Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization Cost Recovery Program, 51301-51302 [2023-16524]
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ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 148 / Thursday, August 3, 2023 / Notices
list of available applications. These
documents are also available upon
written request via email to
NMFS.Pr1Comments@noaa.gov.
Written comments on this application
should be submitted via email to
NMFS.Pr1Comments@noaa.gov. Please
include File No. 23639 in the subject
line of the email comment.
Those individuals requesting a public
hearing should submit a written request
via email to NMFS.Pr1Comments@
noaa.gov. The request should set forth
the specific reasons why a hearing on
this application would be appropriate.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Amy Hapeman or Erin Markin, Ph.D.,
(301) 427–8401.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
subject modification to Permit No.
23639, issued on September 25, 2020
(85 FR 63524, October 8, 2020) is
requested under the authority of the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and
the regulations governing the taking,
importing, and exporting of endangered
and threatened species (50 CFR parts
222–226).
Permit No. 23639–01 authorizes the
permit holder to study the behavior and
distributions of green (Chelonia mydas),
Kemp’s ridley (Lepidochelys kempii),
leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), and
loggerhead (Caretta caretta) sea turtles
in U.S. waters from Maine through
North Carolina. Researchers may
capture sea turtles by dip or
encirclement net, and perform the
following procedures before release:
morphometrics, photography, marking,
a suite of biological sampling, and
transmitter attachment. After release,
animals may be temporarily tracked
with an underwater remotely operated
vehicle (ROV). Leatherbacks may be
sighted and tracked by a manned
aircraft for subsequent vessel-based
research later in the same day involving
remote attachment of a suction-cup tag,
ROV tracking, and remote passive
integrated transponder (PIT) tag
scanning. Sea turtles may also be
pursued during unsuccessful capture or
remote tagging attempts. The permit
holder requests authorization to: (1)
increase the number of Kemp’s ridley
sea turtles captured from 15 to 30
annually; (2) increase the number of
loggerhead sea turtles captured from 30
to 60 annually; (3) attach up to 2
transmitters (acoustic + satellite or
camera tag) at a time on large hardshelled turtles; and (4) add 2 satellite tag
models as alternative tag unit options
when tagging hard-shelled turtles. This
modification would accommodate new
funding to conduct sea turtle surveys
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17:35 Aug 02, 2023
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that would inform wind energy
development in the Atlantic. The
modification would be valid until the
permit expires on September 30, 2030.
Dated: July 28, 2023.
Julia M. Harrison,
Chief, Permits and Conservation Division,
Office of Protected Resources, National
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023–16495 Filed 8–2–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
[RTID 0648–XD167]
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic
Zone Off Alaska; Bering Sea and
Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization
Cost Recovery Program
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notification of fee percentage.
AGENCY:
NMFS publishes notification
of a 3 percent fee for cost recovery
under the Bering Sea and Aleutian
Islands Crab Rationalization Program.
This action is intended to provide
holders of crab allocations with the
2023/2024 crab fishing year fee
percentage so they can calculate the
required cost recovery fee payment,
which must be submitted to NMFS by
July 31, 2024.
DATES: The Crab Rationalization
Program Registered Crab Receiver
permit holder is responsible for
submitting the fee liability payment to
NMFS by July 31, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Amy Hadfield, (907) 586–7228.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
SUMMARY:
Background
NMFS Alaska Region administers the
Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Crab
Rationalization Program (Program) in
the North Pacific. Fishing under the
Program began on August 15, 2005.
Regulations implementing the Program
can be found at 50 CFR part 680.
The Program is a limited access
privilege program authorized by section
313(j) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act
(Magnuson-Stevens Act). The Program
includes a cost recovery provision to
collect fees to recover the actual costs
directly related to the management, data
collection, and enforcement of the
Program. The Program is consistent with
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
51301
the cost recovery provisions included
under section 304(d)(2)(A) of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act. NMFS
developed the cost recovery regulations
to conform to statutory requirements
and to reimburse the agency for the
actual costs directly related to the
management, data collection, and
enforcement of the Program. The cost
recovery provision allows collection of
133 percent of the actual management,
data collection, and enforcement costs
not to exceed 3 percent of the ex-vessel
value of crab harvested under the
Program. The Program provides that a
proportional share of fees charged will
be forwarded to the State of Alaska for
reimbursement of its share of
management and data collection costs
for the Program.
