Source: http://www.thefederalregister.com/d.p/2003-06-04-03-13995
Timestamp: 2013-05-19 17:30:11
Document Index: 51859780

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 7114', 'art 3944', 'art 6726', 'art 140', 'art 5250', 'art 1739', 'art 30206', 'art 514', 'art 9740', 'art 180']

European Green Crab; national management, Daily Rules, Proposed Rules, and Notices of the Federal Government
14 CFR Part 7114 CFR Part 3944 CFR Part 6726 CFR Part 140 CFR Part 5250 CFR Part 1739 CFR Part 30206 CFR Part 514 CFR Part 9740 CFR Part 180	Federal Register: June 4, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 107)
DOCID: FR Doc 03-13995
DOCUMENT ACTION: Notice of document availability and request for comments.
SUBJECT CATEGORY: Availability of a Draft National Management Plan for the European Green Crab DATES: Comments on the draft Management Plan for the European Green Crab should be received by July 31, 2003.
DOCUMENT SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of a draft Management Plan for the European Green Crab, Carcinus maenas, for public review and comment. Comments received will be considered in preparing the final Management Plan for C. maenas, which will become the basis for cooperative and integrated management of the European Green Crab, C. maenas, with the involvement of Federal, State, Tribal, and local resource agencies.
SUMMARY: European Green Crab; national management, SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
The European green crab, Carcinus maenas, is one of the most ecologically and economically damaging predators in nearshore coastal communities of both eastern and western North America. Native of northern Europe, green crabs colonized eastern North America in the early 19th century and now occur abundantly from Nova Scotia to Maryland. In contrast, green crabs are a recent arrival to western North America, where they successfully colonized San Francisco Bay, CA, in 198990. Their impacts on both natural ecosystems and commercial fisheries are well [[Page 33523]]
established, as is their ability to rapidly expand their range.
Green crabs are both eurythermic and eurohaline and can survive a temperature range from freezing to 30 [deg]C while utilizing a broad range of habitat types. They exploit a wide range of prey types, including molluscs (clams and snails), crustaceans, annelids, fish, and algae. Several native species have declined significantly as a direct result of green crab predation in western North America. Green crabs have had substantial impacts on some commercially important clam species, Mya arenaria, and Mercenaria mercenaria, and on the scallop species, Argopecten irradians. Green crab predation in invaded communities may indirectly affect feeding rates and foraging efficiency of shorebirds. Recognizing the ecological and economic impacts, as well as expanding geographic range of the green crabs in North America, Carcinus maenas was the first marine organism to be designated as an aquatic nuisance species in 1998 by the Aquatic Nuisance Species (ANS) Task Force. In 2000, the Green Crab Control Working Group was appointed by the ANS Task Force to develop a Management Plan. The management strategies available in the plan to limit the impact of the European green crab, as well as that of other invaders, include a combination of prevention, eradication, and control measures. This plan is the result of several years of planning and research and has identified the following management options for prevention, eradication, and control of Carcinus maenas in the United States: [sbull] Prevention and Containment [sbull] Detection and Forecasting [sbull] Eradiction, Control, and Mitigation [sbull] Information Access and Data Management
[sbull] Identify pathways of invasion and quantify the risk of each pathway; and
[sbull] Identify management options available for reducing the risk associated with each pathway. The Management Plan also discusses the types of information needed to accomplish this management option, as well as the strategies that may be most effective.
[sbull] Outline specific procedures for detecting the presence of juvenile green crabs in previously uninvaded areas. This will provide an ``early warning'' of new invasions and provide additional time for restricting activities that would potentially delay further spread. It also allows time to develop local education/outreach efforts or other activities aimed at heightening public awareness in order to minimize the probability of unintentional movement of green crabs;
[sbull] Track the approximate abundances of green crab populations in previously invaded areas to allow forecasting of ``outbreak'' years. The ecological and economic impacts of green crabs are directly related to their abundance, so if outbreak years can be forecasted, this would provide an important warning for resource managers, production fisheries, aquaculture, and others that may be negatively affected by a large year class of green crabs. This would also provide additional time to jumpstart necessary management activities, and increase education and outreach efforts that might ameliorate the impacts of these species in years of high abundance;
[sbull] Monitor uninvaded areas to detect new invasions and range expansions. This would most effectively be accomplished by detecting the presence of postlarval green crabs and/or the presence of youngof
theyear (YOY) juvenile green crabs. To detect the presence of green crab postlarvae, biweekly to monthly sampling between April and June would be involved. Postlarvae can be sampled by deploying bag collectors attached to docks, moorings, and buoys at replicate sites in harbors and bays. Bags are exchanged at the desired interval, and collected organisms are rinsed off the collectors, sorted, preserved, and counted. Youngoftheyear (YOY) juvenile green crabs are best sampled by deploying baited minnow traps in intertidal areas at replicate sites in harbors and bays in August and September; and
[sbull] Monitor invaded areas to forecast ``outbreak'' years. This is most effectively accomplished through monitoring the abundance of postlarval green crabs, including juvenile as well as adult crab populations.
[sbull] Provide current information on the research and management activities being conducted under the plan;
[sbull] describe standardized research and management protocols that allow others [[Page 33524]]
to participate and contribute to full implementation of the plan;
[sbull] sustain a current synthesis of regional, national, and international results in the areas of research and management activities;
[sbull] create a directory of relevant contacts, activities, and information in support of the plan at the local, state, and regional levels; and
[sbull] develop educational outreach components in support of the plan. The following three elements are discussed in detail in the Management Plan to meet the objectives for this component: (1) A system for information management and dissemination, (2) an advisory committee to guide development of the information system, and (3) a core group of scientists to provide syntheses of current research and management information. The implementation section of the plan has identified possible funding source(s), lead organization(s), and estimated cost to implement each task element identified and discussed in the plan.
This document was prepared by the Green Crab Control Working Group of the ANS Task Force, as authorized by section 4722(c) of the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C. 4701 et seq.). Dated: May 7, 2003. Everett Wilson,
Acting CoChair, Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force, Acting Assistant DirectorFisheries and Habitat Conservation. [FR Doc. 0313995 Filed 6303; 8:45 am]
Fred Kern, Chair, Green Crab Control Working Group, at 4102265193 or by email at fred.kern@noaa.gov or Sharon Gross, Executive Secretary, Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force at 7033582308 or by email at sharon_gross@fws.gov.