[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 248 (Monday, December 28, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 84304-84305]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-28479]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XA710]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Skate 
Complex Fishery; Supplemental Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement and Scoping Process

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

ACTION: Supplemental notice of intent to prepare an environmental 
impact statement; public scoping meetings; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council is preparing an 
environmental impact statement for Amendment 5 to the Northeast Skate 
Complex Fishery Management Plan. Amendment 5 considers implementing a 
limited access program in the skate

[[Page 84305]]

bait and/or wing fishery, as well as measures that may prevent the 
triggering of incidental skate possession limits, improve the precision 
and accuracy of catch data, and better define skate fishery 
participants. This notice alerts the public of a supplemental scoping 
period and the opportunity for public participation in that process.

DATES: Written scoping comments must be received on or before 5 p.m., 
local time, Friday, February 12, 2021. Two supplemental public scoping 
webinar meetings will be held during this comment period on January 21, 
2021 and February 8, 2021. More information about the webinars is at: 
https://www.nefmc.org/library/amendment-5-3.

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.
    Please indicate ``Skate Amendment 5 Supplemental Scoping Comment'' 
on your correspondence. Requests for copies of the supplemental 
Amendment 5 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 supplemental scoping document is accessible 
electronically via the internet at https://www.nefmc.org/library/amendment-5-3.

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 (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 (CEQ) regulations and guidance for 
implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). In the 
development of Amendment 5 to the Northeast Skate Complex Fishery 
Management Plan (FMP), the Council has been considering limited access 
to the skate bait and/or wing fishery. NEPA reviews initiated prior to 
the effective date of the 2020 CEQ regulations may be conducted using 
the 1978 version of the regulations. The effective date of the 2020 CEQ 
NEPA regulations was September 14, 2020. The NEPA process for this 
action began with the initial scoping period and first notice of intent 
(NOI) (82 FR 825, January 4, 2017) in early 2017. Therefore, the 
development of this amendment will continue under the 1978 NEPA 
regulations.
    The Northeast Skate Complex comprises 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, 
North Carolina. The skate bait fishery primarily targets little skate, 
with a small catch component of winter skate. The wing fishery 
primarily targets winter skate.
    The Council first conducted scoping for Amendment 5 in early 2017 
(82 FR 825, January 4, 2017) to address concerns that increasingly 
strict regulations in other fisheries, particularly in the Northeast 
Multispecies (groundfish) fishery, might cause these fishermen to 
switch fishing effort onto skates. An increase in effort in the skate 
fishery could cause the fishery to attain its quota in a shorter time, 
trigger reduced skate trip limits, or have other negative economic 
impacts on current participants. The Council has been exploring the 
creation of a limited access skate permit as a potential solution to 
these concerns. In September 2020, the Council expanded the scope of 
this action by approving a problem statement, goals, and types of 
measures to consider in Amendment 5. In addition to limited access, the 
Council may consider measures such as creating an intermediate trigger 
for incidental limits, creating different landing limits for segments 
of the wing fishery, revising monitoring and reporting requirements, 
restricting switching between state and Federal fishing for the wing 
and/or bait fishery, modifying gear to reduce bycatch, making the 
Federal skate permit a year-round permit for the wing and/or bait 
fishery, or other measures related to the problem statement and 
intended to achieve the Amendment's goals. These measures could help 
improve the accuracy of fishery data and the long-term sustainable 
management of the skate fishery. Through the development of Amendment 
5, the Council may also consider updates to the goal and objectives of 
the FMP, which are unchanged since the FMP was adopted in 2003. 
Following the supplemental scoping period, the Council, with input from 
the public, will develop a range of alternatives to address the problem 
statement and goals of this action. The supplemental scoping document 
has more information on Amendment 5 and the topics being considered 
during this supplementary scoping period (see ADDRESSES).

Public Comment

    All persons interested in the management of the Northeast Skate 
Complex for either the wing and/or bait fishery are invited to comment 
on the scope and significance of issues to be analyzed by submitting 
written comments (see ADDRESSES) and/or by participating in either of 
the two supplemental scoping webinar meetings for this amendment (see 
DATES).
    After the supplemental scoping period, there will be additional 
opportunities for public comment throughout the development of a range 
of alternatives for Amendment 5, and, if necessary, a draft EIS to 
analyze their impacts. In addition to scoping comments, the public will 
have the opportunity to comment on the alternatives being considered by 
the Council through public meetings on any proposed action.

Special Accommodations

    The webinar 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 dates.

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

    Dated: December 18, 2020.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-28479 Filed 12-23-20; 8:45 am]
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