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

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration publishes this notice to announce the availability for public comments for the draft document titled, U.S. Climate Change Science Program Synthesis and Assessment Product 4.4: ``Preliminary Review of Adaptation Options for Climate-Sensitive Ecosystems and Resources.'' This Synthesis and Assessment Product (SAP) analyzes information on the state of knowledge of adaptation options for key, representative ecosystems and resources that may be sensitive to climate variability and change. This draft document is being released solely for the purpose of pre-dissemination peer review under applicable information quality guidelines. This document has not been formally disseminated by NOAA. It does not represent and should not be construed to represent any Agency policy or determination. Any public comments submitted in accordance with this notice will be considered when revising the document.

NMFS announces that the 2007 summer flounder commercial quota allocated to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has been harvested. Vessels issued a commercial Federal fisheries permit for the summer flounder fishery may not land summer flounder in Massachusetts for the remainder of calendar year 2007, unless additional quota becomes available through a transfer from another state. Regulations governing the summer flounder fishery require publication of this notification to advise Massachusetts that the quota has been harvested and to advise vessel permit holders and dealer permit holders that no commercial quota is available for landing summer flounder in Massachusetts.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Council)Model Evaluation Workgroup (MEW) will hold a work session by telephone conference, which is open to the public, to develop recommendations for the September 2007 Council meeting.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Council) Salmon Advisory Subpanel (SAS) will hold a work session by telephone conference, which is open to the public, to develop recommendations for the September 2007 Council meeting.

The Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS or Sanctuary) is seeking applicants for the Recreational Diving, Oil and Gas Production, Education and Commercial Fishing (alternate), seat on its Sanctuary Advisory Council (Council). Applicants are chosen based upon their particular expertise and experience in relation to the seat for which they are applying; community and professional affiliations; philosophy regarding the protection and management of marine resources; and possibly the length of residence in the area affected by the Sanctuary. The Applicant chosen as a member should expect to serve a 2- year term, pursuant to the Council's Charter.

Notice is hereby given that Mystic Aquarium, 55 Coogan Boulevard, Mystic, CT 06355 (Dr. Lisa Mazzaro, Principal Investigator), has applied in due form for a permit to obtain stranded, releasable pinnipeds (up to eight otariids and 20 phocids) from the National Marine Mammal Stranding Response Program for the purposes of public display.

Notice is hereby given that NOAA Fisheries Office of Science and Technology (Principal Investigator: Dr. Brandon Southall), Silver Spring, MD, has been issued a permit to conduct research marine mammals.

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 West Virginia, 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 West Virginia Department of Transportation, the West Virginia Society of Professional Surveyors, the West Virginia GIS Coordinator, and the West Virginia Association of Geospatial Professionals.

In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) regulations, notification is hereby given that NMFS has issued an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (L-DEO) to take small numbers of marine mammals, by Level B Harassment only, incidental to conducting an acoustic calibration and seismic testing program in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) intends to prepare a DEIS to assess the impacts on the natural and human environment of the management measures proposed in its draft Amendment 16 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (FMP).

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for species that comprise the deep-water species fishery by vessels using trawl gear in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary because the third seasonal apportionment of the 2007 Pacific halibut bycatch allowance specified for the deep-water species fishery in the GOA has been reached.

NMFS announces that the spiny dogfish commercial quota available to the coastal states from Maine through Florida for the semi-annual quota period, May 1, 2007 - October 31, 2007, has been harvested. Therefore, effective 0001 hours, August 14, 2007, federally permitted commercial vessels may not fish for, possess, transfer, or land spiny dogfish until November 1, 2007, when the Period 2 quota becomes available. Regulations governing the spiny dogfish fishery require publication of this notification to advise the coastal states from Maine through Florida that the quota has been harvested and to advise vessel permit holders and dealer permit holders that no Federal commercial quota is available for landing spiny dogfish in these states. This action is necessary to prevent the fishery from exceeding its Period 1 quota and to allow for effective management of this stock.

In preparation for the 2007 International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) meeting, the Advisory Committee to the U.S. Section to ICCAT will have a summer meeting.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Council) Salmon Technical Team (STT) will hold a work session by telephone conference, which is open to the public, to develop recommendations for the September, 2007 Council meeting.

NOAA published a final rule on May 24, 2007 (72 FR 29208) that established marine reserves and a marine conservation area in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. Under the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, the final regulations would automatically take effect at the end of 45 days of continuous session of Congress beginning on May 24, 2007. The 45-day review period ended on Sunday, July 29, 2007. This document confirms the effective date as July 29, 2007.

