28726 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 101 / Thursday, May, 24, 2001 / Proposed Rules

included in a previous FMP

amendment.

Once the Council completes the

DSEIS, it will submit it to NMFS for

filing with the Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA). EPA will publish in the

Federal Registera notice of availability

of the DSEIS for public comment. This

procedure is pursuant to the Council on

Environmental Quality’s regulations for

implementing the procedural provisions

of the National Environmental Policy

Act (NEPA) (40 CFR parts 1500-1508)

and to NOAA’s Administrative Order

216-6 regarding NOAA’s compliance

with NEPA and the CEQ regulations.

The Council intends to consider

public comments received on the DSEIS

before adopting final management

measures for a final Amendment 5. The

Council intends to prepare a final

supplemental environmental impact

statement (FSEIS) in support of its final

Amendment 5. The Council would then

submit the final Amendment 5 and

supporting FSEIS to NMFS for

Secretarial review, approval, and

implementation under the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and

Management Act. NMFS will announce

availability of Amendment 5 for public

review during the Secretarial review

period though notice published in the

Federal Register. During Secretarial

review, NMFS will also file the FSEIS

with EPA for a final public comment

period on the FSEIS. This comment

period will be concurrent with the

Secretarial review period and will end

prior to final agency action to approve,

disapprove, or partially approve

Amendment 5. All public comment

periods on Amendment 5, its proposed

implementing regulations, and on its

associated FSEIS will be announced

through notice published in the Federal

Register. NMFS will consider all public

comments received during the

Secretarial review period for

Amendment 5 (60–day period), whether

they are on the amendment, the FSEIS,

or the proposed regulations, prior to

final agency action.

Copies of the preliminary draft

Amendment 5/DSEIS may be obtained

by contacting the Council (see

ADDRESSES).

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

Dated: May 17, 2001.

Bruce C. Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 01–13072 Filed 5–18–01; 3:57 pm]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 697

[Docket No. 0104–13093–1093–01; I.D.

032301C]

RIN 0648–AP18

Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative

Management Act Provisions; American

Lobster Fishery

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Advance Notice of Proposed

Rulemaking (ANPR)

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that it is

considering, and seeking public

comment on, revisions to Federal

American lobster regulations for the

Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in

response to recommendations from the

Atlantic States Marine Fisheries

Commission (ASMFC) to NMFS in

Addendum II to Amendment 3 of the

Interstate Fishery Management Plan for

American Lobster (ISFMP). Addendum

II, approved by the ASMFC on February

1, 2001, revises the Amendment 3–egg

production schedule in each of seven

lobster conservation management areas

(LCMAs) to end overfishing of American

lobster stocks by the end of 2008. The

management measures defined in

Addendum II to meet the egg

production targets include a series of

minimum gauge size increases

(increases in the minimum allowable

harvest size of American lobster) in five

of the seven LCMAs, trap gear

modifications, and a 4–year trap

reduction schedule for LCMA 3.

DATES: Written comments must be

received at the appropriate address or

facsimile (fax) number (see ADDRESSES)

no later than 5 p.m. Eastern Standard

Time on or before June 25, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Written comments must be

sent to: Harold C. Mears, Director, State,

Federal, and Constituent Programs

Office, Northeast Region, NMFS, One

Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930.

Comments may also be sent via fax to

(978) 281–9117. Comments submitted

via e-mail or Internet will not be

accepted.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Peter Burns, Fishery Management

Specialist, (978) 281–9144, fax (978)

281–9117.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

fishery for American lobster takes place

from North Carolina to Maine. More

than 50 percent of American lobsters

harvested are landed in Maine, with the

balance landed mostly in or from

Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Long

Island Sound and Georges Bank. Over

80 percent of the lobster harvest occurs

in state waters, which extend from the

coast to 3 nautical miles (5.56 km) from

shore. The lobster fishery occurs yearround in the United States, including

the summer and fall months when the

lobsters are molting. Approximately 97

percent of lobsters are taken in lobster

traps. The rest are taken in trawls,

gillnets, and dredges and by divers.

Prior to December 1999, the American

lobster resource was managed in state

waters by the ASMFC under the

auspices of the Atlantic Coastal

Fisheries Cooperative Management Act

(ACFCMA), and in Federal waters by

NMFS under the authority of the

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery

Conservation and Management Act

(Magnuson-Stevens Act).

Acknowledging that approximately 80

percent of the American lobster harvest

occurs in state waters, and in an effort

to establish a more effective lobster

management regime by enhancing

interjurisdictional cooperation, NMFS

issued a final rule in December 6, 1999

(64 FR 68228) for the American lobster

fishery. That final rule removed

management measures issued under

authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act

and replaced them with the same and a

variety of new management measures

issued under the authority of ACFCMA.

ACFCMA provides NMFS with the

authority to implement regulations in

Federal waters that are compatible with

effective implementation of the ISFMP

and consistent with the national

standards of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

Such Federal regulations are

promulgated pursuant to ACFCMA at 50

CFR part 697.

