Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; Snapper-Grouper Fishery Off the South Atlantic States; Regulatory Amendment 16, 72868-72869 [2013-29026]
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EMCDONALD on DSK67QTVN1PROD with NOTICES
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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 233 / Wednesday, December 4, 2013 / Notices
NMFS, in collaboration with the
Council, will develop a DEIS to describe
and analyze alternatives to address the
management needs described above
including the ‘‘no action’’ alternative. In
accordance with NOAA’s
Administrative Order 216–6, Section
5.02(c), Scoping Process, NMFS, in
collaboration with the Council, has
identified preliminary environmental
issues as a means to initiate discussion
for scoping purposes only. The public is
invited to attend scoping meetings
(dates and addresses below) and provide
written comments on the preliminary
issues, which are identified as actions
and alternatives in the Regulatory
Amendment 17 scoping document.
These preliminary issues may not
represent the full range of issues that
eventually will be evaluated in the
DEIS. A copy of the Regulatory
Amendment 17 scoping document is
available at https://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/
sustainable_fisheries/s_atl/sg/
index.html.
After the DEIS associated with
Regulatory Amendment 17 is
completed, it will be filed with the
Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA). After filing, the EPA will publish
a notice of availability of the DEIS for
public comment in the Federal Register.
The DEIS will have a 45-day comment
period. This procedure is pursuant to
regulations issued by the Council on
Environmental Quality (CEQ) for
implementing the procedural provisions
of the National Environmental Policy
Act (NEPA; 40 CFR parts 1500–1508)
and to NOAA’s Administrative Order
216–6 regarding NOAA’s compliance
with NEPA and the CEQ regulations.
The Council and NMFS 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.
NMFS will announce, through a
document published in the Federal
Register, all public comment periods on
the final amendment, its proposed
implementing regulations, and the
availability of its associated FEIS. NMFS
will consider all public comments
received during the Secretarial review
period, whether they are on the final
amendment, the proposed regulations,
or the FEIS, prior to final agency action.
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:09 Dec 03, 2013
Jkt 232001
Scoping Meetings, Times, and Locations
All meetings will begin at 4 p.m.
These meetings are 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 office 3 days prior to the start
of each meeting (see FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT).
Tuesday, January 21, 2014—Bay
Watch Resort and Conference Center,
2701 South Ocean Boulevard, North
Myrtle Beach, SC 29582, telephone:
843–272–4600.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014—
DoubleTree by Hilton Atlantic Beach
Oceanfront, 2717 West Fort Macon
Road, Atlantic Beach, NC 28512,
telephone: 252–240–1155.
Monday, January 27, 2014—Key West
Marriott Beachside, 3841 North
Roosevelt Boulevard, Key West, FL
33040, telephone: 305–296–8100.
Tuesday, January 28, 2014—
Doubletree by Hilton Oceanfront, 2080
North Atlantic Avenue, Cocoa Beach, FL
32931, telephone: 321–783–9222.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014—
Wyndham Jacksonville Riverwalk, 1515
Prudential Drive, Jacksonville, FL
32207, telephone: 904–396–5100.
Thursday, January 30, 2014—Mighty
Eighth Air Force Museum, 175 Bourne
Avenue, Pooler, GA 31322, telephone:
912–743–8888.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: November 29, 2013.
Karen Abrams,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2013–29024 Filed 12–3–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
RIN 0648–BD78
Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of
Mexico, and South Atlantic; SnapperGrouper Fishery Off the South Atlantic
States; Regulatory Amendment 16
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); request for comments.
AGENCY:
NMFS, Southeast Region, in
collaboration with the South Atlantic
Fishery Management Council (Council),
intends to prepare a DEIS to describe
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
and analyze a range of alternatives for
management actions to be included in
Regulatory Amendment 16 to the
Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the
Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South
Atlantic Region (Regulatory
Amendment 16). Regulatory
Amendment 16 will consider
alternatives to the prohibition on the
use of black sea bass pots in the South
Atlantic exclusive economic zone (EEZ)
annually from November 1 through
April 30 that was implemented through
Regulatory Amendment 19 to the FMP.
The purpose of this NOI is to solicit
public comments on the scope of issues
to be addressed in the DEIS.
