Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan; Coastal Gulf of Maine Closure Area Established With a Temporary Shift of Its Effective Date, 60319-60321 [2012-24410]
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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 192 / Wednesday, October 3, 2012 / Rules and Regulations
Our commissioned study was not
designed to evaluate the pattern of 6AM test results over time. Its scope was
‘‘* * * to verify the atypical results
obtained by the laboratories, to
determine if other drug or metabolites
present in the specimens could explain
the absence of morphine, and to
determine if something other than
heroin use could explain the presence of
6-AM.’’ [77 FR 26472] The study’s
findings were presented and discussed
in the IFR. [77 FR 26472] We would
note that the rise in 6-AM positives was
predicted, and a rise seems to have
become the trend over time.
For the reasons discussed above and
outlined in the IFR, we are adopting the
rule text in the IFR as final.
Regulatory Analyses and Notices
The statutory authority for this rule
derives from the Omnibus
Transportation Employee Testing Act of
1991 (49 U.S.C. 102, 301, 322, 5331,
20140, 31306, and 54101 et seq.) and the
Department of Transportation Act (49
U.S.C. 322).
Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory
Flexibility Act
This Final Rule is not significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866 or
the DOT’s regulatory policies and
procedures. It finalizes modifications,
already in effect, to our procedures that
do not increase costs on regulated
parties. The rule will impose no new
burdens on any parties, and will
actually decrease the burden upon the
laboratories and the MROs. I hereby
certify, under the Regulatory Flexibility
Act, that this rule does not have a
significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities.
List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 40
Administrative practice and
procedures, Alcohol abuse, Alcohol
testing, Drug abuse, Drug testing,
Laboratories, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Safety,
Transportation.
erowe on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with
Accordingly, the Interim Final Rule
amending 49 CFR Part 40 which was
published at 77 FR 26471 on May 4,
2012 is adopted as a final rule without
change.
[FR Doc. 2012–24337 Filed 10–2–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–9X–P
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14:51 Oct 02, 2012
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National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 229
RIN 0648–XC099
Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan;
Coastal Gulf of Maine Closure Area
Established With a Temporary Shift of
Its Effective Date
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Establishment of the Coastal
Gulf of Maine Closure Area; temporary
shift of its effective date.
AGENCY:
Through this notice, NOAA’s
National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS) announces the establishment of
the Coastal Gulf of Maine Closure Area
under the Harbor Porpoise Take
Reduction Plan (Plan), and temporarily
shifts the effective date of year 1 of its
implementation from October 1, 2012,
to February 1, 2013. Recent information
suggests that harbor porpoise bycatch is
higher in February and March than in
October and November since the
implementation of sectors in May 2010,
warranting a temporary shift of the
closure in year 1 to a time period that
would provide greater conservation
benefit to harbor porpoises and allow
time for more complete consideration of
updated information on harbor porpoise
bycatch, harbor porpoise abundance,
and fishing effort by the Harbor
Porpoise Take Reduction Team (Team).
As such, this area will be closed to
gillnet fishing in February and March of
2013 rather than October and November
of 2012.
DATES: Year 1 effective February 1,
2013; Year 2 and beyond effective
October 1, 2013.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kate
Swails, NMFS, Northeast Region, 978–
282–8481, kate.swails@noaa.gov; or
Kristy Long, NMFS, Office of Protected
Resources, 301–427–8402,
kristy.long@noaa.gov.
SUMMARY:
Authority
Issued on September 20th, 2012, at
Washington DC
Ray LaHood,
Secretary of Transportation.
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction
Plan (Plan) was implemented in late
1998 pursuant to section 118(f) of the
Marine Mammal Protection Act
(MMPA) to reduce the level of serious
injury and mortality of the Gulf of
Maine/Bay of Fundy (GOM/BOF) stock
of harbor porpoises (63 FR 66464,
December 2, 1998). NMFS amended the
PO 00000
Frm 00035
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
60319
Plan in 2010 (75 FR 7383, February 19,
2010) to address increased mortalities of
harbor porpoises in New England and
Mid-Atlantic commercial gillnet
fisheries due to non-compliance with
the Plan requirements and observed
interactions occurring outside of
existing management areas.
