Nominations for the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission Permanent Advisory Committee, 2960-2961 [2017-00259]
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2960
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 6 / Tuesday, January 10, 2017 / Notices
marine mammals to be authorized in
Category III fisheries, any mortality or
serious injury must be reported to
NMFS. NMFS solicits public comments
on the proposed permit and the
preliminary determinations supporting
the permit.
Dated: January 4, 2017.
Donna S. Wieting,
Director, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
RIN 0648–XF128
Nominations for the Western and
Central Pacific Fisheries Commission
Permanent Advisory Committee
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of request for
nominations.
AGENCY:
NMFS, on behalf of the
Secretary of Commerce, is seeking
nominations for the advisory committee
established under the Western and
Central Pacific Fisheries Convention
Implementation Act (Act). The
Permanent Advisory Committee,
composed of individuals from groups
concerned with the fisheries covered by
the Western and Central Pacific
Fisheries Convention (Convention), will
be given the opportunity to provide
input to the United States
Commissioners to the Western and
Central Pacific Fisheries Commission
(Commission) regarding the
deliberations and decisions of the
Commission.
DATES: Nominations must be received
no later than February 24, 2017.
Nominations received after the deadline
will not be accepted.
ADDRESSES: Nominations should be
directed to Michael Tosatto, Regional
Administrator, NMFS Pacific Islands
Regional Office, and may be submitted
by any of the following means:
• Email: pir.wcpfc@noaa.gov. Include
in the subject line the following
document identifier: ‘‘Permanent
Advisory Committee nominations’’.
Email comments, including
attachments, are limited to 5 megabytes.
• Mail or hand delivery: 1845 Wasp
Boulevard, Bldg 176, Honolulu, HI
96818
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Zora
McGinnis, NMFS Pacific Islands
Regional Office; telephone: 808–725–
5037 facsimile: 808–725–5215; email:
zora.mcginnis@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The Convention and the Commission
[FR Doc. 2017–00265 Filed 1–9–17; 8:45 am]
SUMMARY:
• Facsimile: 808–725–5215.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
The objective of the Convention is to
ensure, through effective management,
the long-term conservation and
sustainable use of highly migratory fish
stocks in the western and central Pacific
Ocean in accordance with the United
Nations Convention on the Law of the
Sea of 10 December 1982 (UNCLOS) and
the Agreement for the Implementation
of the Provisions of the UNCLOS
Relating to the Conservation and
Management of Straddling Fish Stocks
and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks. The
Convention establishes the Commission,
the secretariat of which is based in
Pohnpei, Federated States of
Micronesia.
The Convention applies to all highly
migratory fish stocks (defined as all fish
stocks of the species listed in Annex I
of the UNCLOS occurring in the
Convention Area, and such other
species of fish as the Commission may
determine), except sauries.
The United States actively supported
the negotiations and the development of
the Convention and signed the
Convention when it was opened for
signature in 2000. It participated as a
cooperating non-member of the
Commission since it became operational
in 2005. The United States became a
Contracting Party to the Convention and
a full member of the Commission when
it ratified the Convention in January
2007. Under the Act, the United States
is to be represented on the Commission
by five United States Commissioners,
appointed by the President.
Permanent Advisory Committee
The Act (16 U.S.C. 6902) provides (in
section 6902(d)) that the Secretary of
Commerce, in consultation with the
United States Commissioners to the
Commission, will appoint individuals
as members of the advisory committee
established under the Act, referred to
here as the ‘‘Permanent Advisory
Committee’’.
The appointed members of the
Permanent Advisory Committee are to
include not less than 15 or more than
20 individuals selected from the various
groups concerned with the fisheries
covered by the Convention, providing,
to the extent practicable, an equitable
balance among such groups. On behalf
of the Secretary of Commerce, NMFS is
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Frm 00022
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
now seeking nominations for these
appointments.
In addition to the 15–20 appointed
members, the Permanent Advisory
Committee includes the chair of the
Western Pacific Fishery Management
Council’s Advisory Committee (or
designee), and officials of the fisheries
management authorities of American
Samoa, Guam, and the Northern
Mariana Islands (or their designees).
