9734 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 42 / Monday, March 5, 2007 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[I.D. 022207C] 

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of 

Mexico, and South Atlantic; 

Amendment 30 to the Fishery 

Management Plan for the Reef Fish 

Resources of the Gulf of Mexico 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare a draft 

environmental impact statement (DEIS); 

scoping meetings; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS, Southeast Region, in 

collaboration with the Gulf of Mexico 

Fishery Management Council (Council) 

intends to prepare a DEIS to describe 

and analyze management alternatives to 

be included in an amendment to the 

Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the 

Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of 

Mexico. These alternatives will consider 

measures to reduce gag, red grouper, 

greater amberjack, and gray triggerfish 

fishing mortality in the reef fish fishery, 

and to set status determination criteria 

for gag, greater amberjack, gray 

triggerfish, and other species in the 

fishery management unit. The purpose 

of this notice of intent is to solicit 

public comments on the scope of issues 

to be addressed in the DEIS. 

DATES: Written comments on the scope 

of issues to be addressed in the DEIS 

must be received by NMFS by April 4, 

2007. Seven scoping meetings will be 

held in March 2007. See SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION for specific dates and 

times. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the 

scope of the DEIS, suggested alternatives 

and potential impacts, and requests for 

additional information on the 

amendment should be sent to Peter 

Hood, NMFS, Southeast Regional Office, 

263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, 

FL 33701–5511; telephone (727) 824–

5305; fax (727) 824–5308. Comments 

may also be sent by email to 

peter.Hood@noaa.gov. 

Requests for information packets and 

for sign language interpretation or other 

auxiliary aids should be directed to the 

Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management 

Council, 2203 North Lois Avenue, Suite 

1100, Tampa, FL 33607; telephone: 813–

348–1630; fax: 813–348–1711. Requests 

may also be sent by email to 

steven.atran@gulfcouncil.org. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Peter Hood; phone: (727) 824–5305; fax: 

(727) 824–5308; email: 

peter.hood@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Recent 

stock assessments of three reef fish 

stocks and ongoing assessment of the 

red grouper stock indicate revisions may 

be needed in these stocks’ management. 

Gag were declared to be undergoing 

overfishing in October 2006 based on 

the results of a stock assessment; thus it 

is necessary for NMFS in collaboration 

with the Council to set a total allowable 

catch (TAC) and management measures 

to end overfishing, and to set some 

management thresholds and targets to 

ensure compliance with the Sustainable 

Fisheries Act of 1996 (SFA). 

Red grouper are under a rebuilding 

plan as a result of being overfished in 

1997. In 2002, a stock assessment 

concluded that red grouper were still 

undergoing overfishing, though no 

longer in an overfished condition. A 

new stock assessment has been 

completed that re-evaluates the status of 

the red grouper stock and will be 

reviewed by NMFS and the Council 

soon. 

Greater amberjack have been under a 

rebuilding plan since 2003. However, a 

new stock assessment completed in 

2006 concluded the stock is not 

recovering as projected. It remains 

overfished and is undergoing 

overfishing. Therefore, management 

measures are needed to end overfishing 

and realign harvest with the rebuilding 

plan to continue stock recovery. 

Gray triggerfish were declared to be 

undergoing overfishing in October 2006 

based on the most recent stock 

assessment. The overfished status could 

not be determined due to uncertainty 

about the stock-recruitment 

relationship; however, stock biomass 

trends in the assessment suggested the 

stock could be approaching an 

overfished condition. In addition, 

NMFS and the Council will set 

management thresholds and targets for 

gray triggerfish to ensure compliance 

with the SFA, including setting TAC 

and management measures to end 

overfishing. 

All reef fish species in the fishery 

management unit have overfishing 

definitions, which were developed in a 

generic amendment to the Council’s 

FMPs. To ensure compliance with the 

SFA, NMFS and the Council will set 

optimum yield and overfished 

definitions where necessary for the 

remaining species in the management 

unit that do not have these definitions. 

NMFS in collaboration with the 

Council will develop a DEIS to describe 

and analyze management alternatives to 

reduce overfishing and to establish SFA 

status criteria for these four stocks. 

Those alternatives include, but are not 

limited to: a ‘‘no action’’ alternative 

regarding each fishery; alternatives to 

set TAC consistent with each species’

stock status and rebuilding plan (if 

required); constraint of harvest to each 

stocks’ TAC through measures such as 

size limits, bag limits, gear restrictions, 

season closures, and area closures; and 

establishment of status determination 

criteria for gag and gray triggerfish. 

