Fishery conservation and management: Caribbean, Gulf, and South Atlantic fisheries— Essential fish habitat,

[Federal Register: March 5, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 43)]

[Proposed Rules]

[Page 10612-10613]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr05mr99-21]

[[Page 10612]]

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 622

[I.D. 022599A]

RIN 0648-AL84

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) for Species in the South Atlantic; Comprehensive Amendment to the Fishery Management Plans of the South Atlantic Region

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability of a comprehensive amendment to fishery management plans for the South Atlantic Region; request for comments.

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) has submitted a Comprehensive Amendment to the Fishery Management Plans (FMPs) of the South Atlantic (Comprehensive Amendment) for review, approval, and implementation by NMFS. This Comprehensive Amendment would identify and describe Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) and habitat areas of particular concern (HAPC) for species under management by the Council, and would establish management measures designed to protect and conserve EFH. The Council also prepared a Habitat Plan for the South Atlantic Region (Habitat Plan), which serves as a source document for describing EFH. Written comments are requested from the public.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before May 4, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Comments must be mailed to the Southeast Regional Office, NMFS, 9721 Executive Center Drive N., St. Petersburg, FL 33702.

Requests for copies of the Habitat Plan and the Comprehensive Amendment, which includes a final Environmental Assessment/Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, a Regulatory Impact Review, and a Social Impact Assessment/Fishery Impact Assessment, should be sent to the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, One Southpark Circle, Suite 306, Charleston, SC 29407-4699; Phone: 843-571-4366; fax: 843- 769-4520.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael C. Barnette, NMFS, 727-570- 5305.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), as amended by the Sustainable Fisheries Act, requires each Regional Fishery Management Council (Regional Council) to submit a FMP or amendment to NMFS for review and approval, disapproval, or partial approval. The Magnuson- Stevens Act also requires that NMFS, upon receiving an amendment, immediately publish a document in the Federal Register stating that the amendment is available for public review and comment.

Section 303 of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), as amended, requires that the Regional Councils submit, by October 11, 1998, amendments to their FMPs that identify and describe EFH, including identification of adverse impacts from both fishing and non- fishing activities on EFH and identification of actions required to conserve and enhance EFH for managed species.

NMFS published guidelines to assist the Regional Councils in the description and identification of EFH in FMPs, including identification of adverse impacts from both fishing and non-fishing activities on EFH, and identification of actions required to conserve and enhance EFH (62 FR 66531, December 19, 1997). The NMFS guidelines encourage ecosystem approaches to protecting and conserving EFH. Identification of ecological roles (i.e., prey, competitors, trophic links within foodwebs, and nutrient transfer between ecosystems) should be incorporated into EFH recommendations. The guidelines also specify that sufficient EFH be protected and conserved to support sustainable fisheries and managed species' contribution to a healthy ecosystem.

The guidelines also encourage the identification of EFH that is judged to be particularly important to the long-term productivity of populations of one or more managed species or that is particularly vulnerable to degradation, as a HAPC. A HAPC may be identified based on the following criteria: (1) The importance of the ecological function provided by the habitat; (2) the extent to which the habitat is sensitive to human-induced environmental degradation; (3) whether and to what extent development activities are, or will be, stressing the habitat type; and (4) the rarity of the habitat type.

The Comprehensive Amendment, using the Habitat Plan as a source document, addresses EFH for all species or species assemblages that are managed in all seven of the Council's FMPs and identifies HAPCs for all managed species or species assemblages except golden crab. A summary of the Comprehensive Amendment follows:

1. EFH is identified and described based on areas important to each life stage of all managed species, including penaeid and rock shrimp (6 species); red drum; snapper-grouper complex (73 species); coastal migratory pelagics (6 species); golden crab; spiny lobster; and coral, coral reefs and live/hard bottom habitat (8 species complexes).

2. EFH is defined in the Magnuson-Stevens Act as ``those waters and substrates necessary to fish for spawning, breeding, feeding, or growth to maturity.'' Based on the ecological relationships of species and the relationships between species and their habitat, the Council has taken an ecosystem approach in identifying EFH for managed species and species assemblages. The general distribution and geographic limits of EFH are divided into estuarine inshore habitat and marine offshore habitat. EFH for the estuarine inshore component is subdivided to include estuarine emergent, estuarine shrub/scrub (mangroves), seagrass, oyster reef and shell banks, intertidal flats, palustrine emergent and forested, aquatic beds, and the estuarine water column. EFH for the marine offshore habitat is subdivided to include live/hard bottom habitat, coral and coral reefs, artificial/manmade reefs, sargassum, and the water column.

3. Threats to EFH from fishing and nonfishing activities are identified. Threats from non-fishing activities include agriculture; silviculture; urban development; commercial and industrial development; navigation and other hydrological alterations; recreational boating; mineral exploration, development, extraction, and transportation; ocean dumping; and natural events. Threats from fishing activities include physical alterations and damage to habitat from gear use and lost gear.

4. Options to conserve and enhance EFH are provided, and research needs are identified, primarily focusing on the development of a better understanding of the biological and physical processes associated with EFH and the impacts that alterations of EFH have on the fauna and flora of the EFH.

5. HAPCs are identified and defined for all managed species or species assemblages, except golden crab.

The Comprehensive Amendment contains Amendment 3 to the Shrimp FMP, Amendment 1 to the Red Drum FMP, Amendment 10 to the Coastal Migratory Pelagics FMP, Amendment 1 to the Golden Crab FMP, Amendment 5

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to the Spiny Lobster FMP, and Amendment 4 to the Coral, Coral Reefs, and Live/Hard Bottom Habitat FMP.

Amendment 4 contains a proposed measure to expand the boundaries of the current Oculina Bank HAPC and to create two satellite Oculina Bank HAPCs. In accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Act, NMFS is evaluating the proposed rule for this measure to determine whether it is consistent with the EFH Amendment, the Coral FMP, the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other applicable law. If that determination is affirmative, NMFS will publish it in the Federal Register for public review and comment.

Comments received by May 4, 1999, whether specifically directed to the Comprehensive Amendment or to the proposed rule, will be considered by NMFS in its decision to approve, disapprove, or partially approve the Comprehensive Amendment. Comments received after that date will not be considered by NMFS in this decision. All comments received by NMFS on the Comprehensive Amendment or on the proposed rule during their respective comment periods will be summarized and addressed in the preamble of the final rule.

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

Dated: March 1, 1999. Gary C. Matlock, Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 99-5499Filed3-4-99; 8:45 am]

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