5128 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 20 / Tuesday, February 1, 2005 / Proposed Rules 

References Cited 

A complete list of all references cited 

herein is available upon request from 

the Field Supervisor (see ADDRESSES

section above). 

Author 

The primary authors of this document 

are staff at the Austin Ecological 

Services Office (see ADDRESSES section 

above). 

Authority 

The authority for this action is the 

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 

amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

Dated: January 26, 2005. 

Marshall P. Jones, Jr., 

Acting Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.

[FR Doc. 05–1765 Filed 1–31–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration

50 CFR Part 622

[I.D. 012405B]

Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management 

Council; Public Hearings

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce.

ACTION: Public hearings; request for 

comments.

SUMMARY: The Gulf of Mexico Fishery 

Management Council (Council) will 

hold a series of public hearings to 

receive public comments on 

‘‘Amendment Number 13 to the Fishery 

Management Plan for the Shrimp 

Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico, U.S. 

Waters with Environmental Assessment, 

Regulatory Impact Review, and 

Regulatory Flexibility Act Analysis.’’

DATES: Written comments must be 

received by the Council on or before 

March 4, 2005. The meetings will be 

held in February 2005 (see 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for specific 

dates and times).

ADDRESSES: The hearings will be held in 

Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, 

Mississippi, and Texas (see 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for specific 

locations).

Comments may be submitted by any 

of the following methods:

• E-mail: 

gulfcouncil@gulfcouncil.org.

• Federal e-Rulemaking: http://

www.regulations.gov.

• Mail: Gulf of Mexico Fishery 

Management Council, 3018 U.S. 

Highway 301, North, Suite 1000, 

Tampa, FL 33619.

Copies of Amendment 13 to the 

Shrimp FMP can be obtained from the 

Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management 

Council.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Richard Leard, Deputy Executive 

Director, Gulf of Mexico Fishery 

Management Council; telephone: (813) 

228–2815.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Gulf 

of Mexico Fishery Management Council 

(Council) will hold a series of public 

hearings to receive public comments on 

‘‘Amendment Number 13 to the Fishery 

Management Plan for the Shrimp 

Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico, U.S. 

Waters with Environmental Assessment, 

Regulatory Impact Review, and 

Regulatory Flexibility Act Analysis.’’

Amendment 13 contains alternatives to 

(1) establish a separate vessel permit for 

the royal red shrimp fishery or an 

endorsement to the existing federal 

shrimp vessel permit (Action 1); (2) 

define MSY, OY, the overfishing 

threshold, and the overfished condition 

for royal red and penaeid shrimp stocks 

in the Gulf (Actions 2 through 7); (3) 

establish bycatch reporting 

methodologies and improve collection 

of shrimping effort data in the EEZ 

through the use of logbooks, electronic 

logbooks, and observers (Action 8); (4) 

require completion of a Gulf Shrimp 

Vessel and Gear Characterization Form 

by at least a subset of shrimp vessel 

permit holders (Action 9); (5) establish 

a moratorium on the issuance of 

commercial shrimp vessel permits 

(Action 10); and (6) require reporting 

and certification of landings during a 

moratorium (Action 11). For each 

action, a ‘‘No Action’’ alternative may 

also be considered. The Council is 

soliciting public comment on 

alternatives under each of these 

potential actions, and for other 

alternatives, that should be considered 

by the Council. The Council is soliciting 

public comment on these issues through 

the public hearings, by mail and by email; and must be received by the 

Council on or before March 4, 2005.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery 

Management Council is one of the eight 

regional fishery management councils 

that were established by the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act of 1976. The Gulf of 

Mexico Fishery Management Council 

prepares fishery management plans that 

are designed to manage fishery 

resources in the Exclusive Economic 

Zone (EEZ) of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

Hearing Dates, Times, and Locations

The hearings will begin at 7 p.m. and 

end no later than 10 p.m. on the 

following dates and at the locations 

specified below:

Monday, February 14, 2005, Holiday 

Inn I–10, 5465 Highway 90 West, 

Mobile, AL 36619; 866-436-4329;

Tuesday, February 15, 2005, 

Mississippi Department of Marine 

Resources, 1141 Bayview Drive, Biloxi, 

MS 39530; 228-374-5000;

Tuesday, February 15, 2005, 

DoubleTree Grand Key Resort, 3990 

South Roosevelt Boulevard, Key West, 

FL 33040; 888-310-1540;

Wednesday, February 16, 2005, LSU 

Agricultural Center Extension Office, 

1105 West Port Street, Abbeville, LA 

70510; 337-898-4335;

Thursday, February 17, 2005, Ramada 

Inn Houma, 1400 West Tunnel 

Boulevard, Houma, LA 70360; 985-879-

4871;

Thursday, February 17, 2005, 

DoubleTree Guest Suites Tampa Bay, 

3050 North Rocky Point Drive, Tampa, 

FL 33607; 813-888-8800;

Monday, February 21, 2005, 

Brownsville Events Center, 1 Events 

Center Boulevard, Brownsville, TX 

78526; 956-554-0700;

Tuesday, February 22, 2005, Palacios 

Rec Center, 2401 Perryman, Palacios, 

TX 77465; 361-972-2387;

Wednesday, February 23, 2005, San 

Luis Resort, 5222 Seawall Boulevard, 

Galveston Island, TX 77651; 409-744-

1500; and

Thursday, February 24, 2005, New 

Orleans Airport Ramada Inn & Suites, 

110 James Drive East, St. Rose, LA 

70087; 504-466-1355.

Special Accommodations

The hearings are open to the public 

and are physically accessible to people 

with disabilities. Requests for sign 

language interpretation or other 

auxiliary aids should be directed to 

Dawn Aring at the Council office (see 

ADDRESSES) by February 7, 2005.

Dated: January 27, 2005.

Alan D. Risenhoover,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 05–1800 Filed 1–31–05; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S