In accordance with NOAA’s 

Administrative Order 216–6, Section 

5.02(c), Scoping Process, NMFS in 

collaboration with the Council has 

identified preliminary environmental 

issues as a means to initiate discussion 

for scoping purposes only. These 

preliminary issues may not represent 

the full range of issues that eventually 

will be evaluated in the EIS. 

NMFS, in collaboration with the 

Council, has scheduled the following 

seven scoping meetings to provide the 

opportunity for additional public input: 

1. Monday, March 19, 2007, Imperial 

Palace Hotel, 850 Bayview Avenue, 

Biloxi, MS 39530, phone: 228–432–

3216; 

2. Monday, March 19, 2007, City of 

Orange Beach Parks & Recreation, 27235 

Canal Road, Orange Beach, AL 36561, 

phone: 251–981–6028; 

3. Tuesday, March 20, 2007, Four 

Points Sheraton Hotel, New Orleans 

Airport, 6401 Veterans Memorial 

Boulevard, Metairie, LA 70003, phone: 

504–885–5700; 

4. Tuesday, March 20, 2007, 

Edgewater Beach Resort, 11212 Front 

Beach Road, Panama City, FL 32407, 

phone: 800–331–6338; 

5. Wednesday, March 21, 2007, Hilton 

Galveston Island Resort, 5400 Seawall 

Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77550, phone: 

409–744–1500; 

6. Wednesday, March 21, 2007, Best 

Western Hotel, 6400 Dudley Drive, 

Naples, FL 34105, phone: 239–643–

6655; 

7. Thursday, March 22, 2007, City of 

Madeira Beach, 300 Municipal Drive, 

Madeira Beach, FL 33708, phone: 727–

391–9951. 

Copies of an information packet will 

be available at the meetings and are 

available prior to the meetings from the 

Council (see ADDRESSES). 

All scoping meetings will begin at 7 

p.m. The meetings will be physically 

accessible to people with disabilities. 

Requests for sign language 

interpretation or other auxiliary aids 

should be directed to the Council (see 

ADDRESSES). 

Once the DEIS associated with 

Amendment 30 is completed, it will be 

filed with the Environmental Protection 


erjones on PRODPC74 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 42 / Monday, March 5, 2007 / Notices 9735 

Agency (EPA). The EPA will publish a 

notice of availability of the DEIS for 

public comment in the Federal Register. 

The DEIS will have a 45–day comment 

period. This procedure is pursuant to 

regulations issued by the Council on 

Environmental Quality (CEQ) for 

implementing the procedural provisions 

of the National Environmental Policy 

Act (NEPA; 40 CFR parts 1500–1508) 

and to NOAA’s Administrative Order 

216–6 regarding NOAA’s compliance 

with NEPA and the CEQ regulations. 

NMFS will consider public comments 

received on the DEIS in developing the 

final environmental impact statement 

(FEIS) and before adopting final 

management measures for the 

amendment. NMFS will submit both the 

final amendment and the supporting 

FEIS to the Secretary of Commerce 

(Secretary) for review as per the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act. 

NMFS will announce, through a 

notice published in the Federal 

Register, the availability of the final 

amendment for public review during the 

Department of Commerce Secretarial 

review period. During Secretarial 

review, NMFS will also file the FEIS 

with the EPA, and the EPA will publish 

a notice of availability for the FEIS in 

the Federal Register. This comment 

period will be concurrent with the 

Secretarial review period and will end 

prior to final agency action to approve, 

disapprove, or partially approve the 

amendment. 

NMFS will announce, through a 

notice published in the Federal 

Register, all public comment periods on 

the final amendment, its proposed 

implementing regulations, and the 

availability of its associated FEIS. NMFS 

will consider all public comments 

received during the Secretarial review 

period, whether they are on the final 

amendment, the proposed regulations, 

or the FEIS, prior to final agency action. 

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

Dated: February 27, 2007. 

James P. Burgess, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E7–3777 Filed 3–2–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[I.D. 022707D] 

Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management 

Council; Scoping Meetings 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of scoping meetings. 

