Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Amendment 11

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[I.D. 112498A]

RIN 0648-AL52

Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific;

Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Amendment 11

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

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability of an amendment to a fishery management

plan; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Pacific Fishery Management Council

(Council) has submitted Amendment 11 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish

Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Secretarial review. The amendment was

prepared with the intention of bringing the FMP into compliance with

provisions of the Sustainable Fisheries Act (SFA) regarding

overfishing, bycatch, essential fish habitat, and fishing communities.

This action also is intended to improve the types and amounts of

scientific information available for use in stock assessments and

management of the Pacific coast groundfish fishery.

DATES: Comments on Amendment 11 must be received on or before February

1, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Comments on Amendment 11 or supporting documents should be

sent to William Stelle, Administrator, Northwest Region, NMFS, Sand

Point Way NE., BIN C15700, Seattle, WA 98115-0070; or to William

Hogarth, Administrator, Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 West Ocean

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

Copies of Amendment 11 and the Environmental Assessment/ Regulatory

Impact Review are available from Larry Six, Executive Director, Pacific

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

97201.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Yvonne deReynier at 206-526-6140, Jim

Morgan at 562-980-4000, 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 amendment to an FMP to NMFS for

review and approval,

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

requires that NMFS, upon receiving an amendment, immediately publish a

notice in the Federal Register that the amendment is available for

public review and comment. NMFS will consider the public comments

received during the comment period described above in determining

whether to approve the amendment for implementation.

The SFA amended the requirements for FMPs in section 303(a) of the

Magnuson-Stevens Act. The SFA established a 2-year deadline (October

11, 1998) by which each Regional Fishery Management Council had to

submit amendments to NMFS to bring all the FMPs into compliance with

the SFA/Magnuson-Stevens Act requirements.

Amendment 11 seeks to make the Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP

consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Act by: amending the FMP framework

that defines ``optimum yield'' for setting annual groundfish harvest

limits; setting framework control rules on defining rates of

``overfishing'' and levels at which managed stocks are considered

``overfished;'' defining Pacific Coast groundfish essential fish

habitat; setting a bycatch management objective and a framework for

bycatch reduction measures; establishing a management objective to take

the importance of fisheries to fishing communities into account when

setting groundfish management measures; providing authority within the

FMP for the Council to require groundfish use permits for all

groundfish users; authorizing the use of fish for compensation for

private vessels conducting NMFS-approved research; removing jack

mackerel from the fishery management unit; and updating FMP objectives,

definitions and industry descriptions.

Public comments on Amendment 11 must be received by February 1,

1999 to be considered by NMFS in the decision to approve/disapprove

Amendment 11. A proposed rule to implement Amendment 11 has been

submitted for Secretarial review and approval. NMFS expects to publish

and request public comment on proposed regulations to implement

Amendment 11 in the near future.

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

Dated: November 25, 1998.

Gary C. Matlock,

Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries

Service.

[FR Doc. 98-32018 Filed 11-30-98; 8:45 am]

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