National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration August 18, 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NMFS announces the receipt of an application for an exempted fishing permit (EFP) from the Gulf and South Atlantic Fisheries Foundation, Inc. If granted, the EFP will authorize the applicants, with certain conditions, to collect limited numbers of fish and invertebrates where possession and retention is restricted or prohibited by regulations in South Atlantic Federal waters. This study is intended to characterize catch and discard mortality within the South Atlantic commercial hook-and-line snapper-grouper fishery.

NMFS has taken emergency action through a series of emergency rules to prohibit all fishing and harvesting of marine resources in areas of the United States exclusive economic zone (EEZ) that are impacted by the Deepwater Horizon MC252 oil spill. The most recent of these emergency rules, which became effective on May 11, 2010, and continues to remain in effect, allows NMFS to make more timely revisions to the area closed to all fishing. The rule established a protocol for reopening closed areas and a procedure to inform the public of the specific coordinates of the Federal closed area related to the Deepwater Horizon MC252 oil spill (fishery closed area) via a broad range of information transfer tools. NMFS is publishing this temporary rule to provide additional notice to the regulated public by designating the current boundary coordinates for the area closed to all fishing and the area reopened to finfish harvest only in the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf), thereby increasing seafood safety and public safety. Future changes to the closed area will continue to be made using the procedure established by the emergency rule effective May 11, 2010.