The 2010 amendments, based largely
on consensus recommendations from
the Team, included the expansion of
seasonal and temporal requirements
within the Plan’s management areas, the
incorporation of additional management
areas, and the creation of three closure
areas off the coast of New England that
would prohibit the use of gillnet gear if
certain levels of harbor porpoise bycatch
are exceeded (consequence closure area
strategy).
For New England, the 2010
amendments to the Plan implemented a
‘‘consequence’’ closure strategy, which
would close specific areas to gillnet gear
during certain times of the year if
observed average bycatch rates exceed
specified target bycatch rates over the
course of two consecutive management
seasons. If observed bycatch rates
exceeded the target rates, the following
three areas would become closed: the
Coastal Gulf of Maine, Eastern Cape
Cod, and Cape Cod South Expansion
Consequence Closure Areas. This
measure was intended to provide an
incentive for the gillnet industry to
comply with pinger requirements in
areas with historically high harbor
porpoise bycatch levels resulting from
relatively low levels of compliance. The
consequence closures, if implemented,
would further reduce harbor porpoise
mortalities due to the times and areas
chosen for their implementation.
The Coastal Gulf of Maine
Consequence Closure would be
triggered if the observed average bycatch
rates of harbor porpoises in the MidCoast, Stellwagen Bank, and
Massachusetts Bay Management Areas
(combined) exceed the target bycatch
rate of 0.031 harbor porpoise takes/
metric tons of fish landed (takes/mtons)
(1 harbor porpoise taken per 71,117
pounds of fish landed) after two
consecutive management seasons. If
triggered, the use of gillnet gear would
be prohibited during the months of
October and November, which
historically have been the months with
the highest amount of observed harbor
porpoise bycatch. When this area is not
closed, the seasonal requirements of the
three overlapping management areas,
including the March gillnet closure in
the Massachusetts Bay Management
Area, would remain in effect.
The Cape Cod South Expansion and
Eastern Cape Cod Consequence Closures
E:\FR\FM\03OCR1.SGM
03OCR1
60320
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 192 / Wednesday, October 3, 2012 / Rules and Regulations
closed, the seasonal pinger requirements
of the overlapping Southern New
England Management Area would
remain in effect.
Consequence closure area monitoring
began with the start of first full
management season after
implementation of the 2010
amendments. The first monitoring
season occurred from September 15,
2010 through May 31, 2011, and the
second occurred from September 15,
2011 through May 31, 2012.
The two-year average observed harbor
porpoise bycatch rate for the areas
associated with the Coastal Gulf of
Maine Consequence Closure Area is
0.057 takes/mtons (Orphanides, 2012).
This is above the target bycatch rate
(0.031 takes/mtons), triggering the
implementation of the Coastal Gulf of
Maine Closure Area (Figure 1).
The two-year average observed harbor
porpoise bycatch rate in the Southern
New England Management Area is 0.020
takes/mtons (Orphanides, 2012),
indicating that the two-year average
does not exceed the target bycatch rate
(0.023 takes/mtons).
implementation of the amendments to
the Plan, and New England Multispecies
Fishery Management Plan Amendment
16, which implemented sector
management and greatly modified the
way New England groundfish fishermen
could fish. The letter specifically
requested that the timing of the closure
be shifted from October and November
to mid-February through March, and
that the area be modified to be slightly
smaller. This request highlighted a
conservation benefit to harbor porpoises
that would occur by shifting the timing,
as well as an economic benefit for the
fishing industry by allowing them to
fish in the area during October and
November. In considering this request,
NMFS examined available harbor
porpoise bycatch and fishing
information from 2010 through 2012.
Within the boundaries of the Coastal
Gulf of Maine Closure Area, harbor
porpoise bycatch data indicated that a
higher number of observed takes
occurred during the spring, particularly
in February and March, than in the fall
(October and November), equating to a
higher estimated total bycatch in the
spring. Additionally, the bycatch rate
during the spring was higher than in the
fall.
