National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration June 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announces the availability of grant funds for Fiscal Year 2006. The purpose of this notice is to provide the general public with a single source of program and application information related to the Agency's competitive grant offerings, and it contains the information about those programs required to be published in the Federal Register. This omnibus notice is designed to replace the multiple Federal Register notices that traditionally advertised the availability of NOAA's discretionary funds for its various programs. It should be noted that additional program initiatives unanticipated at the time of the publication of this notice may be announced through both subsequent Federal Register notices and the NOAA Web site. These announcements will also be available through Grants.gov.

Notice is hereby given of a public meeting of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force. The meeting will be held in Koror, Palau. This meeting, the 14th bi-annual meeting of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force, provides a forum for coordinated planning and action among federal agencies, state and territorial governments, and nongovernmental partners. Held in Koror, Palau, this is the first Coral Reef Task Force meeting to be held outside the United States states, territories, or commonwealths and provides an opportunity to learn about coral reef science and management strategies in the Freely Associated States. This meeting has time allotted for public comment and provides exhibit space. All public comment must be submitted in written format at the meeting if able to attend or prior to the meeting if unable to attend. If you plan to attend, please register in advance by visiting the Web site listed below. Registration for public comment and exhibit space is also available at this site. Those who wish to attend but cannot due to travel and other considerations can find background materials at the Web site listed below and may submit written statements to the e-mail, fax, or mailing address listed below. A written summary of the meeting will be posted on the Web site within two months of its occurrence.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council)/Board of Fisheries (BOF) Interim Joint Protocol committee will meet on July 14, 2005, at Anchorage at the Hilton Hotel.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) will convene will hold a series of public workshops to provide information about, and seek input on, ecosystem objectives for fisheries management.

Notice is hereby given that on June 9, 2005, as authorized by the provisions of the Endangered Species Act, NMFS issued a permit (PRT-1488) to the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District, Eureka, California subject to certain conditions set forth therein. The permit was granted only after NMFS determined that it was applied for in good faith, that granting the permit will not be to the disadvantage of the threatened species, and that it will be consistent with the purposes and policy set forth in the Endangered Species Act, as amended.

Notice is hereby given that the following applicants have applied in due form for a permit or permit amendment to conduct research on marine mammals: File No. 358-1787: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, D ivision of Wildlife Conservation, 1255 West 8th Street, Juneau, AK 99802 (Principal Investigator: Robert Smalls, Ph.D.); and Permit No. 821-1588-02: Texas A&M University, Department of Marine Biology, 5007 Avenue U, Galveston, TX 77551 (Principal Investigator: Randall Davis, Ph.D.).

NMFS announces that the percentage of the tilefish annual total allowable landings (TAL) available to the Full-time Tier 2 permit category for the 2005 fishing year has been harvested. In response, commercial vessels fishing under the Full-time Tier 2 tilefish category may not harvest tilefish from within the Golden Tilefish Management Unit for the remainder of the 2005 fishing year (through October 31, 2005). Regulations governing the tilefish fishery require publication of this notification to advise the public of this closure.

NMFS announces that it has adjusted the commercial quota allocation for the Quarter III fishery for Loligo squid in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The regulations for the Atlantic mackerel, squid and butterfish fisheries require this adjustment to be made if landings in the Quarter I fishery exceed the commercial quota allocated to that period. This action is necessary to prevent the fishery from exceeding the annual commercial quota and to allow for effective management of this stock.

In June 2004, we (NMFS) proposed that the Oregon Coast coho Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU) (Oncorhynchus kisutch) be listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In March 2005, the State of Oregon released a draft Oregon Coastal Coho Assessment (draft assessment) of the viability of the Oregon Coast coho ESU and the contributions of the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds (OPSW) to conserving the Oregon Coast coho ESU. The draft assessment concluded that the Oregon Coast coho ESU is viable. On February 9, 2005, we announced in a Federal Register notice that we would consider the information presented by Oregon in determining the final listing status for the ESU, and we solicited public comment on the draft assessment. The comments received by NMFS and Oregon raised a number of concerns regarding the sufficiency and adequacy of the data and analyses used in the draft assessment. On May 6, 2005, Oregon released a final Oregon Coastal Coho Assessment (final assessment) that incorporates and responds to the comments received and includes several substantive changes in response, regarding the sufficiency and adequacy of the draft assessment. We are extending the deadline for the final listing determination for the Oregon Coast coho ESU by 6 months to analyze Oregon's final assessment in light of the comments received on the draft assessment. This extension will enable NMFS to make a final listing determination based upon the best available scientific information. Additionally, we are soliciting additional information regarding the sufficiency and adequacy of the final assessment.

