National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration February 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NMFS proposes regulations to revise recordkeeping and reporting regulations and make other miscellaneous revisions to NOAA regulations concerning fisheries of the exclusive economic zone off Alaska. The proposed revisions would add a requirement that the Registered Crab Receiver record in eLandings the region in which the stationary floating processor is located at time of crab delivery; standardize reporting time limits for recording discard, disposition, product, and other required information in the daily fishing logbook, daily cumulative production logbook, eLandings, or the electronic logbook so that the information corresponds with fishing and processing operations; incorporate miscellaneous edits and corrections to regulatory text and tables, including standardizing the use of the terms ``recording,'' ``submitting,'' ``landings,'' and ``landing;'' and reinstate regulations that were inadvertently removed in a previous final rule about locations where NMFS will conduct scale inspections. This proposed action is necessary to update and clarify regulations and is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the fishery management plans and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and other applicable laws.

In accordance with provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), as amended, notification is hereby given that a Letter of Authorization (LOA) to take four species of marine mammals incidental to testing and training during Precision Strike Weapons (PSW) testing and training in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), a military readiness activity, has been issued to Eglin Air Force Base (AFB).

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.

NMFS closes the western zone of the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) to commercial king mackerel fishing in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). This closure is necessary to protect the Gulf king mackerel resource.

We, NMFS, are extending the date by which public comments are due concerning the proposed rule to list the Beringia and Okhotsk Distinct Population Segments (DPSs) of the bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). On December 10, 2010, we published a proposed rule in the Federal Register to list these DPSs as threatened. As part of that proposal, we announced a public comment period to end on February 8, 2011. Today we extend the public comment period to March 25, 2011.

In January 2009, pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS issued three 5-year final regulations to govern the unintentional taking of marine mammals incidental to Navy training and associated activities conducted in the Hawaii Range Complex (HRC), the Southern California Range Complex (SOCAL Range Complex), and the Atlantic Fleet Active Sonar Training (AFAST) Study Area. These regulations, which allow for the issuance of ``Letters of Authorization'' (LOAs) for the incidental take of marine mammals during the specified activities and described timeframes, prescribe the permissible methods of taking and other means of effecting the least practicable adverse impact on marine mammal species or stocks and their habitat, as well as requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such taking. These rules quantify the specific amounts of individual sound source use that will occur over the course of the 5-year rules, and indicate that marine mammal take may only be authorized in an LOA incidental to the source types and amounts described. Specifically, no language was initially included expressly allowing for deviation from those precise levels of source use if the total number of takes remain within the analyzed and authorized limits. Since the issuance of the 2009 rules, the Navy realized that their evolving training programs, which are linked to real world events, necessitate greater flexibility in the types and amounts of sound sources that they use. In response to this need, when the Navy requested incidental take authorizations for other areas (e.g., the Mariana Islands and the Northwest Training Range Complexes), NMFS included language explicitly allowing for greater flexibility. NMFS has, through this interim final rule, amended the HRC, SOCAL Range Complex, and AFAST regulations to explicitly allow for greater flexibility in the types and amount of sound sources that they use. NMFS has issued new LOAs for each of these actions, which supersede those issued in January 2011, and which authorize the Navy to take marine mammals incidental to their planned training in 2011, and reflect the greater flexibility addressed in this amendment. The take authorized in these LOAs does not exceed that analyzed and allowed by the original 2009 final rules.

NMFS has received an application from Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (L-DEO), a part of Columbia University, for an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to conducting a marine geophysical survey in the eastern tropical Pacific (ETP) Ocean off Costa Rica, April through May, 2011. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an IHA to L-DEO to incidentally harass, by Level B harassment only, 19 species of marine mammals during the specified activity.

NMFS is reopening the comment period for its proposed evaluation and pending determination on the 2010-2014 Puget Sound Chinook Resource Management Plan. The comment period is being reopened to provide additional opportunity for public comment.

In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), as amended, and implementing regulations, notification is hereby given that a letter of authorization (LOA) has been issued to the 30th Space Wing, U.S. Air Force (USAF), to take four species of seals and sea lions incidental to rocket and missile launches on Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB), California, a military readiness activity.

Notice is hereby given that George Church, PhD, Professor of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, MA 02115, has been issued a permit to conduct research on bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) parts.

NMFS has received an application from the U.S. Navy (Navy) for an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to construction activities as part of a pile replacement project. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an IHA to the Navy to take, by Level B Harassment only, five species of marine mammals during the specified activity.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Pacific Council) Groundfish Essential Fish Habitat Review Committee (EFHRC) will hold a work session by conference call to follow up on work assignments from its December 20, 2010 meeting.

On January 14, 2011, NOAA published a proposed rule in the Federal Register to revise the regulations for the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary (76 FR 2611). This notice extends the public comment period stated in that proposed rule by an additional 10 days.

Notice is hereby given that Blair Witherington, PhD, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 9700 South A1A, Melbourne Beach, FL 32951, has requested a modification to scientific research Permit No. 14726.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by vessels harvesting Pacific cod for processing by the inshore component in the Central Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the A season allowance of the 2011 Pacific total allowable catch (TAC) apportioned to vessels harvesting Pacific cod for processing by the inshore component of the Central Regulatory Area of the GOA.

The Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands (BSAI) Crab Rationalization Program (Program) allocates BSAI crab resources among harvesters, processors, and coastal communities. Amendment 37 would amend the Fishery Management Plan for Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crabs (FMP) and the Program by establishing a process for eligible fishery participants to request that NMFS exempt holders of West- designated individual fishing quota (IFQ) and individual processor quota (IPQ) in the Western Aleutian Islands golden king crab fishery from the West regional delivery requirements. Federal regulations require West-designated golden king crab IFQ to be delivered to a processor in the West region of the Aleutian Islands with an exact amount of unused West-designated IPQ. However, processing capacity may not be available each season. Amendment 37 is necessary to prevent disruption to the Western Aleutian Islands golden king crab fishery, while providing for the sustained participation of municipalities in the region. This proposed action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), the FMP, and other applicable laws.