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 implements this final rule pursuant to its authority to issue emergency measures under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). This emergency action implements measures intended to reduce immediately discards of Georges Bank (GB) and Gulf of Maine (GOM) haddock to prevent excessive waste and comply with the goals of reducing discards and maintaining the rebuilding programs of the Northeast (NE) Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP), while helping to achieve optimum yield at the same time. Specifically, this emergency action reduces the commercial minimum haddock size to 18 inches (45 cm) from the current minimum size of 19 inches (48.3 cm). This action is intended to reduce discarding and maintain consistency with the FMP and the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

Notice is hereby given that Jonathon Millman, 268 Mast Road, Durham, New Hampshire 03824, has applied in due form for a permit to conduct commercial/educational photography of harbor (Phoca vitulina) and gray (Halichoerus grypus) seals.

Notice is hereby given that the National Marine Mammal Laboratory (NMML), Alaska Fisheries Science Center, (Dr. John L. Bengston, Principal Investigator), 7600 Sand Point Way, NE., Seattle, Washington 98115-6349 has been issued an amendment to scientific research Permit No. 782-1719-04.

The Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary (HIHWNMS or Sanctuary) is seeking applicants for both primary and alternate members of the following seats on its Sanctuary Advisory Council (Council): Education, Fishing, Hawaii County, Honolulu County, Kauai County, Maui County, Native Hawaiian, and Research. Applicants are chosen based upon their particular expertise and experience in relation to the seat for which they are applying; community and professional affiliations; philosophy regarding the protection and management of marine resources; and possibly the length of residence in the area affected by the Sanctuary. Applicants who are chosen as members should expect to serve 2-year terms, pursuant to the Council's Charter.

NMFS announces the establishment of a Pinniped-Fishery Interaction Task Force (Task Force) under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) in response to an application from Oregon, Washington, and Idaho requesting authorization to intentionally take, by lethal methods, individually identifiable California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) that prey on Pacific salmon and steelhead (Onchorhynchus spp.) listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in the Columbia River in Washington and Oregon. The Task Force will be convened at its first meeting, which is open to the public.

NMFS adopts a rule that modifies the Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Program for the fixed-gear commercial Pacific halibut fishery and sablefish fishery by revising regulations specific to those fisheries. This action is intended to improve the effectiveness of the Halibut and Sablefish IFQ Program (IFQ Program) and is necessary to promote the objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) and the Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1982 (Halibut Act) with respect to the IFQ fisheries.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific ocean perch in the Western Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2007 total allowable catch (TAC) of Pacific ocean perch in the Western Regulatory Area of the GOA.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by catcher processor vessels using trawl gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2007 total allowable catch (TAC) of Pacific cod specified for trawl catcher processors in the BSAI.

Notice is hereby given that the Estuarine Reserves Division, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce is announcing a thirty day public comment period on the revised Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve Management Plan which will begin on the day this announcement is published. Comments should be sent within the comment period in hard copy or e- mail to Doris Grimm at Doris.Grimm@noaa.gov or NOAA's Estuarine Reserves Division, 1305 East-West Highway, N/ORM5, 10th Floor, Silver Spring, MD 20910. The Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve was designated in October 1989 pursuant to Section 315 of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended, 16 U.S.C. 1461. Pursuant to 15 CFR 921.33(c), a state must revise its management plan every five years. The reserve has been operating under a management plan approved in 1989. The submission of this plan fulfills this requirement and sets a course for successful implementation of the goals and objectives of the reserve. Since the last management plan, the Great Bay Reserve has constructed needed facilities, increased its staff, changed its boundary, implemented several system-wide programs, and acquired key parcels of land. The original boundary included 4,471 acres of open water and salt marsh in Great Bay proper and 1,882 acres of upland. The boundary expansion includes 2,830 acres of additional open and salt marsh in Little Bay and several tidal rivers as well as 1,052 acres of upland. This expansion also includes all of the Federal lands under the Great Bay National Wildlife refuge that was established in 1992. The expanded boundary is a more comprehensive representation of the natural communities within the Southern Gulf of Maine province of the Acadian bio-geographic region of the United States. Great Bay serves as a natural field laboratory for researchers and the boundary expansion will increase and diversify the areas capable of supporting NERRS long- term research and monitoring, including opportunities for extensive upland research. The boundary expansion also increases the Reserve's opportunities for educating the public about the estuarine system. This new management plan serves as the primary guidance document for the operation of the Great Bay Reserve's core and system-wide programs in research and monitoring, education and coastal training, and resource management and stewardship. The plan provides guidance on the acquisition of land to be added to the Reserve and on the construction and renovation of buildings and exhibits that support NERR programs. It also guides the Reserve in important related programs, such as volunteerism and outreach to communities to encourage stewardship of coastal resources in the Great Bay area. The Great Bay Reserve is administered through the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. The Reserve is a part of the Marine Fisheries Division, which is based in Durham, New Hampshire. The Reserve also works closely with the New Hampshire Coastal Program and the New Hampshire Estuaries Project, as well as many other partners, such as the University of New Hampshire and the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, to meet its goals and objectives.