[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 6 (Tuesday, January 10, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1501-1503]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-192]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R1-MB-2011-N256; FXMB12310100000P2-123-FF01M01000]
Special Purpose Permit Application; Draft Environmental
Assessment; Hawaii-Based Shallow-Set Longline Fishery
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service, have received an
application under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, as amended
(MBTA), from the Pacific Islands Regional Office of the National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS), Department of Commerce, for a permit for the
incidental take of migratory birds in the operation of the Hawaii-based
shallow-set longline fishery that targets swordfish (Xiphias gladius).
If issued, the permit would be the first of its kind under our Special
Purpose permitting regulations. We invite public comment on the draft
environmental assessment (DEA), which evaluates alternatives associated
with this permit application.
DATES: To ensure consideration, please send your written comments by
February 9, 2012.
ADDRESSES: You may download a copy of the DEA on the Internet at http:/
/
[[Page 1502]]
www.fws.gov/pacific/migratorybirds/nepa.html. Alternatively, you may
use one of the methods below to request a hard copy or a CD-ROM. Please
specify the ``DEA for the NMFS MBTA Permit'' on all correspondence.
Submitting Comments: You may submit comments or requests for copies
or more information by one of the following methods.
Email: pacific_birds@fws.gov. Include ``DEA for the NMFS
MBTA Permit'' in the subject line of the message.
U.S. Mail: Please address written comments to Michael
Green, Acting Chief, Division of Migratory Birds and Habitat Programs,
Pacific Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 911 NE 11th Ave.,
Portland, OR 97232.
Fax: Michael Green, Acting Chief, Division of Migratory
Birds and Habitat Programs, (503) 231-2019; Attn.: DEA for the NMFS
MBTA Permit.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Green, Acting Chief, Division
of Migratory Birds and Habitat Programs, Pacific Region, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, (503) 231-2019 (phone); pacific_birds@fws.gov
(email, include ``DEA for the NMFS MBTA Permit'' in the subject line of
the message). If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf
(TDD), please call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at
(800) 877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Introduction
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has received an
application from NMFS for a special purpose permit under the Migratory
Bird Treaty Act of 1918 (16 U.S.C. 703-711) (MBTA). The permit, if
issued, would authorize incidental take of migratory birds, principally
two species of albatross, by NMFS in its regulation of the shallow-set
longline fishery based in Hawaii. This fishery targets swordfish and
operates on the high seas and within the United States Exclusive
Economic Zone (EEZ). The migratory birds incidentally taken in the
fishery are predominantly Laysan and Black-footed Albatross
(Phoebastria immutabilis and P. nigripes). One individual each of Sooty
Shearwater (Puffinus griseus) and Northern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis)
have been reported taken in the fishery. The endangered Short-tailed
Albatross (Phoaebastria albatrus) occurs in the area where the fishery
operates and has been observed from Hawaii-based longline fishing
vessels, but no take of this species has been reported. Consultation
under section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act is in progress to
assess the impacts of this fishery on the Short-tailed Albatross.
The Draft Environmental Assessment (DEA) analyzes the alternatives
associated with this permit application in light of our permitting
regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) in 50 CFR 21.27
under the MBTA. If we issue the permit at issue in this environmental
assessment, it will be the first permit under these regulations issued
to authorize incidental take of migratory birds by an agency regulating
a commercial, non-conservation activity.
Background
Regulations under the MBTA allow the Service to issue permits to
take migratory birds for various reasons, such as depredation and
scientific collecting. One of those regulations, 50 CFR 21.27, allows
the Service to issue special purpose permits in circumstances not
addressed by specific permit regulations. An application for a special
purpose permit must meet the general permitting conditions set forth in
50 CFR 13 and make a ``sufficient showing'' of:
Benefit to the migratory bird resources,
Important research reasons,
Reasons of human concern for individual birds, or
Other compelling justification.
We will issue a special purpose permit only if we determine that
the take is compatible with the conservation intent of the MBTA.
Standard conditions for permit issuance include those described in 50
CFR 13.21(e) and 21.27(c).
The Hawaii-based longline fishery that targets swordfish is a
pelagic or open-ocean fishery that began in the late-1980s and has
since been managed under the Fishery Management Plan for the Pelagic
Fisheries of the Western Pacific Region. Shallow-set longlining
consists of deploying a mainline 18 to 60 nautical miles in length with
floats at 360-meter (m) intervals. The mainline depth is 25 to 75 m.
