National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration August 27, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This interim final rule establishes a catch limit of 3,763 metric tons (mt) of bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) for vessels in the U.S. pelagic longline fisheries in the western and central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) for calendar year 2012. The limit does not apply to vessels in the longline fisheries of American Samoa, Guam, or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Once the limit of 3,763 mt is reached in 2012, retaining, transshipping, or landing bigeye tuna caught in the WCPO will be prohibited for the remainder of 2012, with certain exceptions. 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.

We, NMFS, announce a 90-day finding on a petition to list the queen conch (Strombus gigas) as threatened or endangered and designate critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). We find that the petition and information in our files present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted. We will conduct a status review of the species to determine if the petitioned action is warranted. To ensure that the status review is comprehensive, we are soliciting scientific and commercial information regarding this species (see below).

NMFS has received an application from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to a bird mitigation research trial in the Farallon National Wildlife Refuge. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an IHA to the USFWS to take, by Level B harassment only, five species of marine mammals during the specified activity.

We, NMFS, announce a 90-day finding on a petition to list five species of sturgeon (Acipenser sturio, A. naccarii, A. mikadoi, A. sinensis, and Huso dauricus), or any distinct population segments of these species that the Secretary of Commerce determines may exist, as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). We find that the petition and information in our files present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that these petitioned actions may be warranted. We will conduct a status review of these species to determine if the petitioned actions are warranted. To ensure that the status review is comprehensive, we are soliciting scientific and commercial information regarding these species (see below).

NMFS is modifying the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's risk policy regarding stocks without an overfishing limit. Framework Adjustment 6 was initiated by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council in order to clarify its tolerance for risk for such stocks. The modification will allow increases of the acceptable biological catch for stocks that have stable or increasing trends in abundance, and for which there is robust scientific information to suggest that an increased acceptable biological catch will not lead to overfishing.

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.