Notification of Receipt of a Supplemental Petition To Ban Imports of All Fish and Fish Products From New Zealand That Do Not Satisfy the Marine Mammal Protection Act, 60946-60947 [2020-21526]
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60946
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 189 / Tuesday, September 29, 2020 / Proposed Rules
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 216
RIN 0648–XG809
Notification of Receipt of a
Supplemental Petition To Ban Imports
of All Fish and Fish Products From
New Zealand That Do Not Satisfy the
Marine Mammal Protection Act
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Receipt of supplemental
petition to ban imports through
emergency rulemaking; request for
comments.
AGENCY:
NMFS announces receipt of a
supplemental petition for emergency
rulemaking under the Administrative
Procedure Act. Sea Shepherd Legal, Sea
Shepherd New Zealand Ltd., and Sea
Shepherd Conservation Society
petitioned the U.S. Department of
Commerce and other relevant
Departments to initiate emergency
rulemaking under the Marine Mammal
Protection Act (MMPA), to ban
importation of commercial fish or
products from fish that have been
caught with commercial fishing
technology that results in incidental
mortality or serious injury of Ma¯ui
dolphin in excess of United States
standards.
SUMMARY:
Written comments must be
received by 5 p.m. Eastern Time on
October 9, 2020.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
on this document, identified by NOAA–
NMFS–2019–0013, by the following
method:
1. Electronic Submissions: Submit all
electronic comments via the Federal
eRulemaking Portal. Go to
www.regulations.gov/
#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-20190013, click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon,
complete the required fields and enter
or attach your comments.
Instructions: 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 https://www.regulations.gov without
change. All personal identifying
information (e.g., name, address, etc.),
confidential business information, or
otherwise sensitive information
jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with PROPOSALS
DATES:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:27 Sep 28, 2020
Jkt 250001
submitted voluntarily by the sender will
be publicly accessible. NMFS will
accept anonymous comments (enter ‘‘N/
A’’ in the required fields if you wish to
remain anonymous).
Anyone who is unable to comment
through https://www.regulations.gov may
contact the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT below to discuss potential
alternatives for submitting comments.
Attachments to electronic comments
will be accepted in Microsoft Word,
Excel, or Adobe portable document file
(PDF) formats only. The complete text of
the petition is available via the internet
at the following web address: https://
www.nmfs.noaa.gov/ia/. In addition,
copies of this petition may be obtained
by contacting NMFS at the above
address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Nina Young, NMFS F/IASI at
Nina.Young@noaa.gov or 301–427–
8383.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 101(a)(2) of the Marine
Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), 16
U.S.C. 1371(a)(2), states that the
Secretary of the Treasury shall ban the
importation of commercial fish or
products from fish which have been
caught with commercial fishing
technology, which results in the
incidental kill or incidental serious
injury of ocean mammals in excess of
United States standards. In August
2016, NMFS published a final rule (81
FR 54390; August 15, 2016)
implementing the fish and fish product
import provisions in section 101(a)(2) of
the MMPA. This rule established
conditions for evaluating a harvesting
nation’s regulatory programs to address
incidental and intentional mortality and
serious injury of marine mammals in
fisheries operated by nations that export
fish and fish products to the United
States. In that rule’s preamble, NMFS
stated that it may consider emergency
rulemaking to ban imports of fish and
fish products from an export or exempt
fishery having or likely to have an
immediate and significant adverse
impact on a marine mammal stock.
Information on the Petition
On February 6, 2019, NMFS received
a petition from Sea Shepherd Legal, Sea
Shepherd New Zealand Ltd, and Sea
Shepherd Conservation Society to the
Department of Homeland Security, the
Department of the Treasury, and the
Department of Commerce to carry out
non-discretionary duties under section
101(a)(2) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C.
1371(a)(2)), to ban the importation of
PO 00000
Frm 00024
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
commercial fish or products from fish
sourced in a manner that results in the
incidental kill or incidental serious
injury of Ma¯ui dolphins in excess of
United States standards. The petition
requested that the relevant Secretary
immediately ban all fish and fish
products originating from fisheries in
the Ma¯ui dolphin’s range that employ
either gillnets or trawls, unless
affirmatively identified as having been
caught with a gear type other than set
nets or trawls or affirmatively identified
as caught outside the Ma¯ui dolphin’s
range.
