Endangered and Threatened Species; Identification of 14 Distinct Population Segments of the Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) and Proposed Revision of Species-Wide Listing, 14820-14821 [2016-06116]

Download as PDF 14820 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 53 / Friday, March 18, 2016 / Proposed Rules Area specified in § 648.80(a)(1), persons aboard a charter or party fishing vessel permitted under this part, and not fishing under the NE multispecies DAS program or on a sector trip, may not fish for or possess any haddock from March 1 through April 14. (3) April 15 through April 30. Each person on a charter or party fishing vessel permitted under this part, and not fishing under the NE multispecies DAS program or on a sector trip, fishing from April 15 through April 30, may possess no more than 15 haddock per day in, or harvested from, the EEZ when fishing in the GOM Regulated Mesh Area specified in § 648.80(a)(1). (iii) For purposes of counting fish, fillets will be converted to whole fish at the place of landing by dividing the number of fillets by two. If fish are filleted into a single (butterfly) fillet, such fillet shall be deemed to be from one whole fish. (iv) Haddock harvested in or from the EEZ by private recreational fishing boats or charter or party boats with more than one person aboard may be pooled in one or more containers. Compliance with the possession limit will be determined by dividing the number of fish on board by the number of persons on board. If there is a violation of the possession limit on board a vessel carrying more than one person, the violation shall be deemed to have been committed by the owner or operator of the vessel. (v) Haddock must be stored so as to be readily available for inspection. * * * * * [FR Doc. 2016–06179 Filed 3–17–16; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510–22–P DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 50 CFR Parts 223 and 224 RIN 0648–XC751 asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS Endangered and Threatened Species; Identification of 14 Distinct Population Segments of the Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) and Proposed Revision of Species-Wide Listing National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce. ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of availability of monitoring plan and opening of comment period. AGENCY: We, NMFS, in collaboration with Federal and state partners, have SUMMARY: VerDate Sep<11>2014 16:28 Mar 17, 2016 Jkt 238001 drafted a monitoring plan (MP) for the distinct population segments (DPSs) of humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) that we did not propose to list as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA), in our proposed revision of the species-wide listing. This document announces the availability of the draft MP and opens a 30-day public comment period on it. DATES: Comments must be received by April 18, 2016. ADDRESSES: Send comments to Marta Nammack, National ESA Listing Coordinator, NMFS Headquarters. You may submit comments, identified by FDMS Docket Number NOAA–NMFS– 2015–0035 by any of the following methods: • Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal https:// www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments. • Hand-delivery: National ESA Listing Coordinator, Protected Resources Office, NMFS, 1315 EastWest Highway, Room 13536, Silver Spring, MD 20910. • Mail: NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 13536, Silver Spring, MD 20910. All comments received are a part of the public record and will generally be posted to https://www.regulations.gov without change. All Personal Identifying Information (for example, name, address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may 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, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats only. The draft MP, along with the proposed revision of the humpback whale species-wide listing (80 FR 22304; April 21, 2015) and the Biological Review Team’s Status Review Report (Bettridge et al., 2015) upon which the proposed revision relies upon can be found on the NMFS Web site at: https://nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marta Nammack, Office of Protected Resources, Silver Spring, MD (301) 427– 8469. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background On April 21, 2015, we published a proposal to divide the globally listed PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 4702 Sfmt 4702 endangered humpback whale into 14 DPSs, remove the current species-level listing, and in its place list 2 DPSs as endangered and 2 DPSs as threatened. The remaining 10 DPSs were not proposed for listing because we determined that they are not threatened or endangered under the ESA. Section 4(g)(1) of the ESA requires that NMFS: ‘‘. . . implement a system in cooperation with the States to monitor effectively for not less than five years the status of all species which have recovered to the point at which the measures provided pursuant to this Act [the ESA] are no longer necessary and which, in accordance with the provisions of this section, have been removed from either of the lists published under subsection (c).’’ General guidance for monitoring plan development is provided by recommendations jointly developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NMFS (USFWS and NMFS 2008). This guidance, called the ‘‘Post-Delisting Monitoring Plan Guidance,’’ clarified that: ‘‘The primary goal of PDM is to monitor the species to ensure the status does not deteriorate, and if a substantial decline in the species . . . or an increase in threats is detected, to take measures to halt the decline so that reproposing it as a threatened or endangered species is not needed.’’ Although our determination that certain DPSs of humpback whale no longer qualify for listing is not technically a ‘‘delisting,’’ for the reasons explained in the proposed listing rule, we find that it is appropriate to monitor the status of the populations that will no longer be listed if the proposed rule is finalized. This is consistent with the intent of section 4(g)(1) of the Act. 16 U.S.C. 1533(g)(1). The Post-Delisting Monitoring Plan guidance thus guides us in our development of a monitoring plan for those humpback whale DPSs. Pursuant to ESA section 4(g)(1), we have drafted a MP for the humpback whale DPSs that we did not propose to list as threatened or endangered. Public Comments Solicited We are notifying the public of the availability of a draft MP and providing the public an opportunity to submit comments on the draft MP for 30 days. The comment period shall be limited to 30 days because the statutory deadline for our final listing determination on the proposed rule is April 21, 2016, and we must finalize the MP by this date, too. We will consider all comments we receive during the comment period and incorporate suggestions, as appropriate, before finalizing the MP. Please submit E:\FR\FM\18MRP1.SGM 18MRP1 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 53 / Friday, March 18, 2016 / Proposed Rules any comments to the ADDRESSES listed above. Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq. Dated: March 14, 2016. Donna S. Wieting, Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service. [FR Doc. 2016–06116 Filed 3–17–16; 8:45 am] asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS BILLING CODE 3510–22–P VerDate Sep<11>2014 16:28 Mar 17, 2016 Jkt 238001 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 4702 Sfmt 9990 E:\FR\FM\18MRP1.SGM 18MRP1 14821

