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

NMFS proposes 2010 and 2011 harvest specifications, apportionments, and Pacific halibut prohibited species catch limits for the groundfish fishery of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to establish harvest limits for groundfish during the 2010 and 2011 fishing years and to accomplish the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska. 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.

This regulation proposes to facilitate conservation and management of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (AMLR). It would: further detail current U.S. requirements to only allow importation and/ or re-exportation of frozen toothfish or toothfish product with verifiable documentation that the harvesting vessel participated in the Centralized-Vessel Monitoring System (C-VMS) regardless of where the fish was harvested; revise the NMFS catch-documentation requirements for re-exporting toothfish and add requirements for exporting U.S.- caught toothfish; require applicants for an AMLR harvesting permit for krill to apply to NMFS no later than June 1 preceding the harvesting season for krill; and rescind the existing regulatory framework for annual management measures. The intent of the rule is to further detail requirements for importing and re-exporting toothfish, to facilitate enforcement, to fulfill U.S. obligations in the Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), and to simplify the process for informing the public of annual conservation measures.

NMFS announces that, effective 0001 hours, November 26, 2009, federally permitted vessels may not fish for, catch, possess, transfer, or land more than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of Atlantic herring in or from Management Area 1A (Area 1A) per trip or calendar day until January 1, 2010, when the 2010 total allowable catch (TAC) becomes available, except for transiting purposes as described in this notice. This action is based on the determination that 95 percent of the Atlantic herring TAC allocated to Area 1A for 2009 is projected to be harvested by November 26, 2009. Regulations governing the Atlantic herring fishery require publication of this notification to advise vessel and dealer permit holders that no TAC is available for the directed fishery for Atlantic herring harvested from Area 2.

NMFS publishes Fraser River salmon inseason orders to regulate salmon fisheries in U.S. waters. The orders were issued by the Fraser River Panel (Panel) of the Pacific Salmon Commission (Commission) and subsequently approved and issued by NMFS during the 2009 salmon fisheries within the U.S. Fraser River Panel Area. These orders established fishing dates, times, and areas for the gear types of U.S. treaty Indian and all citizen fisheries during the period the Panel exercised jurisdiction over these fisheries.

This notice advises the public that the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) will convene a meeting of its Advisory Panel.

On October 7, 2009, we, NMFS, announced the release of the Draft Central Valley Salmon and Steelhead Recovery Plan (Draft Plan)

NOAA Fisheries announces five inseason actions in the ocean salmon fisheries. Inseason actions 8, 9, and 11 modified the recreational fishery in the area from the U.S./Canada Border to Cape Falcon, Oregon. Inseason action 10 modified the commercial and recreational fisheries in the area from Cape Falcon, Oregon to the Oregon/California Border. Inseason action 12 modified the commercial fishery in the area from the U.S./ Canada Border to Cape Falcon, Oregon.

NMFS announces that the directed fishery for butterfish in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) will be closed effective 0001 hours, November 25, 2009. Vessels issued a Federal permit to harvest butterfish may not retain or land more than 600 lb (0.27-mt) of butterfish per trip for the remainder of the year (through December 31, 2009). This action is necessary to prevent the fishery from exceeding its domestic annual harvest (DAH) of 500 mt and to allow for effective management of this stock.

The Caribbean Fishery Management Council (Council) and its Administrative Committee will hold meetings.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Scientific and Statistical Committee, on December 8-9, 2009, 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.

Notice is hereby given that Mark Baumgartner, Ph.D., MS 33, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, 02543, has been issued an amendment to scientific research Permit No. 1058-1733.

NMFS is issuing regulations under the Tuna Conventions Act of 1950 (Act) to implement a decision of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC). That decision requires, among other things, that members of the IATTC, including the United States, ensure that catches in the eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO) of bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) by longline vessels greater than 24 meters in length do not exceed specified levels in each of the years 2009, 2010, and 2011, and that purse seine vessels class size 4-6 do not fish in the EPO during established closure periods. This action is necessary for the United States to satisfy its obligations under the 1949 Convention for the Establishment of an Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (Convention), to which it is a Contracting Party.

Notice is hereby given that Harold Brundage, Environmental Research and Consulting, Inc, 126 Bancroft Road, Kennett Square, PA 19348, has applied in due form for a permit to take shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) for purposes of scientific research.

