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

NMFS apportions amounts of the non-specified reserve of groundfish to certain target species in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to account for previous harvest of the total allowable catch (TAC). It is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the fishery management plan for groundfish of the BSAI.

NMFS issues this final rule to implement a regulatory amendment to the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico (FMP) prepared by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council). This final rule establishes a 6,000-lb (2,722-kg) commercial trip limit for shallow-water and deep-water grouper, combined, in the exclusive economic zone of the Gulf of Mexico. The intended effect of this final rule is to minimize the effects of derby fishing and prolong the fishing season.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announces its intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to analyze the environmental impacts of the national administration of the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program (MMHSRP). Publication of this notice begins the official scoping process that will help identify alternatives and determine the scope of environmental issues to be addressed in the EIS. This notice requests public participation in the scoping process, provides information on how to participate, and identifies a set of preliminary alternatives to serve as a starting point for discussions.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) has begun its annual preseason management process for the 2006 ocean salmon fisheries. This document announces the availability of Council documents as well as the dates and locations of Council meetings and public hearings comprising the Council's complete schedule of events for determining the annual proposed and final modifications to ocean salmon fishery management measures. The agendas for the March and April Council meetings will be published in subsequent Federal Register documents prior to the actual meetings.

NMFS is specifying the final quotas for the ocean quahog fishery for 2006 and 2007. Specifications for the Atlantic surfclam and Maine ocean quahog fishery, which remain unchanged from the 2005-2007 multi-year quota specifications, are reprinted here for clarity. Regulations governing these fisheries require NMFS to publish the revised allowable harvest levels of ocean quahogs from the Exclusive Economic Zone for the 2006 and 2007 fishing years.

The regulations contained in the temporary rule, emergency action, published on October 18, 2005, at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which are scheduled to expire on December 31, 2005, are extended through June 30, 2006. In the October 18, 2005, action, NMFS reinstated and corrected the temporary regulations published on September 9, 2005, which reopened a portion of Federal waters of the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, and southern New England that it had previously closed from June 14 through September 30, 2005, to the harvest for human consumption of certain bivalve molluscan shellfish due to the presence in those waters of the toxin that causes Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP). The FDA has determined that there is insufficient analytical data to support the scheduled reopening of the entire area to all bivalve molluscan shellfish fishing on January 1, 2006.

NMFS proposes initial specifications for the 2006 fishing year for Atlantic mackerel, squid, and butterfish (MSB). Regulations governing these fisheries require NMFS to publish proposed specifications for the upcoming fishing year and to provide an opportunity for public comment. The intent of this action is to fulfill this requirement and to promote the development and conservation of the MSB resources.

NMFS and the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Pacific Council) announce their intent to extend the public scoping period for an EIS in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 to analyze proposals to allocate groundfish among various sectors of the non-tribal Pacific Coast groundfish fishery.

NMFS announces that the Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator), is increasing the 500-mt haddock quota for the second participation period (November 16, 2005, through December 31, 2005) of the Closed Area (CA) I Hook Gear Haddock Special Access Program (SAP) to 536.6 mt. Available information indicates that the 500-mt quota for the first participation period of this SAP (October 1, 2005, through November 15, 2005) was under-harvested. The intended effect of this action is to account for this under-harvest from the first participation period, in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announces a second availability of grant funds for Fiscal Year 2006. The purpose of this notice is to provide the general public with a consolidated source of program and application information related to NOAA's competitive grant offerings. It contains the information about those programs as required to be published in the Federal Register. This omnibus notice is designed to replace multiple Federal Register notices that traditionally advertised the availability of NOAA's discretionary funds for its various programs. Applicants must comply with all requirements contained in the full funding opportunity announcements for each project competition in this announcement. It should be noted that additional program initiatives unanticipated at the time of the publication of this notice may be announced later in the year.

Notice is hereby given that the Museum of Natural History Collections, Department of Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 [Principal Investigator: Tonya Haff], has been issued an amendment to scientific research.

