Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Salmon Bycatch, 14069-14071 [E7-5474]
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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 57 / Monday, March 26, 2007 / Proposed Rules
b. Redesignating paragraphs (b), (c),
and (d) as paragraphs (b) (1), (b)(2), and
(c) and adding a heading to new
paragraph (b);
c. Adding a new heading to new
paragraph (c); and
d. Adding a new paragraph (d), to
read as set forth below.
cprice-sewell on PROD1PC66 with PROPOSALS
§ 21.12 General exceptions to permit
requirements.
The following persons or entities
under the following conditions are
exempt from the permit requirements:
(a) Employees of the Department of
the Interior (DOI): DOI employees
authorized to enforce the provisions of
the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of July 3,
1918, as amended (40 Stat. 755; 16
U.S.C. 703–711), may, without a permit,
take or otherwise acquire, hold in
custody, transport, and dispose of
migratory birds or their parts, nests, or
eggs as necessary in performing their
official duties.
(b) Employees of certain public and
private institutions:
(1) * * *
(2) * * *
(c) Licensed veterinarians:
*
*
*
*
*
(d) General public: Any person may
remove a migratory bird from the
interior of a building or structure under
the following conditions. If you need
advice on dealing with a trapped bird,
you should contact your closest Fish
and Wildlife Service office or your State
wildlife agency.
(1) You may humanely remove a
trapped migratory bird from the interior
of a residence or a commercial or
government building without a Federal
permit if the migratory bird:
(i) Poses a health threat (for example,
through damage to foodstuffs);
(ii) Is attacking humans, or poses a
threat to human safety because of its
activities (such as opening and closing
automatic doors);
(iii) Poses a threat to commercial
interests, such as through damage to
products for sale; or
(iv) May injure itself because it is
trapped.
(2) You must use a humane method to
capture the bird or birds. You may not
use adhesive traps to which birds may
adhere (such as glue traps) or any other
method of capture likely to harm the
bird.
(3) After capture, you must promptly
release the bird or birds to the wild in
habitat suitable for the species.
(4) If a bird is injured or orphaned
during the removal, the property owner
is responsible for promptly transferring
it to a federally permitted migratory bird
rehabilitator.
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(5) You may not lethally take a
migratory bird for these purposes. If
your actions to remove the trapped
migratory bird are likely to result in its
lethal take, you must possess a Federal
Migratory Bird Permit. However, if a
bird you are trying to remove dies, you
must dispose of the carcass unless you
have reason to believe that a museum or
scientific institution might be able to
use it. In that case, you should contact
your nearest Fish and Wildlife Service
office or your State wildlife agency
about donating the carcass.
(6) For birds of species on the Federal
List of Threatened or Endangered
Wildlife, provided at 50 CFR 17.11(h),
you may need a Federal threatened or
endangered species permit before
removing the birds (see 50 CFR 17.21
and 50 CFR 17.31).
(7) You will need a permit from your
regional migratory bird permits office to
remove a bald eagle or a golden eagle
from a building (see 50 CFR Part 22).
(8) Your action must comply with
State and local regulations and
ordinances. You may need a State,
tribal, or territorial permit before you
can legally remove the bird or birds.
(9) If a nest, eggs, or nestlings are
present, you must seek the assistance of
a federally-permitted migratory bird
rehabilitator in removing them. The
rehabilitator is then responsible for
handling them properly.
Dated: March 2, 2007.
David M. Verhey,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Fish and
Wildlife and Parks.
[FR Doc. E7–5120 Filed 3–23–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–55–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 679
[I.D. 031407A]
RIN 0648–AU03
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic
Zone Off Alaska; Salmon Bycatch
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request
for comments.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: The North Pacific Fishery
Management Council (Council) has
submitted Amendment 84 to the Fishery
Management Plan for Groundfish of the
Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands
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Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
14069
Management Area (FMP). If approved,
Amendment 84 would exempt vessels
participating in an inter-cooperative
agreement (ICA) to reduce salmon
bycatch from Chinook and chum salmon
savings area closures, and exempt
vessels participating in non-pollock
trawl fisheries from the chum salmon
savings area. This action is intended to
promote the goals and objectives of the
FMP and Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act
(Magnuson-Stevens Act). This action is
necessary to reduce salmon bycatch in
the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands
management area (BSAI).
