SUBJECT: Is this the end of fishing at Cape Hatteras and Cape Cod?

Submitted by Gerry, BFHP from VIRGINIA on

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Nomination of Existing Marine
Protected Areas to the National
System of Marine Protected Areas
AGENCY: NOAA, Department of
Commerce (DOC).
ACTION: Public notice and opportunity
for comment on the list of nominations
received from Federal, State and
territorial marine protected area
programs to join the National System of
Marine Protected Areas.
SUMMARY: NOAA and the Department of
the Interior (DOI) invited Federal, State,
commonwealth, and territorial marine
protected areas (MPA) programs with
potentially eligible existing MPAs to
nominate their sites to the National
System of MPAs (national system). The
national system and the nomination
process are described in the Framework
for the National System of Marine
Protected Areas of the United States
(Framework), developed in response to
Executive Order 13158 on Marine
Protected Areas. The final Framework
was published on November 19, 2008,
(73 FR 69608) and provides guidance for
collaborative efforts among Federal,
State, commonwealth, territorial, Tribal
and local governments and stakeholders
to develop an effective and well
coordinated national system of MPAs
that includes existing MPAs meeting
national system criteria as well as new
sites that may be established by
managing agencies to fill key
conservation gaps in important ocean
areas.
DATES: Comments on the nominations to
the national system of MPAs are due
February 22, 2010.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to
Joseph A. Uravitch, National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration,
National Marine Protected Areas Center,
1305 East West Highway, N/ORM,
Silver Spring, MD 20910. Fax: (301)
713–3110. E-mail:
mpa.comments@noaa.gov. Comments
will be accepted in written form by
mail, e-mail, or fax.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Lauren Wenzel, NOAA, at 301–713
3100, ext. 136 or via e-mail at
mpa.comments@noaa.gov. An
electronic copy of the list of nominated
MPAs is available for download at
http://www.mpa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background on National System
The national system of MPAs
includes member MPA sites, networks
and systems established and managed
by Federal, State, Tribal and/or local
governments that collectively enhance
conservation of the nation’s natural and
cultural marine heritage and represent
its diverse ecosystems and resources.
Although participating sites continue to
be managed independently, national
system MPAs also work together at the
regional and national levels to achieve
common objectives for conserving the
nation’s important natural and cultural
resources, with emphasis on achieving
the priority conservation objectives of
the Framework. Executive Order 13158
defines an MPA as: ‘‘any area of the
marine environment that has been
reserved by Federal, State, territorial,
Tribal, or local laws or regulations to
provide lasting protection for part or all
of the natural and cultural resources
therein.’’ As such, MPAs in the national
system include sites with a wide range
of protections, including multiple use
areas that manage a broad spectrum of
activities and no-take reserves where all
extractive uses are prohibited. Although
sites in the national system may include
both terrestrial and marine components,
the term MPA as defined in the
Framework refers only to the marine
portion of a site (below the mean high
tide mark).
Benefits of joining the national system
of MPAs, which are expected to increase
over time as the system matures,
include a facilitated means to work with
other MPAs in the region, and
nationally on issues of common
conservation concern; fostering greater
public and international recognition of
MPAs, MPA programs, and the
resources they protect; priority in the
receipt of available technical support,
MPA partnership grants with the
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation,
cooperative project participation, and
other support for cross-cutting needs;
and the opportunity to influence
Federal and regional ocean conservation
and management initiatives (such as
integrated ocean observing systems,
systematic monitoring and evaluation,
targeted outreach to key user groups,
and helping to identify and address
MPA research needs). In addition, the
national system provides a forum for
coordinated regional planning about
place-based conservation priorities that
does not currently exist.
Joining the national system does not
restrict or require changes affecting the
designation process for new MPAs or
management of existing MPAs. It does
not bring State, territorial or local sites
under Federal authority. It does not
establish new regulatory authority or
interfere with the exercise of existing
agency authorities. The national system
is a mechanism to foster great
collaboration among participating MPA
sites and programs to enhance
stewardship in the waters of the United
States.