The NOAA Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) announces its intent to evaluate the performances of the Ashepoo-Combahee-Edisto (ACE) Basin (South Carolina) National Estuarine Research Reserve, the Jobos Bay (Puerto Rico) National Estuarine Research Reserve, the North Carolina Coastal Management Program, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Coastal Management Program. The Coastal Zone Management Program evaluations will be conducted pursuant to section 312 of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended (CZMA) and regulations at 15 CFR Part 923, Subpart L. The National Estuarine Research Reserve evaluations will be conducted pursuant to sections 312 and 315 of the CZMA and regulations at 15 CFR Part 921, Subpart E and Part 923, Subpart L. The CZMA requires continuing review of the performance of states with respect to coastal program implementation. Evaluation of Coastal Management Programs and National Estuarine Research Reserves requires findings concerning the extent to which a state has met the national objectives, adhered to its Coastal Management Program document or Reserve final management plan approved by the Secretary of Commerce, and adhered to the terms of financial assistance awards funded under the CZMA. Each evaluation will include a site visit, consideration of public comments, and consultations with interested Federal, state, and local agencies and members of the public. A public meeting will be held as part of the site visit. Notice is hereby given of the dates of the site visits for the listed evaluations, and the dates, local times, and locations of the public meeting during the site visits. The ACE Basin (South Carolina) National Estuarine Research Reserve evaluation site visit will be held January 30-February 3, 2006. One public meeting will be held during the week. The public meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 31, 2006, at 6:30 p.m. at the Edisto Interpretive Center, Edisto Beach State Park, 8377 State Cabin Road, Edisto Island, South Carolina. The Jobos Bay (Puerto Rico) National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) evaluation site visit will be held January 30-February 3, 2006. One public meeting will be held during the week. The public meeting will be held on Wednesday, February 1, 2006, at 5 p.m. at the Jobos Bay NERR Visitors' Center, Road 705, Kilometer 2.3, Main Street, Aguirre, Puerto Rico. The North Carolina Coastal Management Program evaluation site visit will be held February 6-10, 2006. Three public meetings will be held during the week. The first public meeting will be held on Monday, February 6, 2006, at 6 p.m. at the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Wilmington Regional Office, Room 200, 127 Cardinal Drive Extension, Wilmington, North Carolina. The second public meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 7, 2006, at 6 p.m. at the Carteret County Courthouse, Commissioners Boardroom, One Courthouse Square, Beaufort, North Carolina. The third public meeting will be held on Wednesday, February 8, 2006, at 6 p.m. at the Dare County Commissioners Office, 204 Ananias Dare Street, Manteo, North Carolina. The CNMI Coastal Management Program evaluation site visit will be held February 13-17, 2006. One public meeting will be held during the week. The public meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 14, 2006, at 5 p.m. at the Coastal Resource Management Office, First Floor Conference Room, Morgen Building, San Jose, Saipan. Copies of states' most recent performance reports, as well as OCRM's evaluation notification and supplemental information request letters to the states, are available upon request from OCRM. Written comments from interested parties regarding these Programs are encouraged and will be accepted until 15 days after the public meeting held for a Program. Please direct written comments to Ralph Cantral, Chief, National Policy and Evaluation Division, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, NOS/NOAA, 1305 East-West Highway, 10th Floor, N/ORM7, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910. When the evaluations are completed, OCRM will place a notice in the Federal Register announcing the availability of the Final Evaluation Findings. Notice is hereby given of the availability of the final evaluation findings for the Hawaii and Louisiana Coastal Management Programs (CMPs); and the Great Bay (New Hampshire) and Hudson River (New York) National Estuarine Research Reserves (NERRs). Sections 312 and 315 of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (CZMA), as amended, require a continuing review of the performance of coastal states with respect to approval of CMPs and the operation and management of NERRs. The states of Hawaii and Louisiana were found to be implementing and enforcing their federally approved coastal management programs, addressing the national coastal management objectives identified in CZMA Section 303(2)(A)-(K), and adhering to the programmatic terms of their financial assistance awards. The Great Bay (New Hampshire) and Hudson River (New York) NERRs were found to be adhering to programmatic requirements of the NERR System. Copies of these final evaluation findings may be obtained upon written request from: Ralph Cantral, Chief, National Policy and Evaluation Division, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, NOS/NOAA, 1305 East-West Highway, 10th Floor, N/ORM7, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910, or Ralph.Cantral@noaa.gov.

NMFS announces that the Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator), is reducing the Georges Bank (GB) yellowtail flounder trip limit from an unlimited amount to 15,000 lb (6,804.1 kg) per trip for Northeast (NE) multispecies Days-at-Sea (DAS) vessels fishing in both the Western and Eastern U.S./Canada Areas. This action is necessary to prevent the GB yellowtail total allowable catch (TAC) from being caught before the end of the 2005 fishing year and to increase the likelihood that the GB yellowtail TAC will be available through the end of the 2005 fishing year on April 30, 2006. This action is being taken to slow the rate of harvest of GB yellowtail flounder under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Magnuson-Stevens Committee in November, 2005 to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from this group will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)(collectively, the Services) announce the availability of the final recovery plan for the Gulf of Maine (GOM) distinct population segment (DPS) of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar).

NMFS announces that the directed fishery for Loligo squid in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) will be closed effective 0001hrs local time, December 18, 2005. Vessels issued a Federal permit to harvest Loligo squid may not retain or land more than 2,500 lb (1.13 mt) of Loligo squid per trip for the remainder of the year (through December 31, 2005). This action is necessary to prevent the fishery from exceeding its annual quota and allow for effective management of this stock.

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.

