9500 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 41 / Friday, March 2, 2007 / Proposed Rules 

Information regarding the other public 

hearings was published at 72 FR 8145, 

February 23, 2007, remain unchanged 

and will not be repeated in this 

notification. 

Public Hearing, Date, and Location 

The additional public hearing will be 

held Sunday, March 18, 2007, at 6 p.m. 

The hearing will be held at the Hatteras 

Civic Center, Highway 12, Hatteras, NC 

27943. 

Special Accommodations 

These meetings are physically 

accessible to people with disabilities. 

Requests for sign language 

interpretation or other auxiliary aids 

should be directed to the Council office 

(see ADDRESSES) by March 16, 2007. 

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

Dated: February 26, 2007. 

James P. Burgess, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E7–3703 Filed 3–1–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 665 

[Docket No. 070215037–7037–01; I.D. 

020907A] 

RIN 0648–AV26 

Fisheries in the Western Pacific; 

Western Pacific Precious Corals 

Fisheries; Control Date 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed 

rulemaking; notification of control date; 

request for comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that 

persons who enter the black coral 

fishery in the Au’au Channel, Hawaii, 

after December 21, 2006, (the ‘‘control 

date’’) are not guaranteed future 

participation in the fishery if the 

Western Pacific Fishery Management 

Council (Council) recommends, and 

NMFS approves, a program that limits 

entry into the fishery or fishing effort. 

This action does not commit the 

Council or NMFS to limit entry, or 

prevent any other date from being 

selected for use when limiting eligibility 

to participate in the Au’au Channel 

black coral fishery. The Council or 

NMFS may also use other criteria to 

limit fishing effort or participation in a 

limited entry program that is developed 

in the future. 

DATES: Comments must be submitted in 

writing by May 1, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on this action identified by 0648–AV26 

by any of the following methods: 

• E-mail: AV26BlackCoral@noaa.gov. 

Include 0648–AV26 in the subject line 

of the e-mail comment following 

document identifier: Black coral. 

Comments sent via e-mail, including all 

attachments, must not exceed a 10 

megabyte file size. 

• Federal e-Rulemaking portal: 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Mail: William L. Robinson, 

Regional Administrator, NMFS Pacific 

Islands Region (PIR), 1601 Kapiolani 

Blvd., Suite 1110, Honolulu, HI 96814. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bob 

Harman, NMFS PIR, 808–944–2271. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: At its 

136th meeting in December, 2006, the 

Council adopted a control date of 

December 21, 2006, applicable to 

persons who are contemplating entering 

the fishery for black corals in the Au’au 

Channel, Hawaii (south of Maui). The 

Council requested that this control date 

be published in the Federal Register to 

provide timely notice to fishermen and 

the general public. Anyone entering the 

fishery after December 21, 2006, will not 

be guaranteed future access, if a 

management regime that limits the 

number of participants in the fishery is 

prepared and implemented. 

Recent research has indicated that the 

biomass of the Au’au Channel black 

coral population has decreased by at 

least 25 percent in the last 30 years. 

Data collected in late 2001, during 

submersible dives, showed a decline in 

recruitment, as well as a decrease in the 

relative abundance of legal-sized coral 

colonies. The decline in recruitment 

may be related to an increase in 

abundance of the alien snowflake coral 

Carijoa riisei. This highly-invasive soft 

coral was found to be overgrowing large 

areas of black coral habitat and black 

coral colonies, especially at depths of 

80–110 meters (beyond the normal 

working depth of black coral 

harvesters). Directed fishing pressure on 

black corals in shallower areas of the 

Au’au Channel bed is also considered to 

be an important factor in the observed 

population and recruitment declines. 

Control dates are intended to 

discourage speculative entry into 

fisheries, as new participants entering 

the fisheries after the control date are 

forewarned that they are not guaranteed 

future participation in the fisheries. 

Establishment of this control date does 

not commit the Council or NMFS to any 

particular management regime or 

criteria for entry into the Au’au Channel 

black coral fishery. Fishermen are not 

guaranteed future participation in the 

fishery, regardless of their level of 

participation before or after the control 

date. The Council may choose a 

different control date, or it may choose 

a management regime that does not 

involve a control date. Other criteria, 

such as documentation of commercial 

landings and sales, may be used to 

determine eligibility for participation in 

a limited access fishery. The Council 

also may choose to take no further 

action to control entry or access to the 

fishery, in which case the control date 

may be rescinded. 

Classification 

This advance notice of proposed 

rulemaking has been determined to be 

not significant for the purposes of 

Executive Order 12866. 

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

Dated: February 26, 2007. 

Samuel D. Rauch III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E7–3702 Filed 3–1–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 


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