DATES: Comments on Amendment 84
must be received on or before May 25,
2007.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to Sue
Salveson, Assistant Regional
Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries
Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, Attn:
Ellen Sebastian, Records Officer.
Comments may be submitted by:
• Mail to P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK
99802;
• Hand delivery to the Federal
Building, 709 West 9th Street, Room
420A, Juneau, AK;
• FAX to 907–586–7557;
• E-mail to BSA84–A-NOA@noaa.gov
and include in the subject line of the Email comment the document identifier:
Amendment 84. E-mail comments, with
or without attachments, are limited to 5
megabytes; or
• Webform at the Federal
eRulemaking Portal:
www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions at that site for submitting
comments.
Copies of Amendment 84 and the
Environmental Assessment/Regulatory
Impact Review/Initial Regulatory
Flexibility Analysis (EA/RIR/IRFA)
prepared for this action may be obtained
from the NMFS Alaska Region at the
address above, from the Alaska Region
website at https://www.fakr.noaa.gov or
by calling the Sustainable Fisheries
Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, at (907)
586–7228.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jason Anderson, 907–586–7228, or
jason.anderson@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that
each regional fishery management
council submit any FMP or FMP
amendment it prepares to NMFS for
review and approval, disapproval, or
partial approval. The Magnuson-Stevens
Act also requires that NMFS, upon
receiving an FMP amendment,
immediately publish a notice in the
Federal Register that the FMP or
amendment is available for public
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cprice-sewell on PROD1PC66 with PROPOSALS
14070
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 57 / Monday, March 26, 2007 / Proposed Rules
review and comment. This requirement
is satisfied by this notice of availability
for Amendment 84.
Pacific salmon are caught incidentally
in the BSAI trawl fisheries, especially in
the pollock fishery. Of the five species
of Pacific salmon, Chinook salmon
(Onchorynchus tshawytscha) and chum
salmon (O. keta) are most often
incidentally caught in the pollock
fishery. Pacific salmon are placed into
two categories for purposes of salmon
bycatch management: Chinook and nonChinook. The non-Chinook category is
comprised of chum, sockeye (O. nerka),
pink (O. gorbuscha), and coho (O.
kisutch) salmon. However, from 2001
through 2004, chum salmon represented
about 98 percent of non-Chinook
salmon harvested incidentally in the
pollock trawl fisheries. For
convenience, all non-Chinook salmon
are referred to as chum salmon.
To address Chinook salmon bycatch
concerns, the Council adopted several
management measures designed to
reduce overall Chinook salmon bycatch
in the BSAI trawl fisheries. In 1995, the
Council adopted, and NMFS approved,
Amendment 21b to the FMP. Based on
historic information on salmon bycatch,
Amendment 21b established a Chinook
salmon savings area (60 FR 31215,
November 29, 1995). Under Amendment
21b, the Chinook salmon savings area
closed when the incidental catch of
Chinook salmon in BSAI trawl fisheries
reached 48,000 fish. Amendment 58 to
the FMP revised the Chinook salmon
savings area measures (65 FR 60587,
October 12, 2000). Amendment 58
reduced the Chinook salmon bycatch
limit from 48,000 fish to 29,000 fish,
mandated year-round accounting of
Chinook bycatch in the directed pollock
fishery, revised the boundaries of the
Chinook salmon savings area closure,
and implemented new closure dates.
The timing of the closure depends on
when the limit is reached. If the limit is
reached:
• Before April 15, the area closes
immediately through April 15. After
April 15, the area re-opens, but closes
again from September 1 through
December 31.
• Between April 15 and September 1,
the area would close from September 1
through the end of the year.
• After September 1, the area closes
immediately through the end of the
year.
