[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 166 (Wednesday, August 27, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 45384-45386]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-22838]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[I.D. 082097D]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast 
Multispecies Fishery; Scoping Process for Atlantic Sea Herring

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

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a supplemental environmental impact 
statement (SEIS) and notice of scoping process; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) announces 
its intent to prepare a Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Atlantic sea 
herring (Clupea harengus) and stocks, and to prepare an SEIS to analyze 
the impacts of any proposed management measures, while the Atlantic 
States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) develops a 
complementary amendment to its Atlantic Herring FMP under the authority 
of the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act. The 
Council and Commission also formally announce a public process to 
determine the scope of issues to be addressed in the environmental 
impact analysis. The purpose of this notification is to alert the 
interested public of the commencement of the scoping process, and to 
provide for public participation in compliance with environmental 
documentation requirements.

DATES: The Council will discuss and take scoping comments at public 
meeetings in September 1997. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for specific 
dates and times. Written scoping comments may be submitted until 
September 15, 1997.

ADDRESSES: The Council will discuss and take scoping comments at public 
meetings in Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, and New Jersey. See 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for specific locations. Written comments and 
requests for copies of the scoping document and other information can 
be obtained from Paul J. Howard, Executive Director, New England 
Fishery Management Council, 5 Broadway, Saugus, MA 01906, Telephone 
(617) 231-0422.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul J. Howard, (617) 231-0422.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Atlantic herring fishery is currently managed as one stock 
along the East Coast from Maine to Cape Hatteras although there is 
evidence to suggest there are two separate biological stocks. 
Generally, the resource has been divided into an inshore Gulf of Maine 
(GOM) and an offshore Georges Bank (GB) component. The most recent 
stock assessment (1995) concluded that the abundance of the coastal 
stock complex is currently at a record high level of 3.6 million metric 
tons (mt), while the most recent estimate of spawning stock biomass 
(SSB) is 2.1 million mt. The current level of abundance has generated 
great interest in new and expanded sectors of the herring fishery, 
including: (1) Maintaining traditional use patterns in the fishery; (2) 
increasing the bait fishery; (3) increasing participation in 
cooperative ventures with foreign vessels (Internal Water Processing 
(IWP) and Joint Venture Processing (JV)); (4) providing a viable 
alternative fishery to vessels currently in the groundfish fishery; (5) 
providing opportunities for increased development of U.S. shore-side 
processing capacity; (6) interest in participating in the fishery from 
Pacific Coast fishing operations; (7) maintaining high stock abundance 
for ecological reasons (i.e., maintaining a forage base for base for 
other species); and (8) providing opportunities for modernization and 
improvement of the existing East coast vessels to be able to compete in 
supplying human food export markets.
    These potentially competing interests have generated different 
views on how the herring fishery should be managed in the future. 
Additionally, the interest in rapid expansion of the fishery has raised 
concerns about potential overharvest, locally or on the entire stock. 
In the late 1960s and the early 1970s, excessive foreign fishing led to 
the collapse of the GB stock. The stock has collapsed a number of times 
in the past due to over harvesting. There is currently great concern 
over the condition of the GOM component of the herring population but 
existing data are insufficient to separate individual

[[Page 45385]]

components such as the GOM into distinct stocks.
    Current interest in expanding the fishery, from many sectors, has 
raised the issues of: (1) Appropriate harvest levels overall and by 
sub-unit; (2) appropriate end uses of herring (food, meal, roe, and 
bait); (3) appropriate expansions in the fishery (IWP, JV, and use of 
large factory trawlers); and (4) how to best cooperate with Canadian 
herring interests.

