Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 17 / Wednesday, January 28, 2009 / Notices 4943 

vessel size Class A, four for Class B, four 

for Class C, and one for Class D. 

Persons with the earliest documented 

participation in the fishery on a Class A 

sized vessel will receive the highest 

priority for obtaining permits in any size 

class, followed by persons with the 

earliest documented participation in 

Classes B, C, and D, in that order. If 

there is a tie in priority, the person with 

the second earliest documented 

participation will be ranked higher in 

priority. 

Complete applications must include 

the completed and signed application 

form, legible copies of documents 

supporting historical participation in 

the American Samoa pelagic longline 

fishery, and payment for the nonrefundable permit application 

processing fee, in accordance with the 

regulations at 50 CFR 665.13. 

Applications must be received by NMFS 

(see ADDRESSES) by May 28, 2009 to be 

considered for a permit; applications 

will not be accepted if received after 

that date. 

Authoritative additional information 

on the American Samoa limited entry 

program may be found in 50 CFR part 

665. 

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

Dated: January 22, 2009. 

Alan D. Risenhoover, 

Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–1727 Filed 1–27–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XM50 

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of 

Mexico, and South Atlantic; Snapper– 

Grouper Fishery off the Southern 

Atlantic States; Comprehensive 

Annual Catch Limit Amendment 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of intent (NOI) to prepare 

a draft environmental impact statement 

(DEIS); notice of scoping meetings; 

request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The South Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council (Council) intends 

to prepare a DEIS to assess the impacts 

on the natural and human environment 

of the management measures proposed 

in its draft Comprehensive Annual 

Catch Limit Amendment 

(Comprehensive ACL Amendment) for 

the South Atlantic Region. 

DATES: Written comments on the scope 

of the issues to be addressed in the DEIS 

will be accepted until February 27, 

2009, at 5 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent by 

any of the following methods, mail: Kate 

Michie, NMFS, Southeast Regional 

Office, 263 13th Avenue South, St. 

Petersburg, FL 33701; phone: 727–824– 

5305; fax: 727–824–5308; e–mail: 0648– 

XM50@noaa.gov. Scoping documents 

are available from the Council’s Web 

site at www.safmc.net. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kim 

Iverson, Public Information Officer, 

South Atlantic Fisheries Management 

Council, 4055 Faber Place Drive, Suite 

201, North Charleston, SC 29405; 

phone: 843–571–4366, toll free 1–866– 

SAFMC–10; fax: 843–769–4520; e–mail: 

kim.iverson@safmc.net. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Revisions 

to the Magnuson–Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson–Stevens Act) in 2007 

require that by 2010, fishery 

management plans (FMPs), for fisheries 

determined by the Secretary of 

Commerce to be subject to overfishing, 

must establish a mechanism for 

specifying annual catch limits (ACLs) at 

a level that prevents overfishing and 

does not exceed the recommendations 

of the Council’s Scientific and 

Statistical Committee or other 

established peer review processes. 

These FMPs are also required to 

establish, by 2010, accountability 

measures for fisheries subject to 

overfishing. ACLs and accountability 

measures for species undergoing 

overfishing in the FMP for the Snapper– 

Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic 

Region are being addressed in 

Amendment 17 to that FMP. 

The Magnuson–Stevens Act also 

requires the Council to establish, by 

2011, ACLs and accountability measures 

for all other fisheries, except fisheries 

for species with annual life cycles. ACL 

specifications intended to fulfill this 

2011 requirement would be included in 

the subject Comprehensive ACL 

Amendment. 

In addition to ACLs and 

accountability measures, the 

Magnuson–Stevens Act requires that the 

Council’s Scientific and Statistical 

Committee specify overfishing levels 

and acceptable biological catch (ABC) 

levels for all species undergoing 

overfishing. The Comprehensive ACL 

Amendment may specify an ABC 

control rule that would describe how 

the ABC is to be calculated. 