DATES: Written comments on the scope
of issues to be addressed in the DEIS
will be accepted until January 3, 2014.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
on the amendment identified by
‘‘NOAA–NMFS–2013–0165’’ by any of
the following methods:
• Electronic submissions: Submit
electronic comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. Go to
www.regulations.gov/
#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-20130165, click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon,
complete the required fields, and enter
or attach your comments.
• Mail: Submit written comments to
Rick DeVictor, Southeast Regional
Office, NMFS, 263 13th Avenue South,
St. Petersburg, FL 33701.
Instructions: Comments sent by any
other method, to any other address or
individual, or received after the end of
the comment period, may not be
considered by NMFS. All comments
received are a part of the public record
and will generally be posted for public
viewing on www.regulations.gov
without change. All personal identifying
information (e.g., name, address, etc.),
confidential business information, or
otherwise sensitive information
submitted voluntarily by the sender will
be publicly accessible. NMFS will
accept anonymous comments (enter ‘‘N/
A’’ in the required fields if you wish to
remain anonymous). Attachments to
electronic comments will be accepted in
Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe PDF
file formats only.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rick
DeVictor, Southeast Regional Office,
telephone: 727–824–5305, or email:
rick.devictor@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The black
sea bass stock in the South Atlantic was
assessed through the Southeast Data,
Assessment, and Review (SEDAR) stock
assessment process in 2013 (SEDAR 25
Update). The SEDAR 25 Update
indicated that the black sea bass
E:\FR\FM\04DEN1.SGM
04DEN1
EMCDONALD on DSK67QTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 233 / Wednesday, December 4, 2013 / Notices
commercial and recreational sector
annual catch limits (ACL) could be
increased without jeopardizing the
health of the population. The black sea
bass commercial and recreational ACLs
were increased through Regulatory
Amendment 19 to the FMP (78 FR
58249, September 23, 2013).
The Council and NMFS, also through
Regulatory Amendment 19, established
a prohibition on the use of black sea
bass pots from November 1 through
April 30, each year. During this closure,
no person is allowed to harvest or
possess black sea bass in or from the
South Atlantic EEZ either with sea bass
pots or from a vessel with sea bass pots
on board. In addition, sea bass pots
must be removed from the water in the
South Atlantic EEZ prior to November
1, and may not be on board a vessel in
the South Atlantic EEZ during this
seasonal closure. The black sea bass pot
seasonal prohibition became effective
on October 23, 2013.
The seasonal sea bass pot prohibition
was established as a precautionary
measure to prevent interactions between
black sea bass pot gear and whales
during periods of large whale migrations
and during the right whale calving
season off the U.S. southeastern coast.
The large whale migration period and
the right whale calving season in the
South Atlantic extends from
approximately November 1 through
April 30, each year. Since 2010, black
sea bass harvest levels have reached the
commercial ACL, triggering
accountability measures (AMs) to close
the commercial sector. Because these inseason commercial AM closures have
occurred prior to November 1 since
2010, Council and NMFS actions to
prevent black sea bass pot gear from
being in the water during periods of
higher whale concentrations have been
unnecessary. However, NMFS
determined that the increase in the
black sea bass commercial ACL
implemented through Regulatory
Amendment 19 could extend the
commercial black sea bass fishing
season beyond November 1 and into a
time period when a higher
concentration of endangered whales are
known to migrate through black sea bass
fishing grounds.
The Council, through Regulatory
Amendment 16, is considering removal
of the seasonal sea bass pot closure and/
or modifications to the closure.
Modifications currently under
consideration include shortening of the
duration of the seasonal closure and
spatially designating the closure
boundaries to be some area less than the
entire South Atlantic EEZ. The intent of
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:09 Dec 03, 2013
Jkt 232001
the proposed action is to minimize
socio-economic impacts to black sea
bass pot fishers while maintaining
protection for whales in the South
Atlantic region that are listed as
endangered and threatened under the
Endangered Species Act. Changes to the
current seasonal sea bass pot
prohibition may positively affect the
revenues and profits of the 32
commercial vessels which currently
possess black sea bass pot endorsements
to their Federal commercial snappergrouper permits.