Nomination Process
The Framework describes two major
focal areas for building the national
system of MPAs—a nomination process
to allow existing MPAs that meet the
entry criteria to become part of the
system and a collaborative regional gap
analysis process to identify areas of
significance for natural or cultural
resources that may merit additional
protection through existing Federal,
State, commonwealth, territorial, Tribal
or local MPA authorities. The first call
for nominations was issued in
November 2008, resulting in the
acceptance of 225 charter sites to the
national system of MPAs in April 2009.
The second nomination process for the
national system began on August 7,
2009, when the National Marine
Protected Areas Center (MPA Center)
sent a letter to Federal, State,
commonwealth, and territorial MPA
programs inviting them to submit
nominations of eligible MPAs to the
national system. The initial deadline for
nominations was November 6, 2009;
this was extended to November 20,
2009.
There are three entry criteria for
existing MPAs to join the national
system, plus a fourth for cultural
heritage. Sites that meet all pertinent
criteria are eligible for the national
system.
1. Meets the definition of an MPA as
defined in the Framework.
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Federal Register /Vol. 75, No. 4 /Thursday, January 7, 2010 /Notices 973
2. Has a management plan (can be
site-specific or part of a broader
programmatic management plan; must
have goals and objectives and call for
monitoring or evaluation of those goals
and objectives).
3. Contributes to at least one priority
conservation objective as listed in the
Framework.
4. Cultural heritage MPAs must also
conform to criteria for the National
Register for Historic Places.
The MPA Center used existing
information in the MPA Inventory to
determine which MPAs meet the first
and second criteria. The inventory is
online at http://www.mpa.gov/
helpful_resources/inventory.html, and
potentially eligible sites are posted
online at http://mpa.gov/pdf/nationalsystem/
allsitesumsheet8O9.pdf. As part
of the nomination process, the managing
entity for each potentially eligible site is
asked to provide information on the
third and fourth criteria.
List of MPAs Nominated to the National
System
The following 32 MPAs have been
nominated by their managing programs
to join the national system of MPAs. A
list providing more detail for each site
is available at http://www.mpa.gov.
Federal Marine Protected Areas
National Parks
Acadia National Park
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore
Buck Island Reef National Monument
Cabrillo National Monument
Canaveral National Seashore
Cape Cod National Seashore
Cape Hatteras National Seashore
Cape Lookout National Seashore
Fire Island National Seashore
Gateway National Recreation Area
Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore
Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and
Preserve
Kalaupapa National Historical Park
Kaloko-Honokahau National Historical Park
National Park of American Samoa
Olympic National Park
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
Salt River Bay National Historical Park and
Ecological Preserve
San Juan Islands National Historical Park
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
National Wildlife Refuges
Blackbeard Island National Wildlife Refuge
Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge
Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge
Pickney Island National Wildlife Refuge
Tybee National Wildlife Refuge
Wassaw National Wildlife Refuge
Wolf National Wildlife Refuge
Partnership Marine Protected Areas
Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research
Reserve (Puerto Rico)
State Marine Protected Areas
North Carolina
Queen Anne’s Revenge (Shipwreck)
Virgin Islands
East End Marine Park
Washington
San Juan County/Cypress Island Marine
Biological Preserve
Review and Approval
Following this public comment
period, the MPA Center will forward
public comments to the relevant
managing entity or entities, which will
reaffirm or withdraw (in writing to the
MPA Center) the nomination. After final
MPA Center review, mutually agreed
upon MPAs will be accepted into the
national system and the List of National
System MPAs will be posted at http://
www.mpa.gov.
Dated: December 30, 2009.
David M. Kennedy,
Assistant Administrator for Ocean Service
and Coastal Zone Management.
[FR Doc. E9–31406 F