69898 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 225 / Tuesday, November 21, 2000 / Proposed Rules

exemptions from pertinent GRA

regulations would be required. There

will be an opportunity for public

discussion of this proposal at the

December 12-14, 2000, meeting of the

Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management

Council in Atlantic City, NJ. An agenda

and other details of that meeting will be

published in the Federal Register in

advance of the meeting.

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

Dated: November 15, 2000.

Bruce C. Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 00–29779 Filed 11–20–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE: 3510–22–S

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 635

[I.D. 110800C]

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species

Fisheries; Technical Gear Workshop

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notification of public meeting.

SUMMARY: NMFS announces a public

workshop to discuss potential gear

modifications for the Atlantic pelagic

longline fishery aimed at reducing the

incidental take and mortality of

threatened and endangered sea turtles.

The workshop is intended to synthesize

available information and discuss

research objectives. A report of the

workshop will be made available to

interested parties.

DATES: The workshop will take place

December 12, 2000, from 1 p.m. to 6

p.m. and December 13, 2000, from 8:30

a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Notice of attending the

meeting should be provided by

December 5, 2000.

ADDRESSES: The location for the

workshop is: National Marine Fisheries

Service, Building 4 - Science Center,

1305 East-West Highway, Silver Spring,

MD 20910.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Margo Schulze-Haugen or Tyson Kade

at (301) 713-2347. Also, if you are

planning to attend the workshop, please

contact the above named individuals by

December 5, 2000. Attendees will be

provided briefing materials prior to the

meeting.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A

Biological Opinion (BO) issued on June

30, 2000, by NMFS’ Office of Protected

Resources found that the continued

operation of the Atlantic pelagic

longline fishery is likely to jeopardize

the continued existence of loggerhead

and leatherback sea turtles. Since the

BO was issued, NMFS has concluded

that further analyses of observer data

and additional population modeling of

loggerhead sea turtles are needed to

determine more precisely the impact of

the pelagic longline fishery on turtles.

NMFS reinitiated consultation to

consider these factors, and anticipates

issuance of a new BO in March 2001.

This workshop will allow fishermen,

gear experts, sea turtle experts, and

fishery managers to discuss possible

measures, including gear and fishing

method modifications, to reduce the

incidental take and mortality of sea

turtles in the Atlantic pelagic longline

fishery in the future. Information

developed at the workshop will be

incorporated into a workshop report

that will be considered in the ongoing

fishery consultation. The report will

also be made available to the public.

Special Accommodations

The public workshop is physically

accessible to people with disabilities.

Requests for sign language

interpretation or other auxiliary aids

should be directed to Margo SchulzeHaugen or Tyson Kade (see FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT) at least 7 days

prior to the meeting.

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq., and 16

U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

Dated: November 14, 2000.

Bruce C. Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 00–29780 Filed 11–20–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE: 3510–22–S

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[Docket No. 001030303–0303–01; I.D.

091900E]

RIN 0648—AO41

Fisheries off West Coast States and in

the Western Pacific; Pacific Coast

Groundfish Fishery; Amendment 13

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for

comments.

SUMMARY: NMFS issues this proposed

rule to implement portions of

Amendment 13 to the Pacific Coast

Groundfish Fishery Management Plan

(FMP). Amendment 13 is intended to

make the FMP consistent with the

bycatch provisions of the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and

Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens

Act). Amendment 13 would also

increase flexibility in the groundfish

annual specifications and management

measures process to allow the Council

to more easily craft measures that

protect overfished and depleted species,

and would amend the limited entry

permit provisions to remove unused and

outdated limited entry permit

endorsements. This proposed rule

would introduce an increased

utilization program for the at-sea

whiting fisheries, revise the regulatory

provisions for the routine management

measures process, and remove

regulatory references to limited entry

permit endorsements other than the ‘‘A’’

endorsement.

DATES: Comments must be submitted in

writing by January 5, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Donna

Darm, Acting Administrator, Northwest

Region, (Regional Administrator) NMFS,

7600 Sand Point Way NE., Seattle, WA

98115; or Rebecca Lent, Administrator,

Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 West

Ocean Blvd., Suite 4200, Long Beach,

CA 90802-4213. Copies of Amendment

13 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP

and the environmental assessment/

regulatory impact review (EA/RIR) are

available from Donald McIsaac,

Executive Director, Pacific Fishery

Management Council, 2130 SW Fifth

Avenue, Suite 224, Portland, OR 97201.

Send comments regarding the reporting

burden estimate or any other aspect of

the collection-of-information

requirements in this proposed rule to

the NMFS address and to the Office of

Information and Regulatory Affairs,

Office of Management and Budget

(OMB), Washington, DC 00503 (Attn:

NOAA Desk Officer). Send comments

regarding any ambiguity or unnecessary

complexity arising from the language

used in this rule to Donna Darm or

Rebecca Lent.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

William Robinson at: phone, 206-526-

6140; fax, 206-526-6736; and email,

bill.robinson@noaa.gov. Svein Fougner

at: phone, 562–980–4000; fax, 562–980–

4047; and email,

svein.fougner@noaa.gov.