Since the implementation of
groundfish sectors in May 2010, it is
possible that fishing effort distribution
has shifted, thus affecting the
distribution and timing of harbor
porpoise bycatch. Alternatively, this
change may reflect a shift in harbor
porpoise distribution. However, this
information has not yet been fully
analyzed.
erowe on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with
Temporary Shift of the Coastal Gulf of
Maine Closure Area Effective Date
In April 2012, NMFS sent letters to
gillnet fishermen notifying them that
NMFS planned to implement the
Coastal Gulf of Maine Closure Area
beginning October 1, 2012. Following
this notification, in August 2012, NMFS
received a letter from a fishing industry
representative requesting that the
agency review harbor porpoise bycatch
and fishing effort information in the
coastal Gulf of Maine area after the 2010
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03OCR1
ER03OC12.040</GPH>
would be triggered if the observed
average bycatch rate of harbor porpoises
in the Southern New England
Management Area exceeded the target
bycatch rate of 0.023 takes/mtons (1
harbor porpoise taken per 95,853
pounds of fish landed) after two
consecutive management seasons. If
triggered, both areas would prohibit the
use of gillnet gear annually from
February 1 through April 30. When the
consequence closure areas are not
erowe on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 192 / Wednesday, October 3, 2012 / Rules and Regulations
According to 50 CFR 229.33(f)(2), the
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries
may revise the requirements of the Plan
through notification published in the
Federal Register if NMFS determines
that the boundaries or timing of a closed
area is inappropriate. After
consideration of this recent information,
NMFS will temporarily shift the
implementation of year 1 of the Coastal
Gulf of Maine Closure Area from
October 1, 2012 through November 30,
2012, to February 1, 2013 through
March 31, 2013. This temporary shift
will be for year 1 only, and will include
the entire Coastal Gulf of Maine Closure
Area as identified in the regulations for
the full two-month time period. This
temporary shift of the closure will
provide greater conservation benefits to
harbor porpoises. During October, the
Team will convene to consider data
generated since the last Team meeting
in late 2007. New information includes:
new harbor porpoise abundance
estimates, the most recent harbor
porpoise bycatch information that
indicates that harbor porpoise bycatch is
exceeding allowable levels under the
MMPA, and fishing effort and
distribution information within the
consequence closure area boundaries as
well as throughout the entire range of
the Plan. The Team will also assess how
the implementation of groundfish
sectors has affected gillnet effort and
distribution and any related effects on
harbor porpoise bycatch. This
information will allow the Team to
develop a comprehensive management
strategy to further reduce the bycatch of
harbor porpoises to acceptable levels
under the MMPA. After year 1, the
closure area timing will revert to
October and November, pending the
implementation of revised conservation
measures resulting from the Team’s
deliberations this fall.
Despite the shift in the timing of the
Coastal Gulf of Maine Closure to
February and March of 2013, NMFS
stresses the importance of fully
complying with the Plan’s pinger
requirements (i.e., proper number of
fully functional pingers present on each
net string) to reduce harbor porpoise
bycatch. Pingers are still required on
gillnet fishing gear in the Mid-Coast
Management Area from September 15
through May 31 and the Massachusetts
Bay and Stellwagen Bank Management
Areas from November 1 through May
31. Additionally, the entire
Massachusetts Bay Management Area is
closed during March.
References
Orphanides C.D. 2012. New England
harbor porpoise bycatch rates during
VerDate Mar<15>2010
14:51 Oct 02, 2012
Jkt 229001
2010–2012 associated with
Consequence Closure Areas. US Dept. of
Commerce, Northeast Fisheries Science
Center Reference Doc 12–19; 15 pp.
Dated: September 27, 2012.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for
Regulatory Programs, performing the
functions and duties of the, Assistant
Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2012–24410 Filed 9–28–12; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 679
[Docket No. 111207737–2141–02]
RIN 0648–XC270
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic
Zone Off Alaska; Pollock in Statistical
Area 620 in the Gulf of Alaska
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; closure.
AGENCY:
NMFS is prohibiting directed
fishing for pollock in Statistical Area
620 in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This
action is necessary to prevent exceeding
the 2012 total allowable catch of pollock
for Statistical Area 620 in the GOA.
