30180 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 106 /Wednesday, June 3, 1998 / Proposed Rules

DEIS and DSEIS Public Comment

Period

NMFS intends to file the DSEIS and

DEIS with the Environmental Protection

Agency to initiate a 45-day public

comment period pursuant to the

requirements of the National

Environmental Policy Act, prior to the

Council’s public hearings.

Public Hearings

The hearings will begin at 6 p.m. and

will end when all business is

completed. The dates and locations are

scheduled as follows:

1. Monday, June 15, 1998--Ponce de

Leon Resort, 4000 U.S. Highway 1,

North, St. Augustine, FL; telephone:

904–924–2821;

2. Monday, June 22, 1998--Town &

Country, 2008 Savannah Highway,

Charleston, SC; telephone: 843–571–

1000;

3. Tuesday, June 23, 1998--Carteret

Community College, 3505 Arendell

Street, Morehead City, NC; telephone:

919–247–3094;

4. Wednesday, June 24, 1998--Holiday

Inn, Highway 17 South at I–95,

Richmond Hill (near Savannah), GA;

telephone: 912–756–3351;

5. Thursday, June 25, 1998--Holiday

Inn, 7151 Okeechobee Road, Ft. Pierce,

FL; telephone: 561–464–5000;

6. Friday, June 26, 1998--Hawk’s Cay

Resort, Mile Marker 61, Marathon, FL;

telephone: 305–743–7000.

Special Accommodations

These meetings are physically

accessible to people with disabilities.

Requests for sign language

interpretation or other auxiliary aids

should be directed to the Council office

(see ADDRESSES) by June 9, 1998.

Dated: May 28, 1998.

George H. Darcy,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 98–14739 Filed 6–2–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[I.D. 052098C]

RIN 0648–AK21

Fisheries Off West Coast States and in

the Western Pacific; Bottomfish and

Seamount Groundfish Fisheries; Draft

Amendment 5

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability of a draft

amendment to a fishery management

plan; request for comments.

SUMMARY: The Western Pacific Fishery

Management Council (Council) is

seeking comments on Draft Amendment

5 to the Fishery Management Plan for

Bottomfish and Seamount Groundfish of

the Western Pacific Region (FMP).

DATES: Comments on Draft Amendment

5 must be received by the Council office

no later than July 20, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should

be sent to, and copies of Draft

Amendment 5 are available from, the

Western Pacific Fishery Management

Council, 1164 Bishop St., Suite 1400,

Honolulu, HI 96813.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kitty M. Simonds, Executive Director;

808–522–8220.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Council is seeking comments on Draft

Amendment 5 to the FMP, which would

establish a limited access program for

the Mau Zone bottomfish fishery in the

Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI).

The Mau Zone limited access program

is intended to address the low economic

returns in the fishery, the potential for

excessive harvest capacity, and other

conservation and economic concerns.

Draft Amendment 5 would specify a

target number of vessels for the fishery;

establish qualifying criteria for

allocation of initial limited access

permits based on historical and current

landings; impose permit holder

restrictions; establish a use-it-or-lose-it

requirement for permit renewal;

prohibit the transfer, lease, charter, and

sale of permits to reduce the number of

vessels in the fishery to the target

number; direct the Council to assess

periodically how effectively the limited

access program meets the objectives of

the FMP; and establish criteria to allow

new entrants into the Mau Zone when

the number of vessels falls below the

target number specified for the fishery.

Since March 1997, there has been a 2-

year moratorium on the issuance of new

permits for harvesting bottomfish in the

Mau Zone so that effort in the fishery

can be stabilized while the Council

develops a long-term limited access

program (see the final rule published in

the February 26, 1997, issue of the

Federal Register at 62 FR 8637). The

moratorium expires on March 27, 1999,

at which time proposed Amendment 5

is expected to be implemented. The

Council will be taking action on draft

Amendment 5 at its 97th meeting to be

held in July in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

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

Dated: May 28, 1998.

Bruce C. Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 98–14746 Filed 6–2–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F