Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 104 / Tuesday, May 30, 2000 / Notices 34443

Steelhead Recreational Fishery—

Ringold: August 1 through December 31.

Sturgeon tagging stock assessment:

May through July.

Fall Selective Gear Test Fishery:

September through October.

Wanapum Tribe Subsistence Fishery :

September.

ESA-listed fish incidental mortalities

associated with the ODFW and WDFW

fishery programs are requested at levels

specified in the Permit application.

ODFW/WDFW are proposing to limit

state in-river fisheries such that the

incidental impacts on ESA-listed

salmonids will be minimized. Eight

alternatives for the ODFW and WDFW

fisheries were provided in the Plan,

including: (1) Historic baseline; (2) 1988

Columbia River Fish Management Plan;

(3) 1996–1998 Management Agreement;

(4) 1999 Management Agreement; (5)

1996–1999 actual impact rates; (6)

equitable non-Indian and treaty Indian

chinook allocation; (7) reasonable nonIndian fishery opportunity (selected

alternative); and (8) No action.

Environmental Assessment/Finding of

No Significant Impact

The EA package includes a draft EA

and a draft Finding of No Significant

Impact (FONSI) which concludes that

issuing the incidental take permit is not

a major Federal action significantly

affecting the quality of the human

environment, within the meaning of

section 102(2)(C) of the National

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of

1969, as amended. Three Federal action

alternatives have been analyzed in the

EA, including: (1) the no action

alternative; (2) issue a permit without

conditions; and (3) issue a permit with

conditions.

This notice is provided pursuant to

section 10(c) of the ESA and the NEPA

regulations (40 CFR 1506.6). NMFS will

evaluate the application, associated

documents, and comments submitted

thereon to determine whether the

application meets the requirements of

the NEPA regulations and section 10(a)

of the ESA. If it is determined that the

requirements are met, a permit will be

issued for incidental takes of ESA-listed

anadromous salmonids under the

jurisdiction of NMFS. The final NEPA

and permit determinations will not be

completed until after the end of the 30-

day comment period and will fully

consider all public comments received

during the comment period. NMFS will

publish a record of its final action in the

Federal Register.

Dated: May 24, 2000.

Wanda L. Cain,

Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office

of Protected Resources, National Marine

Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 00–13431 Filed 5–26–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

[Docket No. 000204026–0136–02; I.D.

121799A]

RIN 0648–AN48

Tautog; Interstate Fishery Management

Plans; Cancellation of Moratorium

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of determination of

compliance; cancellation of moratorium.

SUMMARY: The Secretary of Commerce

(Secretary) announces the cancellation

of the Federal moratorium on fishing for

tautog in the coastal waters of the State

of Rhode Island that would have been

implemented on June 15, 2000. The

Secretary has canceled the moratorium

as required by the Atlantic Coastal

Fisheries Cooperative Management Act

(Act), based on his determination that

the State of Rhode Island is now in

compliance with the Atlantic States

Marine Fisheries Commission’s

(Commission) Interstate Fishery

Management Plan (ISFMP) for tautog,

after the Commission had notified the

Secretary that it was withdrawing its

determination of noncompliance.

DATES: Effective May 30, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Richard H. Schaefer, Chief, Staff Office

for Intergovernmental and Recreational

Fisheries, NMFS, 301–427–2014.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On February 15, 2000, NMFS

published a document in the Federal

Register (FR) (65 FR 7508) announcing

the Secretary’s determination that the

State of Rhode Island was not in

compliance with the Commission’s

ISFMP for tautog for not implementing

and enforcing the recreational bag limit

contained in the ISFMP for tautog. In

the document a moratorium was

declared on fishing for tautog in Rhode

Island state waters that would be made

effective on June 15, 2000, if Rhode

Island was not in compliance by June 1,

2000. Details were provided in the

February 15, 2000, FR document and are

not repeated here.

The Act specifies that, if, after a

moratorium is declared with respect to

a State, the Secretary is notified by the

Commission that it is withdrawing the

determination of noncompliance, the

Secretary shall immediately determine

whether the State is in compliance with

the applicable plan. If the State is

determined to be in compliance, the

moratorium shall be terminated.

Activities Pursuant to the Act

On April 28, 2000, the Secretary

received a letter from the Commission

prepared pursuant to the Act. The

Commission’s letter stated that the State

of Rhode Island had taken corrective

action to comply with the Commission’s

ISFMP for tautog, and, therefore, the

Commission was withdrawing its

determination of noncompliance.

Cancellation of the Moratorium

Based on the Commission’s April 28,

2000, letter, information received from

the State of Rhode Island, and the

Secretary’s review of Rhode Island’s

revised regulations, which adopted a

recreational bag limit of 3 tautog from

May 1—October 14 annually, and 10

tautog from October 15—December 31

annually with a size limit of 16 inches

total length, the Secretary concurs with

the Commission’s determination that

Rhode Island is now in compliance with

the Commission’s ISFMP for tautog.

This combination of measures is listed

in Table 14 of the ISFMP for tautog as

an acceptable means of achieving the

required recreational harvest reduction.

This combination achieves a 57–percent

reduction whereas the ISFMP requires a

55–percent reduction. Therefore, the

moratorium on fishing for these species

in Rhode Island waters is canceled.

Dated: May 22, 2000.

Penelope D. Dalton,

Assistant Administrator for Fisheries,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 00–13373 Filed 5–26–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

[I.D. 052200A]

International Whaling Commission;

Meetings

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.