Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Bluefish Fishery; Scoping Process

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council announces its intent to prepare, in cooperation with NMFS and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, an amendment to the Fishery Management Plan for Bluefish. An environmental impact statement may be necessary for the amendment in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act to analyze the impacts of any proposed management measures. The Council has initiated this amendment in order to perform a review of the sector-based allocations, commercial allocations to the states, goals and objectives of the fishery management plan, and quota transfer processes. This notice announces a public process for determining the scope of issues to be addressed, and for identifying the significant issues related to the bluefish fishery in the Greater Atlantic region. This notice is to alert the interested public of the scoping process, the potential development of a draft environmental impact statement, and to provide for public participation in that process.