Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 76 / Wednesday, April 19, 2000 / Proposed Rules 20939

considerations, the Service is extending

the comment period for both proposed

rules until June 30, 2000. Written

comments may be submitted to the

appropriate Service office as specified

in the ADDRESSES section.

Author

The primary author of this notice is

Susan Detwiler, U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service, Division of Endangered

Species, 1011 E. Tudor Rd., Anchorage,

AK 99503.

Authority

The authority of this action is the

Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16

U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

Dated: April 12, 2000.

David B. Allen,

Regional Director, Region 7, Fish and Wildlife

Service.

[FR Doc. 00–9812 Filed 4–18–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 622

[I.D. 041000E]

RIN 0648–AN39

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of

Mexico, and South Atlantic; SnapperGrouper Fishery off the Southern

Atlantic States; Amendment 12

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability of

Amendment 12 to the FMP for the

snapper-grouper fishery off the southern

Atlantic states; request for comments.

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the

South Atlantic Fishery Management

Council (Council) has submitted

Amendment 12 to the Fishery

Management Plan for the SnapperGrouper Fishery of the South Atlantic

Region (FMP) for review, approval, and

implementation by NMFS. Amendment

12 would replace the current emergency

rule that addresses overfishing of red

porgy and is in accordance with section

305(c)(3)(B) of the Magnuson-Stevens

Act. Amendment 12 would implement

permanent measures to rebuild the red

porgy resource, limit the harvest and

possession of red porgy in or from the

exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the

southern Atlantic states to specified

incidental catch amounts, add to the

factors that may be established or

modified via the FMP’s framework

procedure for regulatory adjustments,

and modify the snapper-grouper limited

access system to allow trip-limited

permit transfers among the same vessel

owner, regardless of vessel size. Written

comments are requested from the

public.

DATES: Comments must be received no

later than 5 p.m., eastern standard time,

on June 19, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should

be sent to Peter Eldridge, Southeast

Regional Office, NMFS, 9721 Executive

Center Drive N., St. Petersburg, FL

33702. Comments also may be sent via

fax to 727–570–5583. Comments will

not be accepted if submitted via e-mail

or Internet.

Requests for copies of Amendment 12,

which includes a final supplemental

environmental impact statement, initial

regulatory flexibility analysis, regulatory

impact review, and a social impact

assessment/fishery impact statement

may be obtained from the South

Atlantic Fishery Management Council,

Southpark Building, One Southpark

Circle, Suite 306, Charleston, SC 29407–

4699; telephone: 843–571–4366; fax:

843–769–4520; e-mail: safmc@noaa.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Peter Eldridge, 727–570–5305; fax 727–

570–5583; e-mail:

peter.eldridge@noaa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery

Conservation and Management Act

(Magnuson-Stevens Act), as amended by

the Sustainable Fisheries Act, requires

each Regional Fishery Management

Council to submit any FMP or

amendment to NMFS for review, and

approval, disapproval, or partial

approval. The Magnuson-Stevens Act

also requires that NMFS, upon receiving

an FMP or amendment, immediately

publish a document in the Federal

Register stating that the amendment is

available for public review and

comment.

Under Amendment 12, the Council

proposes management measures to limit

the harvest and possession of red porgy

to incidental catches. Specifically, a

recreational fisherman would be

restricted to one red porgy per day or

per trip, whichever is more restrictive.

A commercial fisherman would be

limited to 50 lb (22.7 kg) per trip during

the months of May through December

and to one red porgy per day or per trip,

whichever is more restrictive, during

January through April. The current

prohibition on sale of red porgy during

March and April would be extended to

the months of January through April.

The Council also proposes to clarify

that actions taken under the framework

procedure regarding essential fish

habitat (EFH) and EFH Habitat Areas of

Particular Concern may include

restrictions on gear and fishing

activities.

In addition, the Council proposes to

allow a vessel owner who has been

issued a trip-limited permit to transfer

the permit to another vessel owned by

the same entity, regardless of vessel

size. This action would ease an

administrative burden on vessel owners.

Under Amendment 12, the Council

proposes to establish the following

measures for red porgy through the

FMP’s framework procedure: maximum

sustainable yield (MSY); optimum yield

(OY); maximum fishing mortality

threshold, the fishing mortality rate

which, if exceeded, constitutes

overfishing; minimum stock size

threshold, the stock size below which

red porgy are overfished; and a stock

rebuilding schedule, the period during

which the overfished red porgy resource

should be rebuilt to a level that will

support MSY.

Amendment 12’s action which

establishes an OY for red porgy does not

quantify a specific annual yield or range

of yields associated with the spawning

biomass that would produce OY. NMFS

is specifically inviting comment on a

quantitative yield estimate of OY,

realizing that this yield must be less

than or equal to MSY.

In accordance with the MagnusonStevens Act, NMFS is evaluating the

proposed rule to implement

Amendment 12 to determine if it is

consistent with the FMP, the MagnusonStevens Act, and other applicable law.

If that determination is affirmative,

NMFS will publish the proposed rule in

the Federal Register for public review

and comment.

NMFS will consider comments

received by June 19, 2000, in its

decision to approve, disapprove, or

partially disapprove the amendment.

NMFS will not consider comments

received after that date in its decision;

NMFS will address all the comments

received on Amendment 12 or on its

proposed rule in the preamble of the

final rule.

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

Dated: April 12, 2000.

Bruce C. Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 00–9697 Filed 4–18–00; 8:45 am]

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