Current management

The Commission FMP

    The goal of the current Herring FMP is to: ``manage Atlantic 
herring as an interjurisdictional resource in U.S. Atlantic coast 
waters for sustained optimum utilization while conserving the resource 
through complimentary management between the New England and Mid-
Atlantic Fishery Management Councils, the U.S. Atlantic coastal states, 
and Canada in a manner which will provide the greatest benefit to the 
nation.''
    To accomplish this goal, the Commission FMP identifies the 
following eight management objectives:
    (1) Maintain the herring resource at or above 20 percent of its 
maximum spawning potential, while reducing the risk of stock collapse;
    (2) promote U.S./Canada cooperation to improve herring stock 
assessments and establish complementary management practices;
    (3) promote research, improve data collection, and improve 
assessment procedures;
    (4) provide adequate protection for spawning herring, prevent 
damage to egg beds;
    (5) avoid patterns of fishing mortality by age which are 
inconsistent with the goal;
    (6) establish complementary management throughout the species 
range;
    (7) promote utilization of the resource which maximizes social and 
economic benefits to the nation; and
    (8) promote recovery of herring on GB and control development of 
the fishery.
    The current Commission FMP imposes no restrictions on domestic 
fishing or processing activities and because there is not yet a Federal 
FMP, it does not permit joint venture fishing or processing activities 
involving foreign owned vessels in federal waters.

Preliminary Management Plan (PMP)

    In 1995 a Preliminary Management Plan (PMP) was prepared by NMFS, 
in cooperation with the Commission and the Council. The purpose of the 
PMP was to allow joint venture operations for herring in the EEZ. The 
allocation of fish for joint ventures must take into account current 
harvesting levels of herring by the domestic, IWP, and Canadian 
sectors.

Proposed contents of the new Commission FMP Amendment/Federal FMP

    A. Additional management objectives
    The Council and Commission are considering the following management 
objectives:
    (1) Achieve, on a continuing basis, optimum yield (OY) for the 
United States fishing industry and to prevent overfishing of the 
Atlantic sea herring resource;
    (2) prevent the overfishing of discrete stock units consistent with 
the national standards;
    (3) provide opportunities for fishermen and vessels displaced by 
fishing restrictions in other fisheries in the northeast;
    (4) implement management measures in close coordination with other 
federal and state FMPs;
    (5) take into account the viability of current participants in the 
fishery;
    (6) provide for the orderly development of the offshore fishery;
    (7) maximize shore-side utilization and value-added product; and
    (8) achieve full utilization from the catch of herring (minimize 
the waste from discards in the fishery);
    B. Overfishing, OY, and corresponding stock size levels
    To achieve the management objectives, the FMP will contain the 
following:
    (1) An overfishing definition;
    (2) An estimate of maximum sustainable yield (MSY) and maximum 
level of fishing mortality which would produce MSY in the long run;
    (3) An MSY control rule - a hypothetical harvest strategy which 
would produce long-term catch approximating MSY;
    (4) An estimate of the MSY stock size - the long-term average size 
of the stock that would be achieved under an MSY control rule in which 
the fishing mortality rate is constant;
    (5) Stock status determination criteria which would allow the 
Council and the Commission to determine whether the herring resource is 
overfished or whether overfishing is occurring;
    (6) A specification of OY;
    (7) Total Allowable Catch (TAC) levels for appropriate stock areas;
    (8) Fishery sector allocations including JV and IWP allocations;
    (9) Estimates of U.S. harvesting and processing capacity; and
    (10) Data reporting requirements for permit holders and processors.
    C. Management unit
    The management unit for this FMP is defined as the Atlantic herring 
resource throughout the range of the species within U.S. waters of the 
northwest Atlantic Ocean from the shoreline to the seaward boundary of 
the EEZ. This definition is consistent with recent stock assessments 
which treated the entire resource in U.S. waters of the northwest 
Atlantic as a single stock. It is also recognized that the herring 
resource, as defined here, is a transboundary one and that effective 
assessment and management can be enhanced through cooperative efforts 
with Canadian scientists and managers.
    D. Catch control measures
    To ensure the achievement of OY and to prevent overfishing, the 
Council and the Commission will consider a range of alternatives for 
limiting the potential catch of herring. Management measures would be 
consistent throughout the range of the species to the extent 
practicable. There may, however, be different measures by region if 
justified.
    (1) Target Total Allowable Catch (TAC) levels with effort controls. 
The Council and the Commission could restrict fishing levels through 
the following measures to achieve target TACs: (a) Limited entry; (b) 
closed seasons; (c) closed areas; (d) limits on the amount of fishing 
time (days-at-sea limits); (e) gear controls including vessel size 
limits and horsepower restrictions; (f) trip limits; (g) minimum sizes 
for adults, juveniles or both; and (h) a prohibition on the harvest of 
herring primarily for the production of fish meal.
    (2) Catch quotas. The FMP could close the fishery when target TACs 
are reached through the following types of quotas: (a) Fleet quota 
(options include allocating quota annually, seasonally, by vessel 
category, etc.); (b) vessel catch limits; (c) management area quotas; 
and (d) sector quotas.
    E. Potential habitat protection and stock enhancement measures
    (1) Spawning and juvenile protection area closures;
    (2) Allowance for predation by other fish and marine mammals;
    (3) Gear impact assessments;
    (4) Essential fish habitat description and recommendations.  NMFS, 
together with the Council's Habitat PDT, will provide the Council and 
the ASMFC information about and draft recommendations for the 
enhancement and protection of the essential fish habitat for herring.
    F. Potential bycatch minimization measures

[[Page 45386]]

    (1) Gear modifications; and
    (2) Area closures.
    G. Recommendations for future research
    (1) Natural mortality (current estimates assume an 18 percent 
natural mortality rate for herring, including predation by other 
species); and
    (2) Other recommendations.
    H. Fishing community considerations
    (1) Protection of traditional uses of inshore stocks; and
    (2) Description and analysis of impacts on fishing communities.
    I. An analysis of the impacts of proposed measures on safety at sea
    J. Administrative provisions
    (1) A requirement for vessel fishing permits;
    (2) A requirement for fishing vessel operator permits;
    (3) Dealer permits; and
    (4) Requirement to provide end-use information on IWP permits.
    K. Data needs
    (1) Reporting of landings from stock components;
    (2) Mandatory observer coverage; and
    (3) Data on end-products and uses.
    L. The Commission/Council process for allocating herring among JV 
and IWP operations

Scoping Process

    All persons affected by or otherwise interested in herring 
fisheries management are invited to participate in determining the 
scope and significance of issues to be analyzed by submitting written 
comments (see ADDRESSES) or attending one of the scoping hearings. 
Scope consists of the range of actions, alternatives, and impacts to be 
considered. Alternatives include not developing a management plan 
(taking no action), developing amendments to existing plans or other 
reasonable courses of action. Impacts may be direct, indirect, 
individual or cumulative. The scoping process also will identify and 
eliminate from detailed study issues that are not significant. Once a 
draft management plan and an Environmental Impact Statement or 
Environmental Assessment is developed, the Council and Commission will 
hold public hearings to receive comments.

Public Meeting Schedule

    The Council will discuss and take scoping comment at public 
meetings as follows:
    (1) September 2, 1:00 p.m, Gloucester House Restaurant, Seven Seas 
Wharf, Gloucester, MA, (508) 283-1812;
    (2) September 3, 1:00 p.m., Maine Dept. of Marine Resources 
Fisheries Laboratory, 194 McKown Point Road, Boothbay Harbor, ME, (207) 
633-9500;
    (3) September 9, 1:00 p.m., Holiday Inn, Route 1, South Kingston, 
RI, (401) 789-1051; and
    (4) September 11, 7:00 p.m., Rutgers Marine Advisory Service, Cape 
May County Extension Office, Dennisville Road, Rt. 657, Cape May 
Courthouse, NJ, (609) 465-5115.
    Additional scoping meetings may be scheduled as needed.

Special Accommodations

    The meetings are physically accessible to people with disabilities. 
Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids 
should be directed to Paul J. Howard (see ADDRESSES) at least 5 days 
prior to the meeting date.

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

    Dated: August 21, 1997.
George H. Darcy,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 97-22838 Filed 8-26-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F