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

This document contains a correction to the final rule to implement Amendment 11 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Spiny Lobster Fishery in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic Regions that published on Friday, July 27, 2012.

Notice is hereby given that a major amendment to Permit No. 15748 has been issued to Alaska SeaLife Center (ASLC), Seward, AK.

NMFS has received a request from the California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS) for an incidental take authorization to take small numbers of California sea lions, Pacific harbor seals, harbor porpoises, and gray whales, by harassment, incidental to construction activities associated with the East Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (SF-OBB) in California. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an authorization to CALTRANS to incidentally take, by harassment, small numbers of marine mammals for a period of 1 year. NMFS is also requesting comments, information, and suggestions concerning CALTRANS' application and the structure and content of future regulations.

NMFS implements an accountability measure (AM) for commercial king mackerel in the western zone of the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) exclusive economic zone (EEZ) through this temporary final rule. NMFS has determined that the commercial annual catch limit (ACL) (equal to the commercial quota) for king mackerel in the western zone of the Gulf EEZ will have been reached by August 22, 2012. Therefore, NMFS closes the western zone of the Gulf to commercial king mackerel fishing in the EEZ. This closure is necessary to protect the Gulf king mackerel resource.

NMFS, Southeast Region, will hold workshops to discuss administrative changes to the Gulf of Mexico Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) programs. Workshops will be open to the public. Topics to be discussed during the workshops include: Ex-vessel price reporting, share and allocation price reporting, landing notification and landing transaction procedures, measures to enhance IFQ enforceability, offloading requirements, and other administrative changes.

Notice is hereby given that a major amendment to Permit No. 16160 has been issued to The Whale Museum (Responsible Party: Jenny Atkinson), PO Box 945, Friday Harbor, WA 98250.

Notice is hereby given that the Estuarine Reserves Division, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce is announcing a thirty day public comment period for the Rookery Bay, Florida and the Kachemak Bay, Alaska National Estuarine Research Reserve Management Plan Revisions. Pursuant to 15 CFR section 921.33(c), these revisions will bring these plans into compliance. The Rookery Bay, Florida Reserve is updating their last plan approved in 2003; and the Kachemak Bay, Alaska Reserve is updating their last plan approved in 2006. The revised management plans outline the administrative structure; the research, education, training, and stewardship goals of the reserve; and the plans for future land acquisition and facility development to support reserve operations. The Rookery Bay Reserve takes an integrated approach to management, linking research, education, training and stewardship functions to address high priority issues including land use changes affecting freshwater inflow, loss of native biodiversity, lack of public awareness and community involvement in stewardship, incompatible use by visitors, and ecological impacts of catastrophic change events. Since the last management plan, the reserve has constructed additional exhibits and a pedestrian bridge that connects the Environmental Learning Center to a boardwalk and interpretive trails describing several ecosystems and functions. The revised management plan will serve as the guiding document for the 110,000 acre Rookery Bay Reserve for the next five years. The Kachemak Bay Reserve takes an integrated approach to management, linking research, education, and training functions to address high priority issues including climate change and harvested species, such as salmon and shellfish. The reserve will continue research on coastal dynamics and their impact to coastal communities, and will be enhancing monitoring programs on invasive species and harmful algal blooms to transfer information to coastal decision makers. Since the last management plan, the reserve has constructed additional exhibits, completed habitat maps of the benthic and shoreline habitats of the bay, and contributed to the body of knowledge on the ecological value of headwater streams to juvenile salmon. The revised management plan will serve as the guiding document for the 372,000 acre Kachemak Bay Reserve for the next five years. No additional lands have been added to the reserve boundary; the discrepancy in designated and current acreage is due to improved mapping accuracy. View the Rookery Bay, Florida Reserve Management Plan revision at www.floridadep.org/rookery/management/plan.htm and provide comments to Penny.Isom@dep.state.fl.us. View the Kachemak Bay, Alaska Reserve Management Plan at www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=kbrr_resources.management and provide comments to dfg.kbrr.managementplan@alaska.gov.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Council) Steller Sea Lion Mitigation Committee (SSLMC) will meet in September, in Juneau, AK.

