National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration June 8, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NMFS issues a final rule to amend text in the regulations governing closures of the drift gillnet fishery in the Pacific Loggerhead Conservation Area during El Nino events under the Fishery Management Plan for U.S. West Coast Fisheries for Highly Migratory Species (HMS FMP). The regulation is necessary to avoid jeopardizing loggerhead sea turtles, which are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, by clarifying the time period in which the area is to be closed and the methods that NMFS will use to determine if an El Nino event is occurring or forecast to occur. This final rule also corrects an inaccurate cross-reference in the regulations governing special requirements for fishing activities to protect threatened and endangered sea turtles under the HMS FMP.

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 announces public information meetings regarding the use of green-stick fishing gear in Atlantic tuna fisheries including bluefin tuna. The purpose of these meetings is to communicate details and issues related to gear authorization including gear configuration and definitions, quota management, catch reporting, and other related topics.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by catcher vessels less than 60 feet (18.3 meters (m)) length overall (LOA) using pot or hook-and-line gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2007 Pacific cod total allowable catch (TAC) allocated to catcher vessels less than 60 feet (18.3 m) LOA using pot or hook-and- line gear in the BSAI.