National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration December 28, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NMFS announces the receipt of an application for an exempted fishing permit (EFP) from Dr. David Olsen (St. Thomas Fisherman's Association). If granted, the EFP would authorize contracted commercial fishermen to temporarily possess undersized and berried Caribbean spiny lobster for non-lethal sampling (tagging) during the course of their normal fishing activities. This non-lethal sampling would include implanting a tag on each spiny lobster before releasing the lobster with minimal harm. Data will be collected and analyzed to determine spiny lobster growth and movement patterns, and an attempt will be made to estimate the spiny lobster population size in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Currently, data on U.S. Caribbean spiny lobster life history are limited, particularly growth rates and abundance patterns. Additional life history information would provide the Caribbean Fishery Management Council (Council) and NMFS valuable data that may be used for future management of spiny lobster. The EFP would also seek to temporarily retain a sample number of spiny lobsters at a designated facility for a study to assess tag mortality and retention.

NMFS is reallocating the projected unused amount of Pacific cod from catcher vessels using trawl gear to vessels using pot gear and catcher vessels less than 50 feet length overall using hook-and-line gear in the Central Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska management area. This action is necessary to allow the 2012 total allowable catch of Pacific cod to be harvested.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will convene a meeting of the Socioeconomic Scientific and Statistical Committee.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold public hearings on January 15, 16, and 17, 2013 to allow for public input on the potential designation of the State of Delaware's five artificial reef sites located in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) as Special Management Zones (SMZs) under provisions of Amendment 9 to the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan (FMP).

We, NMFS, issue a final determination to list the Arctic (Phoca hispida hispida), Okhotsk (Phoca hispida ochotensis), and Baltic (Phoca hispida botnica) subspecies of the ringed seal (Phoca hispida) as threatened and the Ladoga (Phoca hispida ladogensis) subspecies of the ringed seal as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). We will propose to designate critical habitat for the Arctic ringed seal in a future rulemaking. To assist us in this effort, we solicit information that may be relevant to the designation of critical habitat for Arctic ringed seals. In light of public comments and upon further review, we are withdrawing the proposed ESA section 4(d) protective regulations for threatened subspecies of the ringed seal because we have determined that such regulations are not necessary or advisable for the conservation of the Arctic, Okhotsk, or Baltic subspecies of the ringed seal at this time. Given their current population sizes, the long-term nature of the primary threat to these subspecies (habitat alteration stemming from climate change), and the existing protections under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, it is unlikely that the proposed protective regulations would provide appreciable conservation benefits.