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 issues a final rule to implement measures to further reduce the incidental catch of seabirds in the Hawaii-based longline fishery. Depending on the fishing method and area where the vessels operate, owners and operators of longline fishing vessels must either side-set (deploy longline gear from the side of the vessel rather than from the stern) or use a combination of other seabird mitigation measures to prevent seabirds from being accidentally hooked, entangled, and killed during fishing operations. NMFS also announces the availability of the ROD for the ``Final Environmental Impact Statement, Seabird Interaction Avoidance Methods under the Fishery Management Plan for Pelagic Fisheries of the Western Pacific Region and Pelagic Squid Fishery Management under the Fishery Management Plan for Pelagic Fisheries of the Western Pacific Region and the High Seas Fishing Compliance Act'' (FEIS). The ROD announces that NMFS selects the Preferred Alternative of the FEIS, modified slightly, to cost-effectively further reduce the potentially harmful effects of the Hawaii-based longline fishery on seabirds.

NMFS proposes a rule to implement revisions to the 2006 commercial and recreational groundfish fishery management measures for groundfish taken in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California. Proposed management measures that are new for 2006 are intended to: achieve but not exceed optimum yields (OYs); prevent overfishing; rebuild overfished species; and reduce and minimize the bycatch and discard of overfished and depleted stocks. NMFS additionally proposes to revise the 2006 darkblotched rockfish OY, at the request of the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Pacific Council), and under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson- Stevens Act). These actions, which are authorized by the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and the Magnuson-Stevens Act, are intended allow fisheries to access more abundant groundfish stocks while protecting overfished and depleted stocks. Finally, NMFS announces with this Federal Register document that the coastwide lingcod stock is no longer considered overfished and is fully rebuilt.

NMFS issues this final rule amending Table 2 to 50 CFR part 679. Table 2 is the source for species codes used in data collection, analysis, and monitoring of the Federal groundfish fisheries. This action is necessary to standardize collection of species information with the State of Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), increase effectiveness of rockfish management, reflect current fisheries management interest in skates, and promote better enforcement of rockfish regulations. This final rule is intended to meet the conservation and management requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) with respect to groundfish and to further the goals and objectives of the Alaska groundfish fishery management plans.

NMFS is required by the Federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), as amended to develop plans for the conservation and survival of Federally listed species, i.e., recovery plans. NMFS is announcing its' intent to prepare a recovery plan for the Central California Coast coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) Evolutionarily Significant Unit (CCC coho salmon ESU) and requests information from the public.

NMFS has determined that the Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) General category daily retention limit for three of the previously designated restricted fishing days (RFD) for December should be adjusted. These General category RFDs are being waived to provide reasonable opportunity for utilization of the coastwide General category BFT quota. Therefore, NMFS waives three RFDs in December and increases the daily retention limit from zero to two large medium or giant BFT on these previously designated RFDs.

NOAA's Environmental Entrepreneurship Program is soliciting proposals that support environmental revitalization projects. Projects should engage students at MSIs in hands-on training and experiential learning opportunities in the application of NOAA science and business acumen. The program's objective is to increase the number of students proficient in environmental business enterprises. For the purposes of this program, Environmental Business Enterprises is defined as applying skills and techniques in the development and operations of businesses that resolve environmental degradation in local communities. The process involves engaging students in the application of business skills and best management science techniques that will enable students to gain practical experience in resolving environmental degradation in their local communities. Students are expected to learn how to transform business concepts into innovative products or services that support environmental business enterprises. This is achieved through community-based collaborative processes. It is expected that three cooperative agreement awards will be funded in fiscal year 2006. Eligible MSIs may apply for a maximum of $200,000, on a competitive basis, to support environmental revitalization projects, for a two or three-year period. The total funding available is $600,000, subject to Congressional appropriations. The program's vision is an increased number of students at MSIs proficient in environmental business enterprises that advance DOC/ NOAA's mission. Successful programs will build the institution's capacity to train students in developing and operating businesses in local communities where there is a need to sustain or revitalize naturally depleted environments.

The purpose of this document is to advise the public that NOAA's Educational Partnership Program is soliciting new accredited post secondary minority serving institutions (MSI)Cooperative Science Center proposals. These Centers are to establish partnerships between the accredited post secondary MSIs and NOAA. The partnership goal is to expand the institution's training and research capabilities and supporting program development. The developed programs will support NOAA's mission. The Cooperative Centers must establish in the NOAA core science areas: Atmospheric, oceanic and environmental sciences; living marine resources science and management; and remote sensing technology. The EPP/MSI is a competitive program designed to strengthen and enhance the research and training capabilities and to support the development of programs directly related to NOAA's mission at MSIs. The EPP is designed to enhance NOAA's capability to increase environmental literacy by establishing partnerships with academia, the private sector, and other Federal, State, Tribal and local agencies. Thus, the funding opportunity is intended to engage the MSI academic community in training and collaborative research across the spectrum of atmospheric, oceanic and environmental sciences, living marine resources science and management, and remote sensing technology in support of NOAA's mission.