National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration February 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NMFS announces free Atlantic Shark Identification Workshops and Protected Species Safe Handling, Release, and Identification Workshops to be held in April, May, and June of 2009. Certain fishermen and shark dealers are required to attend a workshop to meet regulatory requirements and maintain valid permits. Specifically, the Atlantic Shark Identification Workshop is mandatory for all federally permitted Atlantic shark dealers. The Protected Species Safe Handling, Release, and Identification Workshop is mandatory for vessel owners and operators who use bottom longline, pelagic longline, or gillnet gear, and have also been issued shark or swordfish limited access permits. Additional free workshops will be held in 2009 and announced in the Federal Register.

NMFS closes the commercial hook-and-line fishery for king mackerel in the southern Florida west coast subzone. This closure is necessary to protect the Gulf king mackerel resource.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Atka mackerel for vessels participating in the Amendment 80 limited access A season fishery in the Eastern Aleutian District and Bering Sea Subarea of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2009 Atka mackerel allowable catch (TAC) specified for vessels participating in the Amendment 80 limited access fishery in the Eastern Aleutian District and Bering Sea Subarea of the BSAI.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by vessels catching Pacific cod for processing by the inshore component in the Western Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2009 total allowable catch (TAC) of Pacific cod apportioned to vessels catching Pacific cod for processing by the inshore component of the Western Regulatory Area of the GOA.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) will convene its Law Enforcement Advisory Panel (LEAP).

NMFS has requested the Center for Independent Experts (CIE) to conduct a peer review of the agency's stock assessment of Alaskan sablefish. CIE is a group affiliated with the University of Miami that provides independent peer reviews of NMFS science nationwide, including reviews of stock assessments for fish and marine mammals. The Alaska sablefish stock assessment is an area-wide model that includes the Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea and the Aleutian Islands. The CIE review will examine whether the assessment incorporates the best available scientific information and provides a reasonable approach to understanding the population dynamics and stock status of sablefish in Alaska. The public is invited to attend and observe the presentations and discussions between the CIE panel and the NMFS scientists who collected and processed the data, and designed the underlying model.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for the A season allowance of the 2009 Pacific cod sideboard limits apportioned to non- American Fisheries Act (AFA) crab vessels catching Pacific cod for processing by the inshore component in the Western Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the A season allowance of the 2009 Pacific cod sideboard limits apportioned to non-AFA crab vessels catching Pacific cod for processing by the inshore component in the Western Regulatory Area of the GOA.

Notice is hereby given that Janice Straley, University of Alaska, 1332 Seward Ave, Sitka, AK 99835, has been issued an amendment to Permit No. 473-1700-01 to conduct research on marine mammals.

NMFS is announcing the opening and closing dates of the Atka mackerel directed fisheries within the harvest limit area (HLA) in Statistical Area 542. This action is necessary to fully use the 2009 A season HLA limits of Atka mackerel in Statistical Area 542 of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands.

In accordance with section 304(e) of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act (NMSA), as amended, NOAA is soliciting public comment on the draft management plan and draft environmental assessment for Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

Notice is hereby given that NMFS has received a revised application for scientific research from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service USFWS- Red Bluff (RBFWO), in Red Bluff, CA, and USFWS- Sacramento (SFWO), in Sacramento, CA (1415). The permit would affect the federally endangered Sacramento River winter-run Chinook salmon and threatened Central Valley spring-run Chinook salmon Evolutionarily Significant Units (ESUs), the federally threatened Central Valley steelhead Distinct Population Segment (DPS), and the federally threatened southern Distinct Population of North American green sturgeon (southern DPS of green sturgeon). This document serves to notify the public of the availability of the permit application for review and comment.

