[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 146 (Wednesday, July 30, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 40753-40754]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-20042]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 300
(Docket No. ; I.D. 021197C)
International Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries;
Implementation Plan
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of final implementation plan.
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SUMMARY: On July 25, 1996, NMFS announced the availability of a Draft
Implementation Plan for the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries
(Implementation Plan) in the Federal Register and requested comments by
September 23, 1996. At the close of this period, it became clear that
several of the public comments raised substantive issues. During the
same period, two other relevant developments took place. First, in
October 1996, the Congress passed the Sustainable Fisheries Act (SFA)
which contained numerous and significant amendments to the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act; and, second, NOAA/NMFS
moved into the final and substantive phase of its long-term program
planning exercise, the NOAA Fisheries Strategic Plan (Strategic Plan).
The requirements of the SFA and the Strategic Plan point in the
same directions as the Code of Conduct. In effect, NMFS will implement
the Code of Conduct domestically as it carries out its Congressionally
mandated responsibilities and the objectives of the Strategic Plan.
Accordingly, NMFS redrafted the Implementation Plan, taking into
account (1) the comments received on the first draft; (2) the guidance
provided by Congress in the SFA; and (3) the long-term program planning
that was being developed through the Strategic Plan.
The revised Implementation Plan was made available for public
comment in a Federal Register notice on March 12, 1997 (62 FR 11410),
and comments were requested by April 28, 1997. The public may request a
copy of the final plan (see ADDRESSES) or access it on the NMFS home
page at http://www.nmfs.gov.
ADDRESSES: Questions regarding this document may be directed to Matteo
Milazzo, International Fisheries Division, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matteo Milazzo, 3O1-713-2276.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For background and rationale for the
Implementation Plan, please refer to the notices of availability
published on July 25, 1996 (61 FR 38703) and March 12, 1997
(62 FR 11410).
Comments and Responses
Five written comments were received regarding the proposed
Implementation Plan. All were generally supportive of the
Implementation Plan but made specific suggestions about various of its
provisions. Specific comments and responses are given below:
Comment: One response urged that the Implementation Plan should be
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actively supported and implemented by all the Federal and state
agencies involved in marine fisheries and recommended that NMFS strive
to include these agencies and upgrade the document from an NMFS to a
United States Government Implementation Plan.
Response: NMFS has determined that, since it is the Federal agency
responsible for marine fisheries, it is appropriate at this time for
NMFS to take the lead in implementation of the
Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and move forward with its
Implementation Plan. At the same time, NMFS will work closely with
other Federal, state, and local agencies on various elements of the
Implementation Plan, as noted in the Implementation Plan. The intent to
collaborate closely with these other government agencies, especially
with respect to fisheries management, marine aquaculture, international
fisheries agreements, and trade is stressed in the Implementation Plan.
Comment: One response recommended that the treatment of
aquaculture be more detailed, proactively developmental, less
regulatory, and more specific about resources that NMFS can make
available in this area.
Response: The final Implementation Plan's treatment of aquaculture
reflects the fact that, in April 1997, the Strategic Plan was approved,
with a significantly modified section on marine aquaculture
development. Therefore, the revised Implementation Plan includes more
specific information regarding the NMFS marine aquaculture objective:
To promote robust and environmentally sound aquaculture.
Comment: One comment was critical of the prominence assigned to
individual transferable quotas (ITQs) as a means to deal effectively
with overfishing and overcapitalization.
Response: NMFS believes that ITQs are a potentially useful
management tool. However, largely in view of the fact that the SFA
mandates that the National Academy of Sciences conduct a study of their
effectiveness, NMFS agreed to identify ITQs as a type of limited entry
in the revised Implementation Plan.
Comment: Some comments noted that the Implementation Plan
generally dealt more with goals than with the specific means to reach
those goals and suggested that it should be more forthcoming about
particular action steps.
Response: In some instances, it was felt that the comment had some
validity, and the Implementation Plan was modified. As examples, the
treatments of aquaculture, recreational fisheries, and the agency's
obligations under the Convention for International Trade in Endangered
Species and the Endangered Species Act are stated with greater
specificity. More generally, an entirely new section was added to the
end of the Implementation Plan, ``Implementation Steps,'' that details
the agency's resolve to work with all our constituencies, mainly
through the regional Fishery Management Councils, to develop specific
implementation plans on certain issues. On the other hand, NMFS is
presently unable to spell out precise action steps in all areas for a
variety of reasons, including the needs to complete Congressionally
mandated studies, and to await future appropriation decisions.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: July 21, 1997.
David Evans,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 97-20042 Filed 7-29-97; 8:45 am]
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