Department of Commerce February 10, 2022 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Drs. Chris Harvey and Toby Garfield of NMFS will provide a briefing on the 2022 California Current Integrated Ecosystem Assessment (CCIEA) Ecosystem Status Report to interested Pacific Fishery Management Council (Pacific Council) members, advisory body members, and the public.

The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Region, NMFS, has made a preliminary determination that an Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) application contains all of the required information and warrants further consideration. The EFP would allow commercial fishing vessels to fish outside fishery regulations in support of research conducted by the applicant. Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act require publication of this notification to provide interested parties the opportunity to comment on applications for proposed EFPs.

This action serves as a notice that NMFS, on behalf of the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary), has found that Gulf of Mexico gag is now subject to overfishing and overfished; Bering Sea snow crab is now overfished; Atlantic mackerel is still subject to overfishing and overfished; and Georges Bank winter flounder, Southern New England/Mid- Atlantic winter flounder, and Atlantic Coast bluefish are still overfished. NMFS, on behalf of the Secretary, notifies the appropriate regional fishery management council (Council) whenever it determines that a stock or stock complex is subject to overfishing, overfished, or approaching an overfished condition.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) published notice in the Federal Register of January 13, 2022, in which Commerce announced its preliminary determination of critical circumstances in the less-than- fair-value (LTFV) investigation of raw honey from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnam). This notice inadvertently omitted the cash deposit requirement for entries of raw honey from Vietnam.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is hereby seeking public comments regarding the Section 232 exclusions process. A presidential proclamation (Adjusting Imports of Steel into the United States), published on January 3, 2022, directed the Secretary of Commerce to seek public comment on the Section 232 exclusions process, including the responsiveness of the exclusions process to market demand and enhanced consultation with U.S. firms and labor organizations.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by non- American Fisheries Act (AFA) crab vessels that are subject to sideboard limits, and operating as catcher vessels (CVs) using pot gear, in the Western Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the A season allowance of the 2022 sideboard limit established for non-AFA crab vessels that are operating as CVs using pot gear in the Western Regulatory Area of the GOA.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) Pacific Northwest Crab Industry Advisory Committee (PNCIAC) will meet March 2, 2022.

In accordance with the regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) as amended, notification is hereby given that NMFS has issued an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to the U.S. Navy (Navy) to incidentally harass, by Level B harassment only, marine mammals during submarine training and testing activities including establishment of a tracking range on an ice floe in the Arctic Ocean, north of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. The Navy's activities are considered military readiness activities pursuant to the MMPA, as amended by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 (2004 NDAA).