019....... 5:00-8:00 p.m...... Terrebonne Parish Library (Main
Branch), 151 Library Dr., Houma,
LA 70360.
Amendment 13 *................... July 30, 2019....... 5:00-8:00 p.m...... Ocean County Library, Toms River
Branch, 101 Washington Street,
Toms River, NJ 08753.
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WEBINARS
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Amendment 13..................... June 10, 2019....... 2:00-4:00 p.m...... Link: https://noaanmfs-events1.webex.com/noaanmfs-events1/onstage/g.php?MTID=e25072f282e22bc58188f278a9328285e 78a9328285e; Dial In: 800-369-
1177; Passcode: 2046577.
Amendment 14..................... May 28, 2019........ 1:00-3:00 p.m...... Link:https://noaanmfs-events1.webex.com/noaanmfs-events1/onstage/g.php?MTID=ed71080c2cb6d03424331aaa808865f0f aa808865f0f; Dial In: 888-282-
0428; Passcode: 4913538.
Spatial Management Research...... June 19, 2019....... 2:00-4:00 p.m...... Link: https://noaanmfs-events1.webex.com/noaanmfs-events1/onstage/g.php?MTID=e90547c85b1c1d30c8adedba286178d7d ba286178d7d; Dial In: 888-324-
8014; Passcode: 5920937.
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* The July 30, 2019 meeting in Toms River, NJ may be scheduled along with a public hearing for a proposed rule
to modify pelagic longline bluefin tuna area-based and weak hook management measures. For further information,
please see the subsequent Federal Register notice announcing the proposed rule public hearing schedule.
The public is reminded that NMFS expects participants at the
scoping meetings to conduct themselves appropriately. At the beginning
of each scoping meeting, a representative of NMFS will explain the
ground rules (e.g., alcohol is prohibited from the meeting room;
attendees will be called to give their comments in the order in which
they registered to speak; each attendee will have an equal amount of
time to speak; and attendees should not interrupt one another). The
NMFS representative will attempt to structure the meeting so that all
attending members of the public will be able to comment, if they so
choose, regardless of the controversial nature of the subject(s).
Attendees are expected to respect the ground rules, and, if they do
not, they may be asked to leave the scoping meeting.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq; 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: May 16, 2019.
Kelly L. Denit,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-10578 Filed 5-21-19; 8:45 am]
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