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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
CFR Citation: 50 CFR Part 660
RIN ID: RIN 0648-AO31
DOCUMENT ID: [I.D. 082800F]
NOTICE: PROPOSED RULES
ACTION: Fishery conservation and management:
DOCUMENT ACTION: Notice of availability of an amendment to a fishery management plan; request for comments.
SUBJECT CATEGORY: Fisheries off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Amendment 12
DATES: Comments on Amendment 12 must be received on or before November 7, 2000.
DOCUMENT SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) has submitted Amendment 12 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Secretarial review. Amendment 12 is intended to provide procedures for the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) to develop rebuilding plans for overfished species, to set guidelines for rebuilding plan contents, and to provide rebuilding plans for NMFS review and approval/disapproval. Amendment 12 would also declare all Pacific coast groundfish to be fully utilized by domestic harvesters and processors.
SUMMARY: West Coast States and Western Pacific fisheries—; Pacific Coast groundfish,
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MagnusonStevens Act) requires that each regional fishery management council submit any new FMP or plan amendment it prepares to NMFS for review and approval, disapproval, or partial approval. The MagnusonStevens Act also requires that NMFS, upon receiving an FMP or amendment, immediately publish a notification in the Federal Register that the FMP or amendment is available for public review and comment. NMFS will consider the public comments received during the comment period described here in determining whether to approve the FMP or amendment. In 1998, the Council adopted Amendment 11 to the FMP to make the
FMP consistent with revisions to the MagnusonStevens Act. Among other things, Amendment 11 set control rules to define rates of
``overfishing,'' and set defined levels at which managed stocks are
considered ``overfished.'' Amendment 11 was approved and incorporated into the FMP in March 1999.
While implementing Amendment 11 provisions for rebuilding overfished stocks, the Council determined that it needed to set procedures within the groundfish FMP for developing overfished species rebuilding plans and for providing NMFS with the opportunity to review and approve/disapprove those plans. Amendment 12 provides for a process in which the Council will develop overfished species rebuilding plans during its annual specifications and management measures process.
During the Council's twomeeting process for setting annual
specifications and management measures (usually September and November)
the Council will make overfished species rebuilding plans available for
public review, and will incorporate measures to implement those plans
within the annual specifications and management measures. Rebuilding
plan contents are defined in the FMP and rely upon the Council's annual
stock assessment and review process. Once the Council approves a new
rebuilding plan, it will submit that plan for NMFS review and approval/
disapproval generally at the same time that it submits its annual
specifications package for review and approval/disapproval. This
process will ensure that rebuilding efforts are incorporated into fishery management measures as quickly and efficiently as
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practicable, and that they are consistent with management measures for other groundfish species
Public comments on Amendment 12 must be received by November 7,
2000, to be considered by NMFS in the decision whether to approve
Amendment 12. A proposed rule to implement Amendment 12 has been
submitted for Secretarial review and approval. NMFS expects to publish
and request public comment on the proposed regulations to implement Amendment 12 in the near future.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: September 1, 2000.
Richard W. Surdi,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 0023131 Filed 9700; 8:45 am]
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT Yvonne deReynier at 206-526-6140, Svein Fougner at 5629804000, or the Pacific Fishery Management Council at 5033266352.
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