National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration July 15, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NMFS is closing the commercial fishery for non-sandbar large coastal sharks (LCS) in the Gulf of Mexico region. This action is necessary because the quota for the 2011 fishing season is projected to have reached at least 80 percent of the available quota.

The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Northeast Region, NMFS (Assistant Regional Administrator), has made a preliminary decision that an Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) application contains all of the required information and now warrants public input on the application. This proposed project would be conducted by the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen's Association (AOLA), in conjunction with scientists and the fishing industry, to help them understand the settlement and location of larval lobsters, and the size of the population in management Area 3. This EFP would excuse 11 commercial fishing vessels from the following Federal American lobster regulation: Mutilation requirement within American lobster management Area 3. The researchers propose to collect a pleopod (small swimmerettes located on the lower body at the front side of the tail section of the lobster) from a maximum of 100 sexually immature juvenile lobsters during the AOLA project. The lobsters would then be measured and their sex determined before immediately being returned alive to the ocean. Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act require publication of this notification to provide interested parties the opportunity to comment on applications for proposed EFPs.

The ONMS is seeking applications for the following vacant seats on the Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council: Business/Industry and Community-at-Large: Tutuila East Side. 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. Applicants who are chosen as members should expect to serve 3-year terms, pursuant to the council's charter.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will convene public hearings on: Amendment 18 to the Fishery Management Plan for Coastal Migratory Pelagic Resources in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico and Amendment 32 to the Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan in the Gulf of Mexico.