This exempted fishing permit (EFP) application is a continuation of a collaborative project involving the University of New Hampshire (UNH), Durham, New Hampshire (NH); the Lobster Conservancy, Friendship, Maine; the New England Aquarium, Boston, Massachusetts; and the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen=s Association, Candia, NH. The EFP proposes to continue monitoring legal sized egg bearing female lobsters (berried lobsters) carrying early-stage eggs. This project will allow participating Federal lobster permit holders, fishing in designated study areas, to preserve a maximum of ten eggs from each berried lobster captured in commercial lobster gear, to allow researchers to determine what percentage of eggs are fertilized, and estimate the egg developmental stage and time to maturity. The berried lobsters will then be released unharmed. This project would not involve the authorization of any additional trap gear, and all trap gear would conform to existing Federal lobster regulations. There would be no anticipated adverse effects on protected resources or habitat as a result of this research. The EFP would waive the prohibition on removal of eggs specified at 50 CFR 697.7(c)(1)(iv) for a maximum of three participating vessels. The Director, State, Federal and Constituent Programs Office, Northeast Region, NMFS (Office Director) has made a preliminary determination that the subject EFP application contains all the required information and warrants further consideration. The Office Director has also made a preliminary determination that the activities authorized under the EFPs would be consistent with the goals and objectives of Federal management of the American lobster resource. However, further review and consultation may be necessary before a final determination is made to issue EFPs. NMFS announces that the Office Director proposes to issue EFPs and, therefore, invites comments on the issuance of EFPs for this research.

NMFS announces that it is establishing a new control date to control future access to the commercial golden tilefish fishery operating in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the South Atlantic. If changes to the management regime are developed and implemented under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson- Stevens Act), a control date could be used to limit the number of participants in the fishery. This announcement is intended, in part, to promote awareness of the potential eligibility criteria for future access so as to discourage speculative entry into the fishery while the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and NMFS consider whether and how access to the golden tilefish fishery should be controlled.

NMFS issues this final rule to implement the annual harvest guideline (HG) and management measures for Pacific sardine in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the Pacific coast for the fishing season of January 1, 2009, through December 31, 2009. This HG has been determined according to the regulations implementing the Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and establishes allowable harvest levels for Pacific sardine off the Pacific coast. This rule also announces that the directed fishing harvest total for the first allocation period (January 1 - June 30) has been reached and therefore directed fishing for Pacific sardine is now closed until July 1, 2009.

Notice is hereby given that CGGVeritas Land, Inc. (Veritas) has withdrawn its application for an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA). The following action is related to a proposed IHA to Veritas for the take of small numbers of marine mammals, by Level B harassment only, incidental to conducting an on-ice marine geophysical research and seismic survey in the U.S. Beaufort Sea off Alaska from February to May, 2009.

NMFS proposes 2009 fishing year specifications for the Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) fishery to set BFT quotas for each of the established domestic fishing categories and to set effort controls (daily retention limits) for the General and Angling categories. This action is necessary to implement recommendations of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), as required by the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act (ATCA), and to achieve domestic management objectives under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). NMFS solicits written comments and will hold public hearings to receive oral comments on these proposed actions.

The ONMS is seeking applications for the following vacant seat on the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council: Tourism alternate. 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 until February 2011, pursuant to the council's Charter.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) and its advisory entities will hold public meetings.

NMFS announces 2009 and 2010 final harvest specifications, reserves and apportionments thereof, Pacific halibut prohibited species catch (PSC) limits, and associated management measures for the groundfish fishery of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to establish harvest limits and associated management measures for groundfish during the 2009 and 2010 fishing years and to accomplish the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (FMP). The intended effect of this action is to conserve and manage the groundfish resources in the GOA in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by catcher vessels less than 60 feet (18.3 m) length overall (LOA) using jig or hook-and-line gear in the Bogoslof Pacific cod exemption area of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the limit of Pacific cod for catcher vessels

NMFS proposes to amend regulations to change the time at which the amount of retained groundfish must be calculated to comply with the maximum retainable amounts (MRAs) of selected groundfish species caught by trawl catcher/processors (C/Ps) that are not eligible under the American Fisheries Act (AFA) to participate in directed fishing for pollock. This proposed action would apply to MRAs for yellowfin sole, rock sole, flathead sole, ``other flatfish,'' arrowtooth flounder, Pacific cod, and Atka mackerel in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI) and for Pacific ocean perch in the Aleutian Islands (AI). The proposed action is necessary to provide the non-AFA trawl C/Ps the opportunity to reduce discards and increase retention of these groundfish species. The proposed rule is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (FMP).

