Department of Commerce June 19, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Northeast Region, NMFS (Assistant Regional Administrator) has made a preliminary determination that the subject EFP application submitted by Truex Enterprises contains all the required information and warrants further consideration. The proposed EFP would test the safety and efficacy of harvesting surfclams and ocean quahogs from the Georges Bank Closure Area using a harvesting protocol developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The Assistant Regional Administrator has also made a preliminary determination that the activities authorized under the EFP would be consistent with the goals and objectives of the Atlantic Surfclam and Ocean Quahog regulations and Fishery Management Plan (FMP). However, further review and consultation may be necessary before a final determination is made to issue the EFP. Therefore, NMFS announces that the Assistant Regional Administrator proposes to recommend that an EFP be issued that would allow one commercial fishing vessel to conduct fishing operations that are otherwise restricted by the regulations governing the fisheries of the Northeastern United States. The EFP would allow for an exemption from the Atlantic surfclam and ocean quahog Georges Bank (GB) Closure Area. Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act require publication of this notification to provide interested parties the opportunity to comment on applications for proposed EFPs.

Permit 1535 was issued on January 10, 2006. Permits 1533 and 1548 were issued on April 11, 2006. All modifications were issued on February 3, 2006. Application 1550 was withdrawn on December 5, 2005. The research actions and the species they affect are listed in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below.

Notice is hereby given that NMFS has received six scientific research permit application requests relating to Pacific salmon. The proposed research is intended to increase knowledge of species listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and to help guide management and conservation efforts.

NMFS announces that the Administrator, Northeast (NE) Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator), is modifying the gear restrictions for the U.S./Canada Management Area to require all limited access NE multispecies vessels fishing on a NE multispecies day-at-sea (DAS) with trawl gear in the Eastern U.S./Canada Area to use a haddock separator trawl. A projection based on available catch and discard information indicates that 30 percent of the total allowable catch (TAC) for Georges Bank (GB) cod specified for the Eastern U.S./Canada Area will be harvested by June 20, 2006. This catch rate could result in the harvest of the available TAC specified for GB cod before the end of the 2006 fishing year on April 30, 2007. This action is intended to slow the catch of GB cod in the Eastern U.S./Canada Area to prolong access to the Eastern U.S./Canada Area and to prevent the GB cod TAC specified for the Eastern U.S./Canada Area from being exceeded during the 2006 fishing year. This action is authorized by the regulations implementing Amendment 13 to the NE Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP) under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service (Services) advise interested parties of their intent to conduct public scoping under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to gather information to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) related to a permit application from the City of Kent, WA, for the incidental take of listed species. The permit application would be associated with the Clark Springs Water Supply System Habitat Conservation Plan, in Rock Creek, near Kent, WA.