International Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries; Implementation Plan

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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