NMFS received an application from ION Geophysical (ION) for an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take marine mammals, by harassment only, incidental to a proposed marine seismic survey in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, Alaska, between October and December 2012. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an IHA to ION to take, by harassment, nine species of marine mammals during the specified activity.

Notice is hereby given that a permit has been issued to the North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management, P.O. Box 69, Barrow, AK 99723 [Taqulik Hepa, Responsible Party; Dr. John C. George, Principal Investigator] to collect, import, export, and receive marine mammal parts for scientific research.

NMFS is closing the White Hake Trimester Total Allowable Catch (TAC) Area to all common pool vessels fishing with trawl gear, sink gillnet gear, or longline/hook gear for the remainder of Trimester 1, through August 31, 2012. This action is necessary to prevent the common pool fishery from exceeding its Trimester 1 TAC or its annual catch limit for white hake. This rule is expected to slow the catch rate of white hake in the common pool fishery for the remainder of Trimester 1.

On May 21, 2012, we published a final rule to revise the turtle excluder devices (TEDs) requirements to allow new materials and to modify existing approved TED designs. In this notice, we are correcting a technical error in the definition of a brace bar included in the allowable modifications to hard TEDs and special hard TEDs.

Notice is hereby given that PRBO Conservation Science, 3820 Cypress Drive, 11, Petaluma, California 94954 (Responsible Party: Russ Bradley), has applied in due form for a permit to conduct research on pinnipeds in California.

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.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council), together with the Partnership for Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Science, will hold a workshop entitled ``Modeling Protogynous Hermaphrodite Fishes.''

The Caribbean Fishery Management Council (Council) and its Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) will hold meetings.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council submitted the following essential fish habitat (EFH) amendments to NMFS for review: Amendment 98 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area; Amendment 90 to the FMP for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska; Amendment 40 to the FMP for Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crabs; Amendment 15 to the FMP for the Scallop Fishery off Alaska; and Amendment 1 to the FMP for Fish Resources of the Arctic Management Area. If approved, these amendments would update the existing EFH provisions based on a 5-year EFH review. This action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the FMPs, and other applicable laws.

NMFS issues this final rule to implement the annual catch limit (ACL), harvest guideline (HG), and associated annual reference points for Pacific sardine in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the Pacific coast for the fishing season of January 1, 2012, through December 31, 2012. These specifications were determined according to the Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The 2012 maximum HG for Pacific sardine is 109,409 metric tons (mt). The initial overall commercial fishing HG, that is to be allocated across the three allocation periods for sardine management, is 97,409 mt. This amount has been divided across the three seasonal allocation periods for the directed fishery the following way: January 1-June 3033,093 mt; July 1-September 1437,964 mt; and September 15- December 3123,352 mt with an incidental set-aside of 1,000 mt for each of the three periods. This rule is intended to conserve and manage the Pacific sardine stock off the U.S. West Coast.

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.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Habitat Oversight Committee to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from this group will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

Notice is hereby given that a permit has been issued to Shannon Atkinson, Ph.D., University of Alaska Fairbanks, 17101 Pt. Lena Loop Road, Juneau, AK 99801 to receive, import and export marine mammal parts for scientific research.

This notice sets forth the schedule and proposed agenda of a forthcoming meeting of the Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee (MAFAC). The members will discuss and provide advice on issues outlined in the agenda below.

In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), as amended, and implementing regulations, notification is hereby given that NMFS has issued a Letter of Authorization (LOA) to take marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to the U.S. Navy's training exercises within the Navy's Mariana Islands Range Complex (MIRC) in the Pacific Ocean.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will convene public meetings.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Council) Groundfish Essential Fish Habitat Review Committee (EFHRC) will hold a meeting by conference call to finalize a report on the periodic review of groundfish essential fish habitat (EFH).