National

National

Gulf

Gulf

Gulf

Gulf

Pacific Coast

Pacific Coast

Pacific Coast

Pacific Coast

Alaska

Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council Meeting, January 20-22, 2004, Old Town Alexandria, Virginia

Miami International Boat Show - Fisheries Administrator, Bill Hogarth, to meet with recreational fishermen

National - Presidential Rank Award Honors Former Administrator for Fisheries

Rolland (Rollie) Schmitten, Director of NOAA Fisheries' Office of Habitat and former Administrator for Fisheries, has been recognized as a champion for living marine resources with a Distinguished Presidential Rank Award. Rollie has worked closely for many years with tribal, state and other stakeholders to encourage their participation and shared ownership in collaborative solutions. He has served under three presidents as a U.S. Commissioner to major international fisheries organizations and been a leading contributor to the rebuilding of overfished stocks, providing increased opportunities for U.S. fishermen and our nation's economy. He is known domestically and internationally as a prominent fisheries leader who seeks creative solutions to living marine resource issues. His efforts have been key to building the sustainability of U.S. fisheries, as well as protection and conservation of marine mammals and endangered species.

National - Bycatch Web Page Updates for the New Year

The NOAA Fisheries bycatch feature page, one of the more frequently used pages of NOAA Fisheries’ web sites, has been updated to reflect the tremendous amount of activity over the last month, including the Northeast Distant Fishery Sea Turtle Bycatch Reduction Research; Final Amendment 1 to the Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Tunas, Swordfish, and Sharks; Management Measures to Reduce Seabird Incidental Take in the Alaska Hook-and-Line Halibut and Groundfish Fisheries; and the Final Rule to implement Amendment 10 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Shrimp Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico.

Bookmark this page and check it regularly for the latest in NOAA Fisheries' bycatch minimization activities: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/bycatch.htm

Gulf - Red Snapper Commercial Fishery Will Open at Noon, February 1

NOAA Fisheries announces that the commercial fishery for red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico federal waters will open at noon, local time, on February 1, 2004 and close at noon on February 10, 2004. The commercial red snapper quota is 4.65 million pounds and is divided into spring and fall seasons. The spring season begins February 1 with 3.10 million pounds available. The fall season is scheduled to begin October 1 with the remainder of the annual quota available. During the spring and fall seasons, fishing will be allowed for the first ten days of each month until the quota is caught.

For more information contact Phil.Steele@noaa.gov

Gulf - Proposed Rule for Commercial Red Snapper Fishery

NOAA Fisheries is seeking comment on a proposed individual fishing quota (IFQ) program for the Gulf of Mexico commercial red snapper fishery. A revised proposed rule, which published in the Federal Register on December 30, 2003, provides information about the schedule, procedures, and eligibility requirements for participating in referendums. It also provides additional options regarding the procedure for weighting votes by eligible participants. Written comments on the proposed rule must be sent to:

Phil Steele
Southeast Regional Office, NMFS
9721 Executive Center Drive N.
St. Petersburg, FL 33702

Comments also may be sent via fax to 727-570-5583. Comments will not be accepted if submitted via e-mail or Internet.

For further information contact Phil Steele, telephone: 727-570-5305; e-mail: phil.steele@noaa.gov. REMINDER: Comments must be received no later than 5 p.m., eastern time, on January 20, 2004.

Gulf - Bycatch Reduction Devices Will Be Used with Shrimp Trawls in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico

NOAA Fisheries has published a final rule that implements the approved measures of Amendment 10 to the FMP for the Shrimp Fishery, as submitted by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council. This final rule requires, with limited exceptions, the use of certified bycatch reduction devices (BRDs) in shrimp trawls in the Gulf of Mexico east of Cape San Blas, FL. BRDs were already being used in the western Gulf of Mexico; expanding their use throughout the Gulf EEZ is expected to improve enforcement and provide broader protection for overfished finfish species such as snapper and grouper that are encountered as bycatch. In order to be certified, BRDs must reduce the bycatch of finfish by at least 30% by weight of the total finfish catch. This final rule becomes effective on February 9, 2004.

For more information, contact Dr. Steve Branstetter, Steve.Branstetter@noaa.gov or phone him at (727) 570-5305.

Gulf – New Marine NOAA Weather Radio Transmitter Serves Marine Communities in Tampa Bay and Adjacent Coastal Waters

Mariners in Tampa Bay and the waters off the west central coast of Florida may now receive NOAA Weather Radio transmissions dedicated to marine watches and warnings. Co-sponsored by NOAA Fisheries, the new transmitter was dedicated in a ceremony today by Navy (Ret.) Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. The transmitter is located in Largo (Pinellas County) and linked directly to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service Forecast Office in Ruskin, Florida.

Operating at a frequency of 162.450 Megahertz (MHz), the transmitter is equipped with a directional antenna to spread the signal over water instead of land. The Weather Forecast Office (WFO) will provide 24-hour forecasts and warnings for the Tampa Bay area and coastal waters out to 60 nautical miles

Broadcasts will include information necessary to comply with marine regulations, to report violations of regulations to federal and state enforcement agencies, and to contribute to ongoing management programs by attending public meetings on proposed regulatory changes.

For more information, contact Mark.Godcharles@noaa.gov at (727) 570-5727.

