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

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council's Rural Community Outreach Committee will meet in Anchorage.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council will hold a meeting of its Habitat Advisory Panel in North Charleston, SC.

NMFS announces the availability of the draft Amendment 3 to the Consolidated Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP). Amendment 3 examines different management alternatives available to rebuild blacknose sharks consistent with the 2007 small coastal shark (SCS) stock assessment, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), and other applicable law. Amendment 3 also examines management alternatives to end overfishing of blacknose sharks and shortfin mako sharks, consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and also proposes adding smooth dogfish under NMFS management. The proposed rule to implement Amendment 3 would, among other things, establish a quota for blacknose sharks and non-blacknose SCS, prohibit the use of gillnet gear to catch sharks from South Carolina south, prohibit the retention of blacknose sharks in recreational fisheries, take action at the international level to end overfishing of shortfin mako through participation in appropriate international fisheries organizations, such as International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), promote the live release of shortfin mako sharks, add smooth dogfish under NMFS management, establish a commercial quota for smooth dogfish, require smooth dogfish fishermen to obtain the appropriate Federal permit, and establish a mechanism for specifying Annual Catch Limits (ACLs) and Accountability Measures (AMs) for Atlantic sharks. These changes could affect all fishermen, commercial and recreational, who fish for sharks in the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea.

Notice is hereby given that Karen Terio, DVM, PhD, Zoological Pathology Program, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Illinois, LUMC Room 0745, Building 101, 2160 South First Street, Maywood, IL 60153, has been issued a scientific research permit to import marine mammal specimens for scientific research.

The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a meeting of its Sea Turtle Advisory Committee (STAC) in Honolulu, HI. A portion of the meeting will be closed to the public.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Research Steering Committee (Committee), in August, 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.

NMFS is opening directed fishing for northern rockfish in the Western Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) for 96 hours. This action is necessary to fully use the 2009 total allowable catch (TAC) of northern rockfish in the Western Regulatory Area of the GOA.

NMFS, upon application from the Port of Anchorage (POA) and the U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration (MARAD), has issued regulations to govern the unintentional taking of marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to Phase II of the POA's Marine Terminal Redevelopment Project (MTRP) for the period July 2009 through July 2014. These regulations, which allow for the issuance of annual ``Letters of Authorization'' (LOAs) for the incidental take of marine mammals during the described activities and specified time frames, prescribe the permissible methods of taking and other means of effecting the least adverse impact practicable on marine mammal species and their habitat, as well as requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such taking.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific sardine off the coast of Washington, Oregon and California. This action is necessary because the directed harvest allocation total for the second seasonal period (July 1-September 14) is projected to be reached by the effective date of the rule. From the effective date of this rule until September 15, 2009, Pacific sardine can only be harvested as part of the live bait fishery or incidental to other fisheries; the incidental harvest of Pacific sardine is limited to 20-percent by weight of all fish per trip. Fishing vessels must be at shore and in the process of offloading at 12:01 am Pacific Daylight Time on date of closure.

Notice is hereby given that the NMFS Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program (MMHSRP), Silver Spring, MD (Dr. Teri Rowles, Principal Investigator), has been issued a permit to conduct enhancement and research activities on marine mammals.

Regulatory provisions to implement Amendment 15 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP) became effective on April 9, 2009. Amendment 15 revised the FMP to include provisions for a vessel license limitation program for the non-tribal sectors of the Pacific whiting fishery. Amendment 15 is intended to serve as an interim measure to limit potential participation in the Pacific whiting fishery within the U.S. West Coast Exclusive Economic Zone until implementation of a trawl rationalization program under Amendment 20 to the Groundfish FMP. This notice announces the list of vessels that were approved for Pacific whiting vessel licenses.

The New England Fishery Management Council(s (Council) Herring Oversight Committee will meet to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council), its Protected Resources Committee, its Research Set-Aside Committee, its Ecosystems and Ocean Planning Committee, its Bycatch and Limited Access Privilege Program (LAPP) Committee, its Squid, Mackerel, Butterfish Committee, and its Executive Committee will hold public meetings.

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 Utah, 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 Utah Department of Transportation, the Utah Council of Land Surveyors, and the Utah Automated Geographic Reference Center.

