Identification of Nations or Entities Engaged in Illegal, Unreported, or Unregulated Fishing, Bycatch of Protected Living Marine Resources, or Fishing Activities That Target or Incidentally Catch Sharks, 55922-55924 [2024-14823]
Download as PDF
<![CDATA[
55922
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 130 / Monday, July 8, 2024 / Notices
recommend new 2027–28 ABCs for
Atlantic Surfclam. The SSC will review
the most recent fishery data for Blueline
Tilefish and make a 2025 ABC
recommendation. The SSC will review
the most recent survey and fishery data
and the previously recommended 2025
ABC for Bluefish, Summer Flounder,
and Scup. The SSC will review and
finalize the draft report developed by an
SSC sub-group to address the Terms of
Reference regarding the Recreational
Measures Setting Framework/Addenda.
The SSC will also receive the results of
updated Surfclam genetics research. The
SSC may take up any other business as
necessary.
A detailed agenda and background
documents will be made available on
the Council’s website (www.mafmc.org)
prior to the meeting.
Special Accommodations
The meeting is physically accessible
to people with disabilities. Requests for
sign language interpretation or other
auxiliary aid should be directed to
Shelley Spedden, (302) 526–5251, at
least 5 days prior to the meeting date.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: July 2, 2024.
Rey Israel Marquez,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024–14934 Filed 7–5–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Christopher M. Moore, Ph.D., Executive
Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery
Management Council, telephone: (302)
526–5255.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
Tilefish Monitoring Committee will
meet via webinar to discuss
management measures for both golden
and blueline tilefish. The objectives of
this meeting are for the Monitoring
Committee to: (1) Review recent stock
assessment information, fishery
performance, and recommendations
from the Advisory Panel, Scientific and
Statistical Committee, and staff; (2)
Recommend commercial and
recreational annual catch limits, annual
catch targets, and total allowable
landing limits/quotas for golden tilefish
for 2025–27 and for blueline tilefish for
2025; and (3) review commercial and
recreational management measures for
both species and recommend changes if
needed. Meeting materials will be
posted to www.mafmc.org.
Special Accommodations
The meeting is physically accessible
to people with disabilities. Requests for
sign language interpretation or other
auxiliary aid should be directed to
Shelley Spedden, (302) 526–5251, at
least 5 days prior to the meeting date.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: July 2, 2024.
Rey Israel Marquez,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
[RTID 0648–XE082]
[FR Doc. 2024–14930 Filed 7–5–24; 8:45 am]
Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management
Council (MAFMC); Public Meeting
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; public meeting.
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery
Management Council’s Tilefish
Monitoring Committee will hold a
public webinar meeting.
DATES: The meeting will be held on
Thursday, July 25, 2024, from 1 p.m.
until 3:30 p.m. For agenda details, see
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held
via webinar. Connection information,
agenda items, and any additional
information will be posted at
www.mafmc.org prior to the meeting.
Council address: Mid-Atlantic Fishery
Management Council, 800 N State
Identification of Nations or Entities
Engaged in Illegal, Unreported, or
Unregulated Fishing, Bycatch of
Protected Living Marine Resources, or
Fishing Activities That Target or
Incidentally Catch Sharks
AGENCY:
SUMMARY:
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Street, Suite 201, Dover, DE 19901;
telephone: (302) 674–2331;
www.mafmc.org.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:22 Jul 05, 2024
Jkt 262001
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
[RTID 0648–XE080]
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; request for information.
AGENCY:
NMFS is seeking information
from 2022, 2023, and/or 2024 regarding
nations or entities that have competency
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
to enter into international fishery
management agreements (entities) that
are engaging in or endorsing illegal,
unreported, or unregulated (IUU) fishing
or have vessels that engaged or are
engaging in IUU fishing, fishing
activities or practices that result in the
bycatch of protected living marine
resources (PLMRs) on the high seas or
within the exclusive economic zone
(EEZ) of any nation or fishing activities
on the high seas or within the EEZ of
another nation that target or incidentally
catch sharks. Such information will be
reviewed and may be used for the
purpose of identifying nations or
entities pursuant to the High Seas
Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection
Act (Moratorium Protection Act).
