National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration July 23, 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NMFS received an application from Naval Base Ventura County (NBVC) Point Mugu for an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to boom deployment exercises at Point Mugu, California. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an IHA to NBVC Point Mugu to take, by Level B harassment only, one species of marine mammal during the specified activity.

NMFS announces that the Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries (Director), has made a preliminary determination that the subject exempted fishing permit (EFP) application submitted by Limuli Laboratories of Cape May Court House, New Jersey, contains all the required information and warrants further consideration. The proposed EFP would allow the harvest of up to 10,000 horseshoe crabs from the Carl N. Shuster Jr. Horseshoe Crab Reserve for biomedical purposes and require, as a condition of the EFP, the collection of data related to the status of horseshoe crabs within the reserve. The Director has also made a preliminary determination that the activities authorized under the EFP would be consistent with the goals and objectives of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's (Commission) Horseshoe Crab Interstate Fisheries Management Plan (FMP). However, further review and consultation may be necessary before a final determination is made to issue the EFP. Therefore, NMFS announces that the Director proposes to recommend that an EFP be issued that would allow up to 3 commercial fishing vessels to conduct fishing operations that are otherwise restricted by the regulations promulgated under the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act (Atlantic Coastal Act). The EFP would allow for an exemption from the Carl N. Shuster Jr. Horseshoe Crab Reserve (Reserve).

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announces that the Draft Southern California Steelhead Recovery Plan (Plan) is