Members of the Permanent Advisory
Committee will be invited to attend all
non-executive meetings of the United
States Commissioners to the
Commission and at such meetings will
be given opportunity to examine and be
heard on all proposed programs of
investigation, reports,
recommendations, and regulations of
the Commission.
Each appointed member of the
Permanent Advisory Committee will
serve for a term of 2 years and is eligible
for reappointment. This request for
nominations is for the term to begin on
August 3, 2017, and is for a term of 2
consecutive years.
The Secretaries of Commerce and
State will furnish the Permanent
Advisory Committee with relevant
information concerning fisheries and
international fishery agreements.
NMFS, on behalf of the Secretary of
Commerce, will provide to the
Permanent Advisory Committee
administrative and technical support
services as are necessary for its effective
functioning.
Appointed members of the Permanent
Advisory Committee will serve without
pay, but while away from their homes
or regular places of business in the
performance of services for the advisory
committee will be allowed travel
expenses, including per diem in lieu of
subsistence, in the same manner as
persons employed intermittently in the
Government service are allowed
expenses under section 5703 of title 5,
United States Code. They will not be
considered Federal employees while
performing service as members of the
advisory committee except for the
purposes of injury compensation or tort
claims liability as provided in chapter
81 of title 5, United States Code and
Chapter 171 of title 28, United States
Code.
Procedure for Submitting Nominations
Nominations for the Permanent
Advisory Committee should be
submitted to NMFS (see ADDRESSES).
This request for nominations is for firsttime nominees as well as previous and
current Permanent Advisory Committee
members. Self nominations are
acceptable. Nominations should include
E:\FR\FM\10JAN1.SGM
10JAN1
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 6 / Tuesday, January 10, 2017 / Notices
the following information: (1) Full
name, address, telephone, and email
address of nominee; (2) nominee’s
organization(s) or professional
affiliation(s) serving as the basis for the
nomination, if any; and (3) a
background statement, not to exceed
one page in length, describing the
nominee’s qualifications, experience
and interests, specifically as related to
the fisheries covered by the Convention.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 6902.
Dated: January 4, 2017.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2017–00259 Filed 1–9–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
RIN 0648–XF139
List of Foreign Fisheries
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; request for information.
AGENCY:
NMFS is seeking information
on foreign commercial fishing
operations that export fish and fish
products to the United States and the
level of incidental and intentional
mortality and serious injury of marine
mammals in those fisheries. NMFS will
use this information to identify
harvesting nations with commercial
fishing operations that export fish and
fish products to the United States and
classify those fisheries based on their
frequency of marine mammal
interactions as either ‘‘exempt’’ or
‘‘export’’ fisheries.
DATES: Information should be received
on or before March 1, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Information may be
submitted by mail to: NMFS Office of
International Affairs and Seafood
Inspection, Attn: MMPA List of Foreign
Fisheries Information, F/IS 1315 EastWest Highway, Silver Spring, MD
20910, or electronically to:
Nina.Young@noaa.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Nina Young, phone 301–427–8383, or
email Nina.Young@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS
published a final rule (81 FR 54390,
August 15, 2016) implementing the
import provisions of the Marine
Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). This
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rule establishes conditions for
evaluating a harvesting nation’s
regulatory program to address incidental
and intentional mortality and serious
injury of marine mammals in fisheries
that export fish and fish products to the
United States.
Under this rule, fish and fish products
from fisheries identified by the
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries in
the List of Foreign Fisheries can only be
imported into the United States if the
harvesting nation has applied for and
received a comparability finding from
NMFS. The rule establishes procedures
that a harvesting nation must follow and
conditions to meet to receive a
comparability finding for a fishery. The
rule also establishes provisions for
intermediary nations to ensure that
intermediary nations do not import and
re-export to the United States fish or
fish products subject to an import
prohibition.
NMFS will identify harvesting nations
with commercial fishing operations that
export fish and fish products to the
United States and classify those
fisheries based on the frequency of
marine mammal interactions. NMFS
will classify foreign commercial fishing
operations exporting fish and fish
products to the United States as either
an ‘‘exempt fishery’’ or ‘‘export fishery’’
based on the reliable information
provided by the harvesting nation or
other readily available information.