The Chinook salmon savings area was
further modified by Amendment 82 to
the FMP (70 FR 9856, March 1, 2005).
Amendment 82 established a separate
Aleutian Islands subarea bycatch limit
that, when reached, closes the existing
Chinook salmon savings area located in
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the Aleutian Islands subarea (Area 1).
The Chinook salmon savings area
located in the Bering Sea subarea
remained unchanged, but was
designated as Area 2.
The Council also adopted a time-area
closure designed to reduce overall chum
salmon bycatch in the BSAI trawl
fisheries. In 1995, Amendment 35 to the
FMP established the chum salmon
savings area (60 FR 34904, July 5, 1995).
This area is closed to all trawling from
August 1 through August 31 of each
year. Additionally, if 42,000 chum
salmon are caught in the Catcher Vessel
Operational Area (CVOA) during the
period August 15 through October 14,
the area remains closed for the
remainder of the calendar year.
Community development quota (CDQ)
groups receive, along with allocations of
groundfish CDQ, individual allocations
of Chinook and non-Chinook annual
bycatch amounts. Vessels groundfish
CDQ fishing are not subject to the chum
and Chinook salmon savings area
closures that apply to the non-CDQ
pollock fisheries. Rather, the Chinook
salmon savings area closes to vessels
directed fishing for pollock for a CDQ
group once that CDQ group has reached
its Chinook salmon bycatch limit. The
chum salmon savings area closes to
vessels using trawl gear to fish for
groundfish CDQ once that CDQ group
has reached its non-Chinook salmon
bycatch limit. Thus, individual CDQ
groups are subject to salmon savings
area closures based on their respective
catch of chum or Chinook salmon while
groundfish CDQ fishing.
The Chinook and chum salmon
savings areas were adopted based on
historic observed salmon bycatch rates
and were designed to avoid high spatial
and temporal levels of salmon bycatch.
From 1990 through 2001, the BSAI
salmon bycatch average was 37,819
Chinook and 69,332 chum annually.
Recently, however, salmon bycatch
numbers have increased substantially.
In 2003, 54,911 Chinook salmon and
197,091 chum salmon were taken
incidentally in the trawl fisheries. In
2004, salmon bycatch increased
substantially to 62,493 Chinook and
465,650 chum salmon. Bycatch amounts
remained high in 2005 and totaled
67,541 Chinook and 116,999 chum
salmon.
Since its establishment in 1995, the
Chinook salmon savings area closure
only has been triggered since 2003. The
Chinook salmon bycatch limit was not
reached prior to 2003. In 2003, the
Chinook salmon savings area closed to
directed trawl fishing for non-CDQ
pollock on September 1, with the
closure remaining in effect until the end
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Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
of the calendar year. In 2004, the
Chinook salmon savings area closed to
directed trawl fishing for non-CDQ
pollock on September 5 through the end
of the year. In 2005, the Chinook salmon
savings area in the Bering Sea subarea
was closed to directed trawl fishing for
non-CDQ pollock on September 1
through the end of the year.
Since establishment of the chum
salmon savings area in 1995, the
bycatch of non-Chinook salmon
triggered closures in 2002, 2003, 2004,
and 2005. In these years, the chum
salmon savings area closed to non-CDQ
trawl fisheries in September and
October.
Anecdotal information from
participants in the BSAI trawl fisheries
indicated that salmon bycatch rates may
be higher outside the Chinook and
chum salmon savings area. In February
2005, the Council initiated an EA/RIR/
IRFA to explore alternatives to the
current salmon bycatch measures.
Spatial and temporal comparisons of
non-CDQ vessels fishing outside of the
salmon savings areas with CDQ vessels
fishing inside of the salmon savings
areas indicated that bycatch rates were
much higher outside of the savings
areas.
In October 2005, the Council adopted
Amendment 84 to the FMP.
Amendment 84 would exempt non-CDQ
and CDQ pollock vessels participating
in a salmon bycatch reduction ICA from
closures of the Chinook and chum
salmon savings areas in the Bering Sea.
