[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 12 (Wednesday, January 19, 2000)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 2926-2927]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-1205]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[I.D. 122799A]


Pacific Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

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

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Council) Highly 
Migratory Species Plan Development Team (HMSPDT) will hold a work 
session which is open to the public.

DATES: The work session will be held on Monday, January 31, 2000. from 
11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; on Tuesday, February 1, 2000, from 8:00 a.m. 
to 5:00 p.m.; and on Wednesday, February 2, 2000, from 8:00 a.m. until 
business for the day is completed.

ADDRESSES: The work session will be held at the National Marine 
Fisheries Service, Pacific Fisheries Environmental Laboratory, 1352 
Lighthouse Avenue, Pacific Grove, CA, 831-648-8515.
    Council address: Pacific Fishery Management Council, 2130 SW Fifth 
Avenue, Suite 224, Portland, OR 97201.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dan Waldeck, Pacific Fishery 
Management Council, 503-326-6352.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  The primary purpose of the work session is 
to draft sections of the proposed Fishery Management Plan for Highly 
Migratory Species (HMS) and related documents for highly migratory 
species fisheries off the West Coast.
    Management measures that may be adopted in the FMP for HMS 
Fisheries off the West Coast include permit and reporting requirements 
for commercial and recreational harvest of HMS resources, time and/or 
area closures to minimize gear conflicts or bycatch, adoption or 
confirmation of state regulations for HMS fisheries, and allocations of 
some species to non-commercial use. The FMP is likely to include a 
framework management process to add future new measures, including the 
potential for collaborative

[[Page 2927]]

management efforts with other regional fishery management councils with 
interests in HMS resources. It would also include essential fish 
habitat and habitat areas of particular concern, including fishing and 
non-fishing threats, as well as other components of FMPs required under 
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-
Stevens Act).
    The proposed FMP, and its associated EIS, would be the Council's 
fourth FMP for the exclusive economic zone off the West Coast. 
Development of the FMP is timely, considering the new mandates under 
the Magnuson-Stevens Act, efforts by the United Nations to promote 
conservation and management of HMS resources through domestic and 
international programs, and the increased scope of activity of the 
Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission in HMS fisheries in the eastern 
Pacific Ocean.
    Although non-emergency issues not contained in the HSMPDT meeting 
agenda may come before the HMSPDT for discussion, those issues may not 
be the subject of formal HMSPDT action during these meetings. HMSPDT 
action will be restricted to those issues specifically listed in this 
document and any issues arising after publication of this document that 
require emergency action under section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens 
Act, provided the public has been notified of the HMSPDT's intent to 
take final action to address the emergency.

Special Accommodations

    The meeting is physically accessible to people with disabilities. 
Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids 
should be directed to Mr. John Rhoton at 503-326-6352 at least 5 days 
prior to the meeting date.

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

    Dated: January 12, 2000.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 00-1205 Filed 1-18-00; 8:45 am]
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