NMFS, in collaboration with the
Council, will develop a DEIS to describe
and analyze alternatives to address the
management needs described above
including the ‘‘no action’’ alternative. In
accordance with NOAA’s
Administrative Order 216–6, Section
5.02(c), Scoping Process, NMFS, in
collaboration with the Council, has
identified preliminary environmental
issues as a means to initiate discussion
for scoping purposes only. The public is
invited to provide written comments on
the preliminary issues, which are
identified as actions and alternatives in
the Regulatory Amendment 16 scoping
document. These preliminary issues
may not represent the full range of
issues that eventually will be evaluated
in the DEIS. A copy of the Regulatory
Amendment 16 scoping document is
available at https://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/
sustainable_fisheries/s_atl/sg/
index.html.
After the DEIS associated with
Regulatory Amendment 16 is
completed, it will be filed with the
Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA). After filing, the EPA will publish
a notice of availability of the DEIS for
public comment in the Federal Register.
The DEIS will have a 45-day comment
period. This procedure is pursuant to
regulations issued by the Council on
Environmental Quality (CEQ) for
implementing the procedural provisions
of the National Environmental Policy
Act (NEPA; 40 CFR parts 1500–1508)
and to NOAA’s Administrative Order
216–6 regarding NOAA’s compliance
with NEPA and the CEQ regulations.
The Council and NMFS 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,
PO 00000
Frm 00011
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
72869
disapprove, or partially approve the
final amendment.
NMFS will announce, through a
document published in the Federal
Register, all public comment periods on
the final amendment, its proposed
implementing regulations, and the
availability of its associated FEIS. NMFS
will consider all public comments
received during the Secretarial review
period, whether they are on the final
amendment, the proposed regulations,
or the FEIS, prior to final agency action.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: November 27, 2013.
Emily H. Menashes,
Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2013–29026 Filed 12–3–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
RIN 0648–XC937
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic
Zone Off Alaska; North Pacific Halibut
and Sablefish Individual Fishing Quota
Cost Recovery Programs
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notification of standard prices
and fee percentage.
AGENCY:
NMFS publishes individual
fishing quota (IFQ) standard prices and
fee percentage for the IFQ cost recovery
program in the halibut and sablefish
fisheries of the North Pacific. The fee
percentage for 2013 is 2.8%. This action
is intended to provide holders of halibut
and sablefish IFQ permits with the 2013
standard prices and fee percentage to
calculate the required payment for IFQ
cost recovery fees due by January 31,
2014.
DATES: Effective December 4, 2013.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Troie Zuniga, Fee Coordinator, 907–
586–7231.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
SUMMARY:
Background
NMFS Alaska Region administers the
halibut and sablefish individual fishing
quota (IFQ) programs in the North
Pacific. The IFQ programs are limited
access systems authorized by the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act
(Magnuson-Stevens Act) and the
Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1982.
E:\FR\FM\04DEN1.SGM
04DEN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 233 (Wednesday, December 4, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72868-72869]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-29026]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-BD78
Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic;
Snapper-Grouper Fishery Off the South Atlantic States; Regulatory
Amendment 16
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); request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS, Southeast Region, in collaboration with the South
Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council), intends to prepare a
DEIS to describe and analyze a range of alternatives for management
actions to be included in Regulatory Amendment 16 to the Fishery
Management Plan (FMP) for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South
Atlantic Region (Regulatory Amendment 16). Regulatory Amendment 16 will
consider alternatives to the prohibition on the use of black sea bass
pots in the South Atlantic exclusive economic zone (EEZ) annually from
November 1 through April 30 that was implemented through Regulatory
Amendment 19 to the FMP. The purpose of this NOI is to solicit public
comments on the scope of issues to be addressed in the DEIS.
DATES: Written comments on the scope of issues to be addressed in the
DEIS will be accepted until January 3, 2014.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the amendment identified by
``NOAA-NMFS-2013-0165'' by any of the following methods:
Electronic submissions: Submit electronic comments via the
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Go to
www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2013-0165, click the
``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or
attach your comments.
Mail: Submit written comments to Rick DeVictor, Southeast
Regional Office, NMFS, 263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.