A crab allocation holder generally
incurs a cost recovery fee liability for
every pound of crab landed. Catcher
vessel and processor quota shareholders
split the cost recovery fees equally with
each paying half, while catcher/
processor quota shareholders pay the
full fee percentage for crab processed at
sea. The crab allocations subject to cost
recovery include Individual Fishing
Quota, Crew Individual Fishing Quota,
Individual Processing Quota,
Community Development Quota, and
the Adak community allocation. The
Registered Crab Receiver (RCR) permit
holder must collect the fee liability from
the crab allocation holder who is
landing crab. Additionally, the RCR
permit holder must collect their own fee
liability for all crab delivered to the
RCR. The RCR permit holder is
responsible for submitting this payment
to NMFS on or before July 31, in the
year following the crab fishing year in
which landings of crab were made.
The dollar amount of the fee due is
determined by multiplying the fee
percentage (not to exceed 3 percent) by
the ex-vessel value of crab debited from
the allocation. Program details may be
found in the implementing regulations
at 50 CFR 680.44.
Fee Percentage
Each year, NMFS calculates and
publishes in the Federal Register the fee
percentage according to the factors and
methodology described at § 680.44(c)(2).
The formula for determining the fee
percentage is the ‘‘direct program costs’’
divided by ‘‘value of the fishery,’’ where
‘‘direct program costs’’ are the direct
program costs for the Program for the
previous fiscal year, and ‘‘value of the
fishery’’ is the ex-vessel value of the
catch subject to the crab cost recovery
fee liability for the current year. Fee
collections for any given year may be
less than or greater than the actual costs
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51302
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 148 / Thursday, August 3, 2023 / Notices
and fishery value for that year, as
regulations establish the fee percentage
in the first quarter of the crab fishing
year based on the fishery value and
costs in the prior year.
According to the fee percentage
formula described above, the estimated
percentage of costs to value for the
2022/2023 fishery was 5.93 percent. As
this is higher than the maximum fee
percentage, the fee percentage will be 3
percent for the 2023/2024 crab fishing
year. This is an increase by
approximately 0.77 percentage points
from the 2022/2023 crab fishing year fee
percentage of 2.23 percent (87 FR 41292,
July 12, 2022). Direct program costs for
managing the fishery increased by
approximately 10 percent from 2022/
2023 to 2023/2024, while fishery value
decreased by approximately 58 percent,
resulting in the increased fee
percentage. Similar to previous years,
the largest direct Program costs were
incurred by the NOAA Office of Law
Enforcement and the State of Alaska
Department of Fish and Game,
respectively.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1862; Pub. L.
109–241; Pub. L. 109–479.
Dated: July 28, 2023.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023–16524 Filed 8–2–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
[RTID 0648–XD192]
Taking and Importing Marine
Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals
Incidental to Geophysical Surveys
Related to Oil and Gas Activities in the
Gulf of Mexico
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of issuance of letter of
authorization.
AGENCY:
In accordance with the
Marine Mammal Protection Act
(MMPA), as amended, its implementing
regulations, and NMFS’ MMPA
Regulations for Taking Marine
Mammals Incidental to Geophysical
Surveys Related to Oil and Gas
Activities in the Gulf of Mexico,
notification is hereby given that a Letter
of Authorization (LOA) has been issued
to Anadarko Petroleum Corporation
(Anadarko) for the take of marine
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
SUMMARY:
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17:35 Aug 02, 2023
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mammals incidental to geophysical
survey activity in the Gulf of Mexico.
DATES: The LOA is effective from
September 1, 2023, through August 31,
2024.