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) will serve as co-lead agencies in the preparation of a joint EIS/EIR for the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP). The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) will serve as the lead agency under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which requires the preparation of the EIR component of the EIS/EIR. FWS will serve as the administrative lead for all actions related to this Federal Register Notice (Notice). The Federal co-lead agencies have requested that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) participate in the EIS/EIR as cooperating agencies for the purposes of their regulatory programs. The Corps and EPA have indicated that they will participate in such a role. This Notice revises and updates the Notices of April 15, 2008 and January 24, 2008. In these previous Notices the description of the proposed action and possible alternatives were preliminary in nature and relied upon initial BDCP planning documents which describe the overall intent and direction of potential actions. Following publication of these previous Notices, preliminary scoping comments were submitted in writing and provided at preliminary scoping meetings. Some of the scoping comments indicated that more detailed descriptions of the proposed actions and alternatives are needed to allow specific comments on the range of alternatives and issues and levels of detail to be considered in the analyses of environmental consequences. Public comments received during this scoping period plus the previous two preliminary scoping periods will be considered during the preparation of the EIS/EIR. Comments submitted in response to the previous notices will be considered and do not need to be resubmitted. The BDCP is a conservation plan being prepared to meet the requirements of the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA), the California Endangered Species Act (CESA), and the State of California's Natural Communities Conservation Planning Act (NCCPA). DWR (and potentially State and Federal water contractors) intends to apply for ESA and CESA incidental take permits (ITP) for water operations and management activities in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. These incidental take authorizations would allow the incidental take of threatened and endangered species resulting from covered activities and conservation measures that will be identified through the planning process, including those associated with water operations of the Federal Central Valley Project (CVP), as operated by Reclamation, the California State Water Project (SWP), as operated by DWR, as well as operations of certain Mirant Delta LLC (Mirant Delta) power plants. Additionally, if feasible, the BDCP will be used as the basis for ESA compliance by Reclamation, including compliance with Section 7 of ESA in coordination with FWS and NMFS. Ultimately, the BDCP is intended to secure authorizations that would allow projects that restore and protect water supplies, water quality, and ecosystem health to proceed within a stable regulatory framework.

This proposed rule provides interested parties an opportunity to comment on the proposed sector operations plan and supplemental environmental assessment (EA) prior to final approval or disapproval of the sector operations plan and allocation of a Georges Bank (GB) cod total allowable catch (TAC) to the GB Cod Fixed Gear Sector (Fixed Gear Sector) for fishing year (FY) 2009. Framework Adjustment (FW) 42 to the Northeast (NE) Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP) implemented the Fixed Gear Sector and authorized allocation of up to 20 percent of the annual GB cod TAC to the Fixed Gear Sector. Pursuant to that authorization, a representative of the Fixed Gear Sector has submitted an operations plan and sector agreement (contract), and requested an allocation of GB cod to the Fixed Gear Sector for FY 2009.

NMFS specifies a total allowable catch (TAC) for the 2008-09 fishing year of 241,000 lb (109,316 kg) of Deep 7 bottomfish in the main Hawaiian Islands (MHI).

NMFS has determined that 4,000 metric tons (mt) of the shore- based sector allocation and 6,000 mt of the mothership sector allocation would not be used by December 31, 2008. Therefore, NMFS has reapportioned the surplus whiting to the catcher/processor sector of the fishery.