DATES: Effective 1200 hrs, Alaska local
time (A.l.t.), October 1, 2012, through
2400 hrs, A.l.t., December 31, 2012.
Comments must be received at the
following address no later than 4:30
p.m., A.l.t., October 15, 2012.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments,
identified by NOAA–NMFS–2012–0187,
by any one of the following methods:
• Electronic Submission: Submit all
electronic public comments via the
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal www.
regulations.gov. To submit comments
via the e-Rulemaking Portal, first click
the ‘‘submit a comment’’ icon, then
enter NOAA–NMFS–2012–0187 in the
keyword search. Locate the document
you wish to comment on from the
resulting list and click on the ‘‘Submit
a Comment’’ icon on that line.
• Mail: Address written comments to
Glenn Merrill, Assistant Regional
Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries
Division, Alaska Region NMFS, Attn:
Ellen Sebastian. Mail comments to P.O.
Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802–1668.
• Fax: Address written comments to
Glenn Merrill, Assistant Regional
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00037
Fmt 4700
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60321
Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries
Division, Alaska Region NMFS, Attn:
Ellen Sebastian. Fax comments to 907–
586–7557.
• Hand delivery to the Federal
Building: Address written comments to
Glenn Merrill, Assistant Regional
Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries
Division, Alaska Region NMFS, Attn:
Ellen Sebastian. Deliver comments to
709 West 9th Street, Room 420A,
Juneau, AK.
Instructions: Comments must be
submitted by one of the above methods
to ensure that the comments are
received, documented, and considered
by NMFS. Comments sent by any other
method, to any other address or
individual, or received after the end of
the comment period, may not be
considered. All comments received are
a part of the public record and will
generally be posted for public viewing
on www.regulations.gov without change.
All personal identifying information
(e.g., name, address) submitted
voluntarily by the sender will be
publicly accessible. Do not submit
confidential business information, or
otherwise sensitive or protected
information. NMFS will accept
anonymous comments (enter ‘‘N/A’’ in
the required fields if you wish to remain
anonymous). Attachments to electronic
comments will be accepted in Microsoft
Word or Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe
PDF file formats only.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Obren Davis, 907–586–7228.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS
manages the groundfish fishery in the
GOA exclusive economic zone
according to the Fishery Management
Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of
Alaska (FMP) prepared by the North
Pacific Fishery Management Council
under authority of the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act. Regulations governing
fishing by U.S. vessels in accordance
with the FMP appear at subpart H of 50
CFR part 600 and 50 CFR part 679.
The 2012 total allowable catch (TAC)
of pollock in Statistical Area 620 of the
GOA is 45,808 metric tons (mt) as
established by the final 2012 and 2013
harvest specifications for groundfish of
the GOA (77 FR 15194, March 14, 2012).
As of September 27, 2012,
approximately 5,200 mt of pollock
remain in the 2012 TAC for pollock in
Statistical Area 620 of the GOA. Based
on fleet capacity and potentially high
levels of fleet participation in this
fishery, the Administrator, Alaska
Region (Regional Administrator) has
determined that the pollock TAC for
Statistical Area 620 of the GOA could be
E:\FR\FM\03OCR1.SGM
03OCR1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 192 (Wednesday, October 3, 2012)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 60319-60321]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-24410]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 229
RIN 0648-XC099
Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan; Coastal Gulf of Maine
Closure Area Established With a Temporary Shift of Its Effective Date
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Establishment of the Coastal Gulf of Maine Closure Area;
temporary shift of its effective date.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Through this notice, NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS) announces the establishment of the Coastal Gulf of Maine Closure
Area under the Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan (Plan), and
temporarily shifts the effective date of year 1 of its implementation
from October 1, 2012, to February 1, 2013. Recent information suggests
that harbor porpoise bycatch is higher in February and March than in
October and November since the implementation of sectors in May 2010,
warranting a temporary shift of the closure in year 1 to a time period
that would provide greater conservation benefit to harbor porpoises and
allow time for more complete consideration of updated information on
harbor porpoise bycatch, harbor porpoise abundance, and fishing effort
by the Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Team (Team). As such, this area
will be closed to gillnet fishing in February and March of 2013 rather
than October and November of 2012.
