[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 45 (Monday, March 9, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 12394]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-05380]
[[Page 12394]]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 635
RIN 0648-BA17
Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Large Coastal and Small
Coastal Atlantic Shark Management Measures
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of rescheduled public hearing.
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SUMMARY: On January 20, 2015, NMFS published a proposed rule with
public hearing dates for Draft Amendment 6 to the 2006 Consolidated
Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP). On
February 25, 2015, NMFS announced that the public hearing in Manteo,
NC, would be rescheduled due to inclement weather conditions expected
for Manteo and surrounding areas. In this notice, NMFS announces the
date and location for the rescheduled public hearing to provide
opportunities for members of the public to comment on the management
measures proposed in Draft Amendment 6.
DATES: The rescheduled public hearing will be held on March 18, 2015,
from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Written comments will be accepted until April 3,
2015.
ADDRESSES: The rescheduled public hearing will be held in Manteo, NC,
at the Dare Country Administration Building, Commissioner's Meeting
Room, 954 Marshall C. Collins Drive, Manteo, NC 27954.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: LeAnn Hogan, Gu[yacute] DuBeck, Alexis
Jackson or Karyl Brewster-Geisz by phone: 301-427-8503, or by fax: 301-
713-1917.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Atlantic sharks are managed under the
authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management
Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), and the authority to issue regulations has
been delegated from the Secretary to the Assistant Administrator (AA)
for Fisheries, NOAA. On October 2, 2006, NMFS published in the Federal
Register (71 FR 58058) final regulations, effective November 1, 2006,
implementing the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP, which details management
measures for Atlantic HMS fisheries. The implementing regulations for
the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and its amendments are at 50 CFR part
635.
On January 20, 2015, NMFS published a proposed rule (80 FR 2648)
for Draft Amendment 6 to the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP. Management
measures in the proposed rulemaking are designed to respond to the
problems facing Atlantic commercial shark fisheries, such as landings
that exceed the commercial quotas, declining numbers of fishing permits
since limited access was implemented, increasingly complex regulations,
derby fishing conditions due to small quotas and short seasons,
increasing numbers of regulatory discards, and declining market prices.
The primary goal of Amendment 6 to the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP is to
implement management measures for the Atlantic shark fisheries that
will achieve the objectives of increasing management flexibility to
adapt to the changing needs of the Atlantic shark fisheries, and
achieve optimum yield while rebuilding overfished shark stocks and
ending overfishing. Specifically, the rule proposes to: Adjust the
large coastal sharks (LCS) retention limit for shark directed Limited
Access Permit holders; create sub-regional quotas in the Atlantic and
Gulf of Mexico regions for LCS and small coastal sharks (SCS); modify
the LCS and SCS quota linkages; establish total allowable catches and
adjust quotas for non-blacknose SCS in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico
regions based on the results of the 2013 stock assessments for Atlantic
sharpnose and bonnethead sharks; and modify upgrading restrictions for
shark permit holders.
On February 25, 2015, NMFS announced via listserv notice, an
announcement on the HMS Management Division's Web page, and phone calls
to known interested parties that the public hearing that was scheduled
in Manteo, NC, on February 26, 2015, would be rescheduled due to
inclement weather conditions expected for Manteo and surrounding areas
at that time. The public hearing in Manteo, NC, has been rescheduled
for March 18, 2015, to provide the opportunity for public comment on
potential management measures (see ADDRESSES and DATES).
The public is reminded that NMFS expects participants at the public
hearings to conduct themselves appropriately. At the beginning of each
public hearing, a representative of NMFS will explain the ground rules
(e.g., alcohol is prohibited from the hearing room; attendees will be
called to give their comments in the order in which they registered to
speak; each attendee will have an equal amount of time to speak; and
attendees should not interrupt one another). The NMFS representative
will attempt to structure the meeting so that all attending members of
the public will be able to comment, if they so choose, regardless of
the controversial nature of the subject(s). Attendees are expected to
respect the ground rules, and, if they do not, they may be asked to
leave the hearing.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.; 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: March 4, 2015.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-05380 Filed 3-6-15; 8:45 am]
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