SUMMARY: The Gulf of Mexico Fishery 

Management Council (Council) will 

convene scoping meetings to solicit 

comments on Reef Fish Amendment 30. 

DATES: The scoping meetings will be 

held from March 19 - 22, 2007 at 7 

locations throughout the Gulf of Mexico. 

For specific dates and times, see 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. 

ADDRESSES: The scoping meetings will 

be held in the following locations: 

Orange Beach, AL, Panama City, Naples 

and Madeira Beach, FL, Biloxi, MS, 

New Orleans, LA and Galveston, TX. 

For specific locations, see 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. 

Council address: Gulf of Mexico 

Fishery Management Council, 2203 

North Lois Avenue, Suite 1100, Tampa, 

FL 33607. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Steven Atran, Population Dynamics 

Statistician, Gulf of Mexico Fishery 

Management Council; telephone: (813) 

348–1630. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Gulf 

of Mexico Fishery Management Council 

(Council) has scheduled a series of 

scoping meetings to solicit public 

comment on a scoping document to 

define issues to be addressed in a new 

Amendment 30 to the Reef Fish Fishery 

Management Plan. The issues deal with 

possible changes to the management of 

gag, red grouper, greater amberjack, and 

gray triggerfish. Recent stock 

assessments completed under the 

Southeast Data, Assessment and Review 

(SEDAR) program, indicate that 

management changes may be warranted. 

Gag were declared by NMFS to be 

undergoing overfishing based on the 

results of a 2006 stock assessment 

(SEDAR 10). A fishing mortality rate 

reduction of 10 to 34 percent is needed 

to end overfishing under the current 

overfishing definition. In addition, 

management targets and thresholds 

consistent with the Sustainable 

Fisheries Act need to be reviewed and 

adopted. 

Red grouper were initially determined 

to be overfished and undergoing 

overfishing as of 1997. A rebuilding 

plan combined with a strong 

recruitment year class that occurred in 

2000 has resulted in a stock that is 

currently above its maximum 

sustainable yield (MSY) biomass 

threshold and slightly above to its 

optimum yield (OY) target level. As a 

result, a 15% increase in red grouper 

TAC and management measures to 

achieve that increase can be 

implemented while still maintaining 

OY. 

Greater amberjack were found to be 

overfished and undergoing overfishing 

as of 1998 based on a 2000 stock 

assessment. A rebuilding plan was 

adopted in 2003. A 2006 stock 

assessment (SEDAR 9) found that the 

greater amberjack stock continues to be 

overfished and undergoing overfishing, 

and is not meeting its rebuilding targets. 

Consequently, the rebuilding plan needs 

to be revised. Reductions of from 11 to 

30 percent are needed depending upon 

the revisions made to the rebuilding 

plan. 

Gray triggerfish were found to be 

undergoing overfishing based on a 2006 

stock assessment (SEDAR 9). A 35 

percent reduction in landings is 

necessary to end overfishing. In 

addition, management targets and 

thresholds consistent with SFA need to 

be reviewed and adopted. 

Scoping meetings are part of the 

initial phase of preparing a plan 

amendment. Their purpose is to identify 

issues and a reasonable range, or scope, 

of alternatives to address those issues. 

Such alternatives could include changes 

in total allowable catch (TAC), size 

limits, bag limits, quotas, closed seasons 

or areas, or other measures to reduce 

fishing mortality and dead discards. 

The scoping meetings will begin at 7 

p.m. and conclude at the end of public 

testimony or no later than 10 p.m. at 

each of the following locations: 

Monday, March 19, 2007, IP Hotel, 

850 Bayview Avenue, Biloxi, MS 39530; 

telephone: (228) 432–3216; 

Monday, March 19, 2007, City of 

Orange Beach Parks and Recreational 

Center, 27235 Canal Road, Orange 

Beach, AL 36561; telephone: (251) 981–

6028; 

Tuesday, March 20, 2007, Four Points 

Sheraton New Orleans Airport, 6401 

Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, LA 

70003; telephone: (504) 885–5700; 

Tuesday, March 20, 2007, Edgewater 

Beach Resort, 11212 Front Beach Road, 

Panama City, FL 32407; telephone: (800) 

331–6338; 

Wednesday, March 21, 2007, Hilton 

Galveston, 5400 Seawall Boulevard, 

Galveston, TX 77550; telephone: (409) 

744–1500; 


erjones on PRODPC74 with NOTICES