[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 55 (Wednesday, March 21, 2018)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 12332]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-05702]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 635
RINs 0648-XG007, 0648-XF947
Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Bluefin Tuna
Fisheries; Pelagic Longline Fishery Management and Shortfin Mako Shark
Management Measures
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of rescheduled scoping meeting.
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SUMMARY: On March 2, 2018, NMFS published a Notice of Intent with
scoping meeting dates for upcoming rulemaking for pelagic longline
bluefin tuna area-based and weak hook management. On March 5, 2018,
NMFS published a Notice of Intent with scoping meeting dates for
Amendment 11 to the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP. In this notice, per a
request from constituents in that area, NMFS reschedules the New Jersey
meeting date and provides a new meeting location.
DATES: The scoping meeting will now be held on April 11, 2018, from 4
p.m. to 8 p.m..
ADDRESSES: The scoping meeting will now be held in Little Egg Harbor,
NJ, at the Little Egg Harbor Branch Library, 290 Mathistown Road,
Little Egg Harbor, NJ 08087.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gu[yacute] DuBeck or Craig Cockrell by
phone: 301-427-8503, or Jennifer Cudney by phone: 727-824-5399.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations implemented under the authority
of the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act (ATCA; 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.) and
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-
Stevens Act; 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) governing the harvest of HMS,
including bluefin tuna and sharks, by persons and vessels subject to
U.S. jurisdiction are found at 50 CFR 635.
On March 2, 2018, NMFS published a Notice of Intent (83 FR 8969)
with scoping meeting dates for pelagic longline bluefin tuna area-based
and weak hook management. The notice announced a public process for
determining the scope of issues to be addressed and for identifying the
significant issues relating to the management of Atlantic HMS, with a
focus on area-based management measures and weak hook management
measures that were implemented to reduce dead discards of bluefin tuna
in the pelagic longline fishery. On March 5, 2018, NMFS published a
Notice of Intent (83 FR 9255) with scoping meeting dates for Amendment
11 to the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP. This notice announced
consideration of potential new management measures for shortfin mako
sharks that could be implemented through rulemaking to address
overfishing and to implement, as necessary and appropriate, measures
adopted by the International Commission for the Conservation of
Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) (ICCAT Recommendation 17-08) in response to the
2017 shortfin mako shark stock assessment.
Due to a request to reschedule the meeting due to a conflict with
another meeting for local constituents, NMFS is canceling the original
scoping meeting that had been scheduled for April 12, 2018 in
Manahawkin, NJ and changing it to another date and location. The
scoping meeting in New Jersey is now scheduled for April 11, 2018, in
Little Egg Harbor, NJ (see ADDRESSES and DATES).
Because the rulemakings overlap for some gear types, the public
scoping meeting being held in Little Egg Harbor, NJ will address the
issues from the scoping documents for both the pelagic longline bluefin
tuna area-based and weak hook management and Amendment 11 to the 2006
Consolidated HMS FMP. The shortfin mako shark management measure
presentation will likely be given first unless polling of the audience
indicates another approach is appropriate. After each presentation,
public comment for that issue will be received. Meeting attendees
interested in this issue are encouraged to show up at the beginning of
the meeting to help determine the order of the presentations. The
second presentation will not start any later than 6 p.m.
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 16, 2018.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2018-05702 Filed 3-20-18; 8:45 am]
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