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[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 197 (Wednesday, October 11, 2000)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 60396-60398]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-26060]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[I.D. 100400F]

Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Sea Scallop 
Fishery

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); request for comments.

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[[Page 60397]]

SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) announces 
its intention to prepare Framework 14 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop 
Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The intent of this action is to adjust 
the limited access scallop days-at-sea (DAS) allocations for the next 2 
fishing years (March 1, 2001, through February 28, 2003); create a 
restricted access program for the scallop Mid-Atlantic closed areas 
(Hudson Canyon South and Virginia Beach), scheduled to reopen on March 
1, 2001; and to close additional areas to scallop fishing to protect 
concentrations of juvenile scallops, reduce fishing mortality, and 
increase yield per recruit. The Council, in coordination with NMFS, 
also announces its intent to prepare an SEIS for the Atlantic Sea 
Scallop FMP in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act to 
analyze the impacts of management alternatives.

DATES: Written comments on the intent to prepare the SEIS must be 
received on or before 5 p.m., local time, November 13, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to Paul J. Howard, Executive 
Director, New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water Street, Mill 
2, Newburyport, MA 01950. Comments may also be sent via fax to (978) 
465-0492. Comments will not be accepted if submitted via e-mail or 
Internet.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul J. Howard, Executive Director, 
New England Fishery Management Council, (978) 465-0492.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Amendment 4 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop FMP, implemented by a final 
rule published January 19, 1994 (59 FR 2757), established a limited 
access program and a schedule of annual DAS allocations for full-time, 
part-time, and occasional vessels with limited access permits. The 
primary management tool implemented under Amendment 4 to control 
fishing mortality was the annual DAS allocation.
    Amendment 7 to the FMP, implemented by a final rule published March 
29, 1999 (64 FR 14835), changed the overfishing definition and extended 
the DAS-reduction schedule through 2008 to achieve a 10-year biomass 
rebuilding objective. To comply with the new overfishing definition and 
implement the rebuilding schedule, Amendment 7 revised the DAS schedule 
beginning March 1, 1999. To allow time for industry adjustment to the 
new regulations, the initial annual DAS allocations in 1999 were 120 
days for full-time vessels, 48 days for part-time vessels, and 10 days 
for occasional vessels. According to Amendment 7, the DAS allocations 
in 2000 would be reduced to 51 days for full-time vessels, 20 days for 
part-time vessels, and 4 days for occasional vessels, and would remain 
below these levels until 2007, when the biomass rebuilding targets were 
expected to be met. The SEIS for Amendment 7 indicated that the 2000 
DAS allocations would have negative impacts on the economic viability 
of the vessels and the scallop fleet. Amendment 7 also modified the 
framework adjustment process to allow the Council to consider closing 
and reopening areas, and closed two areas in the Mid-Atlantic to 
protect small scallops that were prevalent there, to promote stock 
rebuilding.
    Shortly after the implementation of Amendment 7, the Council began 
deliberations on a longer-term process of developing Amendment 10, 
which would implement an area-based management system for scallops. In 
connection with the development of Amendment 10, the Council and NMFS 
published a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an SEIS (65 FR 6975, 
February 11, 2000). The NOI announced that the Council is considering, 
among other things, closing areas with high concentrations of small 
scallops and opening them later when the scallops reach a certain size. 
The Council believes that shifting fishing effort in this manner could 
promote rebuilding, improve yield, and reduce the economic impacts of 
the low DAS allocations.
    While Amendment 10 was being developed, the Council, through 
Framework 11 to the Scallop FMP (64 FR 31144, June 10, 1999) began a 
short-term strategy to access Closed Area II (CA II) in order to allow 
fishing on dense concentrations of scallops without compromising 
multispecies rebuilding or habitat protection. Framework 11 implemented 
a 1999 seasonal Georges Bank Sea Scallop Exemption Area (Exemption 
Area) in and adjacent to CA II and included the following primary 
measures for vessels fishing in the Exemption Area: A possession limit 
of up to 10,000 lb (4,536.0 kg) of scallop meats per trip; a maximum of 
three trips for full and part-time vessels and a maximum of one trip 
for occasional vessels; an automatic minimum deduction of 10 DAS for 
each trip; a minimum mesh twine-top of 10 inches (25.40 cm); a total 
allowable catch (TAC) of yellowtail flounder of 387 metric tons (mt); 
and an increase in the regulated species possession limit from 300 lb 
(136.1 kg) to 500 lb (226.8 kg) per trip. In addition, Framework 11 
implemented a minimum mesh twine-top of 8 inches (20.32 cm) for vessels 
fishing under a scallop DAS when fishing outside the Exemption Area.
    This strategy occurred in the 1999 and 2000 fishing years. Based on 
an updated assessment from the 29th Northeast Regional Stock Assessment 
Workshop (September 1999) and the 1999 Stock Assessment and Fishery 
Evaluation (SAFE) Report, the Scallop Plan Development Team determined 
that increasing the Amendment 7 DAS allocations for each of three 
permit categories to the same amounts as in the 1999 fishing year would 
meet the 2000 fishing mortality rate (F) target. This was contingent 
upon scallops in multispecies CA I, CA II, and the Nantucket Lightship 
Closed Area (NLCA) remaining protected, or upon maintaining 
conservation neutrality, if scallopers were allowed access to these 
closed areas. Based on this information, Framework 12 to the FMP (65 FR 
11478, March 3, 2000) adjusted the limited access scallop DAS 
allocations for the fishing year March 1, 2000, through February 28, 
2001, to 120 days for full-time vessels, 48 days for part-time vessels, 
and 10 days for occasional vessels.
    Framework 13 to the FMP (65 FR 37903, June 19, 2000) continued the 
short-term strategy by implementing the 2000 Sea Scallop Exemption 
Program (Exemption Program), creating Exemption Areas in portions of CA 
I, CA II, and NLCA, and by including the following management measures: 
A possession limit of up to 10,000 lb (4,356.0 kg) of scallop meats per 
trip; a maximum number of trips for each area; an automatic minimum 
deduction of 10 DAS for each trip; a minimum mesh twine-top of 10 
inches (25.40 cm); a yellowtail flounder TAC of 725 mt for CA I and CA 
II combined, and 50 mt for the NLCA; and an increase in the regulated 
species possession limit from 300 lb (136.1 kg) to 1,000 lb (435.6 kg) 
per trip, among other measures. In addition, this action modified the 
scallop dredge gear stowage requirements and corrected and clarified 
the ``end of the year DAS carry-over'' provision for vessels 
participating in the limited access scallop fishery. The primary intent 
of this action was to provide a continuation and an expansion of a 
short-term strategy to allow scallop dredge vessels access to 
multispecies closed areas without compromising multispecies and sea 
scallop rebuilding or habitat protection.
    The Council is once again considering development of management 
measures through Framework 14 to provide for

