[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 110 (Friday, June 7, 2002)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 39328-39329]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-14363]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Parts 223 and 224
[I.D. 053102A]
Listing Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants and
Designating Critical Habitat; Public Scoping Meetings on a Petition to
List Atlantic White Marlin (Tetrapturus albidus)
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of scoping meetings.
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SUMMARY: NMFS will hold 11 public scoping meetings to receive data and
comments regarding the status of the Atlantic white marlin.
DATES: See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for meeting dates.
ADDRESSES: See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for meeting addresses.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Bernhart, 727-570-5312; or David
O'Brien, 301-713-1401;
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS is conducting a status review of
Atlantic white marlin to determine whether this species should be
provided protection under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA).
Status reviews are required by section 4(b)(3)(A) of the ESA, whenever
a listing petition for a species is found to present substantial
information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted. On
September 4, 2001, NMFS received a petition from the Biodiversity Legal
Foundation (BLF) and James R. Chambers to list Atlantic white marlin as
threatened or endangered throughout its known range, and to designate
critical habitat under the ESA. On December 20, 2001, NMFS found that
the petition presented substantial information indicating that the
petitioned action may be warranted and announced initiation of a status
review (66 FR 65676). NMFS also solicited information and comments on
whether the Atlantic white marlin is endangered or threatened based on
the ESA listing criteria, during a 60-day comment period.
NMFS' status review for white marlin is currently underway. Within
1 year of the receipt of the petition (by September 3, 2002), a finding
will be made as to whether listing the Atlantic population of the white
marlin as threatened or endangered is warranted, as required by section
4(b)(3)(B) of the ESA. Under section 4(a)(1) of the ESA, a species can
be determined to be threatened or endangered for any one of the
following reasons: (1) Present or threatened destruction, modification,
or curtailment of habitat or range; (2) over-utilization for
commercial, recreational, scientific, or educational purposes; (3)
disease or predation; (4) inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms;
or (5) other natural or manmade factors affecting its continued
existence. If listing is found to be warranted for the white marlin,
NMFS would publish a proposed rule and take public comment before
taking any final action on listing.
To maximize public involvement in the status review and to ensure
that NMFS receives the best available commercial and scientific data
for its listing determination, NMFS will hold 11 public scoping
meetings to receive additional data and comments on the status of
Atlantic white marlin and the
[[Page 39329]]
applicability of the ESA's listing factors to Atlantic white marlin.
Meeting Dates, Times, and Locations
The public scoping meeting schedule is as follows:
Tuesday, June 11, 2002, Silver Spring, MD, 7-9 p.m.--Hilton Silver
Spring, 8727 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD 20910; 301-589-5200
Monday, June 17, 2002, Miami, FL, 7-9 p.m.--Sheraton Biscayne Bay
Hotel, 495 Brickell Avenue, Miami, FL 33131; 305-373-6000
Tuesday, June 18, 2002, Kenner, LA, 7-9 p.m.--Hilton New Orleans
Airport, 901 Airline Highway, Kenner, LA 70062; 504-469-5000
Wednesday, June 19, 2002, Panama City Beach, FL, 7-9 p.m.--Marriott
Bay Point Resort Village, 4200 Marriott Drive, Panama City Beach, FL
32408; 850-236-6000
Thursday, June 20, 2002, Orange Beach, AL, 7-9 p.m.--Perdido Beach
Resort, 27200 Perdido Beach Blvd., Orange Beach, AL 36561; 251-981-9811
Monday, June 24, 2002, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI, 7-9
p.m.--Island Beach Comber Hotel, Lindbergh Beach Road, Charlotte
Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI 00802; 340-774-5250
Monday, June 24, 2002, Atlantic Beach, NC, 7:30-9:30 p.m.--Sheraton
Atlantic Beach Oceanfront Hotel, 2717 West Fort Macon Road, Atlantic
Beach, NC 28512; 252-240-1155
Tuesday, June 25, 2002, Manteo, NC, 7:30-9:30 p.m.--North Carolina
Aquarium Roanoke Island, 374 Airport Road, Manteo, NC 27954; 252-473-
3496
Thursday, June 27, 2002, Atlantic City, NJ, 7-9 p.m.--Atlantic City
Center, 1535 Bacharach Blvd., Atlantic City, NJ 08401; 609-343-4801
Thursday, June 27, 2002, Fairhaven, MA, 7-9 p.m.--The Harborfront
Center, 110 Middle Street, Fairhaven, MA 02719; 508- 997-1281
Friday, June 28, 2002, Berlin, MD, 7- 9 p.m.--Ocean Pines Library,
11107 Cathell Road, Berlin, MD 21811; 410- 208- 4014
Special Accommodations
These public hearings are physically accessible to people with
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other
auxiliary aids should be directed to David Bernhart (see FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT).
Dated: June 3, 2002.
David Cottingham,
Deputy Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 02-14363 Filed 6-6-02; 8:45 am]
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