Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 213 / Tuesday, November 4, 1997 / Notices 59657

San Francisco Regional Office at (415)

744–3001.

ADDRESSES: Mail applications to the

U.S. Department of Commerce, Minority

Business Development Agency, MBDA

Executive Secretariat, 14th &

Constitution Avenue, NW, Room 5073,

Washington, D.C. 20230.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Melda Cabrera at (415) 744–3001.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance:

11.801 Native American Program)

Dated: October 28, 1997.

Donald L. Powers,

Federal Register Liaison Officer, Minority

Business Development Agency.

[FR Doc. 97–29107 Filed 11–3–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–21–M

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

[I.D. 101497D]

Taking of Marine Mammals Incidental

to Commercial Fishing Operations;

Atlantic Offshore Cetacean Take

Reduction Plan Environmental

Assessment

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request

for comments.

SUMMARY: NMFS has prepared an

Environmental Assessment (EA) on the

alternatives being considered for

implementation of the Atlantic Offshore

Cetacean Take Reduction Plan. NMFS is

requesting comments on the EA before

it is finalized.

DATES: Written comments must be

received on or before December 4, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the EA or the draft

Atlantic Offshore Cetacean Take

Reduction Plan may be obtained from

Chief, Marine Mammal Division, Office

of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315

East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD

20910, or by calling (301) 713-2322.

Written comments should be

submitted to Chief, Marine Mammal

Division, Office of Protected Resources,

1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring,

MD 20910.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Victoria Cornish, Office of Protected

Resources, (301) 713-2322.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section

118(f) of the Marine Mammal Protection

Act (MMPA) requires NMFS to establish

a Take Reduction Team (TRT) to

prepare a draft Take Reduction Plan

(TRP) designed to assist in the recovery

or to prevent the depletion of each

strategic marine mammal stock that

interacts with certain fisheries. The

immediate goal of a TRP is to reduce,

within 6 months of its implementation,

the mortality and serious injury of

strategic stocks incidentally taken in the

course of commercial fishing operations

to below the Potential Biological

Removal (PBR) levels established for

such stocks.

The U.S. Atlantic, Caribbean, Gulf of

Mexico pelagic drift gillnet fishery for

swordfish, tuna, and shark interacts

with several strategic marine mammal

stocks, including long-finned and shortfinned pilot whales, common dolphins,

Atlantic spotted dolphins, the offshore

stock of bottlenose dolphin, humpback

whales, northern right whales, and

sperm whales. The U.S. Atlantic,

Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico pelagic

longline fishery for swordfish, tuna, and

shark interacts with two strategic

marine mammal stocks: Pilot whales

and Atlantic spotted dolphins (62 FR

3005, January 21, 1997). These stocks

are considered strategic under the

MMPA because they are listed as either

an endangered or threatened species

under the Endangered Species Act or

because the level of human-caused

mortality is greater than their PBR

levels.

NMFS established the Atlantic

Offshore Cetacean TRT on May 23, 1996

(61 FR 25846) to prepare a draft plan

aimed at reducing bycatch of the

strategic marine mammals stocks taken

as bycatch in the U.S. Atlantic pelagic

drift gillnet and longline fisheries. The

Team submitted a draft Atlantic

Offshore Cetacean Take Reduction Plan

to NMFS on November 25, 1996.

NMFS has prepared an EA on the

alternatives being considered for

implementation of the final Plan. The

EA addresses four alternatives: (1) A noaction alternative, (2) adoption of the

draft plan as submitted by the Team, (3)

adoption of a modified plan, with a

marine mammal bycatch limit for drift

gillnets, and (4) adoption of a modified

plan, with a drift gillnet gear

prohibition.

This assessment considers

information that was not available to the

Team at the time of their deliberations.

This new information has resulted in

the development of Alternatives 3 and

4, which are based on take reduction

strategies discussed by the team while

they were developing their draft plan.