NMFS reviewed the petition,
supporting documents, New Zealand’s
previous risk assessments and Threat
Management Plans (TMP). On June 18,
2019, NMFS denied the petition, stating
that: (1) New Zealand is implementing
a regulatory program comparable in
effectiveness to the United States; (2)
New Zealand has in place an existing
regulatory program to reduce Ma¯ui
dolphin bycatch; and (3) New Zealand
was in the process of proposing
additional regulatory measures that
would further reduce the risk to Ma¯ui
dolphins. (See 84 FR 32853, July 10,
2019.)
Petitioners filed a lawsuit against the
relevant Departments in the United
States Court of International Trade (CIT)
on May 21, 2020. On August 13, 2020,
the CIT remanded Sea Shepherd’s
February 2019 petition at NMFS’
request, because New Zealand had
announced its final regulatory program.
NMFS proposed, and the court agreed,
that the petitioners should have the
opportunity to supplement their
petition.
On August 27, 2020, NMFS received
the supplemental petition, which both
maintains the grounds for action
outlined in the original petition and
includes facts that arose after
submission of the original petition. The
supplemental petition directs attention
to the following new information: (1)
The receipt of data from the New
Zealand government noting sightings of
Ma¯ui dolphins on the east coast of the
North Island; (2) the issuance of the
2019 Draft TMP; (3) the final TMP
announced on June 24, 2020; and (4) the
2020 draft List of Foreign Fisheries.
NMFS will consider public comments
received in its evaluation of the
supplemental information received from
the petitioners.
E:\FR\FM\29SEP1.SGM
29SEP1
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 189 / Tuesday, September 29, 2020 / Proposed Rules
Dated: September 24, 2020.
Paul N. Doremus,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for
Operations, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2020–21526 Filed 9–28–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 635
[Docket No. 200911–0242]
RIN 0648–XT038
Atlantic Highly Migratory Species;
2021 Atlantic Shark Commercial
Fishing Year
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule; request for
comments.
AGENCY:
This proposed rule would
adjust quotas and retention limits and
establish the opening date for the 2021
fishing year for the Atlantic commercial
shark fisheries. Quotas would be
adjusted as required or allowable based
on any overharvests and/or
underharvests experienced during the
2020 fishing year. NMFS proposes the
opening date and commercial retention
limits to provide, to the extent
practicable, fishing opportunities for
commercial shark fishermen in all
regions and areas. The proposed
measures could affect fishing
opportunities for commercial shark
fishermen in the northwestern Atlantic
Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the
Caribbean Sea.
DATES: Written comments must be
received by October 29, 2020.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
on this document, identified by NOAA–
NMFS–2020–0108, by electronic
submission. Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking
Portal. Go to www.regulations.gov/
#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-20200108, click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon,
complete the required fields, and enter
or attach your comments.
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 by
NMFS. All comments received are a part
of the public record and will generally
be posted for public viewing on
www.regulations.gov without change.
jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with PROPOSALS
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:27 Sep 28, 2020
Jkt 250001
All personal identifying information
(e.g., name, address, etc.), confidential
business information, or otherwise
sensitive information submitted
voluntarily by the sender will be
publicly accessible. NMFS will accept
anonymous comments (enter ‘‘N/A’’ in
the required fields if you wish to remain
anonymous).
Copies of this proposed rule and
supporting documents are available
from the HMS Management Division
website at https://
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/topic/atlantichighly-migratory-species or by
contacting Lauren Latchford
(lauren.latchford@noaa.gov) by phone at
301–427–8503.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Lauren Latchford (lauren.latchford@
noaa.gov), Guy Eroh (guy.eroh@
noaa.gov), or Karyl Brewster-Geisz
(karyl.brewster-geisz@noaa.gov) at 301–
427–8503.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Atlantic commercial shark
fisheries are managed under the
authority of the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management
Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). The 2006
Consolidated Atlantic Highly Migratory
Species (HMS) Fishery Management
Plan (FMP) and its amendments are
implemented by regulations at 50 CFR
part 635. For the Atlantic commercial
shark fisheries, the 2006 Consolidated
Atlantic HMS FMP and its amendments
established default commercial shark
retention limits, commercial quotas for
species and management groups, and
accounting measures for underharvests
and overharvests. Regulations also
include provisions allowing flexible
opening dates for the fishing year and
inseason adjustments to shark trip
limits, which provide management
flexibility in furtherance of equitable
fishing opportunities, to the extent
practicable, for commercial shark
fishermen in all regions and areas.