This action modifies the gear requirements for the U.S./ Canada Management Area to prohibit all limited access Northeast (NE) multispecies vessels fishing on a NE multispecies day-at-sea (DAS) with trawl gear in the Western U.S./Canada Area south of 41[deg]40' N. lat. from using trawl nets, except if using a properly configured haddock separator trawl or Ruhle trawl. This action is authorized by the regulations implementing Amendment 13 to the NE Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP), and is intended to avoid exceeding the total allowable catch (TAC) for Georges Bank (GB) yellowtail flounder while continuing to allow access to stocks of Eastern GB cod and Eastern GB haddock during the 2009 fishing year (FY). This action is being taken to optimize the harvest of transboundary stocks of GB yellowtail flounder, haddock, and cod under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will convene a meeting of its Ecosystem Scientific and Statistical Committee.

Notice is hereby given that Robert Pilley, Leighside, Bridge Road, Leighwoods, Bristol, BS8 3PB, United Kingdom, has applied in due form for a permit to conduct commercial/educational photography of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus).

NMFS is reallocating the projected unused amount of halibut prohibited species catch (PSC) from rockfish cooperatives in the Central Gulf of Alaska (GOA) Rockfish Pilot Program to vessels using trawl gear in the GOA. This action is necessary to provide the opportunity to vessels using trawl gear to harvest available GOA groundfish total allowable catch (TAC) under existing PSC limits.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) and its advisory committees will hold public meetings, December 7-15, 2009, in Anchorage, AK.

NMFS issues this final rule to implement Amendment 15B to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (FMP), as prepared and submitted by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council). This final rule, for South Atlantic snapper-grouper, requires a private recreational vessel that fishes in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), if selected by NMFS, to maintain and submit fishing records; requires a vessel that fishes in the EEZ, if selected by NMFS, to carry an observer and install an electronic logbook (ELB) and/or video monitoring equipment provided by NMFS; prohibits the sale of snapper-grouper harvested or possessed in the EEZ under the bag limits and prohibits the sale of snapper-grouper harvested or possessed under the bag limits by vessels with a Federal charter vessel/headboat permit for South Atlantic snapper-grouper regardless of where the snapper-grouper were harvested; requires an owner and operator of a vessel for which a commercial or charter vessel/headboat permit has been issued and that has on board any hook- and-line gear to comply with sea turtle and smalltooth sawfish release protocols, possess on board specific gear to ensure proper release of such species, and comply with guidelines for proper care and release of such species that are incidentally caught; and expands the allowable transfer of a commercial vessel permit under the limited access program and extends the allowable period for renewal of such a permit. Amendment 15B also revises the stock status determination criteria for golden tilefish and specifies commercial/recreational allocations for snowy grouper and red porgy. In addition, NMFS removes language specifying commercial quotas for snowy grouper and red porgy that are no longer in effect and revises sea turtle bycatch mitigation requirements applicable to the Gulf reef fish fishery to add two devices that were inadvertently omitted from a prior rule. The intended effects of this final rule are to provide additional information for, and otherwise improve the effective management of, the South Atlantic snapper-grouper fishery; minimize the impacts on incidentally caught threatened and endangered sea turtles and smalltooth sawfish; and remove outdated language.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program (DARRP) is announcing new indirect cost rates on the recovery of indirect costs for its component organizations involved in natural resource damage assessment and restoration activities for fiscal years (FY) 2007 and 2008. The indirect cost rates for these fiscal years and dates of implementation are provided in this notice. More information on these rates and the DARRP policy can be found at the DARRP Web site at http:/ /www.darrp.noaa.gov.

This temporary rule extends a closure of Federal waters. The FDA has determined that oceanographic conditions and alga sampling data suggest that the northern section of the Temporary Paralytic Shellfish Poison (PSP) Closure Area remain closed to the harvest of bivalve molluscan shellfish, with the exception of sea scallop adductor muscles harvested and shucked at sea, and that the southern area remain closed to the harvest of whole or roe-on scallops. The regulations contained in the temporary rule, emergency action, first published in 2005, and have been subsequently extended several times at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). NMFS is publishing the regulatory text associated with this closure in this temporary emergency rule in order to ensure that current regulations accurately reflect the codified text that has been modified and extended numerous times, so that the public is aware of the regulations being extended.

In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and implementing regulations, notification is hereby given that NMFS has issued a one-year Letters of Authorization (LOA) to take marine mammals incidental to the explosive removal of offshore oil and gas structures (EROS) in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) will convene a meeting of the Red Snapper Advisory Panel.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) and the Alaska Board of Fisheries will meet in Anchorage, AK.

NMFS, Alaska Region, and the U.S. Coast Guard, North Pacific Fisheries Training Center, will present a workshop on seaLandings, a consolidated electronic means of reporting production of commercial groundfish to multiple management agencies for Federal and State fisheries off the coast of Alaska, and 2010 recordkeeping and reporting requirements for the Alaska groundfish fisheries and Individual Fishing Quota fisheries.