Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 95 / Wednesday, May 17, 1995 / Proposed Rules 26403

For information regarding proper

filing procedures for comments, see 47

CFR 1.415 and 1.420.

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 73

Radio broadcasting.

Federal Communications Commission.

John A. Karousos,

Chief, Allocations Branch, Policy and Rules

Division, Mass Media Bureau.

[FR Doc. 95–12108 Filed 5–16–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–F

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 659

[I.D. 050595A]

Shrimp and Calico Scallop Fisheries

Off the Southern Atlantic States;

Public Hearings and Scoping Meetings

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public hearings and

scoping meetings.

SUMMARY: The South Atlantic Fishery

Management Council (Council) is

holding public hearings to solicit

comments on management options for

Amendment 1 to the Fishery

Management Plan (FMP) for the Shrimp

Fishery of the South Atlantic Region

(Shrimp FMP) that would add rock

shrimp to the management unit.

Immediately after the hearings, the

Council will hold public scoping

meetings to solicit comments on the

development of an FMP for the calico

scallop fishery and on Amendment 2 to

the Shrimp FMP dealing with fishery

bycatch issues. See the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section for additional

information on the hearings and scoping

meetings.

DATES: The hearings are scheduled as

followed:

1. Monday, May 22, 1995, 7 p.m.,

Wilmington, NC

2. Tuesday, May 23, 1995, 7 p.m.,

Charleston, SC

3. Wednesday, May 24, 1995, 7 p.m.,

Cocoa Beach, FL

4. Thursday, May 25, 1995, 7 p.m.,

Mobile, AL

The public scoping meetings on an

FMP for calico scallops and on

Amendment 2 to the Shrimp FMP will

be held immediately after the public

hearings on May 22 and 23. Also, a

public scoping meeting on calico

scallops will be held immediately after

the public hearing on May 24.

ADDRESSES: The hearings will be held at

the following locations:

1. Wilmington—Ramada Conference

Center, 5001 Market Street, Wilmington,

NC 28405; public hearing and scoping

meeting.

2. Charleston—Department of Natural

Resources, Fort Johnson Auditorium,

217 Fort Johnson Road, Charleston, SC

29412; public hearing and scoping

meeting.

3. Cocoa Beach-Holiday Inn, 300 N.

Atlantic Avenue, Cocoa Beach, FL

32931; public hearing and scoping

meeting.

4. Mobile—Holiday Inn Downtown,

301 Government Street, Mobile, AL

36602; public hearing.

Written comments regarding the

issues being discussed at the hearings

and scoping meetings must be received

on or before June 2, 1995. Requests for

copies of the public hearing documents

should be sent to the Council at the

following address: South Atlantic

Fishery Management Council, One

Southpark Circle, Suite 306, Charleston,

SC 29407–4699.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Sharon Coste (Council staff); telephone:

803–571–4366; fax: 803–769–4520.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Public

hearings will be held to solicit

comments on management options for

Amendment 1 to the Shrimp FMP that

proposes to add rock shrimp to the

management unit, prohibit trawling for

rock shrimp in designated areas, and

implement mandatory permitting and

reporting requirements for vessels

fishing for and dealers handling rock

shrimp in the South Atlantic region. In

addition, a mandatory vessel operator

license and other management measures

to enhance law enforcement are under

consideration.

Public scoping meetings will be held

to solicit comments on the development

of an FMP for the calico scallop fishery.

The Council may consider the following

measures as possible management

options for this fishery: (1) No action;

(2) prohibit calico scallop trawling

(trawling) south of 28°30′ N. lat.; (3)

prohibit trawling south of 28° N. lat.; (4)

allow trawling south of Cape Canaveral

only with transponders; (5) prohibit

trawling west of Oculina Bank; (6)

prohibit trawling south of Bethal Shoals;

(7) prohibit trawling in depths less than

120 ft. (8) allow trawling with

transponders only from Duval through

St. Lucie Counties; (9) limit trawling to

Duval through St. Lucie Counties; and

(10) prohibit trawling south of Cape

Canaveral, Florida (i.e., south of

28°35.1′ N. lat).

The Council will also hold public

scoping meetings to solicit comments on

Amendment 2 to the Shrimp FMP to

address the issue of finfish bycatch in

the shrimp trawl fishery. The Shrimp

FMP was prepared by the Council in

1992 and approved and implemented by

NMFS in 1993. At the time of FMP

implementation, the Council was

concerned about finfish bycatch in the

shrimp trawl fishery and intended, at

that time, to begin developing

management measures through an FMP

amendment that would reduce bycatch.

The Council’s goal for bycatch reduction

was affected by the 1990 Amendments

to the Magnuson Fishery Conservation

and Management Act that mandated a 3-

year research program to assess the

impacts of shrimp trawl bycatch on

fishery resources under management of

the Council before management action

is taken. The results of this research

program have been recently summarized

in a NMFS report to Congress titled ‘‘A

Report to Congress—Cooperative

Research Program Addressing Finfish

Bycatch in the Gulf of Mexico and

South Atlantic Shrimp Fisheries—April

1995.’’

These research results will be

considered by the Council as an

important basis for any specific

management actions. Recent advances

in gear development through

cooperative efforts of Federal and state

governments and the shrimp industry

have produced Bycatch Reduction

Devices (BRDs) that successfully

exclude juvenile fish from shrimp

trawls with a minimum of shrimp loss.

At its October 1994 meeting in

Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, the

Council recommended that NMFS

emphasize the development of efficient

and effective BRDs in its bycatch

reduction research efforts in the South

Atlantic; this would provide the Council

and the South Atlantic states with

expanded options to reduce finfish

bycatch in the shrimp trawl fishery.

Both the Council and the South Atlantic

states have requested that NMFS

proceed as rapidly as possible to obtain

the research information needed to

identify and assess options for requiring

the use of BRDs under the Shrimp FMP

and under coastal fishery management

plans (CFMPs) developed by the

Atlantic States Marine Fisheries

Commission (Commission) under

provisions of the Atlantic Coastal

Fisheries Cooperative Management Act

of 1993 (Atlantic Coastal Act).

The Council has asked NMFS to

conduct a bycatch characterization of

the rock shrimp fishery off Cape
26404 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 95 / Wednesday, May 17, 1995 / Proposed Rules

Canaveral, Florida. Concerns still exist

relative to the impacts of shrimp

bycatch on the Spanish and king

mackerel resources. In addition, under

the current Amendment 2 to the CFMP

for Weakfish, prepared by the

Commission under the Atlantic Coastal

Act, all South Atlantic states must

implement management measures to

reduce the bycatch of weakfish by 50

percent in the shrimp trawl fisheries for

the 1996 fishing season. Bycatch

reduction plans must be submitted to

the Commission’s Weakfish Technical

Committee by October 1, 1995.

The Council is closely coordinating

their efforts with the marine resource

agencies of the South Atlantic states and

has also initiated action on the shrimp

trawl bycatch issue by beginning the

scoping process on the development of

Amendment 2 to the Shrimp FMP.

Among several management alternatives

under consideration by the Council are

the use of BRDs by season and/or area

as well as areal or seasonal closures.

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

by May 19, 1995. For special

accommodations regarding the hearings

and meetings, contact the Council (see

ADDRESSES).

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

Dated: May 11, 1995.

Richard W. Surdi,

Acting Director, Office of Fisheries

Conservation and Management, National

Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 95–12027 Filed 5–16–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F