[Federal Register: February 27, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 39)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 10415-10417]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr27fe08-18]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 679
RIN 0648-AW06
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Groundfish
Fisheries of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Availability of an amendment to a fishery management plan;
request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The North Pacific Fishery Management Council has submitted
[[Page 10416]]
Amendment 89 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the
Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (FMP) to establish
Bering Sea habitat conservation measures. This amendment, if approved,
would prohibit nonpelagic trawling in certain waters of the Bering Sea
subarea to protect bottom habitat from the potential adverse effects of
nonpelagic trawling. This amendment also would establish the Northern
Bering Sea Research Area for studying the impacts of nonpelagic
trawling on bottom habitat. This action is necessary to protect
portions of the Bering Sea subarea bottom habitat from the potential
adverse effects of nonpelagic trawling. This action is intended to
promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act, the FMP, and other applicable laws.
Comments from the public are welcome.
DATES: Written comments on the amendment must be received by 1700
hours, A.l.t. on April 28, 2008.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to Sue Salveson, Assistant Regional
Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries Division, Alaska Region, NMFS,
Attn: Ellen Sebastian. You may submit comments, identified by 0648-
AW06, by any one of the following methods:
Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov.
Mail: P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802.
Hand delivery: 709 West 9th Street, Room 420A, Juneau, AK.
Fax: 907-586-7557.
All comments received are a part of the public record and will
generally be posted to http://www.regulations.gov without change. All
Personal Identifying Information (e.g., name, address) voluntarily
submitted by the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit
Confidential Business Information or otherwise sensitive or protected
information.
NMFS will accept anonymous comments. Attachments to electronic
comments will be accepted in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or
Adobe portable document file (pdf) formats only.
Copies of the FMP amendment, maps of the Bering Sea subarea
nonpelagic trawl closure areas and Northern Bering Sea Research Area,
and the Environmental Assessment/Regulatory Impact Review/Initial
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (EA/RIR/IRFA) for this action may be
obtained from the Alaska Region NMFS address above or from the Alaska
Region NMFS website at http://www.fakr.noaa.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Melanie Brown, 907-586-7228 or
melanie.brown@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation
and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires that the North
Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) submit any 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 amendment is available for public review and comment.
If approved by NMFS, this amendment would revise the FMP by
establishing areas closed to nonpelagic trawling in the Bering Sea
subarea. In June 2007, the Council recommended certain portions of the
Bering Sea subarea be closed to nonpelagic trawling to prevent the
potential adverse effects of nonpelagic trawling on portions of bottom
habitat of the Bering Sea subarea. These closed areas would include
locations that have not been previously fished with nonpelagic trawl
gear, nearshore bottom habitat areas that may support subsistence
marine resources, and a research area that could be used for studying
the potential impacts of nonpelagic trawling on bottom habitat. Maps of
the four areas that would be closed to nonpelagic trawling and the
research area are available from the Alaska Region NMFS website at
http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/habitat/efh.htm. Each proposed closed area and
the research area are described below.
Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area
The Council recommended preventing expansion of the nonpelagic
trawl fisheries into portions of the Bering Sea subarea not previously
fished with nonpelagic trawl gear by limiting nonpelagic trawling to
locations historically fished with nonpelagic trawl gear. Areas not
historically fished with nonpelagic trawl gear include portions of the
Bering Sea subarea located in the deep water basin southwest of the
continental slope and in the northern portion of the subarea. The
portion of the Bering Sea subarea historically fished with nonpelagic
trawl gear is on the continental slope northeast of the deep water
basin, not including existing trawl closures (such as the Pribilof
Island Area Habitat Conservation Zone and the Chum and Chinook Salmon
Savings Areas) and south of Nunivak and St. Matthew Islands. Several
closures that cover the entire northern portion of the Bering Sea
subarea also were recommended by the Council for this proposed
amendment and are further explained below.
The Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area (BSHCA) is designed to
prevent expansion of the nonpelagic trawl fishery. The BSHCA would be
located primarily in the deep waters of the Bering Sea subarea
including statistical area 530 and portions of areas 518, 523, 533, and
531. The BSHCA would cover 46,776 square nautical miles (nm\2\).
Nunivak Island, Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation
Area
The Council consulted with a working group of nonpelagic trawl
fishing industry members and subsistence resources users to identify
bottom habitat in the Bering Sea subarea that may support subsistence
marine resources and to identify potential nonpelagic trawl fishery
management measures. This group identified potential important bottom
habitat in the Bering Sea subarea that may support subsistence marine
resources and recommended locations to be closed to nonpelagic
trawling. Based on this workgroup's recommendation, the Council
recommended closing waters surrounding Nunivak Island, and within
Etolin Strait and Kuskokwim Bay, to nonpelagic trawling. Amendment 89
would establish this area as the Nunivak Island, Etolin Strait, and
Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area. This habitat conservation area
would cover 9,777 nm\2\.
St. Lawrence Island Habitat Conservation Area and St. Matthew Islands
Habitat Conservation Area
The Council recommended closing waters near St. Matthew and St.
Lawrence Islands to nonpelagic trawling for the protection of blue king
crab habitat and to protect bottom habitat areas near St. Lawrence
Island that may support subsistence marine resources. Amendment 89
would establish these areas as the St. Matthew Island Habitat
Conservation Area and the St. Lawrence Island Habitat Conservation
Area. These habitat conservation areas would cover 11,065 nm\2\.
Northern Bering Sea Research Area
The Council also recommended establishing the Northern Bering Sea
Research Area (NBSRA) to provide an opportunity to further understand
the potential effects of nonpelagic trawling
[[Page 10417]]
on Bering Sea subarea bottom habitat. This area would contain waters
with little or no nonpelagic trawling in the northern portion of the
Bering Sea subarea, including portions of statistical areas 514 and
524, exclusive of the closure around St. Lawrence Island. This area
would cover 65,859 nm\2\.
The NBSRA would be closed to nonpelagic trawling to provide a
control area to study the potential effects of nonpelagic trawling on
bottom habitat. Nonpelagic trawling within the NBSRA would be allowed
only within the scope of a nonpelagic trawling effects research plan. A
research plan would be developed, in cooperation with the Alaska
Fisheries Science Center, to address potential protection measures for
species that may depend on bottom habitat, including king and snow
crabs, marine mammals, and Endangered Species Act-listed species, and
to address nearshore subsistence resources for Western Alaska
communities. This research plan would be reviewed by the Council within
24 months after the publication of the final rule implementing
Amendment 89. Nonpelagic trawling in the NBSRA would be limited to
fishing under an exempted fishing permit that would be consistent with
the nonpelagic trawling research plan approved by the Council.
NMFS is soliciting public comments on the proposed amendment
through April 28, 2008. A proposed rule that would implement the
amendment will be published in the Federal Register for public comment
at a later date, 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 the amendment in order to be
considered in the approval/disapproval decision on the amendment. All
comments received on the amendment by the end of the comment period,
whether specifically directed to the amendment or to the proposed rule,
will be considered in the approval/disapproval decision. Comments
received after that date will not be considered in the approval/
disapproval decision on the amendment. To be considered, comments must
be received--not just postmarked or otherwise transmitted--by 1700
hours, A.l.t. on the last day of the comment period.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: February 20, 2008.
Emily H. Menashes
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E8-3697 Filed 2-26-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S