In June 2004, we (NMFS) proposed that ten Evolutionarily Significant Units (ESUs) of West Coast Oncorhynchus mykiss (O. mykiss, which includes anadromous steelhead and resident rainbow trout) be listed as endangered or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In April-May 2005, we received three independent scientific reports containing information on the relationship of anadromous and resident O. mykiss and on the viability of ESUs containing a diversity of types of populations. In June 2005, we received a letter from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), stating its concerns about the basis for final listing determinations for the ten O. mykiss ESUs and specifying three issues regarding the relationship between anadromous and resident O. mykiss, over which there is substantial disagreement about the underlying data. We are extending the deadline for final listing determinations for the ten O. mykiss ESUs for 6 months to analyze the three reports, to work with FWS to resolve the disagreements about the data relevant to its issues of concern, and to solicit additional information from scientific studies and other newly available data. Additionally, we are soliciting comments and information from the public regarding the reports, the issues raised by FWS, and about resident and anadromous O. mykiss generally. This extension will enable us to make a final listing determination based upon the best available scientific information.

NOAA announces its intention to prepare an EIS in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 for the proposed approval of amendments submitted by the State of Alaska to its Coastal Management Program. The State has adopted regulatory changes to its Process for Consistency Review (11 AAC 150), Standards for the Alaska Coastal Management Program (11 AAC 180), and Guidelines of the Alaska Coastal Management Program (11 AAC 185).

NMFS will present a workshop on proposed catch-monitoring standards for the non-American Fisheries Act (AFA) trawl catcher/ processor sector. These standards are necessary to support proposed groundfish and prohibited species allocations to this sector that are under consideration by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

NMFS announces that the Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, is considering issuing an Exempted Fishing Permit to Limuli Laboratories of Cape May Court House, NJ, to conduct the fifth year of an exempted fishing operation otherwise restricted by regulations prohibiting the harvest of horseshoe crabs in the Carl N. Schuster Jr. Horseshoe Crab Reserve (Reserve) located 3 nautical miles (nm) seaward from the mouth of the Delaware Bay. If granted, the EFP would allow the harvest of 10,000 horseshoe crabs for biomedical purposes and require, as a condition of the EFP, the collection of data related to the status of horseshoe crabs within the Reserve. This notice also invites comments on the issuance of the EFP to Limuli Laboratories.

NMFS is establishing a Take Reduction Team (TRT) and convening a TRT meeting to address the incidental mortality and serious injury of long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) and short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) in the Atlantic region of the Atlantic pelagic longline fishery. The TRT will develop a Take Reduction Plan (TRP) as required in the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). NMFS will seek input from the Atlantic Pelagic Longline TRT on all scientific data related to stock structure, abundance, and human- caused mortality and serious injury of pilot whales. The TRT will focus on developing a plan to reduce incidental catch of pilot whales in the Atlantic pelagic longline fishery to a level approaching a zero mortality and serious injury rate within 5 years of implementation of the plan.

The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

NMFS proposes revisions to the guidelines for National Standard 1 (NS1) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). This action is necessary to clarify, amplify, and simplify the guidelines so that the Regional Fishery Management Councils (Councils) and the public can have a better understanding of how to establish status determination criteria (SDC) for stocks that vary in quality of available data, and how to construct and revise rebuilding plans. The intent of this action is to facilitate compliance with requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

NMFS is reallocating the projected unused amounts of Community Development Quota (CDQ), incidental catch allowance (ICA) and non-CDQ pollock from the Aleutian Islands subarea to the Bering Sea subarea. These actions are necessary to allow the 2005 total allowable catch (TAC) of pollock in the Aleutian Islands subarea to be harvested.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposes to amend the regulations implementing the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (ALWTRP), to revise the management measures for reducing the incidental mortality and serious injury to the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis), humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), and fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) in commercial fisheries to meet the goals of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA). NMFS proposes additional regulations for the fisheries currently covered by the ALWTRP, which include the Northeast sink gillnet, Northeast/Mid-Atlantic American lobster trap/pot, U.S. Mid-Atlantic coastal gillnet, Southeast Atlantic gillnet, and Southeastern U.S. Atlantic shark gillnet fisheries. NMFS also proposes to regulate the following fisheries from the MMPA's List of Fisheries for the first time under the ALWTRP: Northeast anchored float gillnet, Northeast drift gillnet, Atlantic blue crab, and Atlantic mixed species trap/pot fisheries targeting crab (red, Jonah, and rock), hagfish, finfish (black sea bass, scup, tautog, cod, haddock, pollock, redfish (ocean perch), and white hake), conch/whelk, and shrimp.

NMFS has incorporated public comments into revisions of marine mammal stock assessment reports (SARs) and the guidelines for preparing marine mammal stock assessment reports. The 2004 final SARs and the revised guidelines are now complete and available to the public.