2021 Proposed Commercial Shark
Quotas
NMFS proposes adjusting the quota
levels for the different shark stocks and
management groups for the 2021
Atlantic commercial shark fishing year
based on overharvests and
underharvests that occurred during the
2020 fishing year, consistent with
existing regulations at 50 CFR 635.27(b).
Overharvests and underharvests are
accounted for in the same region, subregion, and/or fishery in which they
occurred the following year, except that
large overharvests may be spread over a
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Frm 00025
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
60947
number of subsequent fishing years up
to a maximum of five years. If a subregional quota is overharvested, but the
overall regional quota is not, no
subsequent adjustment is required.
Unharvested quota may be added to the
quota for the next fishing year, but only
if NMFS knows the status of all species
in the management group, none of the
species in the group are overfished, and
there is no overfishing in the group. No
more than 50 percent of a base annual
quota may be carried over from a
previous fishing year.
Based on 2020 harvests to date, and
after considering catch rates and
landings from previous years, NMFS
proposes to adjust the 2021 quotas for
certain management groups as shown in
Table 1. All of the 2021 proposed quotas
for the respective stocks and
management groups will be subject to
further adjustment in the final rule after
NMFS considers the dealer reports
through mid-October. NMFS anticipates
that dealer reports received after that
time will be used to adjust 2021 quotas,
as appropriate, noting that in some
circumstances, NMFS re-adjusts quotas
in the subject year.
Because the Gulf of Mexico blacktip
shark management group and
smoothhound shark management groups
in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic
regions are not overfished, and
overfishing is not occurring, available
underharvest (up to 50 percent of the
base annual quota) from the 2020
fishing year for these management
groups may be added to the respective
2021 base quotas. NMFS proposes to
account for any underharvest of Gulf of
Mexico blacktip sharks by dividing
underharvest between the eastern and
western Gulf of Mexico sub-regional
quotas based on the sub-regional quota
split percentage implemented in
Amendment 6 to the 2006 Consolidated
Atlantic HMS FMP (80 FR 50073;
August 18, 2015).
For the sandbar shark, aggregated
large coastal shark (LCS), hammerhead
shark, non-blacknose small coastal
shark (SCS), blacknose shark, blue
shark, porbeagle shark, and pelagic
shark (other than porbeagle or blue
sharks) management groups, the 2020
underharvests cannot be carried over to
the 2021 fishing year because those
stocks or management groups are
overfished, are experiencing
overfishing, or have an unknown status.
With the exception of the sub-regional
western Gulf of Mexico overharvest of
the aggregated LCS quota, which will be
discussed below, there are no
overharvests to account for in these
management groups to date. Thus,
NMFS proposes that quotas for these
E:\FR\FM\29SEP1.SGM
29SEP1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 189 (Tuesday, September 29, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 60946-60947]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-21526]
[[Page 60946]]
=======================================================================
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 216
RIN 0648-XG809
Notification of Receipt of a Supplemental Petition To Ban Imports
of All Fish and Fish Products From New Zealand That Do Not Satisfy the
Marine Mammal Protection Act
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Receipt of supplemental petition to ban imports through
emergency rulemaking; request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS announces receipt of a supplemental petition for
emergency rulemaking under the Administrative Procedure Act. Sea
Shepherd Legal, Sea Shepherd New Zealand Ltd., and Sea Shepherd
Conservation Society petitioned the U.S. Department of Commerce and
other relevant Departments to initiate emergency rulemaking under the
Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), to ban importation of commercial
fish or products from fish that have been caught with commercial
fishing technology that results in incidental mortality or serious
injury of Maui dolphin in excess of United States standards.
