National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration July 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will convene public meetings.

Notification is hereby given that NMFS has issued an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to Conoco Phillips Alaska, Inc, (Conoco) to take small numbers of marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to conducting open-water seismic data aquisition in the Chukchi Sea during the summer and fall of 2006.

NMFS is soliciting applications for permit upgrades in the American Samoa longline limited entry program. Eight upgrade permits will be available in 2006 for holders of Class A vessel permits (i.e., less than or equal to 40 ft or 12.2 m in length) to upgrade to permits for larger vessels (Class B-1, C-1, or D-1). The upgrade permits are available only to Class A permit holders who participated in the fishery before March 22, 2002. The highest priority for receiving an upgrade permit will be given to the person with the earliest date of documented participation.

NMFS announces consideration of proposed rulemaking to control future access to the Atlantic hagfish fishery. The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) has indicated that limiting access to the hagfish fishery may be necessary to control participation in the fishery at a level that reduces capitalization and constrains fishing to sustainable levels, while ensuring that the fishery does not become overfished, as defined by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

NMFS reviewed the Alaska, Atlantic, and Pacific regional marine mammal stock assessment reports (SARs) in accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). SARs for marine mammals in the Alaska, Atlantic, and Pacific regions were revised according to new information. NMFS solicits public comments on draft 2006 SARs.

The natural resource trustees (the Trustees) hereby notify the public of their intent to conduct restoration planning activities for injuries to natural resources caused by the Bouchard B-120 Oil Spill that occurred on or about April 27, 2003. On that date, the Bouchard B- 120, owned and operated by the Bouchard Transportation Company, grounded on a shoal in Buzzards Bay, which is located off the coasts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and released between 22,000 and 98,000 gallons of No. 6 fuel oil into the environment. The Trustees include the: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of the Interior; Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, Commonwealth of Massachusetts; State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Department of Environmental Management. The purpose of restoration planning is to evaluate potential injuries to natural resources and services resulting from the spill and utilize that information to determine the need for, and scale of, restoration actions. The public is invited to participate in the restoration planning process by reviewing and commenting on documents contained in the Administrative Record, attending public meetings as scheduled, and reviewing and commenting on the Draft and Final Restoration Plans when such documents have been completed.

The National Geodetic Survey (NGS) will publish North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83) State Plane Coordinate (SPC) grid values, in both meters, and U.S. Survey Feet (1 ft = 1200/3937 m) in New Jersey, for all well defined geodetic survey control monuments maintained by NGS in the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS) and computed from various geodetic positioning utilities. The adoption of this standard is implemented in accordance with NGS policy and a request from the New Jersey Department of Transportation, the New Jersey Society of Professional Land Surveyors, and the New Jersey Bureau Office of Information Technology.

NMFS issues this final rule to implement measures contained in Framework Adjustment 6 (Framework 6) to the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan (FMP) that will allow regional conservation equivalency in the summer flounder recreational fishery. The intent is to provide flexibility and efficiency to the management of the summer flounder recreational fishery, specifically by expanding the suite of management tools available when conservation equivalency is implemented. In addition, this final rule includes three administrative modifications to the existing regulations for clarification purposes.

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 regulations to implement measures in FW 42 to the NE Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and FW 3 to the Monkfish FMP (Joint Framework). FW 42, which was developed by the New England Fishery Management Council (Council), is a biennial adjustment to the NE Multispecies FMP that would implement a rebuilding program for Georges Bank (GB) yellowtail flounder and modify NE multispecies fishery management measures to reduce fishing mortality rates (F) on six other groundfish stocks in order to maintain compliance with the rebuilding program of the FMP. FW 42 also proposes to modify and continue specific measures to mitigate the economic and social impacts of Amendment 13 to the NE Multispecies FMP and allow harvest levels to approach optimum yield (OY).

The NOAA Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) announces a revised time for a public meeting previously included in an announcement of intent to evaluate the performance of the New Hampshire Coastal Management Program. Notice was previously given in the Federal Register on June 29, 2006, of the date of the site visit for the evaluation of the New Hampshire Coastal Management Program and the date, local time, and location of the public meeting. Notice is hereby given of the revised local time of the public meeting during the site visit. Date and Time: The New Hampshire Coastal Management Program evaluation site visit will be held September 20-22, 2006. One public meeting will be held during the week. The public meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 20, 2006, at 6 p.m. at the New Hampshire Coastal Program Office, Department of Environmental Services, 50 International Drive, Suite 200, Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for northern rockfish in the Central Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2006 total allowable catch (TAC) of northern rockfish in the Central Regulatory Area of the GOA.

