National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration March 28, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NMFS announces that persons who enter the purse seine fishery in the western and central Pacific Ocean (WCPO), as managed under the South Pacific Tuna Act of 1988 (SPTA), the Western and Central Pacific Convention Implementation Act (WCPFCIA) and other law, after March 28, 2008 (``control date''), are not guaranteed future participation in the fishery if NMFS decides to revise the criteria and procedures used to process license applications and/or to limit further the number of licenses available in the fishery. NMFS is considering the need to undertake such actions in order to provide greater clarity about the process used and thus help license holders and prospective license applicants in making business decisions, as well as to fulfill the obligations of the United States under international agreements to which it is party. This action does not commit NMFS to revising the criteria and procedures it uses or to establishing a new limit, and it does not prevent any other date or criteria from being selected for eligibility to participate in the fishery.

The following Total Allowable Catches (TACs) in the U.S./ Canada Management Area are implemented for the 2008 fishing year (FY): 667 mt of Eastern Georges Bank (GB) cod, 8,050 mt of Eastern GB haddock, and 1,950 mt of GB yellowtail flounder. These TACs may be adjusted during FY 2008, if NMFS determines that the harvest of these stocks in FY 2007 exceeded the TACs specified for FY 2007. Further, NMFS is postponing the FY 2008 opening of the Eastern U.S./Canada Area until August 1, 2008, for trawl vessels. Longline gear vessels are allowed to fish in the Eastern U.S./Canada Area during the May through July 2008 period with a cap on the amount of cod caught during this period set at 5 percent of the cod TAC (i.e., 33.4 mt). The intent of this action is to provide for the conservation and management of the three shared stocks of fish, as required by the regulations implementing the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a 3-day Council meeting on April 15-17, 2008, to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Monkfish Oversight Committee in April, 2008, 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.

We (NMFS) announce a 90-day finding on a petition to list the ribbon seal (Histriophoca fasciata) as a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). We find that the petition presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted. Therefore, we initiate a status review of the ribbon seal to determine if listing under the ESA is warranted. Concurrently, we also initiate a status review of the other ice seal species: bearded (Erignathus barbatus), ringed (Phoca fasciata), and spotted (Phoca largha). To ensure these status reviews are comprehensive, we solicit scientific and commercial information regarding all of these ice seal species.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) previously published a proposed rule (71 FR 29096, May 19, 2006) to adopt a revised set of regulations for the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS or Sanctuary). This currently pending proposed rule includes both new regulations and changes to existing regulations, including the discharge prohibition. After reviewing public comments, considering the California Coastal Commission's federal consistency review (per the Coastal Zone Management Act, 16 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.), and further analyzing vessel discharge issues, NOAA has decided to revise the Sanctuary's proposed discharge regulation to: (1) Limit the exception for treated sewage discharges to vessels less than 300 gross registered tons (GRT); (2) limit the exception for graywater discharges to vessels less than 300 GRT, and oceangoing ships without sufficient holding tank capacity to hold graywater while within the Sanctuary; and (3) provide definitions for ``oceangoing ship,'' ``graywater,'' and ``cruise ship''.