National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration June 13, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents
Results 1 - 6 of 6
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area; Amendment 105
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) submitted Amendment 105 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI FMP) to the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) for review. If approved, Amendment 105 would establish a process for Western Alaska Community Development Quota (CDQ) groups and cooperatives established under the Amendment 80 Program (Amendment 80 cooperatives) to exchange harvest quota from one of three flatfish species (flathead sole, rock sole, and yellowfin sole) for an equal amount of another of these three flatfish species, while maintaining total catch below acceptable biological catch (ABC) limits for each species and below the sum of the total allowable catches (TACs) for all three species. This action would modify the annual harvest specification process to allow the Council to establish the maximum amount of flathead sole, rock sole, and yellowfin sole that may be exchanged based on social, economic, or biological considerations. This action is necessary to mitigate the operational variability, environmental conditions, and economic factors that may constrain the CDQ groups and Amendment 80 cooperatives from achieving, on a continuing basis, the optimum yield (OY) in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI) groundfish fisheries. This action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson- Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, BSAI FMP, and other applicable laws.
Pacific Island Fisheries; Western Pacific Stock Assessment Review; Public Meeting
The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) and NMFS will convene a Western Pacific Stock Assessment Review (WPSAR) meeting for Pacific Island coral reef ecosystem fisheries.
Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's (MAFMC) Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Advisory Panel (AP) will hold a public meeting.
Evaluation of State Coastal Management Programs
The NOAA Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) announces its intent to evaluate the performance of the Maryland and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Coastal Management Programs. The Coastal Zone Management Program evaluations will be conducted pursuant to section 312 of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended (CZMA) and regulations at 15 CFR part 923, Subpart L. The CZMA requires continuing review of the performance of states with respect to coastal management program implementation. Evaluation of a Coastal Management Program requires findings concerning the extent to which a state has met the national objectives, adhered to its Coastal Management Program document approved by the Secretary of Commerce, and adhered to the terms of financial assistance awards funded under the CZMA. The evaluations will include a public meeting, consideration of written public comments and consultations with interested Federal, state, and local agencies and members of the public. When the evaluation is completed, OCRM will place a notice in the Federal Register announcing the availability of the Final Evaluation Findings. Notice is hereby given of the date, local time, and location of the public meeting. Date and Time: The Maryland Coastal Management Program public meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 5 at 5:30 p.m. local time at the Ocean Pines Library at 11107 Cathell Road, Berlin, Maryland 21811. The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Coastal Management Program public meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 5th, at 5:00 p.m. local time at Governor Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose, Beach Road, Susupe, Saipan, MP 96950.
Re-Establishing the Sanctuary Nomination Process
With this final rule, NOAA re-establishes the process by which communities may submit applications to have NOAA consider nominations of areas of the marine and Great Lakes environments as national marine sanctuaries. Communities, in this context, are defined as a collection of interested individuals or groups (e.g., a friends of group, a chamber of commerce); local, tribal, state, or national agencies; elected officials; or topic-based stakeholder groups, at the local, regional or national level (e.g., a local chapter of an environmental organization, a regionally-based fishing group, a national-level recreation or tourism organization, academia or science-based group, or an industry association). Through this nomination process, NOAA is seeking to give communities an opportunity to identify special marine and Great Lakes areas they believe would benefit from designation as a national marine sanctuary. There is no requirement for who may nominate an area for consideration; however, nominations should demonstrate broad support from a variety of stakeholders and interested parties. This rule contains the criteria and considerations NOAA will use to evaluate national marine sanctuary nominations, describes the process for submitting national marine sanctuary nominations, and promulgates the regulations necessary to implement this action. If NOAA determines a nomination adequately meets the final criteria and considerations, it may place that nomination into an inventory of areas for the NOAA Administrator, as delegated from the Secretary of Commerce, to consider for designation as a national marine sanctuary. As such, NOAA is not designating any new national marine sanctuaries with this action. In issuing this rule, NOAA replaces the currently inactive Site Evaluation List with a new process for communities and other interested parties to work collaboratively and innovatively in their submission of national marine sanctuary nominations. The re-opening of the sanctuary nomination process was supported by the majority of the nearly 18,000 comments NOAA received on its proposed rule issued June 28, 2013.
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Herring Fishery; Framework Adjustment 3
Framework Adjustment 3 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan would establish a process for setting river herring (alewife and blueback) and shad (American and hickory) catch caps for the herring fishery. In addition, this action would set these catch caps for the 2014 and 2015 fishing years. This action is consistent with Herring Amendment 5, which addresses river herring catch and allows for river herring and shad catch caps to be implemented through a framework. This action would allow the Council to set river herring and shad catch caps and associated measures in future years through specifications or frameworks, whichever is appropriate. Catch of river herring and shad includes both bycatch (discards) and incidental catch that is retained.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google
Privacy Policy and
Terms of Service apply.