Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 111 / Friday, June 8, 2001 / Proposed Rules 30867

Dated: June 4, 2001.

Bruce C. Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 01–14521 Filed 6–7–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[I.D. 052201D]

Western Pacific Fishery Management

Council; Public Meetings

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public meetings/

public hearings.

SUMMARY: The Western Pacific Fishery

Management Council (Council)

Advisory Panels will meet on June 15

and 16, 2001; the Standing Committees

will meet on June 18, 2001; and the

Council will hold its 110th meeting June

18 through June 21, 2001, in Honolulu,

HI.

At the full Council meeting, a public

hearing will be held prior to the Council

taking final action on its Coral Reef

Ecosystem Fishery Management Plan/

Draft Environmental Impact Statement

(CREFMP/DEIS).

The Council will also be holding a

public hearing to accept comments on a

proposed action that would implement

the prohibitions specified in the Shark

Finning Prohibition Act, that was signed

by the President in December 2000.

DATES: The meetings and the hearings

will be held during June 2001. See

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for specific

dates, and times for the meetings and

the hearings.

ADDRESSES: The meetings and the

hearings will be held at the Ala Moana

Hotel, 410 Atkinson Drive, Honolulu, HI

96813; telephone: 808–955–4811.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kitty M. Simonds, Executive Director;

telephone: 808–522–8220.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Dates and Locations

Advisory Panels

The Commercial, Recreational,

Subsistence/Indigenous, and Ecosystem

and Habitat sub-panels will meet jointly

on Friday, June 15, 2001, from 8:30 a.m.

to 5 p.m. Sub-panels will meet

individually on Saturday, June 16, 2001,

but will reconvene jointly before the

end of the day to finalize

recommendations. In addition, the

Panels will hear reports from plan

teams, the scientific and statistical

committee, and other ad hoc groups.

Public comment periods will be

provided throughout the meetings. The

order in which agenda items are

addressed may change. The Advisory

Panels will meet as late as necessary to

complete scheduled business.

The agenda for the Advisory Panel

meetings will include the items listed

below:

1. Welcome and introductions

2. Overview of the Magnuson-Stevens

Fishery Conservation and Management

Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), Council

program, and decision-making process,

and other applicable laws

3. Role of advisors

4. Report on island area Advisory Group

meetings

5. Fisheries data collection and

monitoring programs, including the

Western Pacific Fisheries Information

Network (WesPacFIN) and the Marine

Recreational Fishery Survey

6. Research priorities and needs

7. Coral reef management

8. Protected species issues, including

turtles, seabirds and marine mammals

9. Enforcement and safety issues

10. American Samoa longline fishery

issues

11. Indigenous initiatives, including the

Community Development Program,

Community Demonstration Projects,

cultural take of green sea turtles, and the

native Observer program

12. Education and outreach efforts

13. Presentation on fish aggregation

devices

14. Sub-panel break-out sessions to

discuss issues and develop

recommendations

15. Joint panel session to review and

finalize recommendations to the

Council

Public Hearings

A public hearing will be held at 6

p.m. on June 20, 2001, on upcoming

actions with respect to shark finning.

A public hearing will be held at 9:30

a.m. on June 21, 2001, on the CREFMP/

DEIS.

Committee Meetings

The following Standing Committees

of the Council will meet on June 18,

2001. Enforcement/Vessel Monitoring

System (VMS) from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.;

Fishery Rights of Indigenous People

from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.; International

Fisheries/Pelagics from 10 a.m. to 12

noon; Precious Corals from 1:30 p.m. to

3 p.m.; Crustaceans from 1:30 p.m. to 3

p.m.; Bottomfish from 3 p.m. to 4:30

p.m; Ecosystem and Habitat from 3 p.m.

to 4:30 p.m.; and Executive/Budget and

Program from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

In addition, the Council will hear

recommendations from its advisory

panels, plan teams, scientific and

statistical committee, and other ad hoc

groups. Public comment periods will be

provided throughout the agenda. The

order in which agenda items are

addressed may change. The Council will

meet as late as necessary to complete

scheduled business.