NMFS defines ‘‘exempt fishery’’ as a
foreign commercial fishing operation
determined by the Assistant
Administrator to be the source of
exports of commercial fish and fish
products to the United States that have
a remote likelihood of, or no known,
incidental mortality and serious injury
of marine mammals in the course of
commercial fishing operations. A
commercial fishing operation that has a
remote likelihood of causing incidental
mortality and serious injury of marine
mammals is one that collectively with
other foreign fisheries exporting fish
and fish products to the United States
causes the annual removal of:
(1) Ten percent or less of any marine
mammal stock’s bycatch limit, or
(2) More than 10 percent of any
marine mammal stock’s bycatch limit,
yet that fishery by itself removes 1
percent or less of that stock’s bycatch
limit annually, or
(3) Where reliable information has not
been provided by the harvesting nation
on the frequency of incidental mortality
and serious injury of marine mammals
caused by the commercial fishing
operation, the Assistant Administrator
may determine whether the likelihood
of incidental mortality and serious
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Fmt 4703
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2961
injury is ‘‘remote’’ by evaluating
information concerning factors such as
fishing techniques, gear used, methods
used to deter marine mammals, target
species, seasons and areas fished,
qualitative data from logbooks or fisher
reports, stranding data, the species and
distribution of marine mammals in the
area, or other factors at the discretion of
the Assistant Administrator.
A foreign fishery will not be classified
as an exempt fishery unless the
Assistant Administrator has reliable
information from the harvesting nation,
or other information to support such a
finding.
Commercial fishing operations that
NMFS determines meet the definition of
an exempt fishery would still be
required to obtain a comparability
finding by having the harvesting nation
demonstrate that it has either prohibited
the intentional mortality or serious
injury of marine mammals in the course
of commercial fishing operations in
these exempt fisheries, unless the
intentional mortality or serious injury of
a marine mammal is imminently
necessary in self-defense or to save the
life of a person in immediate danger; or
that it has procedures to reliably certify
that exports of fish and fish products to
the United States are not the product of
an intentional killing or serious injury
of a marine mammal unless the
intentional mortality or serious injury of
a marine mammal is imminently
necessary in self-defense or to save the
life of a person in immediate danger.
Exempt fisheries would not have to
meet the comparability finding
requirement to have a regulatory
program for incidental mortality and
serious injury comparable in
effectiveness to the U.S. regulatory
program.
NMFS defines ‘‘export fishery’’ as a
foreign commercial fishing operation
determined by the Assistant
Administrator to be the source of
exports of commercial fish and fish
products to the United States and to
have more than a remote likelihood of
incidental mortality and serious injury
of marine mammals (as defined in the
definition of an ‘‘exempt fishery’’) in the
course of its commercial fishing
operations. Where reliable information
has not been provided by the harvesting
nation on the frequency of incidental
mortality and serious injury of marine
mammals caused by the commercial
fishing operation, the Assistant
Administrator may determine whether
the likelihood of incidental mortality
and serious injury is more than
‘‘remote’’ by evaluating information
concerning factors such as fishing
techniques, gear used, methods used to
E:\FR\FM\10JAN1.SGM
10JAN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 6 (Tuesday, January 10, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2960-2961]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-00259]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XF128
Nominations for the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries
Commission Permanent Advisory Committee
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of request for nominations.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS, on behalf of the Secretary of Commerce, is seeking
nominations for the advisory committee established under the Western
and Central Pacific Fisheries Convention Implementation Act (Act). The
Permanent Advisory Committee, composed of individuals from groups
concerned with the fisheries covered by the Western and Central Pacific
Fisheries Convention (Convention), will be given the opportunity to
provide input to the United States Commissioners to the Western and
Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (Commission) regarding the
deliberations and decisions of the Commission.
DATES: Nominations must be received no later than February 24, 2017.
Nominations received after the deadline will not be accepted.
ADDRESSES: Nominations should be directed to Michael Tosatto, Regional
Administrator, NMFS Pacific Islands Regional Office, and may be
submitted by any of the following means:
Email: pir.wcpfc@noaa.gov. Include in the subject line the
following document identifier: ``Permanent Advisory Committee
nominations''. Email comments, including attachments, are limited to 5
megabytes.