DATES: NMFS encourages submission
before the preferred deadline of October
1, 2024, with a final deadline of
December 31, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Information may be
submitted either electronically to:
IUU.PLMR.Sharks@noaa.gov or by mail
to: NMFS Office of International Affairs,
Trade, and Commerce, Attn.:
Moratorium Protection Act Information,
F/IATC 1315 East-West Highway, Silver
Spring, MD 20910.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellie
Bors, (240) 429–4461, eleanor.bors@
noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Moratorium Protection Act
requires the Secretary of Commerce
(Secretary) to issue a biennial report to
Congress that includes a list of nations
and entities identified for engaging in or
endorsing IUU fishing, as well as those
nations and entities having fishing
vessels that engaged in or are engaging
in IUU fishing, fishing activities or
practices that result in the bycatch of
PLMRs on the high seas or within the
EEZ of any nation without a regulatory
program comparable in effectiveness to
that of the United States; and/or fishing
activities on the high seas or within the
EEZ of another nation that target or
incidentally catch sharks without a
regulatory program comparable to that
of the United States.
NMFS submitted the eighth biennial
report to Congress in August 2023 and
it is available online at: https://
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/s3/2023-08/
2023RTC-ImprovingIFManagement.pdf.
NMFS identified seven nations and
entities for IUU fishing and two for
shark catch where those nations do not
have a comparable regulatory program
to that of the United States. In
fulfillment of its requirements under the
Moratorium Protection Act, NMFS is
E:\FR\FM\08JYN1.SGM
08JYN1
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 130 / Monday, July 8, 2024 / Notices
preparing the ninth biennial report to
Congress, to be released in 2025. NMFS
is soliciting information from the public
regarding activities by foreign fishing
vessels, nations, and entities in 2022,
2023, and/or 2024 that may support
identification of nations and entities in
the biennial report.
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Recent Amendments to the Moratorium
Protection Act
On December 27, 2022, the James M.
Inhofe National Defense Authorization
Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (2023 NDAA)
(Pub. L. 117–263) amended the
Moratorium Protection Act by, in part:
(1) adding new considerations when
making IUU fishing identifications;
(2) expanding the scope of
information that can be used for the
identification of nations for bycatch of
a PLMR or shark catch to include
fishing activities within the EEZ of
another nation; and
(3) authorizing the agency to make an
identification at any time that the
Secretary has sufficient information to
make such identification.
IUU Fishing
The Moratorium Protection Act
requires the Secretary to list in a
biennial report to Congress those
nations and entities identified for
engaging in or endorsing IUU fishing, or
for having fishing vessels engaged in or
are engaging in IUU fishing. In making
these identifications, the Secretary is to
consider any nation or entity that is
violating, or has violated at any point
during the preceding three years,
conservation and management measures
required under an international fishery
management agreement to which the
United States is a party; any nation or
entity that is failing, or has failed at any
point during the preceding three years
to effectively address or regulate IUU
fishing within its fleets in any areas
where its vessels are fishing; and any
nation that fails to discharge its flag,
port, or coastal state responsibilities to
prevent, deter, and eliminate IUU
fishing; and any nation or entity
producing for export to the United
States seafood-related goods through
forced labor or oppressive child labor
that the U.S. Department of Labor has
included in the most recent List of
Goods Produced by Child Labor or
Forced Labor.
The definition of IUU fishing for the
Moratorium Protection Act can be found
at 50 CFR 300.201 and includes:
(1) Fishing activities that violate
conservation and management measures
required under an international fishery
management agreement to which the
United States is a party, including catch
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:22 Jul 05, 2024
Jkt 262001
limits or quotas, capacity restrictions,
bycatch reduction requirements, shark
conservation measures, and data
reporting;
(2) In the case of non-parties to an
international fishery management
agreement to which the United States is
a party, fishing activities that would
undermine the conservation of the
resources managed under that
agreement;
(3) Overfishing of fish stocks shared
by the United States, for which there are
no applicable international conservation
or management measures or in areas
with no applicable international fishery
management organization or agreement,
that has adverse impacts on such stocks;
(4) Fishing activity that has an
adverse impact on vulnerable marine
ecosystems such as seamounts,
hydrothermal vents, cold water corals
and other vulnerable marine ecosystems
located beyond any national
jurisdiction, for which there are no
applicable conservation or management
measures or in areas with no applicable
international fishery management
organization or agreement; and
(5) Fishing activities by foreignflagged vessels in U.S. waters without
authorization of the United States.
