70780 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 225 / Wednesday, November 23, 2005 / Proposed Rules 

name or address, you must state this 

request prominently at the beginning of 

your comment. However, we will not 

consider anonymous comments. To the 

extent consistent with applicable law, 

we will make all submissions from 

organizations or businesses, and from 

individuals identifying themselves as 

representatives or officials of 

organizations or businesses, available 

for public comment in their entirety. 

Comments and materials received will 

be available for public inspection, by 

appointment, during normal business 

hours at the above address. 

Peer Review 

In accordance with our policy 

published on July 1, 1994 (59 FR 

34270), we are seeking expert opinions 

of at least three appropriate 

independent specialists regarding the 

proposed rule. The purpose of such 

review is to ensure that listing decisions 

are based on scientifically sound data, 

assumptions, and analysis. Two of the 

three invited peer reviewers submitted 

comments during the previous comment 

period, while the third submitted 

comments following the close of the 

comment period. Therefore, we are 

reopening the comment period to allow 

consideration of the existing peer 

reviews as well as the submission of 

comments by additional peer reviewers. 

Author 

The primary author of this notice is 

Dr. Javier Alvarez (see ADDRESSES

section). 

Authority: The authority for this action is 

the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 

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

Dated: October 27, 2005. 

Marshall Jones, 

Deputy Director, Fish and Wildlife Service. 

[FR Doc. 05–23032 Filed 11–22–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–M 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 622 

[I.D. 111605A] 

RIN 0648–AS15 

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of 

Mexico, and South Atlantic; Shrimp 

Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico; 

Amendment 13 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Availability of Fishery 

Management Plan amendment; request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the 

Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management 

Council (Council) has submitted 

Amendment 13 to the FMP for review, 

approval, and implementation by 

NMFS. Amendment 13 would revise 

Federal permitting requirements for the 

shrimp fishery of the Gulf of Mexico 

exclusive economic zone (EEZ), 

including the establishment of a 

moratorium on the issuance of Federal 

commercial shrimp vessel permits; 

revision of existing regulations 

regarding reporting and recordkeeping 

in the shrimp fishery; and establishment 

of stock status criteria for the various 

shrimp stocks. The intended effects of 

Amendment 13 are to stabilize 

participation in the shrimp fishery of 

the Gulf of Mexico EEZ and provide 

better information by which to manage 

the fishery. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received no later than 5 p.m., eastern 

time, on January 23, 2006. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by any of the following methods: 

• E-mail: 0648–AS15.NOA@noaa.gov. 

Include in the subject line the following 

document identifier: 0648–AS15–NOA. 

• Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Mail: Steve Branstetter, Southeast 

Regional Office, NMFS, 263 13th 

Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701. 

• Fax: 727–824–5308, Attention: 

Steve Branstetter. 

Copies of Amendment 13, which 

includes an Environmental Assessment, 

a Regulatory Impact Review, and an 

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, 

are available from the Gulf of Mexico 

Fishery Management Council, 2203 

North Lois Avenue, Suite 1100, Tampa, 

FL 33607; phone: 813–348–1630; fax: 

813–348–1711; e-mail: 

gulfcouncil@gulfcouncil.org. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Steve Branstetter, 727–824–5305; fax: 

727–824–5308; e-mail: 

steve.branstetter@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires each 

Regional Fishery Management Council 

to submit any fishery management plan 

or amendment to NMFS for review and 

approval, disapproval, or partial 

approval. The Magnuson-Stevens Act 

also requires that NMFS, upon receiving 

a plan or amendment, publish an 

announcement in the Federal Register 

notifying the public that the plan or 

amendment is available for review and 

comment. 

Amendment 13, if implemented, 

would establish a requirement for royal 

red shrimp vessels fishing in the Gulf of 

Mexico EEZ to possess a royal red 

shrimp endorsement to their Gulf of 

Mexico Federal shrimp vessel permit. 

The royal red shrimp fishery in the Gulf 

of Mexico is a very small component of 

the overall shrimp fishery, and there are 

very limited data on this fishery on 

which to make management decisions. 

Specifically identifying royal red 

shrimp harvesters through a permit 

endorsement would provide the 

opportunity to gather needed biological, 

social, and economic data to 

appropriately manage this fishery. 

Amendment 13 proposes the 

establishment of a 10–year moratorium 

on the issuance of new Federal shrimp 

vessel permits. If implemented, permits 

under the moratorium would be fully 

transferable, allowing permittees the 

flexibility to enter or exit the fishery as 

they choose. To be eligible for a 

commercial shrimp vessel permit under 

the moratorium, vessels must have been 

issued a valid commercial shrimp vessel 

permit by NMFS prior to and including 

December 6, 2003. Additionally, an 

owner who sold his qualified vessel, 

had his qualified vessel repossessed, or 

otherwise lost use of his qualified vessel 

(i.e., damage, sinking, unaffordable 

repairs), but who obtained a valid 

commercial shrimp vessel permit for the 

same vessel or another vessel equipped 

for offshore shrimp fishing (at least 5 net 

tons) prior to the date of publication of 

the final rule implementing this 

amendment would be eligible to renew 

such permit under the moratorium. 

Amendment 13, if implemented, 

would establish a standardized method 

to regularly monitor, report, and 

estimate the bycatch in the shrimp 

fishery of the Gulf of Mexico, in 

compliance with § 303(a)(11) of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act. Amendment 13 

proposes to establish a program 

whereby a sample of Federally 

permitted shrimp vessels would be 

equipped with electronic logbooks 

(ELBs) provided by NMFS, and a sample 

of Federally permitted shrimp vessels 

would carry observers. The ELB 

program would provide better 

information regarding effort, and the 

observer program would provide 

information on catch, effort, and 

bycatch. Amendment 13 also proposes 

to revise data collection requirements to 

include mandatory reporting of landings 

and vessel and gear characteristics. 

Finally, to better comply with the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act requirements, 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 225 / Wednesday, November 23, 2005 / Proposed Rules 70781 

Amendment 13 proposes to establish or 

modify biological reference points for 

brown, pink, and white shrimp, and 

stock status determination criteria for 

royal red shrimp. The MagnusonStevens Act requires that each FMP 

define reference points in the form of 

maximum sustainable yield (MSY) and 

optimum yield (OY), and specify 

objective and measurable criteria for 

identifying when the fishery is 

overfished and/or undergoing 

overfishing. Status determination 

criteria include a minimum stock size 

threshold (MSST) to indicate when a 

stock is overfished and a maximum 

fishing mortality threshold (MFMT) to 

indicate when a stock is undergoing 

overfishing. Together, these four 

parameters (MSY, OY, MSST, and 

MFMT) provide fishery managers with 

the tools to determine the status of a 

fishery at any given time and assess 

whether management measures are 

achieving established goals. 

A proposed rule that would 

implement measures outlined in 

Amendment 13 has been received from 

the Council. In accordance with the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act, NMFS is 

evaluating the proposed rule to 

determine whether it is consistent with 

the FMP, the Magnuson-Stevens 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. 

Comments received by January 23, 

2006, whether specifically directed to 

the amendment or the proposed rule, 

will be considered by NMFS in its 

decision to approve, disapprove, or 

partially approve the amendment. 

Comments received after that date will 

not be considered by NMFS in this 

decision. All comments received by 

NMFS on the amendment or the 

proposed rule during their respective 

comment periods will be addressed in 

the final rule. 

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

Dated: November 17, 2005. 

Alan D. Risenhoover, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 05–23203 Filed 11–22–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S