Amendment 3 of the ISFMP was

approved by the ASMFC in December

1997 to achieve a healthy American

lobster resource and develop a

management regime that provides for

sustained harvest, maintains

opportunities for participation, and

provides forthe cooperative

development of conservation measures

by all stakeholders. Following the May

2000 release of an updated peerreviewed lobster stock assessment

(ASMFC Stock Assessment Peer Review

Report No. 00–01), which revised

lobster egg production estimates and

confirmed that overfishing of lobster

stocks is occurring throughout the

species range, the ASMFC developed

Addendum II to Amendment 3 for

implementing additional measures

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 101 / Thursday, May, 24, 2001 / Proposed Rules 28727

needed to rebuild American lobster

stocks. Addendum II, approved by

ASMFC in February 2001, establishes a

revised egg production schedule to

restore egg production in each LCMA to

greater than the overfishing definition

by the end of 2008. Measures under the

addendum to help achieve this goal

include a series of minimum gauge size

increases and an increase in the

minimum escape vent size of lobster

trap gear fished in state and Federal

waters of LCMA 2 (inshore Southern

New England), LCMA 3 (offshore

waters), LCMA 4 (inshore Northern

Mid-Atlantic), LCMA 5 (inshore

Southern Mid-Atlantic), and the Outer

Cape Management Area, but not LCMA

1 (Gulf of Maine) and LCMA 6 (Long

Island Sound). The addendum also calls

for a revised timeline for LCMA 3 trap

reductions, previously approved by the

ASMFC under Addendum I. By

approving Addendum II, the states have

agreed to implement the first annual

LCMA-specific gauge increases by

December 31, 2001, and to implement

the escape vent increase by 2003. On

February 26, 2001, NMFS received a

recommendation from ASMFC to

implement complementary Federal

measures for Federal waters of LCMAs

2, 4, 5, and the Outer Cape, as well as

in LCMA 3 (comprised entirely of

Federal waters).

Specifically, the minimum allowable

harvest size of American lobster in state

waters of LCMAs 2,4,5 and the Outer

Cape is scheduled to increase from 3 1/

4 inches (in.) (8.26 cm) to 3 9/32 in.

(8.33 cm) in 2001, and increase 1/32 in.

(0.08 cm) annually until 2004 to an

ultimate minimum size of 3 3/8 in. (8.57

cm). The ASMFC recommends that the

gauge increases in Federal waters of

LCMA 2, 4, 5, and the Outer Cape, as

well as in LCMA 3 follow this same

schedule. If the egg production targets of

the ISFMP have not been reached by

2004, ASMFC further recommends

additional annual increases in LCMA 3

of 1/32 in. (0.08 cm) until 2008, to an

ultimate minimum size of 3 c in. (8.89

cm). The current minimum allowable

harvest size for American lobster in all

Federal waters is 3 1/4 in. (8.26 cm).

Under Addendum II, states will

require that each lobster trap have at

least one rectangular escape vent

measuring 2 in. (5.08 cm) by 5 3/4 in.

(14.61 cm), or at least two circular

escape vents, measuring 2 c in. (6.35 cm)

in diameter. The ASMFC recommends

that Federal regulations implement

these new escape vent size requirements

in Federal waters. At the current time,

Federal regulations require that all

lobster trap gear have a rectangular

portal with an unobstructed opening not

less than 1 15/16 in. (4.92 cm) by 5 3/

4 in. (14.61 cm); or two circular portals

with unobstructed openings not less

than 2 7/16 in. (6.19 cm) in diameter.

Also, Addendum II recommends that

the trap reduction schedule previously

adopted for LCMA 3 under Addendum

I of Amendment 3 to the ISFMP be

updated to account for the elapsed time

between the two addenda. If

implemented through Federal

regulations, each LCMA 3 trap

allocation of greater than 1200 traps

would be reduced on a sliding scale

basis over 4 years, not to fall below 1200

traps. LCMA 3 allocations of less than

1200 traps would remain at their initial

qualifying level and not increase from

that baseline number. No allocation

would exceed 2656 traps during the first

year of implementation. At the end of

the fourth year, the maximum number

of traps allowed for any vessel would be

2267. At the current time, fishing effort

in LCMA 3 is restricted to a fixed

maximum limit of 1800 traps per vessel.

Addendum II furthermore

recommends that NMFS require LCMA

3 lobstermen to maintain vessel logs to

record lobster harvest. Current Federal

regulations do not require vessel logs.

Another component of the addendum

includes a review of management

measures in all LCMAs, by June 2001,

to determine if other measures are

needed to achieve ISFMP stock

rebuilding objectives. Any adjustments

would be adopted by ASMFC as a

separate addendum by January 2002, at

which time ASMFC may recommend

further changes to Federal regulations.

ASMFC recommends that NMFS

adopt Addendum II’s revised egg

production schedule in all EEZ areas

throughout the range of the lobster

resource and implement the associated

management measures (gauge increases,

modifications to lobster trap gear

requirements and LCMA 3 trap

reduction schedule, and vessel log

reporting requirement) in the Federal

waters of the applicable LCMAs. NMFS

is considering proposed rulemaking to

revise further the Federal lobster

regulations to be compatible with the

ASMFC’s ISFMP and is seeking

comments on implementation of the

ASMFC’s recommendations for Federal

waters.

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1851 note; 16 U.S.C.

5101 et seq.

Dated: May 17, 2001.

Clarence Pautzke,

Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 01–13076 Filed 5–23–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S