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

NMFS announces that the directed fishery for Loligo squid in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) will be closed effective 0001 hours, February 13, 2006. Vessels issued a Federal permit to harvest Loligo squid may not retain or land more than 2,500 lb (1,134 kg) of Loligo squid per trip for the remainder of the quarter (through March 31, 2006). This action is necessary to prevent the fishery from exceeding its Quarter I quota and to allow for effective management of this stock.

Notice is hereby given that Patricia Bargo, East Coast Observers, Inc., P.O. Box 6192, Norfolk, Virginia 23508 has been issued a permit to take loggerhead (Caretta caretta), green (Chelonia mydas), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii), and leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) sea turtles, and shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum).

NMFS is reallocating the projected unused amounts of Community Development Quota (CDQ) pollock from the Aleutian Islands subarea to the Bering Sea subarea. This action is necessary to allow the 2006 total allowable catch (TAC) of pollock in the Aleutian Islands subarea to be harvested in the Bering Sea subarea.

NMFS announces that the Administrator, Northeast (NE) Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator), is implementing a yellowtail flounder trip limit of 1,500 lb (680.4 kg) per day, up to a maximum of 15,000 lb (6,804.1 kg) per trip, for NE multispecies Days-at-Sea (DAS) vessels fishing in both the Western and Eastern U.S./Canada Areas. This action is required by the regulations enacting Amendment 13 to the NE Multispecies Fishery Management Plan and is necessary to prevent the GB yellowtail flounder 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 North Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Council) Scallop Plan Team will meet at the Anchorage Hilton Hotel in Anchorage, AK.

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 Assistant Administrator for Fisheries (AA), NOAA, announces temporary restrictions consistent with the requirements of the ALWTRP's implementing regulations. These regulations apply to lobster trap/pot and anchored gillnet fishermen in an area totaling approximately 1794 nm\2\ (6153 km\2\), northeast of Boston, MA, for 15 days. The purpose of this action is to provide protection to an aggregation of northern right whales (right whales).

Notice is hereby given that NMFS, Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC), 75 Virginia Beach Drive, Miami, Florida 33149, has applied in due form for a permit to take green (Chelonia mydas), loggerhead (Caretta caretta), Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), and olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) for purposes of scientific research.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by catcher vessels 60 feet (18.3 meters (m)) length overall (LOA) and longer using pot gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the A season allowance of the 2006 Pacific cod allowable catch (TAC) of Pacific cod specified for catcher vessels using pot gear in the BSAI.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) announces its intent to prepare an amendment to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan (FMP) (Placopecten magellanicus (Gmelin)) and to prepare an SEIS to analyze the impacts of any proposed management measures. The Council is also formally re-initiating a public process to determine the scope of alternatives to be addressed in the amendment and SEIS. The purpose of this notification is to alert the interested public of the re-commencement of the scoping process and to provide for public participation in compliance with environmental documentation requirements.

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.

In accordance with provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) as amended, notification is hereby given that an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take small numbers of marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to conducting an oceanographic survey in the southwestern Pacific Ocean (SWPO) has been issued to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (Scripps).

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a meeting to refine its Internet Mapping System in St. Petersburg, FL.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will convene a public meeting of the Ad Hoc Grouper Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Advisory Panel (AHGIFQAP).

The PNCIAC will convene a meeting on Thursday, February 23, 2006, in Seattle, WA. The meeting is open to the public.

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.

We, NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), are applying the protective regulations for threatened West Coast salmon and steelhead to Upper Columbia River steelhead. Upper Columbia River steelhead were previously listed as endangered in 1997 and were thereby afforded protections against ``take'' under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). On January 5, 2006, the listing status of Upper Columbia River steelhead was changed to threatened. We have determined that the existing protective regulations for threatened West Coast salmonids are necessary and advisable for the conservation of Upper Columbia River steelhead.

NMFS is opening directed fishing for pollock in Statistical Area 610 of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) for 24 hours. This action is necessary to fully use the A season allowance of the 2006 total allowable catch (TAC) of pollock specified for Statistical Area 610 of the GOA.

This announcement provides notice that the decision record has been closed for an administrative appeal filed with the Department of Commerce by Edwin Irizarry Garcia.

Notice is hereby given that NMFS has received an application for a permit for scientific research from William Mitchell, as principal investigator for Jones and Stokes, in Sacramento, CA. The permit would affect federally threatened Central Valley spring-run Chinook salmon and threatened Central Valley steelhead. This document serves to notify the public of the availability of the permit application for review and comment.

On January 12, 2006, a proposed rule to implement Amendment 19 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP) was published in the Federal Register. The proposed rule was published with an incorrect RIN. Also, this proposed rule contained a number of errors in the Prohibition section and the different lists of coordinates. This document corrects those errors.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service (Services) announce the availability for public review of a final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), final Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP), and final Implementing Agreement (IA), related to an application by the State of Washington for Endangered Species Act (ESA) Incidental Take Permits (ITPs). The final documents reflect changes made to the draft documents resulting from comments received during the 90-day public comment period. Responses to comments received from the public are included in the EIS. This notice provides an opportunity for the public to review the final documents and responses to public comments. The EIS addresses the proposed issuance of ITPs by both Services under the ESA, to the Washington Department of Natural Resources, on behalf of the State of Washington (State), for forest practices activities conducted according to the Washington Forest Practices Rules (forest practices). The proposed ITPs would authorize incidental take of aquatic species (16 listed fish species, 54 unlisted fish species, 7 unlisted amphibian species), by covered forest practices implemented under the forest practices rules. The EIS also addresses a proposed limit to the ESA section 9 prohibition against take of listed species under the ESA, such that the prohibition would not apply to forest practices regulated by the State of Washington on non-Federal and non-tribal lands.

NMFS has received a request from the California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS) for renewal of an authorization to take small numbers of California sea lions, Pacific harbor seals, harbor porpoises, and gray whales, by harassment, incidental to construction of a replacement bridge for the East Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (SF-OBB) in California. Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an authorization to CALTRANS to incidentally take, by harassment, small numbers of these species of pinnipeds and cetaceans during the next 12 months.

NMFS, upon application from the Alaska Aerospace Development Corporation (AADC), is issuing regulations to govern the unintentional takings of small numbers of marine mammals incidental to rocket launches from the Kodiak Launch Complex (KLC) on Kodiak Island, AK. 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 AADC's rocket launch activities, as such authorization is not within the jurisdiction of the Secretary. Rather, 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 incorporates reporting and monitoring requirements.

NMFS has determined that the Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) General category daily retention limit for the final three restricted fishing days (RFD) 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 the final three RFDs scheduled for January 2006, and increases the daily retention limit from zero to two large medium or giant BFT on these previously designated RFDs.