[Federal Register: May 15, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 93)]
[Notices]
[Page 27995-27996]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15my06-25]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 050806A]
New England Fishery Management Council; Northeast Multispecies;
Small-mesh Multispecies; Scoping Process
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a supplemental environmental impact
statement (SEIS) and notice of scoping meetings; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) announces
its intent to prepare, in cooperation with NMFS, an SEIS to assess the
potential effects on the human environment of alternative measures for
managing the small-mesh multispecies fishery pursuant to the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. This notice announces
a public process for determining the scope of issues to be addressed
and for identifying the significant issues relating to management of
the small-mesh multispecies fishery. The Council will use the scoping
process and the SEIS to develop Amendment 14 to the Northeast (NE)
Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Small-Mesh Multispecies.
DATES: The Council will discuss and take scoping comments at public
meetings in May and June 2006. For specific dates and times of the
scoping meetings, see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. Written scoping
comments must be received on or before 5 p.m., local time, June 16,
2006.
ADDRESSES: The Council will take scoping comments at public meetings in
Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and New
Jersey. For specific locations, see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. Written
comments and requests for copies of the scoping document and other
information should be directed to Paul J. Howard, Executive Director,
New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water Street, Mill 2,
Newburyport, MA 01950, telephone (978) 465-0492. Comments may also be
sent via facsimile (fax) to (978) 465-3116 or via e-mail to
MULA14-NOI@noaa.gov. Include in the subject line the following identifier:
``MUL Amendment 14 Scoping Comments.'' The scoping document is
accessible electronically via the Internet at http://www.nefmc.org.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul J. Howard, Executive Director,
New England Fishery Management Council, (978) 465-0492.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The small-mesh multispecies fishery includes silver hake
(Merluccius bilinearis, also known as whiting), offshore hake
(Merluccius albidus, also know as blackeye whiting) and red hake
(Urophycis chuss, also known as ling and mud hake) and is managed under
the Council's NE Multispecies FMP. Silver hake is a widely distributed,
slender, swiftly swimming species whose range extends from Newfoundland
to South Carolina. Offshore hake, often referred to as another species
of silver hake, co-occur with silver hake over the continental shelf
and slope of the northwest Atlantic Ocean and are often
indistinguishable from silver hake in commercial landings. Red hake are
distributed from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to North Carolina but are
most abundant between Georges Bank and New Jersey. The Council has
managed these species as a unit under the NE Multispecies FMP since
1999. Currently, the small-mesh multispecies fishery is an open access
fishery. Management measures for these species include retention limits
based on net mesh size, seasonal fishing areas, and requirements for
fishing gear to ensure escapement of other groundfish species.
Purpose of Action
An amendment and SEIS to the NE Multispecies FMP to address the
small-mesh multispecies fishery is being considered due to concerns
that the small mesh multispecies fishery may be, or may become,
overcapitalized as a result of shifts in the distribution of fishing
effort that followed recent changes to the management measures of other
New England fisheries. While overfishing currently is not occurring on
stocks of silver hake and red hake, the threat of overfishing exists as
long as an unlimited number of vessels may enter the fishery and
increase landings beyond sustainable levels.
In January 2006, a stock assessment was completed for silver hake.
This assessment indicates that the abundance index for the northern
stock of silver hake has declined since 1999 due to low recruitment and
the abundance index for the southern stock of silver hake remains below
the target level. In the most recent Stock Assessment and Fishery
Evaluation report published in 2003, the members of the Council's
Whiting Monitoring Committee indicated concerns about declining survey
mean weights for both red and offshore hake in portions of their stock
areas.
Measures Under Consideration
The Council may consider several types of management measures to
improve the effectiveness of small-mesh multispecies management
including, but not limited to:
[[Page 27996]]
Limited entry for commercial vessels;
Hard total allowable catch (TAC) output controls;
Dedicated Access Privileges (DAPs); and
Recreational measures for the these species.
Further information regarding each issue follows. Detailed
information on each of these potential measures, including specific
topics for which the Council is soliciting comment, are in the scoping
document, available on the Council web site http://www.nefmc.org.