Additionally, vessels participating in
trawl fisheries for species other than
pollock would be exempt from chum
salmon savings area closures. The
Council intends to use NMFS salmon
bycatch information to assess the
effectiveness of regulations
implementing Amendment 84 at
reducing salmon bycatch in the directed
pollock fisheries. The Council also
asked for participants in the salmon
bycatch reduction ICA to report
annually on how effective the ICA
appears to be at reducing salmon
bycatch. The Council also will gather
additional information to assess the
effectiveness of the ICA in coordinating
voluntary salmon bycatch reduction
efforts by participants in the Bering Sea
pollock fisheries. Additionally, this
information could be used to further
assess whether participants fishing in
the current salmon savings areas
continue to encounter lower salmon
bycatch rates than participants fishing
outside of salmon savings areas.
The Council is also developing a
separate FMP amendment that could
result in additional management
measures to reduce salmon bycatch.
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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 57 / Monday, March 26, 2007 / Proposed Rules
cprice-sewell on PROD1PC66 with PROPOSALS
These measures could include altering
the geographic coordinates of the
Chinook and chum salmon savings areas
based on recent bycatch rates, and
implementing an individual salmon
bycatch accountability program.
However, the Council determined that
consideration of these management
measures would require additional time
and chose to expedite Amendment 84
while the Council develops the second
amendment.
Public comments are being solicited
on proposed Amendment 84 through
the end of the comment period stated
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15:29 Mar 23, 2007
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(see DATES). A proposed rule that would
implement Amendment 84 may be
published in the Federal Register for
public comment, following NMFS’
evaluation under the Magnuson-Stevens
Act procedures. Public comments on the
proposed rule must be received by the
end of the comment period on
Amendment 84 to be considered in the
approval/disapproval decision of the
amendment. All comments received by
the end of the comment period on the
amendment, whether specifically
directed to the FMP amendment or the
proposed rule, will be considered in the
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Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
14071
approval/disapproval decision.
Comments received after that date will
not be considered in that decision. To
be considered, written comments must
be received, not just postmarked or
otherwise transmitted, by the close of
business on the last day of the comment
period.
Dated: March 20, 2007.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E7–5474 Filed 3–23–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–S
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 57 (Monday, March 26, 2007)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 14069-14071]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-5474]
=======================================================================
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 679
[I.D. 031407A]
RIN 0648-AU03
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Salmon
Bycatch
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) has
submitted Amendment 84 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of
the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (FMP). If approved,
Amendment 84 would exempt vessels participating in an inter-cooperative
agreement (ICA) to reduce salmon bycatch from Chinook and chum salmon
savings area closures, and exempt vessels participating in non-pollock
trawl fisheries from the chum salmon savings area. This action is
intended to promote the goals and objectives of the FMP and Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).
This action is necessary to reduce salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea and
Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI).
DATES: Comments on Amendment 84 must be received on or before May 25,
2007.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to Sue Salveson, Assistant Regional
Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries Division, Alaska Region, NMFS,
Attn: Ellen Sebastian, Records Officer. Comments may be submitted by:
Mail to P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802;
Hand delivery to the Federal Building, 709 West 9th
Street, Room 420A, Juneau, AK;
FAX to 907-586-7557;
E-mail to BSA84-A-NOA@noaa.gov and include in the subject
line of the E-mail comment the document identifier: Amendment 84. E-
mail comments, with or without attachments, are limited to 5 megabytes;
or
Webform at the Federal eRulemaking Portal:
www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions at that site for
submitting comments.
Copies of Amendment 84 and the Environmental Assessment/Regulatory
Impact Review/Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (EA/RIR/IRFA)
prepared for this action may be obtained from the NMFS Alaska Region at
the address above, from the Alaska Region website at https://
www.fakr.noaa.gov or by calling the Sustainable Fisheries Division,
Alaska Region, NMFS, at (907) 586-7228.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jason Anderson, 907-586-7228, or
jason.anderson@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that each
regional fishery management council submit any FMP or FMP amendment it
prepares to NMFS for review and approval, disapproval, or partial
approval. The Magnuson-Stevens Act also requires that NMFS, upon
receiving an FMP amendment, immediately publish a notice in the Federal
Register that the FMP or amendment is available for public
[[Page 14070]]
review and comment. This requirement is satisfied by this notice of
availability for Amendment 84.
