Department of Commerce December 12, 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Free Atlantic Shark Identification Workshops and Safe Handling, Release, and Identification Workshops will be held in January, February, and March of 2019. Certain fishermen and shark dealers are required to attend a workshop to meet regulatory requirements and to maintain valid permits. Specifically, the Atlantic Shark Identification Workshop is mandatory for all federally permitted Atlantic shark dealers. The Safe Handling, Release, and Identification Workshop is mandatory for vessel owners and operators who use bottom longline, pelagic longline, or gillnet gear, and who have also been issued shark or swordfish limited access permits. Additional free workshops will be conducted during 2019 and will be announced in a future notice.

NMFS issues this notice to inform the public that there will be an increase of the fee rate required to repay the $35,000,000 reduction loan financing the non-pollock groundfish fishing capacity reduction program. Effective January 1, 2019, NMFS is increasing the Loan A fee rate to $0.017 per pound to ensure timely loan repayment. The fee rate for Loan B will remain unchanged at $0.001 per pound.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that eight companies, including the mandatory respondent, Decca Furniture Ltd. (Decca), have not established their entitlement to a separate rate and are part of the China-wide entity, and that five companies had no reviewable transactions during the January 1, 2017, through December 31, 2017, period of review (POR). We invite interested parties to comment on these preliminary results.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, invites comments on a proposed extension of an existing information collection: 0651-0051 (Madrid Protocol).

Notice is hereby given that three applicants have applied in due form for permits to take smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata) for purposes of scientific research, with one also requesting to receive, import, and export parts of five foreign species of sawfish, including dwarf (P. clavata), narrow (Anoxypristis cuspidata), green (P. zijsron), largetooth (P. Pristis), and non-U.S. DPS smalltooth sawfish for scientific research.

This final rule establishes the 2019-2020 harvest specifications and management measures for groundfish taken in the U.S. exclusive economic zone off the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California, consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan. This final rule revises the management measures that are intended to keep the total catch of each groundfish stock or stock complex within the harvest specifications. These measures are intended to help prevent overfishing, rebuild overfished stocks, achieve optimum yield, and ensure that management measures are based on the best scientific information available.