Department of Commerce June 3, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) has submitted Amendment 106 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (FMP) to the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) for review. Amendment 106 to the FMP would allow the owner of an AFA vessel to rebuild or replace that vessel and would allow the owners of AFA catcher vessels that are inactive or obsolete to remove those vessels from the AFA fishery. This action is necessary to bring the FMP into conformity with the AFA as amended by the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010 (Coast Guard Act), and to improve vessel safety and operational efficiency in the AFA fleet. This action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the AFA, the FMP, and other applicable laws.

NMFS proposes regulations to implement Amendment 8 to the Fishery Management Plan for Coral, Coral Reefs, and Live/Hard Bottom Habitats of the South Atlantic Region (FMP) (Amendment 8), as prepared by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council). If implemented, this rule would expand portions of the northern and western boundaries of the Oculina Bank habitat area of particular concern (HAPC) (Oculina Bank HAPC) and allow transit through the Oculina Bank HAPC by fishing vessels with rock shrimp onboard; modify vessel monitoring systems (VMS) requirements for rock shrimp fishermen transiting through the Oculina Bank HAPC; expand a portion of the western boundary of the Stetson Reefs, Savannah and East Florida Lithotherms, and Miami Terrace Deepwater Coral HAPC (CHAPC) (Stetson- Miami Terrace CHAPC), including modifications to the shrimp access area A, which is proposed to be renamed ``shrimp access area 1''; and expand a portion of the northern boundary of the Cape Lookout Lophelia Banks Deepwater CHAPC (Cape Lookout CHAPC). In addition, this proposed rule makes a minor administrative change to the names of the shrimp fishery access areas. The purpose of this rule is to increase protections for deepwater coral based on new information for deepwater coral resources in the South Atlantic.