ADDRESSES: The LOA, LOA request, and
supporting documentation are available
online at: https://
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/
incidental-take-authorization-oil-andgas-industry-geophysical-surveyactivity-gulf-mexico. In case of problems
accessing these documents, please call
the contact listed below (see FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Rachel Wachtendonk, Office of
Protected Resources, NMFS, (301) 427–
8401.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Sections 101(a)(5)(A) and (D) of the
MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) direct
the Secretary of Commerce to allow,
upon request, the incidental, but not
intentional, taking of small numbers of
marine mammals by U.S. citizens who
engage in a specified activity (other than
commercial fishing) within a specified
geographical region if certain findings
are made and either regulations are
issued or, if the taking is limited to
harassment, a notice of a proposed
authorization is provided to the public
for review.
An authorization for incidental
takings shall be granted if NMFS finds
that the taking will have a negligible
impact on the species or stock(s), will
not have an unmitigable adverse impact
on the availability of the species or
stock(s) for subsistence uses (where
relevant), and if the permissible
methods of taking and requirements
pertaining to the mitigation, monitoring
and reporting of such takings are set
forth. NMFS has defined ‘‘negligible
impact’’ in 50 CFR 216.103 as an impact
resulting from the specified activity that
cannot be reasonably expected to, and is
not reasonably likely to, adversely affect
the species or stock through effects on
annual rates of recruitment or survival.
Except with respect to certain
activities not pertinent here, the MMPA
defines ‘‘harassment’’ as: any act of
pursuit, torment, or annoyance which (i)
has the potential to injure a marine
mammal or marine mammal stock in the
wild (Level A harassment); or (ii) has
the potential to disturb a marine
mammal or marine mammal stock in the
wild by causing disruption of behavioral
patterns, including, but not limited to,
migration, breathing, nursing, breeding,
feeding, or sheltering (Level B
harassment).
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On January 19, 2021, we issued a final
rule with regulations to govern the
unintentional taking of marine
mammals incidental to geophysical
survey activities conducted by oil and
gas industry operators, and those
persons authorized to conduct activities
on their behalf (collectively ‘‘industry
operators’’), in Federal waters of the
U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GOM) over the
course of 5 years (86 FR 5322, January
19, 2021). The rule was based on our
findings that the total taking from the
specified activities over the 5-year
period will have a negligible impact on
the affected species or stock(s) of marine
mammals and will not have an
unmitigable adverse impact on the
availability of those species or stocks for
subsistence uses. The rule became
effective on April 19, 2021.
Our regulations at 50 CFR 217.180 et
seq. allow for the issuance of LOAs to
industry operators for the incidental
take of marine mammals during
geophysical survey activities and
prescribe the permissible methods of
taking and other means of effecting the
least practicable adverse impact on
marine mammal species or stocks and
their habitat (often referred to as
mitigation), as well as requirements
pertaining to the monitoring and
reporting of such taking. Under 50 CFR
217.186(e), issuance of an LOA shall be
based on a determination that the level
of taking will be consistent with the
findings made for the total taking
allowable under these regulations and a
determination that the amount of take
authorized under the LOA is of no more
than small numbers.
Summary of Request and Analysis
Anadarko plans to conduct a 3Dimensional (3D) ocean bottom node
(OBN) survey in the Green Canyon
protraction areas, around lease block GC
517. Approximate water depths of the
survey area range from 1,000 to 1,500
meters (m). See section F of the LOA
application for a map of the area.
Anadarko anticipates using a single
source vessel, towing an airgun array
consisting of 32 elements, with a total
volume of 5,110 cubic inches (in3).
Please see Anadarko’s application for
additional detail.
Consistent with the preamble to the
final rule, the survey effort proposed by
Anadarko in its LOA request was used
to develop LOA-specific take estimates
based on the acoustic exposure
modeling results described in the
preamble (86 FR 5398, January 19,
2021). In order to generate the
appropriate take numbers for
authorization, the following information
was considered: (1) survey type; (2)
E:\FR\FM\03AUN1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 148 (Thursday, August 3, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51301-51302]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-16524]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XD167]
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Bering Sea
and Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization Cost Recovery Program
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notification of fee percentage.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS publishes notification of a 3 percent fee for cost
recovery under the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization
Program. This action is intended to provide holders of crab allocations
with the 2023/2024 crab fishing year fee percentage so they can
calculate the required cost recovery fee payment, which must be
submitted to NMFS by July 31, 2024.