PLMR Bycatch
The Moratorium Protection Act
requires the Secretary to list in the
biennial report to Congress those
nations and entities identified for
having fishing vessels that are engaged,
or have been engaged at any point
during the preceding three years in
fishing activities or practices on the
high seas or within the EEZ of any
nation that have resulted in bycatch of
a PLMR, and the vessel’s flag state has
not adopted, implemented, and
enforced a regulatory program governing
such fishing designed to end or reduce
such bycatch that is comparable in
effectiveness to the regulatory program
of the United States, taking into account
differing conditions. PLMRs are defined
as non-target fish (including sharks), sea
turtles, or marine mammals that are
protected under U.S. law or
international agreement, including the
Marine Mammal Protection Act, the
Endangered Species Act, the Shark
Finning Prohibition Act, and the
Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Flora and
Fauna. PLMRs do not include species,
except sharks, managed under the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act, the
Atlantic Tunas Convention Act, or any
international fishery management
agreement. A list of species considered
as PLMRs for the purposes of
PO 00000
Frm 00011
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
55923
identification under the Moratorium
Protection Act is available online at:
https://media.fisheries.noaa.gov/dammigration/plmr_list_2019.pdf.
Shark Catch
The Moratorium Protection Act
requires that the Secretary list in the
biennial report to Congress those
nations and entities whose fishing
vessels are engaged, or have been
engaged at any point during the
preceding three years, in fishing
activities on the high seas or within the
EEZ of another nation that target or
incidentally catch sharks; and the
vessel’s flag state has not adopted,
implemented, and enforced a regulatory
program to provide for the conservation
of sharks, including measures to
prohibit removal of any of the fins of a
shark, including the tail, before landing
the shark in port, that is comparable to
that of the United States.
Information Solicited
NMFS is soliciting information from
2022, 2023, and/or 2024 from the public
that could be relevant to the
identification of nations and entities
that meet the criteria described above
for IUU fishing, PLMR bycatch, or shark
catch. Such information might include
documentation of activities, such as
photographs, videos, witness testimony,
publically available data, verifiable
catch data, or other proof of activity.
Useful details include the location,
time, and date of activity; and, where
applicable, flag, name, or other
identifier of the vessel. Some types of
information that may prove relevant to
the process include:
• Documentation of IUU fishing
activity;
• Documentation of fishing vessels
engaged in bycatch of PLMRs on the
high seas or within the EEZ of any
nation;
• Documentation of illegal shark
fishing in contravention of shark
conservation and management measures
adopted by Regional Fisheries
Management Organizations (RFMOs)
(shark finning without full utilization of
the carcass, retention of prohibited
shark species, etc.);
• Documentation of instances where a
nation has failed to meet reporting,
compliance, scientific, or any other
binding requirements as outlined by
international fora, including, for
example, RFMOs or the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES);
• Documentation of nations’
regulatory programs to provide for the
conservation of sharks that do not
E:\FR\FM\08JYN1.SGM
08JYN1
55924
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 130 / Monday, July 8, 2024 / Notices
prohibit removal of any of the fins of a
shark, including the tail, before landing
the shark in port;
• Reports from off-loading facilities,
port-side government officials,
enforcement agents, military personnel,
port inspectors, transshipment vessel
workers and fish importers;
• Sightings of vessels included on
RFMO IUU vessel lists;
• RFMO catch documents and
statistical document programs;
• Reports of vessels fishing in the
EEZ of another nation without
authorization, or fishing with
authorization in the EEZ of another
nation but violating the conditions of
that authorization;
• Relevant reports from governments,
international organizations, or
nongovernmental organizations; and
• Evidence of large-scale (over 2.5 km
in length) drift-net use.
NMFS will consider all available
information, as appropriate, when
making a determination whether to
identify a particular nation or entity in
the biennial report to Congress.
Information should be as specific as
possible as this will assist NMFS in its
review. NMFS will consider several
criteria when determining whether
information is appropriate for use in
making identifications, including but
not limited to:
• Corroboration of information;
• Whether multiple sources have
been able to provide information in
support of an identification;
• The methodology used to collect
the information;
• Specificity of the information
provided (i.e., location, date, time of
occurrence);
• Susceptibility of the information to
falsification and alteration;
• Credibility of the individuals or
organization providing the information;
and
• Ability to share the provided
information with a nation or entity in
the event that it is identified, so that the
nation can take specific corrective
actions.