Amendment 9 to the Fishery Management Plan for Bottomfish and Seamount Groundfish Fisheries of the Western Pacific Region (FMP Amendment 9) would prohibit large vessels, i.e., those 50 ft (15.2 m) or longer, from fishing for bottomfish in Federal waters within 50 nm (92.6 km) around Guam, and would establish Federal permitting and reporting requirements for these large bottomfish fishing vessels. The amendment is intended to maintain viable bottomfish catch rates by small vessels in the fishery, to sustain participation by smaller vessels in the fishery, to maintain traditional patterns of the bottomfish supply to local Guam markets, and to provide for the collection of adequate fishery information for effective management.

Notice is hereby given that NMFS has received an application for a permit for an Endangered Species Act (ESA) scientific research from Tenera Environmental in Lafayette, CA. This notice is relevant to federally endangered Sacramento River winter-run Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), threatened Central Valley spring-run Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha), threatened Central Valley steelhead (O. mykiss), and threatened Southern Distinct Population Segment (DPS) of North American green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris). This document serves to notify the public of the availability of the permit applications for review and comment.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a meeting of its Oculina Evaluation Team, in Cape Canaveral, FL.

NOAA Fisheries and The Pacific Fishery Management Council will hold a workshop to discuss the availability and treatment of data in West Coast groundfish stock assessments as well as general modeling issues, including a review of the features and functionality of the Stock Synthesis 2 modeling platform.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) will convene one public meeting of the Ad Hoc Shrimp Effort Working Group (SEWG).

The National Marine Fisheries Service announces the availability of approximately $4.5 million in grant funds for fiscal year (FY) 2006 for vessel owners and/or operators who have purchased an Mobile Transmitter Unit (MTU) or Enhanced-Mobile Transmitter Unit (E- MTU) for the purpose of complying with fishery regulations requiring the use of Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) that became effective during FY 2006. The funds will be used to reimburse vessel owners and/or operators for the purchase price of the MTU or E-MTU. The maximum award per reimbursement is dependent upon the requirements of the applicable fishery management rule.

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

NMFS is prohibiting retention of squid in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). NMFS is requiring that catch of squid in this area be treated in the same manner as prohibited species and discarded at sea with a minimum of injury. This action is necessary because the 2006 total allowable catch (TAC) of squid in the BSAI has been reached.

NMFS, upon application from the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS or the Sanctuary), is issuing regulations to govern the unintentional takings of small numbers of marine mammals incidental to authorizing professional fireworks displays within the Sanctuary in California waters. Issuance of regulations is required by the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) when the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary), after notice and opportunity for comment, finds, as here, that such takes will have a negligible impact on the species and stocks of marine mammals and will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on their availability for subsistence uses. These regulations do not authorize MBNMS to permit fireworks displays. These regulations govern the issuance of ``Letters of Authorization'' (LOAs) for the unintentional incidental take of marine mammals in connection with this activity, and prescribe methods of taking and other means of effecting the least practicable adverse impact on marine mammal species and their habitat, and on the availability of the species for subsistence uses. In addition, NMFS, through this final rule, issues mitigation, reporting and monitoring requirements. In the proposed rule, NMFS referenced and proposed the continued implementation of a document entitled ``MBNMS Fireworks Guidelines'' (Guidelines), which was cooperatively developed by the Sanctuary, NMFS, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and served as a basis for the mitigation measures described in the proposed rule. These Guidelines also included three specific mitigation measures that NMFS has now included in the final rule.

Notice is hereby given that the Center for Coastal Studies, P.O. Box 1036, Provincetown, MA 02657 [Principal Investigator: Julie Robbins] has been issued a permit to conduct scientific research.

The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Northeast Region, NMFS (Assistant Regional Administrator) has made a preliminary determination that the subject exempted fishing permit (EFP) application contains all the required information and warrants further consideration. The Assistant Regional Administrator has also made a preliminary determination that the activities authorized under the EFP would be consistent with the goals and objectives of the Northeast (NE) Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP). However, further review and consultation may be necessary before a final determination is made to issue the EFP. Therefore, NMFS announces that the Assistant Regional Administrator proposes to recommend that an EFP be issued that would allow one commercial fishing vessel to conduct fishing operations that are otherwise restricted by the regulations governing the fisheries of the Northeastern United States. The EFP, which would enable researchers to investigate the efficacy of a 4-seam bottom trawl to improve escapement of small cod and haddock, would allow for exemptions from the FMP as follows: Gulf of Maine (GOM) Regulated Mesh Area minimum mesh size and gear restrictions, and two NE multispecies days-at-sea (DAS) out of a total of 12 days of gear testing. Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act require publication of this notification to provide interested parties the opportunity to comment on applications for proposed EFPs.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for pelagic shelf rockfish in the Western Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2006 total allowable catch (TAC) of pelagic shelf rockfish in the Western Regulatory Area of the GOA.

NMFS is reopening directed fishing for Pacific cod by vessels using trawl gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to utilize the remaining amount of the 2006 halibut bycatch allowance specified for the trawl Pacific cod fishery category in the BSAI.