Limited Entry for Commercial Vessels
The Council voted to reaffirm the existing small-mesh multispecies
control date of March 25, 2003, during their meeting on April 4, 2006.
The purpose of this control date was to deter speculative entry into
the fishery after its establishment. The Council is not obliged to
limit entry into the commercial small-mesh fisheries, nor is it obliged
to use participation before the control date as the basis for
qualification. Qualification criteria may include such things as
participation in the fishery prior to the control date, participation
within a defined time period, historical landing levels by fishery
participants, and dependency on the fishery.
Hard Total Allowable Catches
Hard TACs are an output control measure that limit total harvest by
closing the fishery when the TAC is reached. As such, TACs may be
considered to reduce the likelihood that overfishing may occur in the
fishery. Hard TACs may be developed for individual species, species
assemblages, areas, seasons, commercial or recreational fisheries. Hard
TACs may be developed in conjunction with individual harvesting
privileges and could be developed wether the fishery becomes limited
entry or remains open access.
Dedicated Access Privileges
DAP programs may include such measures as fishing sector
allocations, community quotas, harvesting cooperatives, or other group
or individual access privileges. DAPs may provide for a management
approach that can be tailored to a smaller number of vessels instead of
developing an approach to accommodate several hundred vessels. DAPs may
allow additional flexibility for participants to pool resources and
maximize efficiency and economic benefits. If developed, the Council
may consider safeguards to consolidation, transferability, allocation
changes over time, and how DAPs may change the fishery and fishing
communities.
It is possible that during the scoping process other issues will be
raised related to the purpose of this amendment, and if appropriate,
those issues also will be considered by the Council.
Scoping Process
It is the Council's and NMFS' intent to encourage all persons
affected by or otherwise interested in the management of small-mesh
multispecies to participate in the process to determine the scope and
significance of issues to be analyzed in the SEIS and amendment. All
such persons are encouraged to submit written comments (see ADDRESSES)
or attend one of the scoping meetings. Persons submitting written
comments may wish to address the specific measures introduced in the
previous section. The scope of the SEIS consists of the range of
actions, alternatives, and impacts to be considered. Alternatives may
include the following: Not amending the FMP (taking no action);
developing an amendment that contains management measures such as those
discussed in this notice; or other reasonable courses of action.
Impacts may be direct, indirect, or cumulative.
This scoping process also will identify and eliminate from detailed
analysis issues that are not significant. After the scoping process is
completed, the Council will proceed with the development of an
amendment to the NE Multispecies FMP and the Council will prepare an
SEIS to analyze the impacts of the range of alternatives considered in
the amendment. The Council will hold public hearings to receive
comments on the draft amendment and on the analysis of its impacts
presented in the draft SEIS.
Scoping Hearing Schedule
The Council will discuss and take scoping comments at the following
public meetings:
1. Wednesday, May 24, 5 p.m., MA DMF of Marine Fisheries, Annisquam
River Marine Station, 30 Emerson Avenue, Gloucester, MA 01930.
Telephone (978) 282-0308.
2. Thursday, May 25, 5 p.m., Casco Bay Lines, 56 Commercial Street,
Portland, ME 04101. Telephone (207) 774-7871.
3. Wednesday, May 31, 5 p.m., Narragansett Town Hall, 25 Fifth
Avenue, Narragansett, RI 02882. Telephone (401) 789-1044.
4. Tuesday, June 6, 5 p.m., Stonington Office of Public Safety, 173
South Broad Street, Route 1, Stonington, CT 06378. Telephone (860) 599-
7510.
5. Wednesday, June 7, 5 p.m., Riverhead Town Hall, 200 Howell
Avenue, Riverhead, NY 11901. Telephone (631) 727-3200.
6. Thursday, June 8, 5 p.m., Ferrara's Restaurant, 518 Arnold
Avenue, Point Pleasant Beach, NJ 08742. Telephone (732) 899-3900.
Special Accommodations
These meetings are accessible to people with physical disabilities.
Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids
should be directed to Paul J. Howard (see ADDRESSES) at least 5 days
prior to the meeting date.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: May 08, 2006.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E6-7362 Filed 5-12-06; 8:45 am]
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