NMFS announces the approval of Amendment 83 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI) and Amendment 75 to the FMP for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). The amendments make housekeeping revisions to the FMPs. The revisions update harvest, ecosystem, and socioeconomic information, consolidate text, and reorganize the documents. The intent of this action is to update information in the FMPs and to make them easier to read. This action promotes the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), the FMPs, and other applicable laws.

The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NMFS, (Assistant Administrator) has renewed the affirmative finding for the Government of Mexico under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). This affirmative finding will allow yellowfin tuna harvested in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) in compliance with the International Dolphin Conservation Program (IDCP) by Mexican-flag purse seine vessels or purse seine vessels operating under Mexican jurisdiction to be imported into the United States. The affirmative finding was based on review of documentary evidence submitted by the Government of Mexico and obtained from the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) and the U.S. Department of State.

Applications for the position of Director, Ocean.US are invited. Ocean.US was created by the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP) to coordinate the development of an operational integrated and sustained ocean observing system (IOOS). Information from the IOOS system will serve national needs for detecting and forecasting oceanic components of climate variability, facilitating safe and efficient marine operations, ensuring national security, managing resources for sustainable use, preserving and restoring healthy marine ecosystems, mitigating natural hazards, and ensuring public health. The Director will coordinate with vested interest groups on collaborative activities that accomplish Ocean.US goals to integrate ocean observing activities. These groups include Federal agencies, universities, private industry, state and local governments, and non- governmental organizations. The Director will develop and oversee broad-scale cooperative efforts and strategies of a national scope associated with coastal and ocean stewardship. The successful candidate will have high-level management experience and the ability to work with a wide range of people and interests to further the goals of Ocean.US and the IOOS. He or she should have demonstrated experience in administration, legislative and public processes, policy development, and constituent affairs. The Director is expected to lead a nation-wide, interagency effort to build coalitions, and should have experience managing staff and negotiating across organizational levels and boundaries. He or she should also have some familiarity with elements of the IOOS, such as Data Management and Communication, Modeling and Analysis, Research, and Education and Outreach. The successful candidate ideally will have a science background, familiarity with the Global Earth Observing System of Systems (GEOSS), the NOPP process, and the Federal spending process, including spending in a legislated, but unappropriated enterprise. He or she must also be able to obtain a security clearance. Applications, which should include a letter of interest, a curriculum vitae, and the names, addresses, and e-mail addresses of at least three references, should be sent to: Ocean.US, 2300 Claredon Blvd Suite 1350, Arlington, VA 22201-3667, Attn: Ms. Nicole Larrain. Review of the applications will begin on June 30, 2005, with a start date of October 1, 2005. The mode of employment will be negotiated, depending on the current employment status of the applicant. The search will remain open until the position is filled. Salary is commensurate with experience.

Notice is hereby given of a public meeting concerning the development of a national system of marine protected areas (MPAs) pursuant to Executive Order 13158 (May 26, 2000). The Gulf of Mexico Region Public Dialogue will be held July 18, 2005, 6:30-9 p.m. in New Orleans, Louisiana. This is the third in a series of regional dialogues to be held around the United States to solicit input from the public concerning their views on a national system of MPAs. Additional meetings will be announced and scheduled pending available resources. Refer to the Web page listed below for background information concerning the development of the national system of MPAs. Meeting room capacity is limited to 75 people, and as such interested participants are required to RSVP via the e-mail address (preferable), fax number, or phone number listed below, by no later than 5 p.m. e.d.t. on July 8, 2005. Attendance will be available to the first 75 people who respond. Those who wish to attend but cannot due to space or schedule limitations can find background materials at the Web page listed below and may submit written statements to the e-mail, fax, or mailing address below. A written summary of the meeting will be posted on the Web site within one month of its occurrence.

NMFS issues a proposed rule to implement Amendment 79 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (FMP). This action is necessary to reduce bycatch and improve utilization of groundfish harvested by catcher/ processor trawl vessels in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Island management area (BSAI) that are not listed American Fisheries Act (AFA) catcher/processors referred to throughout this proposed rule as non-AFA catcher/processors. This action is intended to promote the management objectives of the Improved Retention/Improved Utilization (IRIU) program, the FMP, and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

Notice is hereby given that the following individuals and institutions have been issued a permit or permit amendment to conduct research on Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus): the National Marine Mammal Laboratory, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, Seattle, WA (NMML: File No. 782-1768); the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Anchorage, AK (ADF&G: File No. 358-1769); the North Pacific Universities Marine Mammal Research Consortium, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. (NPUMMRC: File No. 715-1784); the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Corvallis, OR (ODFW; File No. 434-1669); the Aleutians East Borough, Juneau, AK (AEB: File No. 1010-1641); and the Alaska SeaLife Center, Seward, AK (ASLC: File No. 881-1668).