[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 36 (Thursday, February 22, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11156-11157]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-4415]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 020901E]


Fisheries off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; 
Western Pacific Crustacean Fisheries; 2001 Bank-specific Harvest 
Guidelines

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

ACTION: No harvest guideline for crustaceans.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that annual harvest guidelines for the 
commercial lobster fishery around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands 
(NWHI) will not be issued for 2001.

ADDRESSES: Copies of background material pertaining to this action may 
be obtained from Dr. Charles Karnella, Administrator, NMFS, Pacific 
Islands Area Office, 1601 Kapiolani Blvd., Suite 1101, Honolulu, HI 
96814.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alvin Katekaru at 808-973-2937.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Fishery Management Plan for the 
Crustacean Fisheries of the Western

[[Page 11157]]

Pacific Region, 50 CFR 660.50(b)(2), NMFS is required to publish by 
February 28 of each year, the harvest guidelines for lobster Permit 
Area 1 around the NWHI. The year 2000 NWHI lobster fishery was closed 
because of concerns raised by NMFS scientists about the health of the 
fishery and as a precautionary measure to prevent overfishing of the 
lobster resources. Furthermore, NMFS is under a Court Order issued by 
the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii to keep the 
crustacean fisheries closed until an Environmental Impact Statement and 
a Biological Opinion have been prepared and issued for the crustacean 
fisheries. In addition, recently issued Executive Orders 13178 and 
13196 appear to close indefinitely the entire NWHI crustacean fishery. 
Given these events, NMFS announces that it will not be publishing any 
harvest guidelines for this fishery for the year 2001. Although no 
regulatory action has been taken to close the NWHI lobster fishery for 
2001, NMFS anticipates that this will occur in the near future. 
Therefore, no harvest of NWHI lobster resources will be allowed and 
effectively the harvest guideline will be zero. In addition, there is 
still uncertainty regarding the model assumptions used by NMFS 
scientists to estimate the exploitable lobster population. However, as 
indicated in the NMFS 2001 ``Report to Congress'' on the status of 
fisheries, the lobster stock is not overfished. NMFS intends to conduct 
biological research on the status of NWHI lobster resources and to 
examine the resulting data for indications as to the appropriate 
direction for future fishery management actions.

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

    Dated: February 15, 2001.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 01-4415 Filed 2-21-01; 8:45 am]
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