[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 208 (Tuesday, October 28, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64212-64213]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-25583]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-SERO-BISC-16338; PPSESEROC3, PMP00UP05.YP0000]


Record of Decision for the Fishery Management Plan, Biscayne 
National Park, FL

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The National Park Service (NPS) announces the availability of 
the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement (FEIS) for the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Biscayne 
National Park (Park). On July 10, 2014, the Regional Director, 
Southeast Region, approved the ROD for the project.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Superintendent Brian Carlstrom, 
Biscayne National Park, 9700 SW 328th St, Homestead, FL 33033; 
telephone (305) 230-1144.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Increases in South Florida's boating and 
fishing population combined with improved fishing and boating 
technology pose a threat to the long-term sustainability of fishery-
related resources and numerous scientific studies suggest that many of 
the Park's fisheries resources are in decline. An FMP was therefore 
deemed necessary to guide sustainable use of the Park's fishery-related 
resources. The Park's FMP will guide fishery

[[Page 64213]]

management decisions in the park for the next five to ten years.
    Biscayne National Park's FMP is the result of a cooperative effort 
between the Park and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation 
Commission (FWC). This partnership is a necessary part of fishery 
management because the Park's enabling legislation states that fishing 
within the Park must be in accordance with the laws of the State of 
Florida.
    The FMP FEIS presented a range of five alternatives. The 
development of the alternatives and the identification of the preferred 
alternative were based on a combination of public input (derived from 
three public comment periods and three series of public meetings, and 
the input of the FMP Working Group), inter-agency meetings, and 
environmental and socioeconomic analyses. The NPS, in coordination with 
the FWC, has decided to implement Alternative 4, Rebuild and Conserve 
Park Fisheries Resources for its Fishery Management Plan. The NPS and 
FWC determined that Alternative 4 best balances resource protection and 
visitor use. Factors considered during the decision-making process 
included: (A) Assessment of the direction and degree of environmental 
impacts to the Park's fisheries resources, given their current status, 
(B) the ability of an alternative to equitably balance conservation, 
enjoyment and extractive uses of the Park's fisheries resources, (C) 
impacts on recreational and commercial fishing, (D) feasibility of 
successfully implementing regulations to achieve alternative goals, and 
(E) socioeconomic impacts. Factors A and B were weighted more heavily 
than the remaining factors.
    Under Alternative 4, a considerable change from current management 
strategies would be required to achieve a substantial improvement in 
Park fisheries resources status and a reduction in fishing-related 
habitat impacts. Specific regulatory changes proposed under this 
alternative include:
    <bullet> Developing park-specific fishing regulations (in 
conjunction with the FWC) to increase the abundance and average size of 
targeted fish and invertebrate species within the Park by at least 20% 
over current conditions and over conditions in similar habitat outside 
the park.
    <bullet> Elimination of the two-day lobster sport season.
    <bullet> Prohibition of the use of an air supply or gear with a 
trigger mechanism while spearfishing.
    <bullet> Phasing out of commercial fishing via the requirement that 
all commercial fishers must purchase a limited-entry, Special Use 
Permit from the park Superintendent. The permit would be permanently 
non-transferable, would require annual renewal, and would be ``use or 
lose'' such that a permit could not be renewed if (1) it was not 
renewed the previous year, or (2) no catch was reported in the previous 
year.
    <bullet> Establishment (by FWC) of coral reef protection areas 
(CRPAs) to delineate coral reef habitat on which lobster and crab traps 
could not be deployed. Traps within the CRPAs could be moved outside 
CRPA boundaries by authorized FWC or Park staff, or other authorized 
personnel. Additionally, the trap number from traps observed within 
CRPAs would be recorded, and traps with three or more recorded 
violations could be confiscated from Park waters.
    <bullet> Proposal of a no-trawl zone within the Bay, in which 
commercial shrimp trawling would be prohibited. This zone would serve 
to protect juvenile fish and invertebrates commonly caught as bycatch 
in trawls, as well as protect essential fish habitat.

New regulations will be implemented through the federal rulemaking 
process (for federal rules) and through the FWC's rulemaking process 
(for park-specific state rules). The public will have the opportunity 
to comment on all proposed regulatory changes. Regulatory changes that 
would be implemented are expected to improve fisheries and habitat 
resources. The FEIS and National Marine Fishery Service Biological 
Opinion can be obtained in its entirety by (1) downloading the report 
from the Planning, Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) Web site at 
http://parkplanning.nps.gov/bisc, (2) Visiting Biscayne National Park 
at 9700 SW 328th St, Homestead, FL 33033 to request a copy, or (3) 
Calling Biscayne National Park at 305-230-1144 to request a copy.

    Dated: October 1, 2014.
Stan Austin,
Regional Director, Southeast Region.
[FR Doc. 2014-25583 Filed 10-27-14; 8:45 am]
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