The Council is also considering an 

action to remove some species from 

South Atlantic fishery management 

units (FMU)for respective FMPs, 

particularly those species that have a 

low occurrence in federal waters. The 

purpose of this action would be to 

ensure that fishery managers focus their 

attention and resources on species that 

are in need of conservation and 

management. Additionally, the Council 

is considering designating some species 

as Ecosystem Component species that 

are not part of a fishery but are in an 

FMP. Species may be included as 

Ecosystem Components in FMPs for 

data collection purposes; for ecosystem 

considerations related to optimum 

yield; and as considerations in the 

development of conservation and 

management measures for the associated 

fishery. 

The amendment may also limit total 

mortality of federally managed species 

in the South Atlantic to the annual 

catch targets (ACTs). To achieve this 

goal, the amendment may include 

measures such as commercial quotas, 

trip limits, vessel limits, size limits, bag 

limits, closed areas, closed seasons, and 

permit endorsements. Additionally, the 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment may 

address several issues concerning the 

spiny lobster fishery such as, trap 

impacts on staghorn and elkhorn corals, 

tailing permits, and the Federal 50– 

short rule that allows retention of 

undersized spiny lobster to be used as 

live attractants. 

This NOI is intended to inform the 

public of the preparation of a DEIS in 

support of the Comprehensive ACL 

Amendment. The DEIS may include: 

ACLs; ACTs; ecosystem component 

species; removing some species from 

South Atlantic FMUs; ABC control rule; 

and accountability measures; allocations 

among the commercial, recreational, 

and for–hire sectors for species not 

undergoing overfishing; limit total 

mortality for federally managed species 

to the ACTs; and address spiny lobster 

fishery issues. Following publication of 

this NOI, the Council will conduct 

public scoping meetings to determine 

the range of issues to be addressed in 

the DEIS and the associated 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment. 

Following consideration of public 

scoping comments, the Council plans to 

begin preparation of the draft 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment/DEIS. 

The Council and its Scientific and 

Statistical Committee will review the 

draft Comprehensive ACL Amendment/ 

DEIS in 2009. If the Council approves 

the document, public review may take 

place in late 2009. A comment period 

on the DEIS is planned, which will 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
4944 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 17 / Wednesday, January 28, 2009 / Notices 

include public hearings to receive 

comments. A Federal Register notice 

will announce the availability of the 

DEIS associated with this amendment, 

as well as a 45-day public comment 

period, pursuant to regulations issued 

by the Council on Environmental 

Quality for implementing the National 

Environmental Policy Act and to 

NOAA’s Administrative Order 216–6. 

The Council will consider public 

comments received on the DEIS in 

developing the final environmental 

impact statement (FEIS), and before 

voting to submit the final amendment to 

NMFS for Secretarial review, approval, 

and implementation. NMFS will 

announce in the Federal Register the 

availability of the final amendment and 

FEIS for public review during the 

Secretarial review period, and will 

consider all public comments prior to 

final agency action to approve, 

disapprove, or partially approve the 

final amendment. 

Scoping Meetings, Times, and Locations 

All meetings will begin at 3 p.m. In 

addition to the Comprehensive ACL 

Amendment, the Council intends to 

scope additional amendments at this 

series of meetings, for which separate 

notices have been prepared. The 

meetings will be physically accessible to 

people with disabilities. Requests for 

information packets or for sign language 

interpretation or other auxiliary aids 

should be directed to the Council (see 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). 

Monday, January 26, 2009—Hilton 

Garden Inn, 5265 International Blvd., 

North Charleston, SC 29418; phone: 

843–308–9330. 

Tuesday, January 27, 2009—Bridge 

Pointe Hotel, 101 Howell Rd., New 

Bern, NC 28582; phone: 252–636–3637. 

Tuesday, February 3, 2009—Key 

Largo Grande, 97000 Overseas Hwy., 

Key Largo, FL 33037; phone: 305–852– 

5553. 

Wednesday, February 4, 2009— 

Doubletree Hotel, 2080 N. Atlantic Ave., 

Cocoa Beach, FL 32931; phone: 321– 

783–9222. 

Thursday, February 5, 2009—Mighty 

Eighth Air Force Museum, 175 Bourne 

Ave., Pooler, GA 31322; phone: 912– 

748–8888. 

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

Dated: January 22, 2009. 

