Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; Commercial and Recreational Pacific Salmon Fishery Amendment 12; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Amendment 10

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[I.D. 022197B]

RIN 0648-AI82

Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific;

Commercial and Recreational Pacific Salmon Fishery Amendment 12;

Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Amendment 10

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

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability of amendments to fishery management

plans; request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Pacific Fishery Management Council

(Council) has submitted Amendment 12 to the Fishery Management Plan for

Commercial and Recreational Salmon Fisheries off the Coasts of

Washington, Oregon, and California (Salmon FMP) and Amendment 10 to the

Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (Groundfish FMP) for

Secretarial review. Amendment 12 would allow retention, but not sale,

of salmon bycatch by groundfish trawl vessels under a monitoring

program that meets certain guidelines; would specify Endangered Species

Act (ESA) standards as management objectives for salmon species listed

under the ESA; and would update the Salmon FMP,

[[Page 8922]]

with no change in the FMP's management objectives. Amendment 10 would

allow retention, but not sale, of salmon bycatch by groundfish trawl

vessels under a monitoring program that meets certain guidelines.

DATES: Comments on Amendments 12 and 10 must be received on or before

April 28, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments on Amendments 12, 10, or supporting documents

should be sent to Mr. William Stelle, Administrator, Northwest Region,

NMFS, Sand Point Way NE, BIN C15700, Seattle, WA 98115-0070; or to Ms.

Hilda Diaz-Soltero, Administrator, Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 West

Ocean Boulevard, Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802-4213.

Copies of Amendments 12 and 10, the Environmental Assessment (EA)/

Regulatory Impact Review (RIR)/Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

(IRFA) are available from Larry Six, Executive Director, Pacific

Fishery Management Council, 2130 SW Fifth Ave., Suite 224, Portland, OR

97201.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William L. Robinson at 206-526-6140,

Rodney McInnis at 310-980-4040, or the Pacific Fishery Management

Council at 503-326-6352.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation

and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires that each Regional

Fishery Management Council submit any fishery management plan (FMP) or

plan amendment it prepares to NMFS for review and approval,

disapproval, or partial approval. The Magnuson-Stevens Act also

requires that NMFS, upon receiving an FMP or amendment, immediately

publish a notice that the FMP or amendment is available for public

review and comment. NMFS will consider the public comments received

during the comment period in determining whether to approve the FMP or

amendment.

Amendment 12 to the Pacific Coast Salmon FMP and Amendment 10 to

the Groundfish FMP would authorize rulemaking to allow retention of

salmon bycatch by groundfish trawl vessels under an appropriate

monitoring program. Amendment 12 to the Salmon FMP would also

incorporate NMFS ESA standards as management objectives for salmon

species listed under the ESA, and update the Salmon FMP, without

changing the existing FMP's management objectives.

The portion of the amendment regarding ESA standards is necessary

to bring the Salmon FMP into compliance with the March 1996 Biological

Opinion issued under section 7 of the ESA regarding the impacts of the

Pacific Coast salmon fishery on salmon stocks listed under the ESA. The

update of the Salmon FMP merely combines into one document the

operative language of the 1984 framework FMP and its amendments.

Changes to management objectives to comply with the ESA and the update

of the salmon FMP will result in minor modifications to the salmon

regulations. A proposed rule to implement those modifications will be

issued shortly.

NMFS welcomes comments on the proposed FMP amendments through the

end of the comment period. NMFS will consider the public comments

received during the comment period in determining whether to approve

the proposed amendments. A proposed rule to implement Amendment 12 to

the Salmon FMP has been submitted for Secretarial review and approval.

NMFS expects to publish and request public review and comment on this

rule in the near future. Public comments on the proposed rule must be

received by the end of the comment period on the amendments to be

considered in the approval/disapproval decision on the amendments. All

comments received by the end of the comment period for the amendments,

whether specifically directed to the amendments or the proposed rule,

will be considered in the approval/disapproval decision on the

amendments.

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

Dated: February 21, 1997.

Bruce Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine

Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 97-4871 Filed 2-26-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-22-F