NMFS is making this EA available to the

public, with a discussion of the new

information and the rationale for the

development of Alternatives 3 and 4, to

provide an opportunity for public

consideration and comment before

regulations to implement a TRP for the

drift gillnet and longline fisheries are

proposed. As a result, this EA does not

indicate a preferred alternative or

identify a proposed action for

implementation of the plan. After the

close of the public comment period on

this EA, NMFS will identify the

preferred alternative for reducing

incidental takes of marine mammals in

these fisheries and request public

comments on these proposed

regulations.

A brief description of the take

reduction strategies in each alternative

is as follows:

Alternative 1: Status Quo, or No

Action, Alternative

The no-action alternative would

maintain existing regulations for both

the pelagic drift gillnet and longline

fisheries. This alternative would allow

continued mortality and serious injury

of strategic marine mammal stocks in

these fisheries at a level above each

stock’s PBR level, which is in violation

of section 118 of the MMPA.

Alternative 2: Take Reduction Plan,

as Drafted by the Atlantic Offshore

Cetacean Take Reduction Team

This alternative would adopt the

Team’s draft plan as submitted to NMFS

on November 25, 1997. This plan would

prohibit fishing in right whale critical

habitat areas by both the drift gillnet

and longline fisheries. This plan would

regulate the drift gillnet fishery using

the following strategies: (1) 100 percent

marine mammal observer coverage, (2)

limited entry for the swordfish drift

gillnet fishery, (3) prohibition of drift

gillnet gear south of Hudson Canyon

from December 1 through May 31, and

(4) a set allocation designed to reduce

the derby nature of the fishery. In the

longline fishery, the following

regulatory strategies would be

implemented: (1) Length-of-gear limit

on pelagic longline gear from August to

November in the Mid-Atlantic Bight, (2)

reduction in maximum soak time in the

Mid-Atlantic Bight during AugustNovember by hauling gear in the order

it was set, and (3) a requirement that

longliners move after one entanglement

with a marine mammal. In addition to

these regulatory changes, the Team’s

draft plan included several nonregulatory strategies which were not

considered in the preparation of the EA.

Non-regulatory measures recommended

by the team primarily focus on NMFS’

long-term research, monitoring, and

management objectives which would

not be implemented by regulation in the

near future and are an extension of

actions currently underway to
59658 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 213 / Tuesday, November 4, 1997 / Notices

implement the broad management goals

of the MMPA, Magnuson-Stevens

Fishery Conservation and Management

Act, and the Atlantic Tunas Convention

Act.

Alternative 3: Modified Plan, with

Marine Mammal Bycatch Limit for the

Drift Gillnet Fishery

This alternative would modify the

Team’s draft plan to include a marine

mammal bycatch limit for the drift

gillnet fishery. Under this alternative,

the following combination of measures

are proposed for the drift gillnet fishery:

(1) Limited entry to the drift gillnet

fishery, (2) prohibition of drift gillnet

gear south of Hudson Canyon yearround, (3) prohibition on the use of drift

gillnet gear from November 1 through

July 31, (4) 100 percent marine mammal

observer coverage, (5) mandatory

education workshops for all vessel

operators, and (6) a per-vessel marine

mammal bycatch limit. The longline

fishery would be subject to the same

regulations specified in Alternative 2,

with the following exceptions: (1) The

areas subject to regulation would be

expanded to include the Northeast

Coastal area and (2) educational

workshops would be mandatory for all

vessel operators.

Alternative 4: Modified Plan, with

Prohibition of Drift Gillnet Gear

This alternative would modify the

team’s draft plan to include a ban on the

use of drift gillnet gear to target

swordfish, tuna, and shark, except

where otherwise authorized (i.e., the

southeast U.S. shark gillnet fishery).

This alternative would adopt the

longline fishery take reduction strategies

outlined in Alternative 3.

Dated: October 29, 1997.

