NOAA Fisheries Publishes Correction Notices for Coral Amendment 8 Proposed Rule and Notice of Availability

SOUTHEAST FISHERY BULLETIN

(South Atlantic)

FB14-045         

Karla Gore

727-824-5305  

July 1, 2014     
 

NOAA Fisheries Publishes Correction Notices for Coral Amendment 8 Proposed Rule and Notice of Availability

The notice of availability for Amendment 8 to the Fishery Management Plan for Coral, Coral Reefs, and Live/Hardbottom Habitat (Coral Amendment 8) published in the Federal Register on May 20, 2014 (79 FR 28880), and the comment period ends on July 21, 2014. The proposed rule for Coral Amendment 8 published on June 3, 2014, and the comment period ends on July 3, 2014 (79 FR 31907).

After publication of the notice of availability and proposed rule for Coral Amendment 8, an error was found in the preamble text for both documents. The preamble text in the notice of availability and the proposed rule states that the Oculina Bank habitat area of particular concern (Oculina Bank HAPC) would increase “by 405.42 square miles (1,050 square km), for a total area of 694.42 square miles (1,798.5 square km)”, which is incorrect.

The correct increase in the size of the Oculina Bank HAPC proposed in Coral Amendment 8 is 343.42 square miles (889.5 square km), for a total area of 632.42 square miles (1,638 square km).

NOAA Fisheries has published a correction notice in the Federal Register for the notice of availability (79 FR 37269) and for the proposed rule (79 FR 37270) on July 1, 2014. The comment periods remains unchanged.

Coral Amendment 8 may be obtained from:

• The NOAA Fisheries Web site:
  http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_fisheries/s_atl/coral/2014/am8/index.html    
• The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s Web site at http://www.safmc.net.

You may submit comments by the following methods:

• Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2014-0065 click the “Comment Now!” icon, complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.

• Mail:
  NOAA Fisheries
  Southeast Regional Office
  Sustainable Fisheries Division
  c/o Karla Gore
  263 13^th Avenue South
  St. Petersburg, Florida 3370-5505

NOAA Fisheries will accept anonymous comments. Attachments to electronic comments will be accepted in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats only. Comments received through means not specified in this bulletin may not be considered.

More Information

For more information on Coral Amendment 8, please click on this link to the Frequently Asked Questions found at: http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_fisheries/s_atl/coral/2014/am8/index.html