Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Public Hearings

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 651

[I.D. 101194D]

Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Public Hearings

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a supplemental environmental impact

statement (SEIS); request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the intention of the New England Fishery

Management Council (Council) to prepare an SEIS for proposed Amendment

7 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The most

recent Northeast Fisheries Science Center's (NEFSC) Stock Assessment

Workshop (SAW 18) for Georges Bank cod and Georges Bank yellowtail

flounder recommends that, in order to avert a collapse of cod and

improve stock rebuilding for yellowtail, fishing mortality should be

reduced to as low a level as possible, approaching zero. In the

development of Amendment 7, the Council proposes to adopt the SAW's

recommendation and consider all options in meeting this objective while

addressing the issue of displacement of fishing effort. The Council

also announces a continuing public process to determine the scope of

issues under consideration. The purpose of this document is to inform

the public of this process and of the opportunity to participate in the

further development of Amendment 7 to the FMP. All persons affected by,

or otherwise interested in, the proposed amendment are invited to

participate in determining the scope of significant issues to be

considered in the SEIS by submitting written comments. The scoping

process also will identify and eliminate issues that are not

significant from detailed study.

DATES: The Council and its Groundfish Oversight Committee will discuss

Amendment 7 at regularly scheduled meetings. The public will be

notified (by Federal Register notice) of the specific agendas and

starting times at least 2 weeks prior to Council meetings. The

currently scheduled meetings are as follows:

1. October 14, 1994, 9:30 a.m, Groundfish Committee, Boston, MA

2. October 26-27, 1994, Council, Danvers, MA

3. December 7-8, 1994, Council, Danvers, MA

ADDRESSES: Send written comments on the scoping process and scope of

the SEIS to Douglas G. Marshall, Executive Director, New England

Fishery Management Council, 5 Broadway, Saugus, MA 01906-1097.

The meetings will be held at the following locations:

1. Boston--Captain John Foster Williams Coast Guard Building, 408

Atlantic Avenue, Boston, MA 02202

2. Danvers--King's Grant Inn, Route 128 & Trask Lane, Danvers, MA

01923

3. Danvers--King's Grant Inn, Route 128 & Trask Lane, Danvers, MA

019230

As additional meetings are scheduled, they will be announced by

notice in the Federal Register. Public hearings will be scheduled after

completion of the Draft SEIS; notice of the hearings will be published

in the Federal Register.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Douglas G. Marshall, Executive

Director, 617-231-0422.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Many of the New England multispecies stocks

are over-exploited and at extremely low levels of abundance. Scientists

believe that cod, haddock and yellowtail flounder, the three main

species making up the Northeast multispecies stock group, are near or

at the point of collapse. Under such conditions, the fishery can expect

a prolonged period during which landings from the resource are

substantially below their long-term potential. Due to the reduced

spawning stock size, the probability is low that sufficient numbers of

fish will be produced to replace those being removed, further

jeopardizing or delaying stock recovery.

Amendment 5 to the FMP was implemented on March 1, 1994 (59 FR

9872), and was intended to eliminate overfishing through an incremental

effort-reduction program, mesh-size increase, expanded spawning area

closures and other measures. When the Council adopted objectives for

the amendment more than 3 years ago, cod, haddock, and yellowtail

flounder stocks were being fished at a rate that was on average twice

what could be sustained over the long term, so it designed a plan to

reduce fishing effort by half.

In the fall of 1993, NMFS informed the Council that the condition

of the Georges Bank haddock stock was deteriorating and in need of more

protection than was provided by Amendment 5. NMFS implemented emergency

regulations on January 3, 1994 (59 FR 26), which essentially limited

the possession limit of haddock to 500 lb (226.8 kg) and extended the

time and area closure for Closed Area II, and subsequently prepared and

implemented these measures on a permanent basis under Amendment 6 (59

FR 32134, June 22, 1994).

During the Amendment 5 development and implementation period,

fishing mortality rates increased and the downward trends in stock size

and yields continued. The recent stock assessment from the NEFSC (SAW

18) addresses the status of Georges Bank cod and yellowtail flounder

stocks and concludes that Amendment 5 is clearly inadequate to achieve

the reductions in fishing mortality rates needed to allow for

appreciable stock rebuilding. Further, SAW 18 advises that fishing

mortality levels need to be reduced to as low a level as possible,

approaching zero, in order to avert a collapse of cod and improve the

prospects of stock rebuilding for yellowtail flounder. This assessment

coupled with the severely depleted condition of the haddock stock and

similar advice from the NEFSC (SAW 17) concerning Southern New England

yellowtail, presents an alarming picture of the overall status of the

New England multispecies fishery. Thus, even though the effort

reductions required by Amendment 5 are very restrictive, they are

insufficient. The Council now intends to prevent an even worse scenario

for the multispecies resource by severely reducing fishing effort

sooner and perhaps by more than what is required by Amendment 5.

The Council voted at its September 21-22, 1994 meeting to recommend

that the Groundfish Committee (Committee) immediately begin the

development of an amendment to the FMP to implement the recommendations

of SAWs 17 and 18 for severely depleted groundfish stocks including

Georges Bank yellowtail flounder, Southern New England yellowtail

flounder, haddock, Georges Bank cod, and others as needed. Also, the

Council voted that the Committee needs to consider all available

options in meeting this objective while ensuring that in the

Committee's analysis, consideration of fishing effort displacement into

other fisheries and other groundfish fisheries is taken into account.

The range of measures include, but is not limited to, a closure of all

fisheries capable of catching multispecies and those fisheries not

protected from effort displacement resulting from this closure, a

closure of very large areas in the Northwest Atlantic for long periods

of time, prohibitions or limitations on the use of specific gear types

capable of catching multispecies, selective gear requirements such as

increased mesh size or square mesh, limits on total allowable catch

and/or individual vessel catch, and increased limits on vessel days at

sea.

The Council expects that regulations sufficient to implement the

recommendations of the NEFSC stock assessment advisors will have

significant economic and social impacts. The Council recognizes that

these impacts will extend beyond the individuals, families, and

communities that principally depend on multispecies and will affect

other fisheries in the region due to the displacement of fishing effort

caused by the regulations or through possible restrictions on the

incidental catch of multispecies in those other fisheries. For this

reason the Council has determined that it will prepare an SEIS.

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

Dated: October 17, 1994.

Joe P. Clem,

Acting Director, Office of Fisheries Conservation and Management,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 94-26158 Filed 10-20-94; 8:45 am]

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