[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 124 (Tuesday, June 27, 2000)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 39585-39586]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-16224]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[I.D. 062000B]


Western Pacific Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

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

ACTION: Notice of public meeting/public hearing.

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SUMMARY: The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) will 
hold its 105<SUP>th</SUP> meeting in Midway at Midway Atoll. The 
Council will hold a Precious Corals Plan Team meeting and a public 
hearing in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Council intends to take action under 
the Fishery Management Plan for the Precious Corals Fisheries of the 
Western Pacific Region (FMP) on the framework process governing 
established measures for adjustments to the harvest quota for 
exploratory precious coral permit areas in the Western Pacific Region. 
A public hearing is scheduled during the Plan Team meeting to receive 
comments on this action.

DATES: The Plan Team meeting and the public hearing will be held on 
July 6, 2000, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. The public hearing will be held on 
July 6, 2000, at 11:30 a.m. The Council meeting will be held on July 
10-11, 2000, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The Plan Team meeting will be held at the Council Offices, 
1164 Bishop Street, Honolulu, Hawaii; telephone 808- 522-8220. The 
Council meeting will be held at Midway Atoll; telephone 808-874-1111. 
Copies of documents that provide information on options to be discussed 
at the public hearing are available from the Western Pacific Fishery 
Management Council, 1164 Bishop St., Suite 1400, Honolulu, HI, 96813.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kitty M. Simonds, Executive Director; 
telephone 808-522-8220.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Plan Team Meeting

    The agenda for the Plan Team meeting will include the items listed 
below. The order and time in which agenda items are addressed may 
change. The Plan Team will meet as late as necessary to complete 
scheduled business.
    1. Introductions
    2. Status of the fishery
    3. Review of 104th Council Meeting Minutes
    4. Adjustment of Exploratory Quota (see agenda item 8 under Council 
agenda for supplemental information)
    5. Confidentiality of Data
    6. Other Business
    7. Summary of Recommendations
    8. Public Hearing
    The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) invited the Council to 
convene a meeting on Midway Atoll to discuss issues relating to the 
management of fishery resources in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands 
(NWHI). The Midway meeting offers Council members and resource managers 
first-hand interaction with the unique atoll environment and species of 
the NWHI, National Wildlife Refuges, and ecotourism operation and 
associated recreational fishing. Discussions will be focused on 
protected species (seabirds, turtles, monk seals), jurisdiction, 
research, ecotourism, recreational fishing, and designation of Marine 
Protected Areas (MPAs).

Council Meeting

    The agenda during the Council meeting will include the items listed 
below. The order and time in which agenda items are addressed may 
change. The Council will meet as late as necessary to complete 
scheduled business.

Agenda

    1. Introductions
    2. Approval of Agenda
    3. Approval of Minutes of the Council's 104<SUP>th</SUP> meeting
    4. Refuge Overview
    a. Report on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge
    b. Report on Midway recreational fisheries program at Midway
    c. Report on research at Midway on monk seals, seabirds, turtles, 
and coral reefs
    d. Report on Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge
    e. Report on other wildlife refuges in the PRIAs
    f. Status of Palmyra Atoll
    5. Update on activities related to Executive Order 13158 on MPAs 
and the President's Memorandum on Protection of U.S. Coral Reefs in the 
NWHI (including ecotourism and bioprospecting)
    a. State of Hawaii
    b. Office of Hawaiian Affairs
    c. FWS
    d. NMFS
    e. MPAs in Hawaii and American Samoa
    f. Research issues including Omnibus Deepwater, monk seals, 
seabirds, turtles, coral reefs, sharks and lobsters
    g. Status of shark eradication program at French Frigate Shoals and 
final report on commercial bottom longline fishing for sharks in the 
NWHI
    6. Jurisdictional issues: Council/NMFS, FWS, State of Hawaii, 
Department of Defense
    a. Midway
    b. Other NHWI
    c. PRIAs
    7. Preliminary Draft Environmental Impact Statements
    a. Precious Corals
    b. Crustaceans
    c. Bottomfish
    d. Alternatives
    8. Precious Corals FMP exploratory areas
    The Council intends to take action under FMP framework process 
governing established measures for adjustments to the harvest quota for 
exploratory precious coral permit areas in the Western Pacific Region.
    For 20 years, domestic commercial deep-water precious coral harvest 
has been dormant. In 1999, largely from advances in the industry, 
researchers have conducted numerous surveys of the resource around the 
main Hawaiian

[[Page 39586]]

Islands and found excellent recovery of the once harvested beds. Newly 
available highly maneuverable one-manned submersibles are equipped with 
constant stream video cameras, 180 deg. pilot visibility, on-board 
computer mapping, and external robotic arms and collecting baskets. 
This allows for stock assessment concurrent with selective harvest. 
Because of these advances, the Council has recommended a prohibition on 
non-selective harvest of precious corals in all waters under its 
jurisdiction. The Exploratory Area of the Hawaiian Islands, locations 
where precious corals are believed to exist but have not been 
investigated, cover 99.97 percent of the viable habitat. Harvesting the 
current 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) per year Exploratory Area quota has never 
been attempted. Potential harvesters have claimed that this quota is 
too low to justify the necessary capital investment required for 
exploration even using the relatively lower cost non-selective dredging 
operations. Due to advances in technology and new restrictive harvest 
guidelines (e.g, proposed prohibition on use of all non-selective gear 
to harvest precious coral), the Council will consider revising the 
Exploratory Area quota. Alternatives include: No increase in the quota; 
increasing the quota to 5,000 kg (11,000 lb) per year with no more than 
1,000 kg (2,200 lb) of gold coral; minimum size requirements for gold 
and pink coral; a maximum harvest quota from any one bank; an 
increasing the quota to 10,000 kg (22,000 lb) per year with no more 
than 1,000 kg (2200) of gold coral; minimum size requirements for gold 
and pink coral; and a maximum harvest quota from any one bank.
    9. 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 
Fishery Conservation and Management 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: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: June 21, 2000.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 00-16224 Filed 6-26-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F