Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act Provisions; Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Special Management Zones for Five Delaware Artificial Reefs, 41530 [2014-16704]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 136 (Wednesday, July 16, 2014)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 41530]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-16704]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 130702585-4484-01]
RIN 0648-BD42


Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
Provisions; Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Special 
Management Zones for Five Delaware Artificial Reefs

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

ACTION: Proposed rule; extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: NMFS extends for 15 days the comment period on the proposed 
rule to implement special management zones for five Delaware artificial 
reefs.

DATES: The deadline for written comments on the proposed rule published 
on June 19, 2014 (79 FR 35141), is extended from August 4, 2014, to 
August 19, 2014.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified NOAA-NMFS-2014-0060, by 
any of the following methods:
     Federal e-rulemaking portal: Go to www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail; D=NOAA-NMFS-2014-0060 click the ``Comment Now!'' icon, 
complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.
     Mail and Hand Delivery: John K. Bullard, Regional 
Administrator, NMFS, Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, 55 
Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside of the 
envelope: ``Comments on SMZ Measures.''
    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.
    Copies of the Environmental Assessment and Initial Regulatory 
Flexibility Analysis (EA/IRFA) and other supporting documents for the 
Special Management Zones measures are available from Paul Perra, NOAA/
NMFS, Sustainable Fisheries Division, 55 Great Republic Drive, 
Gloucester, MA 01930. The Special Management Zone measures document is 
also accessible via the Internet at: https://www.nero.noaa.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Perra, Fishery Policy Analyst, 
(978) 281-9153.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Delaware Fish and Wildlife Department 
(DFW) requested that the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council 
designate five artificial reef sites, currently permitted by the U.S. 
Corps of Engineers in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), as Special 
management Zones (SMZs) under the regulations implementing the 
Council's Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management 
Plan (FMP). The SMZ request noted that the DFW has received complaints 
from hook-and-line anglers regarding fouling of their fishing gear in 
commercial pots and lines on ocean reef sites for more than 10 years. 
It also noted that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Sportfish 
Restoration Program had notified DFW that these gear conflicts are not 
consistent with the objectives of the Sportfish Restoration Program, 
which provides funding for the building and maintenance of the 
artificial reefs. In order to comply with the goals of the Sportfish 
Restoration Program, the FWS is requiring that state artificial reef 
programs be able to limit gear conflicts by state regulations in state 
waters or by SMZs for sites in the EEZ.
    After considering the DFW request, the Council recommended that all 
five artificial reefs be established as SMZs through a regulatory 
amendment. The action, as proposed, would allow only hook-and-line and 
spear fishing (including the taking of fish by hand) in the artificial 
reef designated areas, and these measures should be implemented with a 
500-yard (457.2-m) enforcement buffer around each artificial reef site. 
In response to the Council's recommendation, NMFS developed a Draft 
Environmental Assessment and a proposed rule to implement the SMZs 
measures, as recommended by the Council, published in the Federal 
Register on June 19, 2014, (79 FR 35141), with a 45-day comment period 
that closes August 4, 2014.
    Summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass are managed jointly by 
the Council and Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. The 
comment period on the proposed rule is scheduled to close on August 4, 
2014, the day before the start of the next meeting of the Commission, 
and a week before the next Council meeting. In order to provide further 
opportunity for the Commission and Council to formulate comments, and 
give more opportunity for the public to review and provide comments on 
the proposed rule to implement SMZs for five Delaware artificial reefs, 
NMFS is extending the comment period on the proposed rule until August 
19, 2014.

    Dated: July 11, 2014.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-16704 Filed 7-15-14; 8:45 am]
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