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 53 (Friday, March 18, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 14820-14821]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-06116]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Parts 223 and 224

RIN 0648-XC751


Endangered and Threatened Species; Identification of 14 Distinct 
Population Segments of the Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) and 
Proposed Revision of Species-Wide Listing

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of availability of monitoring plan and 
opening of comment period.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: We, NMFS, in collaboration with Federal and state partners, 
have drafted a monitoring plan (MP) for the distinct population 
segments (DPSs) of humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) that we did 
not propose to list as threatened or endangered under the Endangered 
Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA), in our proposed revision of the 
species-wide listing. This document announces the availability of the 
draft MP and opens a 30-day public comment period on it.

DATES: Comments must be received by April 18, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Marta Nammack, National ESA Listing 
Coordinator, NMFS Headquarters. You may submit comments, identified by 
FDMS Docket Number NOAA-NMFS-2015-0035 by any of the following methods:
     Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Hand-delivery: National ESA Listing Coordinator, Protected 
Resources Office, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 13536, Silver 
Spring, MD 20910.
     Mail: NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 13536, Silver 
Spring, MD 20910.
    All comments received are a part of the public record and will 
generally be posted to https://www.regulations.gov without change. All 
Personal Identifying Information (for example, name, address, etc.) 
voluntarily submitted by the commenter may 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, Excel, 
WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats only.
    The draft MP, along with the proposed revision of the humpback 
whale species-wide listing (80 FR 22304; April 21, 2015) and the 
Biological Review Team's Status Review Report (Bettridge et al., 2015) 
upon which the proposed revision relies upon can be found on the NMFS 
Web site at: https://nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marta Nammack, Office of Protected 
Resources, Silver Spring, MD (301) 427-8469.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On April 21, 2015, we published a proposal to divide the globally 
listed endangered humpback whale into 14 DPSs, remove the current 
species-level listing, and in its place list 2 DPSs as endangered and 2 
DPSs as threatened. The remaining 10 DPSs were not proposed for listing 
because we determined that they are not threatened or endangered under 
the ESA.
    Section 4(g)(1) of the ESA requires that NMFS: ``. . . implement a 
system in cooperation with the States to monitor effectively for not 
less than five years the status of all species which have recovered to 
the point at which the measures provided pursuant to this Act [the ESA] 
are no longer necessary and which, in accordance with the provisions of 
this section, have been removed from either of the lists published 
under subsection (c).'' General guidance for monitoring plan 
development is provided by recommendations jointly developed by the 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NMFS (USFWS and NMFS 2008). This 
guidance, called the ``Post-Delisting Monitoring Plan Guidance,'' 
clarified that: ``The primary goal of PDM is to monitor the species to 
ensure the status does not deteriorate, and if a substantial decline in 
the species . . . or an increase in threats is detected, to take 
measures to halt the decline so that re-proposing it as a threatened or 
endangered species is not needed.'' Although our determination that 
certain DPSs of humpback whale no longer qualify for listing is not 
technically a ``delisting,'' for the reasons explained in the proposed 
listing rule, we find that it is appropriate to monitor the status of 
the populations that will no longer be listed if the proposed rule is 
finalized. This is consistent with the intent of section 4(g)(1) of the 
Act. 16 U.S.C. 1533(g)(1). The Post-Delisting Monitoring Plan guidance 
thus guides us in our development of a monitoring plan for those 
humpback whale DPSs.
    Pursuant to ESA section 4(g)(1), we have drafted a MP for the 
humpback whale DPSs that we did not propose to list as threatened or 
endangered.

Public Comments Solicited

    We are notifying the public of the availability of a draft MP and 
providing the public an opportunity to submit comments on the draft MP 
for 30 days. The comment period shall be limited to 30 days because the 
statutory deadline for our final listing determination on the proposed 
rule is April 21, 2016, and we must finalize the MP by this date, too. 
We will consider all comments we receive during the comment period and 
incorporate suggestions, as appropriate, before finalizing the MP. 
Please submit

[[Page 14821]]

any comments to the ADDRESSES listed above.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.

     Dated: March 14, 2016.
Donna S. Wieting,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-06116 Filed 3-17-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P

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