DATES: The Crab Rationalization Program Registered Crab Receiver permit
holder is responsible for submitting the fee liability payment to NMFS
by July 31, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy Hadfield, (907) 586-7228.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
NMFS Alaska Region administers the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands
Crab Rationalization Program (Program) in the North Pacific. Fishing
under the Program began on August 15, 2005. Regulations implementing
the Program can be found at 50 CFR part 680.
The Program is a limited access privilege program authorized by
section 313(j) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). The Program includes a cost
recovery provision to collect fees to recover the actual costs directly
related to the management, data collection, and enforcement of the
Program. The Program is consistent with the cost recovery provisions
included under section 304(d)(2)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. NMFS
developed the cost recovery regulations to conform to statutory
requirements and to reimburse the agency for the actual costs directly
related to the management, data collection, and enforcement of the
Program. The cost recovery provision allows collection of 133 percent
of the actual management, data collection, and enforcement costs not to
exceed 3 percent of the ex-vessel value of crab harvested under the
Program. The Program provides that a proportional share of fees charged
will be forwarded to the State of Alaska for reimbursement of its share
of management and data collection costs for the Program.
A crab allocation holder generally incurs a cost recovery fee
liability for every pound of crab landed. Catcher vessel and processor
quota shareholders split the cost recovery fees equally with each
paying half, while catcher/processor quota shareholders pay the full
fee percentage for crab processed at sea. The crab allocations subject
to cost recovery include Individual Fishing Quota, Crew Individual
Fishing Quota, Individual Processing Quota, Community Development
Quota, and the Adak community allocation. The Registered Crab Receiver
(RCR) permit holder must collect the fee liability from the crab
allocation holder who is landing crab. Additionally, the RCR permit
holder must collect their own fee liability for all crab delivered to
the RCR. The RCR permit holder is responsible for submitting this
payment to NMFS on or before July 31, in the year following the crab
fishing year in which landings of crab were made.
The dollar amount of the fee due is determined by multiplying the
fee percentage (not to exceed 3 percent) by the ex-vessel value of crab
debited from the allocation. Program details may be found in the
implementing regulations at 50 CFR 680.44.
Fee Percentage
Each year, NMFS calculates and publishes in the Federal Register
the fee percentage according to the factors and methodology described
at Sec. 680.44(c)(2). The formula for determining the fee percentage
is the ``direct program costs'' divided by ``value of the fishery,''
where ``direct program costs'' are the direct program costs for the
Program for the previous fiscal year, and ``value of the fishery'' is
the ex-vessel value of the catch subject to the crab cost recovery fee
liability for the current year. Fee collections for any given year may
be less than or greater than the actual costs
[[Page 51302]]
and fishery value for that year, as regulations establish the fee
percentage in the first quarter of the crab fishing year based on the
fishery value and costs in the prior year.
According to the fee percentage formula described above, the
estimated percentage of costs to value for the 2022/2023 fishery was
5.93 percent. As this is higher than the maximum fee percentage, the
fee percentage will be 3 percent for the 2023/2024 crab fishing year.
This is an increase by approximately 0.77 percentage points from the
2022/2023 crab fishing year fee percentage of 2.23 percent (87 FR
41292, July 12, 2022). Direct program costs for managing the fishery
increased by approximately 10 percent from 2022/2023 to 2023/2024,
while fishery value decreased by approximately 58 percent, resulting in
the increased fee percentage. Similar to previous years, the largest
direct Program costs were incurred by the NOAA Office of Law
Enforcement and the State of Alaska Department of Fish and Game,
respectively.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1862; Pub. L. 109-241; Pub. L. 109-479.
Dated: July 28, 2023.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-16524 Filed 8-2-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