DATES: Year 1 effective February 1, 2013; Year 2 and beyond effective
October 1, 2013.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kate Swails, NMFS, Northeast Region,
978-282-8481, kate.swails@noaa.gov; or Kristy Long, NMFS, Office of
Protected Resources, 301-427-8402, kristy.long@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan (Plan) was implemented in
late 1998 pursuant to section 118(f) of the Marine Mammal Protection
Act (MMPA) to reduce the level of serious injury and mortality of the
Gulf of Maine/Bay of Fundy (GOM/BOF) stock of harbor porpoises (63 FR
66464, December 2, 1998). NMFS amended the Plan in 2010 (75 FR 7383,
February 19, 2010) to address increased mortalities of harbor porpoises
in New England and Mid-Atlantic commercial gillnet fisheries due to
non-compliance with the Plan requirements and observed interactions
occurring outside of existing management areas.
The 2010 amendments, based largely on consensus recommendations
from the Team, included the expansion of seasonal and temporal
requirements within the Plan's management areas, the incorporation of
additional management areas, and the creation of three closure areas
off the coast of New England that would prohibit the use of gillnet
gear if certain levels of harbor porpoise bycatch are exceeded
(consequence closure area strategy).
For New England, the 2010 amendments to the Plan implemented a
``consequence'' closure strategy, which would close specific areas to
gillnet gear during certain times of the year if observed average
bycatch rates exceed specified target bycatch rates over the course of
two consecutive management seasons. If observed bycatch rates exceeded
the target rates, the following three areas would become closed: the
Coastal Gulf of Maine, Eastern Cape Cod, and Cape Cod South Expansion
Consequence Closure Areas. This measure was intended to provide an
incentive for the gillnet industry to comply with pinger requirements
in areas with historically high harbor porpoise bycatch levels
resulting from relatively low levels of compliance. The consequence
closures, if implemented, would further reduce harbor porpoise
mortalities due to the times and areas chosen for their implementation.
The Coastal Gulf of Maine Consequence Closure would be triggered if
the observed average bycatch rates of harbor porpoises in the Mid-
Coast, Stellwagen Bank, and Massachusetts Bay Management Areas
(combined) exceed the target bycatch rate of 0.031 harbor porpoise
takes/metric tons of fish landed (takes/mtons) (1 harbor porpoise taken
per 71,117 pounds of fish landed) after two consecutive management
seasons. If triggered, the use of gillnet gear would be prohibited
during the months of October and November, which historically have been
the months with the highest amount of observed harbor porpoise bycatch.
When this area is not closed, the seasonal requirements of the three
overlapping management areas, including the March gillnet closure in
the Massachusetts Bay Management Area, would remain in effect.
The Cape Cod South Expansion and Eastern Cape Cod Consequence
Closures
[[Page 60320]]
would be triggered if the observed average bycatch rate of harbor
porpoises in the Southern New England Management Area exceeded the
target bycatch rate of 0.023 takes/mtons (1 harbor porpoise taken per
95,853 pounds of fish landed) after two consecutive management seasons.
If triggered, both areas would prohibit the use of gillnet gear
annually from February 1 through April 30. When the consequence closure
areas are not closed, the seasonal pinger requirements of the
overlapping Southern New England Management Area would remain in
effect.
Consequence closure area monitoring began with the start of first
full management season after implementation of the 2010 amendments. The
first monitoring season occurred from September 15, 2010 through May
31, 2011, and the second occurred from September 15, 2011 through May
31, 2012.
The two-year average observed harbor porpoise bycatch rate for the
areas associated with the Coastal Gulf of Maine Consequence Closure
Area is 0.057 takes/mtons (Orphanides, 2012). This is above the target
bycatch rate (0.031 takes/mtons), triggering the implementation of the
Coastal Gulf of Maine Closure Area (Figure 1).
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TR03OC12.040
The two-year average observed harbor porpoise bycatch rate in the
Southern New England Management Area is 0.020 takes/mtons (Orphanides,
2012), indicating that the two-year average does not exceed the target
bycatch rate (0.023 takes/mtons).