Patricia A. Montanio,

Deputy Director, Office of Protected

Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 97–29160 Filed 11–3–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

[I.D. 102797C]

Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management

Council; Public Meeting

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

SUMMARY: The Gulf of Mexico Fishery

Management Council (Council) will

convene a public meeting of the Florida/

Alabama Habitat Protection Advisory

Panel (AP).

DATES: The meeting will be held on

Thursday, November 20, 1997, and is

scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m. and

adjourn at 3:00 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The meetings will be held at

the at the Radisson Bay Harbor Inn,

7700 Courtney Campbell Causeway,

Tampa, FL 33609; telephone: 813–281–

8900.

Council address: Gulf of Mexico

Fishery Management Council, 3018 U.S.

Highway 301 North, Suite 1000, Tampa,

FL 33619.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeff

Rester, Habitat Specialist, Gulf States

Marine Fisheries Commission;

telephone: 601–875–5912.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: At this

meeting, the AP will discuss an update

on the Fenholloway River, and the

expansion of U.S. 1 in Monroe County.

The AP will also hear reports on the

status of completion of the Essential

Fish Habitat (EFH) guidelines being

developed by NMFS; and of completion

of a generic amendment by the Council

which describes EFH as required by the

Sustainable Fisheries Act. An overview

of the Florida Marine Research

Institute’s mapping of fisheries habitat,

and an update of the status of artificial

reefs in Florida will also be presented.

A copy of the agenda can be obtained

by calling 813–228–2815. Although

other issues not on the agenda may

come before the AP for discussion, in

accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens

Fishery Conservation and Management

Act, those issues may not be the subject

of formal AP action during this meeting.

AP action will be restricted to those

issues specifically identified in the

agenda listed as available by this notice.

Special Accommodations

This meeting is physically accessible

to people with disabilities. Requests for

sign language interpretation or other

auxiliary aids should be directed to

Anne Alford at the Council (see

ADDRESSES) by November 13, 1997.

Dated: October 29, 1997.

Bruce C. Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 97–29159 Filed 11–3–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

[I.D. 102497D]

South Atlantic Fishery Management

Council; Public Meetings

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public meetings.

SUMMARY: The South Atlantic Fishery

Management Council (Council) will

hold a meeting of its Habitat Committee

and Habitat Research and Monitoring

Subgroup, Joint Habitat Committee and

Habitat Advisory Panel chairmen and

agency representatives to the Habitat

Advisory Panel, Marine Reserves

Committee, Information and Education

(I & E) Committee, Mackerel Committee,

Scientific and Statistical Selection

Committee (CLOSED SESSION),

Advisory Panel Selection Committee

(CLOSED SESSION), Personnel

Committee (CLOSED SESSION),

Snapper Grouper Committee, and a

Scoping Meeting of the Atlantic Coastal

Cooperative Statistics Program. A

Council Session will also be held.

DATES: The meetings will be held from

November 17-21, 1997. See

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for specific

dates and times.

ADDRESSES: The meetings will be held at

the Duke University Nicholas School of

the Environment Marine Laboratory,

135 Duke Marine Lab Road, Beaufort,

NC 28516; telephone: (919) 504-7504.

Council address: South Atlantic

Fishery Management Council, One

Southpark Circle, Suite 306; Charleston,

SC 29407-4699.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Susan Buchanan, Public Information

Officer; telephone: (803) 571-4366; fax:

(803) 769-4520; email:

susan.buchanan@noaa.gov

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Meeting Dates

November 17, 1997, 1:30 p.m. to 5:00

p.m.—Habitat Committee/Habitat

Research and Monitoring Subgroup;

The Committee will observe the

Subgroup workshop. The Subgroup will

review present research efforts to

identify and describe essential fish

habitat and determine fishery and nonfishery impacts on these habitats and

discuss the structure of the research

section of the Habitat Fishery

Management Plan (FMP).

November 17, 1997, 5:00 p.m. until all

business is complete —Atlantic Coastal