More information regarding the
identification process and how the
information received will be used in
that process can be found at 16 U.S.C.
1826h–1826k and in the regulations
codified at 50 CFR 300.200 et seq.
Dated: July 1, 2024.
Alexa Cole,
Director, Office of International Affairs,
Trade, and Commerce, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024–14823 Filed 7–5–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Submission to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for
Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Third-Party Submissions and
Protests
United States Patent and
Trademark Office, Department of
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of information collection;
request for comment.
AGENCY:
The United States Patent and
Trademark Office (USPTO), as required
by the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995, invites comments on the
extension and revision of an existing
information collection: 0651–0062
(Third-Party Submissions and Protests).
The purpose of this notice is to allow 60
days for public comment preceding
submission of the information collection
to OMB.
DATES: To ensure consideration,
comments regarding this information
collection must be received on or before
September 6, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are
invited to submit written comments by
any of the following methods. Do not
submit Confidential Business
Information or otherwise sensitive or
protected information.
• Email: InformationCollection@
uspto.gov. Include ‘‘0651–0062
comment’’ in the subject line of the
message.
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov.
• Mail: Justin Isaac, Office of the
Chief Administrative Officer, United
States Patent and Trademark Office,
P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313–
1450.
SUMMARY:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Request for additional information
should be directed to Jeffrey West,
Senior Legal Advisor, Office of Patent
Legal Administration, United States
Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box
1450, Alexandria, VA 22313–1450; by
telephone at 571–272–2226; or by email
at jeffrey.west@uspto.gov with ‘‘0651–
0062 comment’’ in the subject line.
Additional information about this
information collection is also available
at https://www.reginfo.gov under
‘‘Information Collection Review.’’
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
The United States Patent and
Trademark Office (USPTO) is required
by 35 U.S.C. 131 et seq. to examine an
application for patent and, when
appropriate, issue a patent. The
provisions of 35 U.S.C. 122(c), 122(e),
131, and 151, as well as 37 CFR 1.290
and 1.291, limit the ability of a thirdparty to have information entered and
considered in, or to protest, a patent
application pending before the USPTO.
37 CFR 1.290 provides a mechanism
for third parties to submit to the USPTO
for consideration and inclusion in the
record of a patent application, any
patents, published patent applications,
or other printed publications of
potential relevance to the examination
of the application.
A third-party submission under 37
CFR 1.290 may be made in any
nonprovisional utility, design, and plant
application, including any continuing
application. A third-party submission
under 37 CFR 1.290 must include a
concise description of the asserted
relevance of each document submitted,
and must be submitted within a certain
statutorily specified time period.
37 CFR 1.291 permits a member of the
public to file a protest against a pending
application. Protests pursuant to 37 CFR
1.291 are supported by a separated
statutory provision from third-party
submissions under 37 CFR 1.290. As a
result, there are several differences
between protests and third-party
submissions, as explained in the table
below.
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
TABLE 1—COMPARISON OF THIRD-PARTY SUBMISSIONS AND PROTESTS
Comparison
Third-party submission
Statute/Regulation ................
Content .................................
35 U.S.C. 122(e), 37 CFR 1.290 ....................................
Printed publications .........................................................
Remarks ...............................
Concise description of relevance (limited to a concise
description of each document’s relevance).
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:22 Jul 05, 2024
Jkt 262001
PO 00000
Frm 00012
Fmt 4703
Protest
Sfmt 4703
35 U.S.C. 122(c), 37 CFR 1.291.
Printed publications and any facts or information adverse to patentability.
Concise explanation of the relevance (allows for arguments against patentability).
E:\FR\FM\08JYN1.SGM
08JYN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 130 (Monday, July 8, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55922-55924]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-14823]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XE080]
Identification of Nations or Entities Engaged in Illegal,
Unreported, or Unregulated Fishing, Bycatch of Protected Living Marine
Resources, or Fishing Activities That Target or Incidentally Catch
Sharks
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; request for information.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS is seeking information from 2022, 2023, and/or 2024
regarding nations or entities that have competency to enter into
international fishery management agreements (entities) that are
engaging in or endorsing illegal, unreported, or unregulated (IUU)
fishing or have vessels that engaged or are engaging in IUU fishing,
fishing activities or practices that result in the bycatch of protected
living marine resources (PLMRs) on the high seas or within the
exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of any nation or fishing activities on
the high seas or within the EEZ of another nation that target or
incidentally catch sharks. Such information will be reviewed and may be
used for the purpose of identifying nations or entities pursuant to the
High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act (Moratorium
Protection Act).