Right, humpback and fin whales, which are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, are occasionally injured or killed through incidental entanglement in fishing gear. Based on gear retrieved from entangled whales, interactions can occur with any component of the fishing gear, including buoy lines, groundlines, gillnet floatlines, and surface systems. Provisions of the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (ALWTRP) require that permit holders using trap/pot and gillnet gear comply with requirements designed to reduce the serious injury and mortality of large whales. One such gear modification requires the use of sinking groundlines. Other risk reduction measures include adding weak links to fixed fishing gear which can assist entangled whales in breaking free after an interaction has occurred.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration publishes this notice to provide the general public with a consolidated source of program and application information related to its competitive grant and cooperative agreement (CA) award offerings for fiscal year (FY) 2010. This Omnibus notice is designed to replace the multiple Federal Register notices that traditionally advertised the availability of NOAA's discretionary funds for its various programs. It should be noted that additional program initiatives unanticipated at the time of the publication of this notice may be announced through subsequent Federal Register notices. All announcements will also be available through the Grants.gov Web site.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will convene a joint meeting of the Standing and Special Reef Fish Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC).

NMFS announces that the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) has submitted Amendment 10 to the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish (MSB) Fishery Management Plan (FMP) (Amendment 10), incorporating the public hearing document and the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA), for review by the Secretary of Commerce and is requesting comments from the public.

NMFS has received requests from the U.S. Navy (Navy) for authorizations for the take of marine mammals incidental to training and operational activities conducted by the Navy's Atlantic Fleet within the Gulf of Mexico (GOMEX) Range Complex for the period beginning December 3, 2009 and ending December 2, 2014. Pursuant to the implementing regulations of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is proposing regulations to govern that take and requesting information, suggestions, and comments on these proposed regulations.

NMFS issues this final rule to implement Amendment 12 to the Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP) which would provide protection for all species of krill off the West Coast (i.e., California, Oregon and Washington). This rule would prohibit the harvest of all species of krill by any fishing vessel operating in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) off the West Coast, and would also deny the use of exempted fishing permits to allow krill fishing.

NMFS has received a request from the U.S. Navy (Navy) for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to training activities conducted in the Northwest Training Range Complex (NWTRC), off the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and northern California, for the period of February 2010 through February 2015 (updated from initial request for October 2009 through September 2014). Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is proposing regulations to govern that take and requesting information, suggestions, and comments on these proposed regulations.

NMFS closes the commercial fishery for golden tilefish in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the South Atlantic. In addition, for a person on board a vessel for which a Federal commercial or charter vessel/headboat permit for the South Atlantic Snapper-Grouper Fishery has been issued, the provisions of the closure (restriction to the bag and possession limits and prohibition of sale or purchase) apply regardless of whether the golden tilefish are harvested in state waters or the South Atlantic EEZ. NMFS has determined that the quota for the commercial fishery for golden tilefish will have been reached by July 15, 2009. This closure is necessary to protect the golden tilefish resource.

NMFS proposes regulations under authority of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Convention Implementation Act (WCPFC Implementation Act) to establish a catch limit for bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) in the U.S. pelagic longline fisheries in the western and central Pacific Ocean for each of the years 2009, 2010, and 2011. Once the limit of 3,763 metric tons (mt) is reached in any of those years, retaining, transshipping, or landing bigeye tuna caught in the western and central Pacific Ocean would be prohibited for the remainder of the year, with certain exceptions. The limit would not apply to the longline fisheries of American Samoa, Guam, or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). This action is necessary for the United States to satisfy its international obligations under the Convention on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (Convention), to which it is a Contracting Party.

NMFS announces that it is establishing a control date that may be used to control future access to the commercial sector of the reef fish, queen conch, and spiny lobster fisheries operating in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the U.S. Caribbean. 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 these fisheries. 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 fisheries while the Caribbean Fishery Management Council (Council) and NMFS consider whether and how access to the commercial sector of the reef fish, queen conch, or spiny lobster fishery should be controlled.

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 2009 total allowable catch (TAC) of Pacific ocean perch in the Western Regulatory Area of the GOA.