National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration January 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This final rule restructures western Pacific fishery regulations to be consistent with five new area-specific fishery ecosystem plans (FEP). This final rule also amends references to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) information collection requirements to reflect the restructuring. The purpose of this rule is to make the regulations easier for the public to use by organizing existing fishing regulations by geographic location.

The NOAA National Ocean Service is publishing the NOAA Ocean and Coastal Mapping Contracting Policy. This replaces the 2006 NOAA Hydrographic Services Contracting Policy.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold six public hearings to solicit comments on proposals to be included in the Draft Amendment 5 to the Monkfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP).

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

NMFS is rescinding the trawl closure in the Chiniak Gully Research Area. This action is necessary to allow vessels using trawl gear to participate in directed fishing for groundfish in the Chiniak Gully Research Area.

The SEDAR assessment review of the Atlantic stocks of croaker and menhaden will be conducted at a Review Workshop. This is the twentieth SEDAR. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

NMFS will accept applications from persons applying to receive a charter halibut permit under the Limited Access System for Guided Sport Charter Vessels in Alaska. Potential eligible applicants are notified of the one-time opportunity to apply for a charter halibut permit for the 60-day period from February 4, 2010, through April 5, 2010. Any applications received by NMFS after the ending date will be considered untimely and will be denied.

We, NMFS, are extending the date by which public comments are due concerning the proposed rule to designate critical habitat for the endangered Cook Inlet beluga whale, Delphinapterus leucas, under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). We published a proposed rule to designate critical habitat for this species in the Federal Register of December 2, 2009. The original due date for receipt of public comments was scheduled to end on February 1, 2010, and today we extend the public comment period to March 3, 2010.

NMFS proposes regulations to implement international conservation and management measures adopted by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO), Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), and the Agreement on the International Dolphin Conservation Program (AIDCP). The measures pertain to vessels that have been identified by these regional fishery management organizations (RFMOs) as having engaged in illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing activities and included on their respective IUU vessel lists. As a party to these RFMOs, the United States is obligated to take certain actions against the listed IUU vessels in a manner consistent with our laws and policies. This proposed rule would clarify the domestic processes by which the United States intends to meet these obligations. Specifically, it would implement obligations to restrict entry into any port or place of the United States and access to port services by vessels on the IUU vessel lists of the aforementioned RFMOs. It would also prohibit the provision by persons and business entities subject to U.S. jurisdiction of certain services to, and commercial transactions with, such vessels. NMFS is seeking public comment on the proposed rule.

NMFS is modifying the Northeast (NE) Region experimental fishing regulations to authorize the NMFS NE Regional Administrator (RA), or the RA's designee, to issue a Letter of Authorization (LOA) to eligible researchers on board federally permitted fishing vessels that plan to temporarily possess fish in a manner not compliant with applicable fishing regulations for the purpose of collecting scientific data on catch.

This document contains a correction to the final regulations that were published in the Federal Register on December 10, 2009, and are effective January 11, 2010. This change ensures that the process is preserved for closing the Hawaii-based shallow-set longline fishery as a result of the fishery reaching interaction limits for sea turtles.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Council) Ad Hoc Salmon Amendment Committee (SAC) will hold a meeting to develop draft alternatives and plan analyses for an amendment to the Pacific Coast

The ONMS is seeking applications for both primary and alternate members of the following seats on its Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council (council): Native Hawaiians, Fishing, Education, Research, Honolulu County, Hawaii County, Maui County, and Kauai County. 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.

NOAA and the Department of the Interior (DOI) invited Federal, State, commonwealth, and territorial marine protected areas (MPA) programs with potentially eligible existing MPAs to nominate their sites to the National System of MPAs (national system). The national system and the nomination process are described in the Framework for the National System of Marine Protected Areas of the United States (Framework), developed in response to Executive Order 13158 on Marine Protected Areas. The final Framework was published on November 19, 2008, (73 FR 69608) and provides guidance for collaborative efforts among Federal, State, commonwealth, territorial, Tribal and local governments and stakeholders to develop an effective and well coordinated national system of MPAs that includes existing MPAs meeting national system criteria as well as new sites that may be established by managing agencies to fill key conservation gaps in important ocean areas.

We (NMFS) announce a 90-day finding on a petition to list Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) as endangered, or to list multiple distinct population segments (DPSs) as threatened or endangered and designate critical habitat under the ESA. We find that the petition presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned actions may be warranted. A status review for Atlantic sturgeon was completed in February 2007, and we are currently preparing a determination on whether listing the species or DPSs of the species as threatened or endangered is warranted. To ensure that the determination considers information that is comprehensive and current, we solicit scientific and commercial information regarding this species.

The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The purpose of this Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) is to request proposals for special projects and programs associated with the Agency's strategic plan and mission goals, as well as to provide the general public with information and guidelines on how NOAA will select proposals and administer discretionary Federal assistance for Fiscal Year 2010, Fiscal Year 2011 and Fiscal Year 2012. This BAA is a mechanism to encourage research, education and outreach, innovative

This final rule establishes the annual quotas and opening dates for the 2010 fishing season for sandbar sharks, non-sandbar large coastal sharks (LCS), small coastal sharks (SCS), and pelagic sharks based on any over- and/or underharvests experienced during the 2008 and 2009 Atlantic commercial shark fishing seasons. NMFS needs to take this action to establish the 2010 adjusted fishing quotas and to open the commercial fishing seasons for the Atlantic sandbar shark, non-sandbar LCS, SCS, and pelagic shark fishery based on over- and underharvests from the 2009 fishing season. This action is expected to affect commercial shark fishermen in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico regions.

NMFS issues regulations creating a limited access system for charter vessels in the guided sport fishery for Pacific halibut in waters of International Pacific Halibut Commission Regulatory Areas 2C (Southeast Alaska) and 3A (Central Gulf of Alaska). This limited access system limits the number of charter vessels that may participate in the guided sport fishery for halibut in these areas. NMFS will issue a charter halibut permit to a licensed charter fishing business owner based on his or her past participation in the charter halibut fishery and to a Community Quota Entity representing specific rural communities. All charter halibut permit holders are subject to limits on the number of permits they may hold and on the number of charter vessel anglers who may catch and retain halibut on permitted charter vessels. This action is necessary to achieve the approved halibut fishery management goals of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. The intended effect is to curtail growth of fishing capacity in the guided sport fishery for halibut.

The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.