DATES: NMFS encourages submission before the preferred deadline of
October 1, 2024, with a final deadline of December 31, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Information may be submitted either electronically to:
[email protected] or by mail to: NMFS Office of International
Affairs, Trade, and Commerce, Attn.: Moratorium Protection Act
Information, F/IATC 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellie Bors, (240) 429-4461,
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Moratorium Protection Act requires the Secretary of Commerce
(Secretary) to issue a biennial report to Congress that includes a list
of nations and entities identified for engaging in or endorsing IUU
fishing, as well as those nations and entities having fishing vessels
that engaged in or are engaging in IUU fishing, fishing activities or
practices that result in the bycatch of PLMRs on the high seas or
within the EEZ of any nation without a regulatory program comparable in
effectiveness to that of the United States; and/or fishing activities
on the high seas or within the EEZ of another nation that target or
incidentally catch sharks without a regulatory program comparable to
that of the United States.
NMFS submitted the eighth biennial report to Congress in August
2023 and it is available online at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/s3/2023-08/2023RTC-ImprovingIFManagement.pdf. NMFS identified seven
nations and entities for IUU fishing and two for shark catch where
those nations do not have a comparable regulatory program to that of
the United States. In fulfillment of its requirements under the
Moratorium Protection Act, NMFS is
[[Page 55923]]
preparing the ninth biennial report to Congress, to be released in
2025. NMFS is soliciting information from the public regarding
activities by foreign fishing vessels, nations, and entities in 2022,
2023, and/or 2024 that may support identification of nations and
entities in the biennial report.
Recent Amendments to the Moratorium Protection Act
On December 27, 2022, the James M. Inhofe National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (2023 NDAA) (Pub. L. 117-263)
amended the Moratorium Protection Act by, in part:
(1) adding new considerations when making IUU fishing
identifications;
(2) expanding the scope of information that can be used for the
identification of nations for bycatch of a PLMR or shark catch to
include fishing activities within the EEZ of another nation; and
(3) authorizing the agency to make an identification at any time
that the Secretary has sufficient information to make such
identification.
IUU Fishing
The Moratorium Protection Act requires the Secretary to list in a
biennial report to Congress those nations and entities identified for
engaging in or endorsing IUU fishing, or for having fishing vessels
engaged in or are engaging in IUU fishing. In making these
identifications, the Secretary is to consider any nation or entity that
is violating, or has violated at any point during the preceding three
years, conservation and management measures required under an
international fishery management agreement to which the United States
is a party; any nation or entity that is failing, or has failed at any
point during the preceding three years to effectively address or
regulate IUU fishing within its fleets in any areas where its vessels
are fishing; and any nation that fails to discharge its flag, port, or
coastal state responsibilities to prevent, deter, and eliminate IUU
fishing; and any nation or entity producing for export to the United
States seafood-related goods through forced labor or oppressive child
labor that the U.S. Department of Labor has included in the most recent
List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor.
The definition of IUU fishing for the Moratorium Protection Act can
be found at 50 CFR 300.201 and includes:
(1) Fishing activities that violate conservation and management
measures required under an international fishery management agreement
to which the United States is a party, including catch limits or
quotas, capacity restrictions, bycatch reduction requirements, shark
conservation measures, and data reporting;
(2) In the case of non-parties to an international fishery
management agreement to which the United States is a party, fishing
activities that would undermine the conservation of the resources
managed under that agreement;
(3) Overfishing of fish stocks shared by the United States, for
which there are no applicable international conservation or management
measures or in areas with no applicable international fishery
management organization or agreement, that has adverse impacts on such
stocks;
(4) Fishing activity that has an adverse impact on vulnerable
marine ecosystems such as seamounts, hydrothermal vents, cold water
corals and other vulnerable marine ecosystems located beyond any
national jurisdiction, for which there are no applicable conservation
or management measures or in areas with no applicable international
fishery management organization or agreement; and
(5) Fishing activities by foreign-flagged vessels in U.S. waters
without authorization of the United States.
