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

NMFS announces that the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council has submitted Amendment 20 to the Atlantic Surfclam and Ocean Quahog Fishery Management Plan for review and approval by the Secretary of Commerce. We are requesting comments from the public on the amendment. Amendment 20, also known as the Excessive Shares Amendment, would establish limits to the amount of surfclam or ocean quahog individual transferable quota share or annual allocation in the form of cage tags that an individual or their family members could hold.

NMFS implements an accountability measure (AM) for the red grouper recreational sector in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) for the 2022 fishing year through this temporary rule. NMFS has projected that the 2022 recreational annual catch target (ACT) for Gulf red grouper will have been reached by August 30, 2022. Therefore, NMFS closes the recreational sector for Gulf red grouper on August 30, 2022, and it will remain closed through the end of the fishing year on December 31, 2022. This closure is necessary to protect the Gulf red grouper resource.

Nominations are being sought for appointment by the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) to serve on the American Fisheries Advisory Committee (Committee). The Committee is responsible for making recommendations to the Secretary for financial assistance awards under the Saltonstall-Kennedy (S-K) Grant Competition under the Department of Commerce. The Committee will also make recommendations to the Secretary to assist in the development of the annual Notice of Funding Opportunities (NoFO) for submission to the S-K Grant Competition. This may include identifying the needs of the fishing communities (program priorities), establishing individual award funding limits, specifying the application review criteria and selection processes, and other sections of the NoFO as appropriate and allowable. Nominees should have demonstrable experience in one or more of the following areas of expertise, and in as many seafood species as possible: seafood harvesting or processing; recreational or commercial fishing; growing seafood; fisheries science; and/or food distribution, marketing, retail, or food service. Nominees must be able to fulfill the time commitments required for up to two annual meetings. It is anticipated that meetings will be in person, rotating between regions and possibly lasting up to four business days, subject to the time needs of each meeting. Individuals selected to initially serve on the Committee will serve staggered terms of two, three, and four years. Terms of all future Committee members will be for three years and may not exceed more than two consecutive terms if re- appointed.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Pacific Council) Coastal Pelagic Species Advisory Subpanel will hold one public meeting.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announces that the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Advisory Board will hold an open meeting on Tuesday, September 20, 2022.