[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 201 (Thursday, October 17, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Page 64098]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-26428]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 100102B]


Stock Assessment of Large Coastal Sharks in the U.S. Atlantic and 
Gulf of Mexico

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

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the availability of a stock assessment report 
on large coastal sharks (LCS) in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, 
prepared by the NMFS Southeast Fisheries Science Center, and a final 
meeting report of the shark evaluation workshop held in Panama City, 
FL, June 24 through June 28, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Written requests for copies of these reports should be sent 
to Karyl Brewster-Geisz, Highly Migratory Species Management Division 
(F/SF1), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), 1315 East-West 
Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910, or may be sent via facsimile (fax) to 
301-713-1917.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karyl Brewster-Geisz, (301) 713-2347; 
fax (301) 713-1917.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Numerous species of LCS are caught in 
directed and incidental fisheries by commercial and recreational 
fishermen along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts. The 
species in this management group presently include, but are not limited 
to, sandbar, blacktip, silky, tiger, spinner, and bull sharks. The 
previous stock assessment of LCS was conducted in 1998 and classified 
this group as being overfished. A substantial amount of information has 
become available since then, including four more years of catch 
estimates, new biological data, and extended fishery-independent and 
fishery-dependent catch rate series. The final meeting report 
summarizes discussions of the available data, how the data should be 
used, and the types of models and sensitivity tests that should 
conducted. The stock assessment report uses this information to 
estimate the status of LCS and to project their future abundance under 
a variety of future catch levels in waters off the U.S. Atlantic and 
Gulf of Mexico coasts.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq. and 1801 et seq.

    Dated: October 9, 2002.
John H. Dunnigan,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 02-26428 Filed 10-16-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S