Temporary Shift of the Coastal Gulf of Maine Closure Area Effective
Date
In April 2012, NMFS sent letters to gillnet fishermen notifying
them that NMFS planned to implement the Coastal Gulf of Maine Closure
Area beginning October 1, 2012. Following this notification, in August
2012, NMFS received a letter from a fishing industry representative
requesting that the agency review harbor porpoise bycatch and fishing
effort information in the coastal Gulf of Maine area after the 2010
implementation of the amendments to the Plan, and New England
Multispecies Fishery Management Plan Amendment 16, which implemented
sector management and greatly modified the way New England groundfish
fishermen could fish. The letter specifically requested that the timing
of the closure be shifted from October and November to mid-February
through March, and that the area be modified to be slightly smaller.
This request highlighted a conservation benefit to harbor porpoises
that would occur by shifting the timing, as well as an economic benefit
for the fishing industry by allowing them to fish in the area during
October and November. In considering this request, NMFS examined
available harbor porpoise bycatch and fishing information from 2010
through 2012. Within the boundaries of the Coastal Gulf of Maine
Closure Area, harbor porpoise bycatch data indicated that a higher
number of observed takes occurred during the spring, particularly in
February and March, than in the fall (October and November), equating
to a higher estimated total bycatch in the spring. Additionally, the
bycatch rate during the spring was higher than in the fall.
Since the implementation of groundfish sectors in May 2010, it is
possible that fishing effort distribution has shifted, thus affecting
the distribution and timing of harbor porpoise bycatch. Alternatively,
this change may reflect a shift in harbor porpoise distribution.
However, this information has not yet been fully analyzed.
[[Page 60321]]
According to 50 CFR 229.33(f)(2), the Assistant Administrator for
Fisheries may revise the requirements of the Plan through notification
published in the Federal Register if NMFS determines that the
boundaries or timing of a closed area is inappropriate. After
consideration of this recent information, NMFS will temporarily shift
the implementation of year 1 of the Coastal Gulf of Maine Closure Area
from October 1, 2012 through November 30, 2012, to February 1, 2013
through March 31, 2013. This temporary shift will be for year 1 only,
and will include the entire Coastal Gulf of Maine Closure Area as
identified in the regulations for the full two-month time period. This
temporary shift of the closure will provide greater conservation
benefits to harbor porpoises. During October, the Team will convene to
consider data generated since the last Team meeting in late 2007. New
information includes: new harbor porpoise abundance estimates, the most
recent harbor porpoise bycatch information that indicates that harbor
porpoise bycatch is exceeding allowable levels under the MMPA, and
fishing effort and distribution information within the consequence
closure area boundaries as well as throughout the entire range of the
Plan. The Team will also assess how the implementation of groundfish
sectors has affected gillnet effort and distribution and any related
effects on harbor porpoise bycatch. This information will allow the
Team to develop a comprehensive management strategy to further reduce
the bycatch of harbor porpoises to acceptable levels under the MMPA.
After year 1, the closure area timing will revert to October and
November, pending the implementation of revised conservation measures
resulting from the Team's deliberations this fall.
Despite the shift in the timing of the Coastal Gulf of Maine
Closure to February and March of 2013, NMFS stresses the importance of
fully complying with the Plan's pinger requirements (i.e., proper
number of fully functional pingers present on each net string) to
reduce harbor porpoise bycatch. Pingers are still required on gillnet
fishing gear in the Mid-Coast Management Area from September 15 through
May 31 and the Massachusetts Bay and Stellwagen Bank Management Areas
from November 1 through May 31. Additionally, the entire Massachusetts
Bay Management Area is closed during March.
References
Orphanides C.D. 2012. New England harbor porpoise bycatch rates
during 2010-2012 associated with Consequence Closure Areas. US Dept. of
Commerce, Northeast Fisheries Science Center Reference Doc 12-19; 15
pp.
Dated: September 27, 2012.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, performing the
functions and duties of the, Assistant Administrator for Fisheries,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-24410 Filed 9-28-12; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