[[Page 60398]]

effective conservation and management of sea scallops while Amendment 
10 is being developed. This action proposes to adjust the limited 
access scallop DAS allocations for the next 2 fishing years (March 1, 
2001, through February 28, 2003). Under this measure annual DAS would 
remain at 120 days for full-time vessels, 48 days for part-time 
vessels, and 10 days for occasional vessels. This action also proposes 
a restricted access program for the Mid-Atlantic scallop closed areas 
(Hudson Canyon South and Virginia Beach), which are currently scheduled 
to reopen to scallop fishing on March 1, 2000, with no restrictions. 
Proposed measures and provisions of this action program include: (1) 
all scallop limited access and open access vessels (dredge, trawl, and 
General Category vessels) would be allowed access; (2) a scallop TAC 
for each of the reopened areas; (3) an allowance of five trips per 
vessel; (4) a possession limit of 15,000 lb (6,804 kg) of meats per 
trip (400 lb (181.4 kg) of meats for the General Category vessels); (5) 
an automatic deduction of 10 DAS for each trip; (6) a season of April 1 
through February 28, with the provision that the Administrator, 
Northeast Region, NMFS, may allow additional trips for those vessels 
that made a trip prior to September 1, 2001; (7) an emergency landing 
provision, whereby vessels would only be charged one DAS for each 1,500 
lb (680 kg) of meats landed, provided the vessel has experienced an 
emergency condition that forces the vessel to come into port earlier 
than anticipated; (8) a minimum mesh twine-top of 10 inches (25 cm) for 
scallop dredge vessels; (9) a vessel monitoring system requirement, 
with double-polling for the duration of the access program; (10) a TAC 
set-aside to allow cooperative research; and (11) a TAC set-aside to 
provide for observer coverage. The Council also may propose additional 
closed areas to protect concentrations of small scallops. Options for 
the closed areas include areas in both the Mid-Atlantic and Georges 
Bank.
    Because the Mid-Atlantic closed areas are scheduled to reopen on 
March 1, 2001, the Council is considering in Framework 14 a restricted 
access program to prevent a rush of effort into the closed areas, which 
could potentially diminish the benefits achieved by the closures, and 
to balance fishing effort between the closed and open areas of the 
scallop fishery.
    Because Framework 14 is the third in a series of short-term 
measures adopted by the Council during the development of Amendment 10, 
the Council, in cooperation with NMFS, has determined that it may be 
necessary to prepare an SEIS to examine the cumulative effects and 
consequences of the short-term measures on the human environment. In 
preparing the SEIS, the Council and NMFS will take into account, in 
addition to comments received in response to this document, all 
comments that have already been submitted and all discussions that have 
occurred in Council meetings before the publication of this document.

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

    Dated: October 5, 2000.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 00-26060 Filed 10-5-00; 3:52 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S
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