The agenda during the full Council

meeting will include the items listed

below:

1. Introductions

2. Approval of agenda

3. Approval of 108th and 109th Meeting

Minutes

4. Island Reports

A. American Samoa

B. Guam

C. Hawaii

D. Commonwealth of the Northern

Mariana Islands

5. Federal Fishery Agency and

Organization Reports

A. Department of Commerce

(1) NMFS

(a) Southwest Region, Pacific Islands

Area Office

(b) Southwest Fisheries Science

Center, La Jolla and Honolulu

Laboratories

(2) NOAA General Counsel,

Southwest Region

B. Department of the Interior/U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service

C. U.S. State Department

6. Enforcement

A. U.S. Coast Guard activities

B. NMFS activities

C. Commonwealth, Territories, and

State activities

D. Archipelago Marine Research Ltd.

- digital monitoring

E. Digital Observer project

F. Report on Enforcement meeting

G. Status of Violations

7. VMS

A. NMFS status of VMS report

B. USCG request to use VMS for

targeting boardings

C. Report on VMS issues from the

Enforcement meeting

8. Hawaiian Monk Seals

A. Current population trends and

factors affecting monk seal populations

B. Recommendations of the Hawaiian

Monk Seal Recovery Team

C. Bottomfish/monk seal mitigation

measures

9. Precious Corals

A. Status of 1999 framework

amendment regarding new harvesting

requirements

B. Status of 2000 framework

adjustment regarding Hawaiian Islands

exploratory area quota increase

30868 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 111 / Friday, June 8, 2001 / Proposed Rules

C. Precious Coral DEIS

10. Bottomfish Fisheries

A. Summary of the draft 2000

Bottomfish Annual Report modules

B. Status of the fishery: litigation,

biological opinion (BO), Observers

C. Status of DEIS

D. Permit transfer to replacement

vessel in the Northwest Hawaiian

Islands bottomfish fishery

11. Crustacean Fisheries

A. NMFS plans for proposed charter

cruises and model workshop

12. Pelagic Fisheries

A. Fourth quarter 2000 Hawaii and

American Samoa longline fishery report

B. American Samoa limited entry

C. Turtle conservation and

management

(1) Emergency rule for Hawaii

longline fishery, including discussion of

the BO, the final environmental impact

statement, and the March 30, 2001,

Court order modifying the injunction

issued pursuant to Center for Marine

Conservation v. NMFS.

(2) Council Turtle Conservation Plan

(3) Turtle research, including NMFS

fishing experiment, other research, and

turtle dive patterns

(4) Endangered Species Act

recommendations from the Chairmen’s

meeting

D. Seabird conservation and

management

E. Preparatory Conference for the

establishment of the Western and

Central Pacific Fisheries Commission

13. Shark finning

A. Public hearing on shark finning

action

In December 2000, Congress enacted

and the President signed the ‘‘Shark

Finning Prohibition Act’’ (Public Law

106-557). The Act amended the

Magnuson-Stevens Act to prohibit any

person subject to U.S. jurisdiction from

(a) engaging in shark-finning (sharkfinning means the taking of a shark,

removing the fin or fins (whether or not

including the tail) of a shark, and

returning the remainder of the shark to

the sea); (b) possessing shark fins aboard

a fishing vessel without the

corresponding carcass; and (c) landing

shark fins without the corresponding

carcass. The rule that is being proposed

by NMFS to implement the prohibitions

specified in the Act applies to U.S. and

foreign fishing vessels and associated

businesses that engage in finning or in

the buying and selling of fins or

providing goods and services to vessels

engaged in finning.