Pacific salmon are caught incidentally in the BSAI trawl fisheries,
especially in the pollock fishery. Of the five species of Pacific
salmon, Chinook salmon (Onchorynchus tshawytscha) and chum salmon (O.
keta) are most often incidentally caught in the pollock fishery.
Pacific salmon are placed into two categories for purposes of salmon
bycatch management: Chinook and non-Chinook. The non-Chinook category
is comprised of chum, sockeye (O. nerka), pink (O. gorbuscha), and coho
(O. kisutch) salmon. However, from 2001 through 2004, chum salmon
represented about 98 percent of non-Chinook salmon harvested
incidentally in the pollock trawl fisheries. For convenience, all non-
Chinook salmon are referred to as chum salmon.
To address Chinook salmon bycatch concerns, the Council adopted
several management measures designed to reduce overall Chinook salmon
bycatch in the BSAI trawl fisheries. In 1995, the Council adopted, and
NMFS approved, Amendment 21b to the FMP. Based on historic information
on salmon bycatch, Amendment 21b established a Chinook salmon savings
area (60 FR 31215, November 29, 1995). Under Amendment 21b, the Chinook
salmon savings area closed when the incidental catch of Chinook salmon
in BSAI trawl fisheries reached 48,000 fish. Amendment 58 to the FMP
revised the Chinook salmon savings area measures (65 FR 60587, October
12, 2000). Amendment 58 reduced the Chinook salmon bycatch limit from
48,000 fish to 29,000 fish, mandated year-round accounting of Chinook
bycatch in the directed pollock fishery, revised the boundaries of the
Chinook salmon savings area closure, and implemented new closure dates.
The timing of the closure depends on when the limit is reached. If the
limit is reached:
Before April 15, the area closes immediately through April
15. After April 15, the area re-opens, but closes again from September
1 through December 31.
Between April 15 and September 1, the area would close
from September 1 through the end of the year.
After September 1, the area closes immediately through the
end of the year.
The Chinook salmon savings area was further modified by Amendment
82 to the FMP (70 FR 9856, March 1, 2005). Amendment 82 established a
separate Aleutian Islands subarea bycatch limit that, when reached,
closes the existing Chinook salmon savings area located in the Aleutian
Islands subarea (Area 1). The Chinook salmon savings area located in
the Bering Sea subarea remained unchanged, but was designated as Area
2.
The Council also adopted a time-area closure designed to reduce
overall chum salmon bycatch in the BSAI trawl fisheries. In 1995,
Amendment 35 to the FMP established the chum salmon savings area (60 FR
34904, July 5, 1995). This area is closed to all trawling from August 1
through August 31 of each year. Additionally, if 42,000 chum salmon are
caught in the Catcher Vessel Operational Area (CVOA) during the period
August 15 through October 14, the area remains closed for the remainder
of the calendar year.
Community development quota (CDQ) groups receive, along with
allocations of groundfish CDQ, individual allocations of Chinook and
non-Chinook annual bycatch amounts. Vessels groundfish CDQ fishing are
not subject to the chum and Chinook salmon savings area closures that
apply to the non-CDQ pollock fisheries. Rather, the Chinook salmon
savings area closes to vessels directed fishing for pollock for a CDQ
group once that CDQ group has reached its Chinook salmon bycatch limit.
The chum salmon savings area closes to vessels using trawl gear to fish
for groundfish CDQ once that CDQ group has reached its non-Chinook
salmon bycatch limit. Thus, individual CDQ groups are subject to salmon
savings area closures based on their respective catch of chum or
Chinook salmon while groundfish CDQ fishing.
