[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 103 (Tuesday, May 29, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29094-29095]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-13437]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 052201C]
Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of public meetings.
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SUMMARY: The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will convene
public meetings of the Standing and Special Reef Fish Scientific and
Statistical Committee (SSC) on Tuesday, June 12, 2001 and the Reef Fish
Advisory Panel (AP) on Wednesday, June 13, 2001.
DATES: The SSC will meet beginning at 8:30 a.m. on June 12, 2001 and
will conclude by 5 p.m. The AP will meet beginning at 8:30 a.m. on June
13, 2001 and will conclude by 5 p.m.
ADDRESSES: The meetings will be held at the New Orleans Airport Hilton,
901 Airline Highway, Kenner, LA; telephone: 504-469-5000.
Council address: Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, 3018
U.S. Highway 301 North, Suite 1000, Tampa, FL 33619.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Steven Atran, Population Dynamics
Statistician, Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council; telephone:
813-228-2815.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The SSC and AP will meet to review and
comment on proposals contained in draft Reef Fish Amendment 18, which
will establish a 10-year red grouper rebuilding program and address
other gear and enforcement issues. The SSC and AP will also be asked to
review and comment on a draft Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement (SEIS) which updates the last SEIS (published in 1993 as part
of Amendment 5), reviews environmental impacts of the Amendment 18
alternatives, and identifies reef fish essential fish habitat (EFH).
The issues contained in draft Reef Fish Amendment 18 and the Council's
preferred alternatives are as follows:
[[Page 29095]]
Longline and buoy gear endorsement (Section 6.1.1):
6.1.1.1 Establish a longline/buoy gear endorsement- [No Preferred
Alternative Selected]
6.1.1.2 Transferability of endorsement- Fully transferable
6.1.1.3 Appeals board- Appeals to be handled by NMFS
Longline and buoy gear boundary line (Section 6.1.2)- [No
Preferred Alternative Selected]
Longline and buoy gear phase-out (Section 6.1.3)- [No
Preferred Alternative Selected]
Use of powerheads when spearfishing (Section 6.2): Require a
permit for the use of powerheads when reef fish fishing (both
commercially and recreationally), and eliminate the regulatory
exemption that allows the use of powerheads in the stressed area for
harvest of sand perch, dwarf sand perch, and hogfish.
Use of reef fish for bait (Section 7.0): Prohibit the use of
all species in the reef fish management unit or parts thereof, except
sand perch and dwarf sand perch, with any gear for bait. (No preferred
alternative on whether to apply this provision to commercial fishing,
recreational fishing, or both.)
Vessel monitoring system (Section 8.0): Require fishing vessels engaged
in the bottom (reef fish) longline fishery to be equipped with an
electronic vessel monitoring system (VMS), with the cost of the vessel
equipment, installation, maintenance, and month-to-month communications
to be paid or arranged by the owners as appropriate. NMFS will maintain
and will publish in the Federal Register a list of type-approved units
and communications protocols.
Dormant reef fish permits (Section 9.0)- [No Preferred
Alternative Selected]
Red grouper rebuilding plan (Section 10.0):
10.1 Red Grouper Sustainable Fishing Parameters: Set red
grouper maximum sustainable yield (MSY), fishing mortality rate at MSY
(FMSY), and spawning stock biomass proxy at MSY (SSMSY) at the range of
values estimated by the Reef Fish Stock Assessment Panel, MSY = 6.705
to 7.012 million pounds; FMSY = 0.223 to 0.270; SSMSY = 350.7 to 433.2
million grams female gonad weight.
10.2 Red Grouper Minimum Stock Size Threshold (MSST): Red grouper
minimum stock size threshold (MSST) shall be 80% of SSMSY (280.6 to
346.6 million grams female gonad weight).
10.3 Red Grouper Maximum Fishing Mortality Threshold (MFMT): Red
grouper maximum fishing mortality threshold (MFMT) shall be FMSY (0.223
to 0.270), or the F consistent with recovery to the MSY level in no
more than 10 years.
10.4 Red Grouper Optimum Yield (OY): Red grouper optimum yield (OY)
shall be 90% of MSY (6.035 to 6.311 million pounds).
10.5 Red Grouper Rebuilding Strategy: Adopt a 10-year red grouper
rebuilding plan based on a constant catch strategy. The annual ABC
during the rebuilding period is initially set at 4.3-5.2 million
pounds. (This is a reduction of 21%-34% from the 1996-99 average
landings of 6.6 million pounds.) This ABC range may be modified
following a future stock assessment by a regulatory amendment or plan
amendment.
10.6 Commercial Shallow-Water Grouper Closed Seasons- [No Preferred
Alternative Selected]
10.7 Recreational Closed Seasons- [No Preferred Alternative
Selected]
10.8 Commercial Grouper Trip Limits- [No Preferred Alternative
Selected]
10.9 Recreational Grouper Bag Limits- [No Preferred Alternative
Selected]
10.10 Closed Areas- [No Preferred Alternative Selected]
Tilefish and Deep-Water Grouper (Section 11.0): Combine tilefish and
deep-water grouper into a new deep-water reef fish aggregate, and set
the new deep-water reef fish quota at 1.47 million pounds (which is the
average annual harvest of tilefish and deep-water grouper from 1996-
99).
Changes to the reef fish management unit (Section 12.0): Add
the following species to the management unit: a. Marbled grouper
(Epinephelus inermis) - to the shallow-water aggregate, b. Sand
tilefish (Malacanthus plumieri)
Modifications to the Framework Procedure for Setting Total
Allowable Catch (TAC) (Section 13.0): The primary modification is to
allow a species TAC and commercial-to-recreational allocation to be set
for an individual species within an aggregate (such as the shallow-
water grouper aggregate) that differs from the aggregate allocation,
provided the aggregate allocation remains as specified. A second
modification allows NMFS stock assessments to report the status of
stocks in terms of biomass or biomass proxy instead of spawning
potential ratio (SPR).
Although other non-emergency issues not on the agenda may come
before the SSC/AP for discussion, in accordance with the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, those issues may not
be the subject of formal action during these meetings. Actions of the
SSC/AP will be restricted to those issues specifically identified in
the agendas and any issues arising after publication of this notice
that require emergency action under Section 305(c) of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act, provided the public has been notified of the Council's
intent to take action to address the emergency.
Copies of the agenda can be obtained by calling 813-228-2815.
Special Accommodations
This meeting is physically accessible to people with disabilities.
Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids
should be directed to Anne Alford at the Council (see ADDRESSES) by
June 5, 2001.
Dated: May 23, 2001.
Richard W. Surdi,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 01-13437 Filed 5-25-01; 8:45 am]
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