About four branchlines, 10 to 20 m in length, with baited hooks and
artificial light sticks to attract swordfish, are suspended between
floats, for a total of approximately 700 to 1,000 hooks per deployment.
The line is deployed, or ``set,'' after sunset, left in the water
overnight, and retrieved, or ``hauled,'' in the morning. Seabirds, as
well as sea turtles and other non-target species, can be killed or
injured during either deployment or retrieval of the lines, when they
are unintentionally hooked or entangled in fishing gear.
The shallow-set sector of the Hawaii-based longline fishery
operates under NMFS regulations requiring the use of measures to avoid
and minimize the injury and death of seabirds (67 FR 34408, 69 FR
17329, 70 FR 75075). These regulations were in place when the fishery
was reopened in 2004 following a court-ordered closure in 2001 that
addressed concerns about endangered sea turtles. Between 2004 and 2010,
the fishery has taken (killed or injured) an estimated total of 332
Laysan and 118 Black-footed albatrosses, an annual average of roughly
55 and 20 birds of each species, respectively. These levels of take are
expected to continue, and are not thought to pose a risk of population-
level impacts or change in conservation status for either species.
The Pacific Islands Regional Office of NMFS manages and regulates
this fishery under the Fishery Management Plan, which was developed by
the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council and approved by
the Secretary of Commerce, in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Act
(16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) (MSA). Under the MSA, Fishery Councils are
vested with the authority to propose amendments to Fishery Management
Plans. NMFS may approve or partially approve proposed amendments;
approvals are codified as Federal regulations. In 2010, regulations
went into effect to implement an amendment that removed the restriction
on fishing effort (annual number of sets) in this fishery that had been
in place since 2004. Because fishing effort never reached the limit
that has now been removed, and effort is increasing only slowly, NMFS
anticipates that total effort in the fishery will not increase
substantially between 2011 and 2014, the period that would be covered
by a permit under the MBTA.
Applicant's Proposal
NMFS proposes to continue operation of the shallow-set fishery
under current regulations that require the use of measures to avoid and
minimize take of migratory birds. In addition to continued
implementation of these regulations, NMFS proposes to analyze the high
proportion of the total observed take in this fishery that occurs as
injured birds. Specifically, NMFS would examine the role of untended or
``lazy'' lines, offal discards, and other practices in making hooks and
gear available to seabirds and possibly attracting and habituating
seabirds to longline vessels, especially during gear retrieval. The
results of these assessments would be reported to the Service, and
reports
[[Page 1503]]
would include any new information that could further reduce the take of
seabirds in the fishery or point to research needed to achieve
reduction. If new analyses and qualitative assessments lead to
identification of means to reduce take of migratory birds, NMFS would
develop these remedies so that they could be incorporated into NMFS
regulatory processes in a timely fashion. If new information does not
lead to modified or new practices that could reduce take of migratory
birds in the fishery, NMFS would develop study plans for needed
research and/or a proposal or proposals to offset the unavoidable take
in the fishery in a manner that would not affect operation of the
fishery. These additional activities were described in materials
submitted as part of the permit application, and if we issue the permit
after completion of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
process, then these commitments would become conditions of the permit.
The Service independently evaluated the estimated total and average
number, and the nominal rate, of seabirds taken in the fishery. This
evaluation, in relation to the existing avoidance and minimization
measures, proposed new activities, and potential offsetting
conservation measures, is discussed in the DEA, along with the
implications for direct, indirect, and cumulative effects under three
alternatives.
Next Steps
The public process for the proposed Federal permit action will be
completed after the public-comment period, at which time we will
evaluate the permit application and comments submitted on the DEA and
determine whether the application meets the permitting requirements
under the MBTA and applicable regulations. Upon completion of that
evaluation we will select our course of action among the three
alternatives identified in the DEA. We then will either issue a final
environmental assessment and a Finding of No Significant Impact or
initiate the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement.
Public Comments
We invite public comment on the DEA. You may submit comments by any
one of the methods discussed above under ADDRESSES.
Public Availability of Comments
Before including your address, phone number, email address, or
other personal identifying information in your comments, you should be
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so.
Authority
We provide this notice under section 668a of the Act (16 U.S.C.
668-668c) and NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).
Dated: December 23, 2011.
Richard Hannan,
Deputy Regional Director, Pacific Region, Portland, Oregon.
[FR Doc. 2012-192 Filed 1-9-12; 8:45 am]
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