CONTACT: Brian Gorman FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(301) 713-2370 9/29/94
The public will have an opportunity to comment on Atlantic tuna and shark resource management issues at a series of meetings the National Marine Fisheries Service will hold in October, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced today.
The meetings will be held in ll states along the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico. Each will combine a public hearing on a draft environmental impact statement for Atlantic bluefin tuna with a scoping meeting to receive public comments on management issues and options for Atlantic sharks and the skipjack, bluefin, yellowfin and bigeye tuna species.
Officials from the fisheries service said they will collect and consider all public comments when drafting proposed rules on these issues.
An Atlantic shark management plan, put in place by the fisheries service last year, calls for quotas for Atlantic large coastal sharks to increase in 1995. However, according to fisheries service scientists, recent stock assessments of Atlantic sharks show little evidence that the populations of the fish are improving and the agency is proposing to maintain current quotas for large coastal sharks rather than raise them as initially planned.
Also proposed for new management measures are yellowfin, bigeye and skipjack tunas, including how catches are reported,
minimum fish size, and limits on overall catch.Issues for bluefin tuna include how a harpoon vessel is defined, a moratorium on new permits for commercial gear, and other related topics.
The public will also be given the opportunity to comment on a draft environmental impact statement for bluefin tuna. The draft examines various quota alternatives and will serve as background information for proposed 1995 rule discussions. Copies of the draft can be requested from John D. Kelly at (301) 713-2347 or by fax at (301) 713-0596.
Each meeting is scheduled from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., with the first hour for discussion on the Atlantic shark fishery and the second hour for non-bluefin tuna management. The remainder of each evening will be devoted to bluefin tuna issues.
To submit comments in writing, send them to Richard H. Schaefer, Director, Office of Fisheries Conservation and Management (F/CM), National Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 East- West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Envelopes need to be clearly marked "Atlantic Tuna Comments" or "Shark Comments," or both.
The public meetings are scheduled as follows:
October 3, 1994 October4, 1994 Jordan Seafood Restaurant Plymouth High School 700 Main Street Obery Street South Portland, Me. Plymouth, Mass.San Luis Hotel and World Trade Center Building Conference Center Suite 1830, Crescent City Room 5222 Seawall Blvd. 2 Canal Street Galveston, Texas New Orleans, La.
Palm Beach Community College North Carolina State Aquarium Allied Health Lecture Hall Airport Road Room 101 Manteo, N.C. 4200 Congress Ave.
Lake Worth, Fla.
October 5, 1994 October 6, 1994 Suffolk Community College Holiday Inn 533 College Road 290 Rt. 37 East Selden, N.Y. Tom's River, N.J.
October 5, 1994 October 6, 1994
NMFS Panama City Lab Madeira Beach City Hall 3500 Delwood Beach Rd. 300 Municipal Dr. Panama City, Fla. Madeira Beach, Fla.
South Carolina Wildlife and Lake Wright Resort and Marine Resources Dept. Convention Center 217 Fort Johnson Rd. 6280 Northampton Blvd. Charleston, S.C. Norfolk, Va.
October 12, 1994 October 13, 1994 Nat'l Oceanic and Atmospheric Hynes Convention Center Administration Auditorium 1305 East-West Highway 900 Boyleston St. Building 4 Auditorium Boston, Mass. Silver Spring, Md.