Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; Essential Fish Habitat Amendment to the Fishery Management Plans of the U.S. Caribbean

The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires each regional fishery management council to submit any fishery management plan or amendment it prepares to NMFS for review and approval, disapproval, or partial approval. The Magnuson-Stevens Act also requires that NMFS, after receiving an amendment, immediately publish a notice in the Federal Register that the amendment is available for public review and comment. This document constitutes such notice for the EFH amendment. NMFS will consider the public comments received during the comment period in determining whether to approve, disapprove, or partially approve this amendment. NMFS published guidelines to assist regional fishery management 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). These 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 Council's EFH generic amendment includes information on important factors in the relationships between species in the fishery management units and their habitats during each of the species' life stages, including eggs, larvae, juveniles, adults, and spawning adults. Available information is not sufficient to provide for the identification of EFH for each species in all FMPs. There are more than 1,149 species of finfish and over 1,170 mollusks reported in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Council has identified, to the extent possible, the environmental, trophic, and biological characteristics of species managed by each FMP prepared by the Council. The Council has emphasized selected species, and in the absence of habitat information, has used them as ``indicators'' of such habitats. Following is a summary of the EFH generic amendment: 1. EFH is identified and described based on areas where various life stages of the 17 selected, managed species and the coral complex commonly occur. The selected species are: Nassau grouper, Epinephelus striatus; red hind, Epinephelus guttatus; coney, Epinephelus fulvus; yellowtail snapper,Ocyurus chrysurus; mutton snapper, Lutjanus analis; schoolmaster,Lutjanus apodus; grey snapper, Lutjanus griseus; silk snapper, Lutjanus vivanus; butterfly fish, Chaetodon striatus; squirrel fish, Holocentrus ascensionis; white grunt, Haemulon plumieri; queen triggerfish, Balistes vetula; sandtilefish, Malacanthus plumieri; redtail parrotfish, Sparisoma chrysopterum; trunkfish, Lactophrys quadricornis; spiny lobster, Panulirus argus; and queen conch, Strombus gigas. 2. The selected species represent some of the key species under management by the Council. Collectively, these species commonly occur throughout all the marine and estuarine waters of the U.S. Caribbean. EFH for the remaining managed species will be addressed in future FMP amendments, as information becomes available. 3. EFH is defined as everywhere that the selected species commonly occur. Because these species collectively occur in all habitats of the U.S. Caribbean, the EFH of all species combined includes all waters and substrates (mud, sand, shell, rock, and associated biological communities), including coral habitats (coral reefs, coral hard bottoms, and octocoral reefs), sub-tidal vegetation (seagrasses and algae) and adjacent

intertidal vegetation (wetlands and mangroves). Therefore, collectively EFH includes virtually all marine waters and substrates from the shoreline to the seaward limit of the exclusive economic zone. 4. Threats to EFH from fishing and non-fishing activities are identified. 5. Whenever possible, options to conserve and enhance EFH are provided and research needs are identified. 6. No management measures and, therefore, no regulations are proposed at this time. Measures to minimize any identified impacts are deferred to future amendments when the Council has the information necessary to decide if the measures are practicable.

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

Dated: November 16, 1998. Dean Swanson, Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. [FR Doc. 98-31085 Filed 11-19-98; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510-22-F