The Chinook and chum salmon savings areas were adopted based on
historic observed salmon bycatch rates and were designed to avoid high
spatial and temporal levels of salmon bycatch. From 1990 through 2001,
the BSAI salmon bycatch average was 37,819 Chinook and 69,332 chum
annually. Recently, however, salmon bycatch numbers have increased
substantially. In 2003, 54,911 Chinook salmon and 197,091 chum salmon
were taken incidentally in the trawl fisheries. In 2004, salmon bycatch
increased substantially to 62,493 Chinook and 465,650 chum salmon.
Bycatch amounts remained high in 2005 and totaled 67,541 Chinook and
116,999 chum salmon.
Since its establishment in 1995, the Chinook salmon savings area
closure only has been triggered since 2003. The Chinook salmon bycatch
limit was not reached prior to 2003. In 2003, the Chinook salmon
savings area closed to directed trawl fishing for non-CDQ pollock on
September 1, with the closure remaining in effect until the end of the
calendar year. In 2004, the Chinook salmon savings area closed to
directed trawl fishing for non-CDQ pollock on September 5 through the
end of the year. In 2005, the Chinook salmon savings area in the Bering
Sea subarea was closed to directed trawl fishing for non-CDQ pollock on
September 1 through the end of the year.
Since establishment of the chum salmon savings area in 1995, the
bycatch of non-Chinook salmon triggered closures in 2002, 2003, 2004,
and 2005. In these years, the chum salmon savings area closed to non-
CDQ trawl fisheries in September and October.
Anecdotal information from participants in the BSAI trawl fisheries
indicated that salmon bycatch rates may be higher outside the Chinook
and chum salmon savings area. In February 2005, the Council initiated
an EA/RIR/IRFA to explore alternatives to the current salmon bycatch
measures. Spatial and temporal comparisons of non-CDQ vessels fishing
outside of the salmon savings areas with CDQ vessels fishing inside of
the salmon savings areas indicated that bycatch rates were much higher
outside of the savings areas.
In October 2005, the Council adopted Amendment 84 to the FMP.
Amendment 84 would exempt non-CDQ and CDQ pollock vessels participating
in a salmon bycatch reduction ICA from closures of the Chinook and chum
salmon savings areas in the Bering Sea. Additionally, vessels
participating in trawl fisheries for species other than pollock would
be exempt from chum salmon savings area closures. The Council intends
to use NMFS salmon bycatch information to assess the effectiveness of
regulations implementing Amendment 84 at reducing salmon bycatch in the
directed pollock fisheries. The Council also asked for participants in
the salmon bycatch reduction ICA to report annually on how effective
the ICA appears to be at reducing salmon bycatch. The Council also will
gather additional information to assess the effectiveness of the ICA in
coordinating voluntary salmon bycatch reduction efforts by participants
in the Bering Sea pollock fisheries. Additionally, this information
could be used to further assess whether participants fishing in the
current salmon savings areas continue to encounter lower salmon bycatch
rates than participants fishing outside of salmon savings areas.
The Council is also developing a separate FMP amendment that could
result in additional management measures to reduce salmon bycatch.
[[Page 14071]]
These measures could include altering the geographic coordinates of the
Chinook and chum salmon savings areas based on recent bycatch rates,
and implementing an individual salmon bycatch accountability program.
However, the Council determined that consideration of these management
measures would require additional time and chose to expedite Amendment
84 while the Council develops the second amendment.
Public comments are being solicited on proposed Amendment 84
through the end of the comment period stated (see DATES). A proposed
rule that would implement Amendment 84 may be published in the Federal
Register for public comment, following NMFS' evaluation under the
Magnuson-Stevens Act procedures. Public comments on the proposed rule
must be received by the end of the comment period on Amendment 84 to be
considered in the approval/disapproval decision of the amendment. All
comments received by the end of the comment period on the amendment,
whether specifically directed to the FMP amendment or the proposed
rule, will be considered in the approval/disapproval decision. Comments
received after that date will not be considered in that decision. To be
considered, written comments must be received, not just postmarked or
otherwise transmitted, by the close of business on the last day of the
comment period.
Dated: March 20, 2007.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. E7-5474 Filed 3-23-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S