PLMR Bycatch
The Moratorium Protection Act requires the Secretary to list in the
biennial report to Congress those nations and entities identified for
having fishing vessels that are engaged, or have been engaged at any
point during the preceding three years in fishing activities or
practices on the high seas or within the EEZ of any nation that have
resulted in bycatch of a PLMR, and the vessel's flag state has not
adopted, implemented, and enforced a regulatory program governing such
fishing designed to end or reduce such bycatch that is comparable in
effectiveness to the regulatory program of the United States, taking
into account differing conditions. PLMRs are defined as non-target fish
(including sharks), sea turtles, or marine mammals that are protected
under U.S. law or international agreement, including the Marine Mammal
Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Shark Finning
Prohibition Act, and the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna. PLMRs do not include
species, except sharks, managed under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act, the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act, or
any international fishery management agreement. A list of species
considered as PLMRs for the purposes of identification under the
Moratorium Protection Act is available online at: https://media.fisheries.noaa.gov/dam-migration/plmr_list_2019.pdf.
Shark Catch
The Moratorium Protection Act requires that the Secretary list in
the biennial report to Congress those nations and entities whose
fishing vessels are engaged, or have been engaged at any point during
the preceding three years, in fishing activities on the high seas or
within the EEZ of another nation that target or incidentally catch
sharks; and the vessel's flag state has not adopted, implemented, and
enforced a regulatory program to provide for the conservation of
sharks, including measures to prohibit removal of any of the fins of a
shark, including the tail, before landing the shark in port, that is
comparable to that of the United States.
Information Solicited
NMFS is soliciting information from 2022, 2023, and/or 2024 from
the public that could be relevant to the identification of nations and
entities that meet the criteria described above for IUU fishing, PLMR
bycatch, or shark catch. Such information might include documentation
of activities, such as photographs, videos, witness testimony,
publically available data, verifiable catch data, or other proof of
activity. Useful details include the location, time, and date of
activity; and, where applicable, flag, name, or other identifier of the
vessel. Some types of information that may prove relevant to the
process include:
Documentation of IUU fishing activity;
Documentation of fishing vessels engaged in bycatch of
PLMRs on the high seas or within the EEZ of any nation;
Documentation of illegal shark fishing in contravention of
shark conservation and management measures adopted by Regional
Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) (shark finning without full
utilization of the carcass, retention of prohibited shark species,
etc.);
Documentation of instances where a nation has failed to
meet reporting, compliance, scientific, or any other binding
requirements as outlined by international fora, including, for example,
RFMOs or the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of
Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES);
Documentation of nations' regulatory programs to provide
for the conservation of sharks that do not
[[Page 55924]]
prohibit removal of any of the fins of a shark, including the tail,
before landing the shark in port;
Reports from off-loading facilities, port-side government
officials, enforcement agents, military personnel, port inspectors,
transshipment vessel workers and fish importers;
Sightings of vessels included on RFMO IUU vessel lists;
RFMO catch documents and statistical document programs;
Reports of vessels fishing in the EEZ of another nation
without authorization, or fishing with authorization in the EEZ of
another nation but violating the conditions of that authorization;
Relevant reports from governments, international
organizations, or nongovernmental organizations; and
Evidence of large-scale (over 2.5 km in length) drift-net
use.
NMFS will consider all available information, as appropriate, when
making a determination whether to identify a particular nation or
entity in the biennial report to Congress. Information should be as
specific as possible as this will assist NMFS in its review. NMFS will
consider several criteria when determining whether information is
appropriate for use in making identifications, including but not
limited to:
Corroboration of information;
Whether multiple sources have been able to provide
information in support of an identification;
The methodology used to collect the information;
Specificity of the information provided (i.e., location,
date, time of occurrence);
Susceptibility of the information to falsification and
alteration;
Credibility of the individuals or organization providing
the information; and
Ability to share the provided information with a nation or
entity in the event that it is identified, so that the nation can take
specific corrective actions.
More information regarding the identification process and how the
information received will be used in that process can be found at 16
U.S.C. 1826h-1826k and in the regulations codified at 50 CFR 300.200 et
seq.
Dated: July 1, 2024.
Alexa Cole,
Director, Office of International Affairs, Trade, and Commerce,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-14823 Filed 7-5-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