14. Ecosystems and Habitat

A. Public and agency comments on

CREFMP/DEIS including Rose Atoll,

Palmyra, overfishing/maximum

sustainable yield (MSY), permits, and

other issues

B. Other issues, including status of

Northwestern Hawaiian Island Coral

Reef Reserve and Advisory Council, and

status of request for fisheries disaster

relief

C. Public hearing on CREFMP/DEIS

The DEIS was prepared to examine

the impacts of implementing the

proposed CREFMP. The DEIS also

addresses potential problems due to

human interactions with coral reefs in

the Western Pacific exclusive economic

zone (EEZ). Although local regulations

control many of the impacts of

harvesting nearshore coral reef

resources in settled areas, exploitation

of the coral reef ecosystem remains

relatively uncontrolled in Federal

waters of the EEZ. Although these areas

have been minimally exploited to date,

industry has expressed an interest in

expanding fisheries in these areas. In

addition, the DEIS was prepared to

provide for better understanding of

impacts due to natural environmental

changes, other FMP-managed fisheries,

and non-fishing related impacts such as

dredging. To address these problems,

four alternatives were examined: (1) No

action or status quo; (2) minimal

additional protection for coral reef

resources; (3) substantial additional

protection to coral reef resources

(preferred alternative); and (4)

maximum additional protection for

coral reef resources. The environmental

effects of each of the alternatives,

management measures, components,

and options have been analyzed in the

DEIS. In June 2000, the Council adopted

a preferred alternative and management

options. Management measures

proposed in the FMP represent a

combination of choices made by the

Council based on a comparison of

alternatives.

Alternatives were a product of

numerous public meetings and meetings

of the Council’s various advisory bodies.

The proposed management measures

include: (a) Ddesignating marine

protected areas (MPAs), including notake marine reserves and areas zoned for

specific fishing activities allowed only

with a special permit; (b) establishing

fishing permit and reporting

requirements for fishing for coral reef

resources in the EEZ; (c) specifying the

use of selective, non-destructive gears

and methods for harvesting

management-unit species; and (d)

establishing a framework process to

allow for future regulatory adjustments

to the coral reef ecosystem management

program. In addition, the Council

recommends that a formal procedure be

established for assessing and controlling

ecosystem effects of reef-related

fisheries managed under the Fishery

Management Plan for the Bottomfish

and Seamount Groundfish Fisheries of

the Western Pacific Region, the Fishery

Management Plan for the Crustacean

Fisheries of the Western Pacific Region,

and the Fishery Management Plan for

the Precious Corals Fisheries of the

Western Pacific Region.

15. Fishery Rights of Indigenous People

A. Status of Community

Demonstration Projects and Community

Development Program

B. Native observer program for

Western Pacific fisheries

C. Western Pacific sea turtle

conservation plan

D. Status of Marine Conservation

Plans

16. Program Planning

A. Report on annual Regional

Chairmen and Executive Directors

meeting

B. Status of Congressional legislation

(Magnuson-Stevens Act and ESA)

C. Report on program planning

activities

D. NMFS overfishing/MSY workshop

E. Digital video monitoring policy

F. Education initiatives

G. WesPacFIN/Fisheries Data

Coordinating Committee

17. Administrative Matters

A. Administrative reports

B. Upcoming meetings and

workshops, including the 111th Council

meeting

C. Advisory group member changes

Other Business

Although non-emergency issues not

contained in this agenda may come

before the Council for discussion, those

issues may not be the subject of formal

Council action during this meeting.

Council action will be restricted to those

issues specifically listed in this

document and any issue arising after

publication of this document that

requires emergency action under section

305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act,

provided the public has been notified of

the Council’s intent to take final action

to address the emergency.

Special Accommodations

This meeting is physically accessible

to people with disabilities. Requests for

sign language interpretation or other

auxiliary aids should be directed to

Kitty M. Simonds, 808–522–8220

(voice) or 808–522–8226 (fax), at least 5

days prior to the meeting date.

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

Dated: June 6, 2001.

Richard W. Surdi,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 01–14623 Filed 6–6–01; 3:14 pm]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S