Pacific Coast – Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Pacific Salmon Fisheries

NOAA Fisheries has released its Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (FPEIS) for Pacific Salmon Fisheries Management off the Coasts of Southeast Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, and in the Columbia River Basin. Salmon fishery management is complex, but, in general, NOAA Fisheries seeks to implement fisheries that are consistent with a variety of statutory and legal obligations related to resource conservation, socioeconomic benefits associated with resource use, and treaty Trust obligations. Fishery plans are developed annually within the context of framework plans to meet the year-specific circumstances on the status of stocks affected by the fisheries. This FPEIS evaluates different ways to balance these objectives and different strategies that can be used that may provide better solutions for meeting the obligations and objectives of the respective framework plans. The alternatives considered in this FPEIS are programmatic and designed to provide an overview of management methods and strategies that can be implemented as part of annual planning processes.

The FPEIS is available on-line for public review at:
http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/1sustfsh/salmon/FPEIS_coastwide_salmon/index.html

Comments must be submitted in writing by Feb. 17, 2004 to:

D. Robert Lohn
NOAA Fisheries Northwest Regional Office
7600 Sand Point Way NE
Seattle, WA 98115

fax: 206-526-6426

One copy of your comments should also be sent to:

NOAA Office of Strategic Planning (PPI/SP)
SSMC3 Rm. 15603
1315 East-West Hwy
Silver Spring, MD 20910.

For more information contact Peter.Dygert@noaa.gov

Pacific Coast – Proposed Management Measures for the 2004 Pacific Groundfish Fishery

NMFS has announced the Jan- Feb 2004 groundfish management measures for the U.S. EEZ off the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California, as well as proposed measures for the remainder of 2004. The objectives are to prevent overfishing, rebuild overfished species, minimize incidental catch and discards of overfished and depleted stocks, and provide equitable harvest opportunity for recreational and commercial sectors. The proposed rule, which published in the Federal Register on January 8, 2004, describes the rationale for 2004 measures, including trip limits, bag limits, size limits, and time/area closures. These measures are intended to protect overfished groundfish species while allowing harvesters some access to healthy groundfish stocks.

The proposed regulations and background documents are available at the Northwest Region’s Web site at http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/1sustfsh/gdfsh01.htm and at the Council's Web site at http://www.pcouncil.org . Comments on measures that will be in effect for the remainder of 2004 must be received no later than 5 p.m, local time on February 9, 2004.

Send comments to:

D. Robert Lohn
NOAA Fisheries Northwest Regional Office
7600 Sand Point Way NE
Seattle, WA 98115

or

fax to 206-526-6736, care of Yvonne deReynier

Comments will not be accepted if submitted via e-mail or Internet.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Yvonne deReynier or Becky Renko (Northwest Region), phone: 206-526-6140 or email: yvonne.dereynier@noaa.gov, becky.renko@noaa.gov or Svein Fougner (Southwest Region) phone: 562-980-4000; e-mail: svein.fougner@noaa.gov.

Pacific Coast - Proposal to Implement a New Fishery Management Plan for Highly Migratory Species off the West Coast of the United States

This proposed rule, which published in the Federal Register on December 10, 2003 would establish new conservation and management measures on the West Coast HMS fisheries including permit requirements, logbooks, gear restrictions and observer coverage. The species included in the management unit for this new FMP are tunas (yellowfin, bigeye, skipjack, albacore, and northern bluefin), billfish (striped marlin and swordfish), sharks (common thresher, bigeye thresher, pelagic thresher, shortfin mako, blue), and dorado (also known as mahi mahi and dolphinfish).

For more information on the HMS FMP, go to: http://www.pcouncil.org/hms/hmsback.html

Comments on the proposed rule should be sent to:

Rodney R. McInnis, Acting Administrator
Southwest Region, NMFS
501 West Ocean Boulevard, Suite 4200
Long Beach, CA 90802.

For further information contact Svein Fougner, Sustainable Fisheries Division, at 562-980-4040 or svein.fougner@noaa.gov.

REMINDER: Comments on the proposed rule must be received by January 26, 2004.

Pacific Coast - Proposal to Designate the AT1 group of Transient Killer Whales as a Depleted Stock of Marine Mammals

In 2003, NOAA Fisheries conducted a status review in response to a petition regarding a group of transient killer whales in Alaska (known as the AT1 group). The biological evidence indicates that the group is a population stock as defined by the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), and the stock is depleted as defined by the MMPA.

Information related to the petition and the status of the AT1 group of killer whales is available at:http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/protectedresources/whales/default.htm. NOAA Fisheries' guidelines for preparing stock assessment reports, which include guidance for identifying population stocks of marine mammals, may be found at: http://nmml.afsc.noaa.gov/library/gammsrep/gammsrep.htm

Comments on the proposed rule, which published in the Federal Register on October 24, 2003, should be addressed to:

Chief, Marine Mammal Division,
Office of Protected Resources, NMFS
1315 East-West Highway
Silver Spring, MD 20910

For more information, contact Kaja Brix in the Alaska Region, (907) 586-7235. REMINDER: All written comments must be received by January 22, 2004.

Alaska – Fisheries will Apply New Seabird Avoidance Measures

NOAA Fisheries has issued a final rule with new requirements to minimize bycatch of seabirds in the hook-and-line groundfish fisheries of the Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, and Gulf of Alaska, as well as in the Pacific halibut fishery in U.S. Convention waters off Alaska. This action is intended to further mitigate interactions with the short-tailed albatross (Phoebastria albatrus), which is protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and with other seabird species in Alaskan hook-and-line fisheries. The rule, which published in the Federal Register on January 13, 2004, becomes effective on February 12, 2004.

For more information, please visit the Alaska Region’s website:http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/infobulletins/seabirds011304.html

January 13, 2004

January 14, 2004

January 15, 2004

January 16, 2004

January 21, 2004