34434 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 104 / Tuesday, May 30, 2000 / Proposed Rules

islands. The Council is evaluating the

need to amend the bottomfish,

crustaceans and precious corals FMPs to

better achieve the management

objectives of these FMPs. Currently, no

Federal regulations are in place to

manage the bottomfish, crustacean and

precious coral fishery resources in the

Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) waters

surrounding the CNMI. There are also

no Federal regulations in place for the

bottomfish and crustacean fisheries in

EEZ waters surrounding PRIA. The

amendments will be developed by

considering a wide range of

management alternatives to address data

short falls and possible impacts from the

bottomfish, crustacean, and precious

coral fisheries in PRIA and CNMI. The

Council seeks public comment and

input on a wide range of management

alternatives, including but not limited to

the following: Prohibit the use of

destructive fishing techniques including

the use of explosives, poisons, bottomset gillnets, bottom trawls, and tangle

nets; additions to the managed species

list; Federal permit and data reporting

requirements; limited access; observer

programs; gear restrictions; size limits;

catch quotas; and the designation of

essential fish habitat.

15. Administrative Matters

A. Administrative reports

B. Advisory body membership

changes

C. Meetings and workshops D. 105th

Council Meeting in Midway

16. Other Business

Although non-emergency issues not

contained in this agenda may come

before the Council for discussion, those

issues may not be the subject of formal

Council action during this meeting.

Council action will be restricted to those

issues specifically listed in this

document and any issue arising after

publication of this document that

requires emergency action under section

305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act,

provided the public has been notified of

the Council’s intent to take final action

to address the emergency.

Special Accommodations

This meeting is physically accessible

to people with disabilities. Requests for

sign language interpretation or other

auxiliary aids should be directed to

Kitty M. Simonds, 808–522–8220

(voice) or 808–522–8226 (fax), at least 5

days prior to meeting date.

Authority: 1801 et seq.

Dated: May 24, 2000.

Richard W. Surdi,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 00–13459 Filed 5–26–00; 8:45 am]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[I.D. 051500D ]

RIN 0648-AM72

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic

Zone Off Alaska; Western Alaska

Community Development Quota

Program

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request

for comments.

SUMMARY: The North Pacific Fishery

Management Council (Council) has

submitted Amendment 66 to the Fishery

Management Plan for the Groundfish

Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian

Islands Area (FMP) to remove the

allocation of squid to the Western

Alaska Community Development Quota

(CDQ) Program. The Council has

recommended this amendment to

prevent the incidental catch of squid in

the pollock CDQ fisheries from

preventing the CDQ groups from fully

harvesting the pollock CDQ allocation

required under the American Fisheries

Act (AFA).

DATES: Comments on Amendment 66

must be submitted by July 31, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to

Sue Salveson, Assistant Regional

Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries

Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, P.O.

Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802, Attn:

Lori Gravel. Hand delivery or courier

delivery of comments may be sent to the

Federal Building, 709 West 9th Street,

Juneau, AK. Comments will not be

accepted if submitted via e-mail or the

Internet.

Copies of Amendment 66 to the FMP

and of the Environmental Assessment/

Regulatory Impact Review/Initial

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis prepared

for this action are available from the

Council, 605 West 4th Ave., Suite 306,

Anchorage, AK 99501–2252, telephone

907–271–2809; from NMFS at the above

address; or by calling the Alaska Region,

NMFS, at 907–586–7228.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Sally Bibb, 907–586–7389,

sally.bibb@noaa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery

Conservation and Management Act

(Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires that

each Regional Fishery Management

Council submit any FMP or FMP

amendment it prepares to NMFS for

review and approval, disapproval, or

partial approval. The Magnuson-Stevens

Act also requires that NMFS, upon

receiving an FMP or amendment,

immediately publish a notification in

the Federal Register that the FMP or

amendment is available for public

review and comment. Therefore, NMFS

solicits comments on the approval,

disapproval, or partial approval of this

amendment.

The Council adopted Amendment 66

at its June 1999 meeting. If approved by

NMFS, this amendment would remove

the allocation of 7.5 percent of the squid

total allowable catch (TAC) to the CDQ

Program. Currently, each CDQ group

must manage its CDQ fisheries to ensure

that its squid CDQ allocation is not

exceeded. The pollock fishery takes

squid as incidental catch. The potential

exists that if a CDQ group were to catch

its full squid allocation, it would be

precluded from continuing to fish for

pollock. This potential constraint on the

pollock CDQ fisheries existed when the

pollock CDQ allocation was 7.5 percent

of the pollock TAC. The potential is

more likely now that the pollock CDQ

allocation has been increased to 10

percent of the TAC under the AFA. In

passing the AFA, Congress manifested

its intent that CDQ groups be able to

harvest their full pollock allocations.

Therefore, the Council is recommending

removal of squid as a CDQ species.

NMFS solicits public comments on

the amendment through July 31, 2000.

A proposed rule that would implement

the amendment may be published in the

Federal Register for public comment

following NMFS’s evaluation under the

Magnuson-Stevens Act procedures.

Public comments on the proposed rule

must be received by the end of the

comment period on the amendment to

be considered in the approval/

disapproval decision on the

amendment. All comments received by

the end of the comment period on the

amendment, whether specifically

directed to the amendment or to the

proposed rule, will be considered in the

approval/disapproval decision;

comments received after that date will

not be considered in the approval/

disapproval decision on the

amendment. To be considered,

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 104 / Tuesday, May 30, 2000 / Proposed Rules 34435

comments must be received by close of

business on the last day of the comment

period specified in this notice of

availability; that does not mean

postmarked or otherwise transmitted by

that date.

Dated: May 22, 2000.

Richard W. Surdi,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 00–13370 Filed 5–26–00; 8:45 am]

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