National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration October 31, 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Western Pacific Fisheries Management Council (Council) will convene public informational scoping meetings in Guam and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) to solicit comments on the management of the bottomfish fishery within the EEZ of the Mariana Islands. The scoping meeting will, among other things, describe the existing federal management regime for bottomfish species, examine the current performance of the fishery and consider the need for potential regulatory changes.

We, NMFS, have completed comprehensive status reviews under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of five species of foreign sturgeons in response to a petition. We have determined, based on the best scientific and commercial data available and after taking into account efforts being made to protect the species, that Acipenser naccarii (Adriatic sturgeon), and A. sturio (European sturgeon) in Western Europe, A. sinensis (Chinese sturgeon) in the Yangtze River basin, and A. mikadoi (Sakhalin sturgeon) and Huso dauricus (Kaluga sturgeon) in the Amur River Basin/Sea of Japan/Sea of Okhotsk region, meet the definition of endangered species. We are not proposing to designate critical habitat because the geographical areas occupied by these species are entirely outside U.S. jurisdiction and we have not identified any unoccupied areas that are currently essential to the conservation of any of these species. We are soliciting information that may be relevant to these listing and critical habitat determinations, especially on the status and conservation of these species.