[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 127 (Monday, July 1, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33905-33906]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-16623]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 062596A]
RIN 0648-AH58


Atlantic Coast Weakfish; Intent to Prepare a Supplemental 
Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a supplemental environmental impact 
statement (SEIS); request for written comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces its intent to prepare an SEIS to assess the 
impact of Atlantic Coast weakfish harvests and possible proposed 
regulations on the natural and human environment. This notice of intent 
requests public input (written comments) on issues that NMFS should 
consider in preparing the SEIS. In addition, the SEIS will examine 
specific recommendations to the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) by 
the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) in its 
Amendment 3 to the Fishery Management Plan For Weakfish (Plan) and new 
stock assessment information. Public hearings for the SEIS will be 
scheduled at a later date. This notice also references the published 
Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) information and announces 
that NMFS is considering measures for the 1996 fishing year and beyond 
for the Atlantic Coast weakfish fishery in the exclusive economic zone 
(EEZ).

DATES: Written comments on the intent to prepare the SEIS will be 
accepted until July 22, 1996. Public hearings will be announced in the 
Federal Register at a later date.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to: Richard H. Schaefer, Director, 
Office of Fisheries Conservation and Management (F/CM), National Marine 
Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom Meyer, telephone (301) 713-2339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
     Section 804(b) of the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative 
Management Act (ACFCMA) enacted in December 1993, (Public Law 103-206) 
states that, in the absence of an approved and implemented fishery 
management plan (FMP) under the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (Magnuson Act), 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq., and after 
consultation with the appropriate Fishery Management Council(s) 
(Council), the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) may implement 
regulations to govern fishing in the EEZ that are:
    1. Necessary to support the effective implementation of an Atlantic 
States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) coastal fishery 
management plan (CFMP); and
    2. Consistent with the national standards set forth in section 301 
of the Magnuson Act (16 U.S.C. 1851).
    These regulations may include measures recommended by the 
Commission to the Secretary that are necessary to support the 
provisions of a CFMP. Regulations issued by the Secretary to implement 
an approved FMP prepared by the appropriate Council(s) or the Secretary 
under the Magnuson Act shall supersede any conflicting regulations 
issued by the Secretary under section 804(b) of ACFCMA.
    The provisions of sections 307 through 311 of the Magnuson Act (16 
U.S.C. 1857 through 1861) regarding prohibited acts, civil penalties, 
criminal offenses, civil forfeitures, and enforcement shall apply with 
respect to regulations issued under section 804(b) of ACFCMA as if such 
regulations were issued under the Magnuson Act.
    In accordance with the ACFCMA, the Secretary of Commerce 
(Secretary) implemented a final rule, after publishing an FEIS, to 
impose a moratorium on fishing for weakfish in the EEZ, Federal 
Register (60 FR 58246) on November 27, 1995. However, the rule was 
vacated by the U.S. Federal District Court, Norfolk, Virginia, on 
February 16, 1996. The basis for the court's decision was that the 
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's (Commission) Fishery 
Management Plan For Weakfish (FMP) did not contain recommendations to 
the Secretary and, therefore, cannot be considered a valid FMP under 
the Act.
    The regulations have not been enforced since the judge issued his 
order.
    The Commission has recently adopted Amendment 3 to the FMP 
(Amendment 3); it includes the following specific recommendations for 
Secretarial action in the EEZ to support the Commission's FMP:

[[Page 33906]]

    1. Require a minimum weakfish size of 12 inches total length;
    2. Require that weakfish harvested in the EEZ be landed in 
accordance with the landing laws of the state in which they are landed, 
with the exception that weakfish harvested in the EEZ may not be landed 
in a ``de minimus'' state;
    3. Require minimum mesh sizes in the EEZ ``consistent'' with a 12-
inch minimum fish size. Non-directed fisheries using smaller mesh sizes 
may possess no more than 150 pounds of weakfish in any one day; and
    4. Require that any ``flynets'' used in the EEZ south of Cape 
Hatteras be operated in compliance with the applicable regulations of 
the adjacent state(s).
    All states which have declared an interest in the management of 
fisheries for weakfish are to implement Amendment 3 by October 1, 1996. 
NMFS will assess the Commission's recommendations during the SEIS 
process.
    Management responsibility for weakfish resides primarily with the 
coastal states through the Commission's Fishery Management Plan For 
Weakfish (Plan). This Plan was adopted in 1985 by the coastal states 
from Maine through Florida in response to severe declines in the 
weakfish catches and populations along the coast. Increasingly strict 
state regulations have been imposed by amendments to the Plan since 
1985 to restrict further the harvest of weakfish by recreational and 
commercial fisheries and to allow rebuilding of the stocks.
    However, as indicated in the FEIS published in September 1995, even 
with these restrictions, the weakfish population is not showing signs 
of recovery . The FEIS clearly indicates that the weakfish stock is 
overfished and beginning to suffer recruitment failure. Harvest 
restrictions are definitely needed if weakfish are to recover.
    Based on the recent stock assessments, NMFS will consider measures 
to regulate the Atlantic Coast weakfish fishery in the EEZ for the 1996 
fishing year and beyond, including: (1) A prohibition on the taking or 
possession of weakfish in the EEZ; (2) applying state regulations to 
the EEZ; (3) imposition of specific Federal regulations on weakfish 
fishing in the EEZ as recommended by the Commission's Amendment 3 to 
Plan; and (4) status quo or no action taken.
    The Mid-Atlantic Council's workload will not permit it to undertake 
a Plan at this time. NMFS has determined that regulations in the EEZ 
must be implemented to support the CFMP for weakfish if there is to be 
a cooperative state and Federal effort to rebuild the weakfish stock.
    NMFS has determined that the preparation of an SEIS is appropriate, 
because of the potentially significant impact of EEZ regulations on the 
human environment, and because no specific EEZ recommendations were 
available in the Commission's Plan when the 1995 FEIS was prepared. The 
current Amendment 3 to the Plan has such recommendations (alternative 
3), which will be assessed during the SEIS process. Participants in 
this fishery will be affected and may face more restricted harvest of 
the weakfish resource while the natural stocks of weakfish are allowed 
to recover.

    Date: June 25, 1996.
Richard H. Schaefer,
Director, Office of Fisheries Conservation and Management, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 96-16623 Filed 6-28-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F