DATES: Written comments must be received by 5 p.m. Eastern Time on
October 9, 2020.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by
NOAA-NMFS-2019-0013, by the following method:
1. Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic comments via the
Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2019-0013, click the ``Comment Now!'' icon,
complete the required fields and enter or attach your comments.
Instructions: 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 https://www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying
information (e.g., name, address, etc.), confidential business
information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily
by the sender will be publicly accessible. NMFS will accept anonymous
comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to remain
anonymous).
Anyone who is unable to comment through https://www.regulations.gov
may contact the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT below to discuss
potential alternatives for submitting comments.
Attachments to electronic comments will be accepted in Microsoft
Word, Excel, or Adobe portable document file (PDF) formats only. The
complete text of the petition is available via the internet at the
following web address: https://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/ia/. In addition,
copies of this petition may be obtained by contacting NMFS at the above
address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nina Young, NMFS F/IASI at
[email protected] or 301-427-8383.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 101(a)(2) of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), 16
U.S.C. 1371(a)(2), states that the Secretary of the Treasury shall ban
the importation of commercial fish or products from fish which have
been caught with commercial fishing technology, which results in the
incidental kill or incidental serious injury of ocean mammals in excess
of United States standards. In August 2016, NMFS published a final rule
(81 FR 54390; August 15, 2016) implementing the fish and fish product
import provisions in section 101(a)(2) of the MMPA. This rule
established conditions for evaluating a harvesting nation's regulatory
programs to address incidental and intentional mortality and serious
injury of marine mammals in fisheries operated by nations that export
fish and fish products to the United States. In that rule's preamble,
NMFS stated that it may consider emergency rulemaking to ban imports of
fish and fish products from an export or exempt fishery having or
likely to have an immediate and significant adverse impact on a marine
mammal stock.
Information on the Petition
On February 6, 2019, NMFS received a petition from Sea Shepherd
Legal, Sea Shepherd New Zealand Ltd, and Sea Shepherd Conservation
Society to the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of the
Treasury, and the Department of Commerce to carry out non-discretionary
duties under section 101(a)(2) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1371(a)(2)), to
ban the importation of commercial fish or products from fish sourced in
a manner that results in the incidental kill or incidental serious
injury of Maui dolphins in excess of United States standards. The
petition requested that the relevant Secretary immediately ban all fish
and fish products originating from fisheries in the Maui dolphin's
range that employ either gillnets or trawls, unless affirmatively
identified as having been caught with a gear type other than set nets
or trawls or affirmatively identified as caught outside the Maui
dolphin's range.
NMFS reviewed the petition, supporting documents, New Zealand's
previous risk assessments and Threat Management Plans (TMP). On June
18, 2019, NMFS denied the petition, stating that: (1) New Zealand is
implementing a regulatory program comparable in effectiveness to the
United States; (2) New Zealand has in place an existing regulatory
program to reduce Maui dolphin bycatch; and (3) New Zealand was in the
process of proposing additional regulatory measures that would further
reduce the risk to Maui dolphins. (See 84 FR 32853, July 10, 2019.)
Petitioners filed a lawsuit against the relevant Departments in the
United States Court of International Trade (CIT) on May 21, 2020. On
August 13, 2020, the CIT remanded Sea Shepherd's February 2019 petition
at NMFS' request, because New Zealand had announced its final
regulatory program. NMFS proposed, and the court agreed, that the
petitioners should have the opportunity to supplement their petition.
On August 27, 2020, NMFS received the supplemental petition, which
both maintains the grounds for action outlined in the original petition
and includes facts that arose after submission of the original
petition. The supplemental petition directs attention to the following
new information: (1) The receipt of data from the New Zealand
government noting sightings of Maui dolphins on the east coast of the
North Island; (2) the issuance of the 2019 Draft TMP; (3) the final TMP
announced on June 24, 2020; and (4) the 2020 draft List of Foreign
Fisheries.
NMFS will consider public comments received in its evaluation of
the supplemental information received from the petitioners.
[[Page 60947]]
Dated: September 24, 2020.
Paul N. Doremus,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Operations, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-21526 Filed 9-28-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P