Alan D. Risenhoover 

Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–1728 Filed 1–27–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XM54 

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of 

Mexico, and South Atlantic; Snapper– 

Grouper Fishery off the Southern 

Atlantic States; Amendment 18 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of intent (NOI) to prepare 

a draft environmental impact statement 

(DEIS); notice of scoping meetings; 

request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The South Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council (Council) intends 

to prepare a DEIS to assess the impacts 

on the natural and human environment 

of the management measures proposed 

in its draft Amendment 18 to the 

Fishery Management Plan for the 

Snapper–Grouper Fishery of the South 

Atlantic Region (FMP). 

DATES: Written comments on the scope 

of the issues to be addressed in the DEIS 

will be accepted until February 27, 

2009, at 5 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent by 

any of the following methods: 

• E–mail: 0648–XM54@noaa.gov. 

• Fax: 727–824–5308; Attn: Nikhil 

Mehta. 

• Mail: Nikhil Mehta, NMFS, 

Southeast Regional Office, 263 13th

Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701. 

Scoping documents are available from 

the Council’s Web site at 

www.safmc.net. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kim 

Iverson, Public Information Officer, 

South Atlantic Fisheries Management 

Council, 4055 Faber Place Drive, Suite 

201, North Charleston, SC 29405; 

phone: 843–571–4366, toll free 1–866– 

SAFMC–10; fax: 843–769–4520; e–mail: 

kim.iverson@safmc.net. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

snapper–grouper fishery of the South 

Atlantic region in the exclusive 

economic zone is managed under the 

FMP. The FMP was prepared by the 

Council and implemented by NMFS 

under the authority of the Magnuson– 

Stevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act (Magnuson Stevens 

Act) by regulations at 50 CFR part 622. 

Of the 98 species managed by the 

Council, 73 of these are included in the 

snapper–grouper management complex. 

A NOI for Amendment 18 was 

published on January 22, 2008 (73 FR 

3701), and contained notice of 

consideration of developing a limited 

access privilege (LAP) program for the 

commercial snapper–grouper fishery in 

the South Atlantic. However, the 

Council has postponed consideration of 

a LAP program for the entire snapper– 

grouper fishery. A second NOI for 

Amendment 18 was published on April 

7, 2008 (73 FR 18782) to announce the 

development of an amendment to 

establish a rebuilding plan for the red 

snapper stock and various management 

measures to end its overfishing. The 

Council subsequently moved these 

items to Amendment 17. 

This NOI is intended to inform the 

public of the preparation of a DEIS in 

support of the new Amendment 18 to 

the FMP. During its December 2008 

meeting, the Council decided to transfer 

the following items from Amendment 

17 to Amendment 18: 

Actions to extend the management 

range of snapper–grouper north of the 

Council’s current jurisdiction; designate 

essential fish habitat for snapper– 

grouper species in the extended 

management range (New England and 

Mid–Atlantic); change the golden 

tilefish fishing year; separate snowy 

grouper quota into regions; and improve 

data reporting. The Council is 

considering extending the range of the 

snapper–grouper fishery management 

plan for some species northward in 

order to conserve and manage these 

species. The current boundaries would 

not be changed for golden tilefish, black 

sea bass, and scup since they are 

considered separate stocks north and 

south of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, 

and are managed by the Mid–Atlantic 

Council. The Council is considering 

modifying the start date of the golden 

tilefish fishing year to ensure that the 

regulations for golden tilefish do not 

impact select fishermen 

disproportionately. The Council is 

considering regional quotas for snowy 

grouper to offer a fair opportunity to 

fishermen in both southern and 

northern areas. The Council is also 

considering actions to improve the 

accuracy, timing, and quantity of 

fisheries statistics collected by the 

current data collection programs for 

fisheries the Council manages. 

In addition to actions listed above, the 

Council may consider in Amendment 18 

limits on participation and effort in the 

golden tilefish and black sea bass 

fisheries, and state or regional Annual 

Catch Limits (ACL) and Annual Catch 

Targets (ACTs) for the recreational 

harvest of gag. The Council is concerned 

that increased restrictions imposed 

through Amendments 13C and 16 will 

increase the incentive to target: 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES