Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and New England Fishery Management Council; Public Hearings

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[I.D. 100598D]

Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and New England Fishery

Management Council; Public Hearings

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

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Public hearings, request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Mid-Atlantic and the New England Fishery Management

Councils (Councils) will hold public hearings to allow for input on

development of the Spiny Dogfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP).

DATES: Written comments on the FMP will be accepted until November 23,

1998. The public hearings are scheduled to be held from October 26 to

November 4, 1998. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for specific dates and

times.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Christopher M. Moore, Ph.D., Acting

Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, Room 2115

Federal Building, 300 South New Street, Dover, DE 19904 or Paul Howard,

Executive Director, New England Fishery Management Council, 5 Broadway,

Saugus, MA 01906-1036.

The hearings will be held in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts,

New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. See

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for locations of the hearings.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christopher M. Moore, Ph.D., Acting

Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 302-674-

2331, or Paul Howard, Executive Director, New England Fishery

Management Council, 781-231-0422.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The purpose of the proposed action is to initiate management of

spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias), pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens

Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) of 1976

as amended by the Sustainable Fisheries Act (SFA). For most of the

first two decades of extended jurisdiction under the Magnuson-Stevens

Act, the spiny dogfish was considered to be an

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``underutilized'' species of relatively minor value to the domestic

fisheries of the U.S. East Coast. With the decline of more traditional

groundfish resources in recent years, an increase in directed fishing

for spiny dogfish has resulted in a nearly sixfold increase in landings

in the last 7 years. Recent rapid expansion of the fishery has resulted

in a dramatic increase in fishing mortality. Particularly troublesome

is the fact that the fishery targets mature females because of their

large size. The recent fishery expansion, in combination with the

removal of a large portion of the adult female stock, has resulted in

the species being designated as overfished by NMFS. The SFA requires

remedial action by the Councils for stocks designated as overfished and

requires that a management program be developed within 1 year of the

date of notification that a species is overfished. The lack of any

regulations pertaining to the harvest of spiny dogfish in the exclusive

economic zone, combined with the recent rapid expansion of the domestic

fishery, led the Councils to jointly develop a management plan for the

species.

The management unit for this FMP is defined as the entire spiny

dogfish population along the Atlantic coast of the United States. The

overall goal of this FMP is to conserve spiny dogfish in order to

achieve optimum yield from this resource in the western Atlantic Ocean.

To meet the overall goal, the following objectives have been

adopted:

1. Reduce fishing mortality to ensure that overfishing does not

occur;

2. Promote compatible management regulations between state and

Council jurisdictions and the United States and Canada;

3. Promote uniform and effective enforcement of regulations;

4. Minimize regulations while achieving the management objectives

stated above; and

5. Manage the spiny dogfish fishery so as to minimize the impact of

the regulations on the prosecution of other fisheries, to the extent

practicable.

The fishing year for spiny dogfish is the 12-month period beginning

May 1.

Management Strategy

The SFA, which reauthorized and amended the Magnuson-Stevens Act,

made a number of changes to the existing national standards. With

respect to national standard 1, the SFA imposed new requirements

concerning definitions of overfishing in fishery management plans. To

comply with national standard 1, the SFA requires that each Council FMP

define overfishing as a rate or level of fishing mortality that

jeopardizes a fishery's capacity to produce maximum sustainable yield

(MSY) on a continuing basis.

Each FMP must specify objective and measurable status determination

criteria for identifying when stocks or stock complexes covered by the

FMP are overfished. To fulfill the requirements of the SFA, status

determination criteria for spiny dogfish comprise two components: (1) A

maximum fishing mortality threshold and (2) a minimum stock size

threshold. The maximum F threshold for spiny dogfish is specified as

FMSY. The minimum biomass threshold is specified as one-half

BMSY. For spiny dogfish, the stock size that would maximize

average recruitment is known as the SSBmax and is

recommended as a proxy value for BMSY. This target value is

currently estimated to be 440 million lb (200,000 mt).

An additional requirement of the SFA is that stocks that are

identified as overfished (i.e., stock biomass is less than minimum

biomass threshold) must be rebuilt to the level that will produce

maximum sustainable yield (BMSY). The SFA guidelines advise

that, in most cases, the stock rebuilding period may not exceed 10

years. The most recent stock assessment data indicate that total adult

spiny dogfish stock biomass is currently about 280 million lb (127,000

mt), which is well below the stock biomass target of 440 million lb

(200,000 mt). As a result, the Councils propose to rebuild the spiny

dogfish stock to the BMSY level (as represented by the proxy

of SSBmax) over a 10-year rebuilding period through the

implementation of this FMP.

The preferred alternative will eliminate overfishing and rebuild

the spiny dogfish stock through a two-step reduction in the fishing

mortality rate. The first step allows for a 1-year exit fishery of 22

million lb (10,000 mt) to allow a phaseout of the directed fishery.

This approach was chosen to minimize the impact of the rebuilding

program on both the harvest and processing sectors of the industry. For

the first year of the rebuilding plan (1999-2000), F will be reduced to

0.2 and then will be reduced to F = 0.03 in the remaining 9 years of

the rebuilding plan (2000-2009). This schedule allows for stock

rebuilding to the level that will support harvests at or near the

SSBmax level in the year 2009.

The Councils are seeking public comment on the following management

program adopted by the Councils for public hearings:

Preferred Management Measures

The Councils are proposing a number of preferred management

measures to meet the objectives of the FMP. These preferred

alternatives are as follows:

1. Permit and reporting requirements for commercial vessels,

operators, and dealers.

2. The establishment of a Spiny Dogfish FMP Monitoring Committee.

3. The implementation of a framework adjustment process.

4. A 10-year stock rebuilding schedule.

5. A commercial quota.

6. Seasonal (semi-annual) allocation of the quota.

7. A prohibition on finning.

8. A limit of 80 nets (50 fathoms each) in the spiny dogfish

gillnet fishery.

Alternatives to the Preferred Management Actions

A number of alternatives to the proposed management measures have

been identified by the Councils for consideration by the public. These

non-preferred alternatives include:

1. A no-action at this time.

2. Alternative rebuilding schedules.

3. A commercial quota with trip limits.

4. A commercial quota with alternative seasonal allocations.

5. A commercial quota with alternative size limits including a slot

size limit.

6. A limited entry program for the spiny dogfish commercial

fishery.

7. A target commercial quota.

Public Hearings

The hearings will begin at 7 p.m., with the exception of the New

York hearing, which begins at 7:30 p.m. The dates and locations are as

follows:

1. October 26, 1998--Seaport Inn and Marina, 110 Middle Street,

Fairhaven, MA; 2. October 27, 1998--Four Points Sheraton Hyannis, Route

132, Hyannis, MA;

3. October 27, 1998--Hampton Inn, 402 Halstead Boulevard, Elizabeth

City, NC;

4. October 28, 1998--Ramada East End, 1830 Route 25, Riverhead, NY;

5. October 28, 1998--Virginia Marine Resources Commission, 2600

Washington Avenue, Newport News, VA;

6. November 2, 1998--Cape May County Extension Office, Dennisville

Road, Route 657, Cape May Courthouse, NJ;

7. November 3, 1998--Dunes Manor, 2800 Baltimore Avenue, Ocean

City, MD;

8. November 3, 1998--Holiday Inn by the Bay, 88 Spring Street,

Portland, ME; and

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9. November 4, 1998--Sheraton, 250 Market Street, Portsmouth, NH.

The hearings will be tape recorded with the tapes filed as the

official transcript of the hearings.

Special Accommodations

These hearings are physically accessible to people with

disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other

auxiliary aids should be directed to Joanna Davis at the Mid-Atlantic

Council office at least 5 days prior to the hearing date.

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

Dated: October 7, 1998.

Gary C. Matlock,

Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries

Service.

[FR Doc. 98-27582 Filed 10-14-98; 8:45 am]

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