Instructions: Comments sent by any other method, to any other
address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period,
may not be considered by NMFS. All comments received are a part of the
public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on
www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying
information (e.g., name, address, etc.), confidential business
information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily
by the sender will be publicly accessible. NMFS will accept anonymous
comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to remain
anonymous). Attachments to electronic comments will be accepted in
Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe PDF file formats only.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rick DeVictor, Southeast Regional
Office, telephone: 727-824-5305, or email: rick.devictor@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The black sea bass stock in the South
Atlantic was assessed through the Southeast Data, Assessment, and
Review (SEDAR) stock assessment process in 2013 (SEDAR 25 Update). The
SEDAR 25 Update indicated that the black sea bass
[[Page 72869]]
commercial and recreational sector annual catch limits (ACL) could be
increased without jeopardizing the health of the population. The black
sea bass commercial and recreational ACLs were increased through
Regulatory Amendment 19 to the FMP (78 FR 58249, September 23, 2013).
The Council and NMFS, also through Regulatory Amendment 19,
established a prohibition on the use of black sea bass pots from
November 1 through April 30, each year. During this closure, no person
is allowed to harvest or possess black sea bass in or from the South
Atlantic EEZ either with sea bass pots or from a vessel with sea bass
pots on board. In addition, sea bass pots must be removed from the
water in the South Atlantic EEZ prior to November 1, and may not be on
board a vessel in the South Atlantic EEZ during this seasonal closure.
The black sea bass pot seasonal prohibition became effective on October
23, 2013.
The seasonal sea bass pot prohibition was established as a
precautionary measure to prevent interactions between black sea bass
pot gear and whales during periods of large whale migrations and during
the right whale calving season off the U.S. southeastern coast. The
large whale migration period and the right whale calving season in the
South Atlantic extends from approximately November 1 through April 30,
each year. Since 2010, black sea bass harvest levels have reached the
commercial ACL, triggering accountability measures (AMs) to close the
commercial sector. Because these in-season commercial AM closures have
occurred prior to November 1 since 2010, Council and NMFS actions to
prevent black sea bass pot gear from being in the water during periods
of higher whale concentrations have been unnecessary. However, NMFS
determined that the increase in the black sea bass commercial ACL
implemented through Regulatory Amendment 19 could extend the commercial
black sea bass fishing season beyond November 1 and into a time period
when a higher concentration of endangered whales are known to migrate
through black sea bass fishing grounds.
The Council, through Regulatory Amendment 16, is considering
removal of the seasonal sea bass pot closure and/or modifications to
the closure. Modifications currently under consideration include
shortening of the duration of the seasonal closure and spatially
designating the closure boundaries to be some area less than the entire
South Atlantic EEZ. The intent of the proposed action is to minimize
socio-economic impacts to black sea bass pot fishers while maintaining
protection for whales in the South Atlantic region that are listed as
endangered and threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Changes to
the current seasonal sea bass pot prohibition may positively affect the
revenues and profits of the 32 commercial vessels which currently
possess black sea bass pot endorsements to their Federal commercial
snapper-grouper permits.
NMFS, in collaboration with the Council, will develop a DEIS to
describe and analyze alternatives to address the management needs
described above including the ``no action'' alternative. In accordance
with NOAA's Administrative Order 216-6, Section 5.02(c), Scoping
Process, NMFS, in collaboration with the Council, has identified
preliminary environmental issues as a means to initiate discussion for
scoping purposes only. The public is invited to provide written
comments on the preliminary issues, which are identified as actions and
alternatives in the Regulatory Amendment 16 scoping document. These
preliminary issues may not represent the full range of issues that
eventually will be evaluated in the DEIS. A copy of the Regulatory
Amendment 16 scoping document is available at https://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_fisheries/s_atl/sg/.
After the DEIS associated with Regulatory Amendment 16 is
completed, it will be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA). After filing, the EPA will publish a notice of availability of
the DEIS for public comment in the Federal Register. The DEIS will have
a 45-day comment period. This procedure is pursuant to regulations
issued by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) for implementing
the procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA; 40 CFR parts 1500-1508) and to NOAA's Administrative Order 216-6
regarding NOAA's compliance with NEPA and the CEQ regulations.
The Council and NMFS 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.
NMFS will announce, through a document published in the Federal
Register, all public comment periods on the final amendment, its
proposed implementing regulations, and the availability of its
associated FEIS. NMFS will consider all public comments received during
the Secretarial review period, whether they are on the final amendment,
the proposed regulations, or the FEIS, prior to final agency action.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: November 27, 2013.
Emily H. Menashes,
Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-29026 Filed 12-3-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