Mail or hand delivery: 1845 Wasp Boulevard, Bldg 176,
Honolulu, HI 96818
Facsimile: 808-725-5215.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Zora McGinnis, NMFS Pacific Islands
Regional Office; telephone: 808-725-5037 facsimile: 808-725-5215;
email: zora.mcginnis@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The Convention and the Commission
The objective of the Convention is to ensure, through effective
management, the long-term conservation and sustainable use of highly
migratory fish stocks in the western and central Pacific Ocean in
accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of
10 December 1982 (UNCLOS) and the Agreement for the Implementation of
the Provisions of the UNCLOS Relating to the Conservation and
Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks.
The Convention establishes the Commission, the secretariat of which is
based in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia.
The Convention applies to all highly migratory fish stocks (defined
as all fish stocks of the species listed in Annex I of the UNCLOS
occurring in the Convention Area, and such other species of fish as the
Commission may determine), except sauries.
The United States actively supported the negotiations and the
development of the Convention and signed the Convention when it was
opened for signature in 2000. It participated as a cooperating non-
member of the Commission since it became operational in 2005. The
United States became a Contracting Party to the Convention and a full
member of the Commission when it ratified the Convention in January
2007. Under the Act, the United States is to be represented on the
Commission by five United States Commissioners, appointed by the
President.
Permanent Advisory Committee
The Act (16 U.S.C. 6902) provides (in section 6902(d)) that the
Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the United States
Commissioners to the Commission, will appoint individuals as members of
the advisory committee established under the Act, referred to here as
the ``Permanent Advisory Committee''.
The appointed members of the Permanent Advisory Committee are to
include not less than 15 or more than 20 individuals selected from the
various groups concerned with the fisheries covered by the Convention,
providing, to the extent practicable, an equitable balance among such
groups. On behalf of the Secretary of Commerce, NMFS is now seeking
nominations for these appointments.
In addition to the 15-20 appointed members, the Permanent Advisory
Committee includes the chair of the Western Pacific Fishery Management
Council's Advisory Committee (or designee), and officials of the
fisheries management authorities of American Samoa, Guam, and the
Northern Mariana Islands (or their designees).
Members of the Permanent Advisory Committee will be invited to
attend all non-executive meetings of the United States Commissioners to
the Commission and at such meetings will be given opportunity to
examine and be heard on all proposed programs of investigation,
reports, recommendations, and regulations of the Commission.
Each appointed member of the Permanent Advisory Committee will
serve for a term of 2 years and is eligible for reappointment. This
request for nominations is for the term to begin on August 3, 2017, and
is for a term of 2 consecutive years.
The Secretaries of Commerce and State will furnish the Permanent
Advisory Committee with relevant information concerning fisheries and
international fishery agreements.
NMFS, on behalf of the Secretary of Commerce, will provide to the
Permanent Advisory Committee administrative and technical support
services as are necessary for its effective functioning.
Appointed members of the Permanent Advisory Committee will serve
without pay, but while away from their homes or regular places of
business in the performance of services for the advisory committee will
be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence,
in the same manner as persons employed intermittently in the Government
service are allowed expenses under section 5703 of title 5, United
States Code. They will not be considered Federal employees while
performing service as members of the advisory committee except for the
purposes of injury compensation or tort claims liability as provided in
chapter 81 of title 5, United States Code and Chapter 171 of title 28,
United States Code.
Procedure for Submitting Nominations
Nominations for the Permanent Advisory Committee should be
submitted to NMFS (see ADDRESSES). This request for nominations is for
first-time nominees as well as previous and current Permanent Advisory
Committee members. Self nominations are acceptable. Nominations should
include
[[Page 2961]]
the following information: (1) Full name, address, telephone, and email
address of nominee; (2) nominee's organization(s) or professional
affiliation(s) serving as the basis for the nomination, if any; and (3)
a background statement, not to exceed one page in length, describing
the nominee's qualifications, experience and interests, specifically as
related to the fisheries covered by the Convention.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 6902.
Dated: January 4, 2017.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-00259 Filed 1-9-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
