National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Pacific Council) Ecosystem Advisory Subpanel (EAS) will hold a webinar, which is open to the public.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) publishes a proposed Annual Determination (AD) for 2015, pursuant to its authority under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Through the AD, NMFS identifies U.S. fisheries operating in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific Ocean that will be required to take observers upon NMFS' request. The purpose of observing identified fisheries is to learn more about sea turtle interactions in a given fishery, evaluate measures to prevent or reduce sea turtle takes and to implement the prohibition against sea turtle takes. Fisheries identified on the 2015 AD (see Table 1) will be eligible to carry observers as of January 1, 2015 and will remain on the AD for a five year period. The fisheries listed on the final determination will be required to carry observers upon NMFS' request until December 31, 2019.

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 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.

NMFS revises regulations for the application process, use, surrender, and amendment of a Federal Fisheries Permit (FFP) or a Federal Processor Permit (FPP). This action will reduce industry compliance costs associated with fishing and processing permit regulations and NMFS' administrative costs associated with maintaining and updating permit application regulations and forms. This action promotes the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska, the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area, and other applicable laws.

The Caribbean Fishery Management Council's (Council) Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) will hold a meeting via webinar.

NMFS proposes to implement the annual catch limit (ACL), harvest guideline (HG), and associated annual reference points for Pacific mackerel in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the Pacific coast for the fishing season of July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2015. This rule is proposed pursuant to the Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The proposed 2014-2015 HG for Pacific mackerel is 29,170 metric tons (mt). This is the primary commercial fishing target level. The proposed annual catch target (ACT), which will be the directed fishing harvest target, is 24,170 mt. If the fishery attains the ACT, the directed fishery will close, reserving the difference between the HG (29,170 mt) and ACT as a 5,000 mt set-aside for incidental landings in other CPS fisheries and other sources of mortality. This rule is intended to conserve and manage the Pacific mackerel stock off the U.S. West Coast.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Herring 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.

The New England Fishery Management Council's (Council) Risk Policy Working Group will meet to review scientific information affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Nominations are being sought for appointment to two new task forces of the Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee (MAFAC) to support its advisory work for the Secretary of Commerce on living marine resource matters. One task force will focus on climate and marine resources issues and the other on aquaculture issues. The members will be appointed by NMFS in consultation with MAFAC and will serve for an initial term of one or two years. The terms would begin in November or December 2014. Nominees should possess demonstrable knowledge or expertise in the areas described under Supplemental Information for each task force.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for non-CDQ Greenland turbot in the Bering Sea subarea of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2014 Greenland turbot initial total allowable catch (ITAC) in the Bering Sea subarea of the BSAI.

In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS hereby issues a permit for a period of three years to authorize the incidental, but not intentional, taking of individuals of three stocks of marine mammals listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by vessels involved in the Hawaii deep-set and shallow-set longline fisheries: the endangered humpback whale, (Megaptera novaeangliae), Central North Pacific stock; sperm whale, (Physeter macrocephalus), Hawaii stock; and false killer whale, (Pseudorca crassidens), Main Hawaiian Islands insular false killer whale (MHI IFKW) stock.

The New England Fishery Management Council has cancelled the public meeting of its Observer Policy Committee that was scheduled for Thursday, October 23, 2014 has been cancelled.

Notice is hereby given that a major amendment to Permit No. 17115-02 has been issued to James Lloyd-Smith, Ph.D., Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, 610 Charles E. Young Dr. South, Box 723905, Los Angeles, CA 90095-7239.

Notice is hereby given that a permit has been issued to Terrie M. Williams, Ph.D., Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Center for Ocean Health, Long Marine Laboratory, University of California Santa Cruz, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, to conduct research on Weddell seals (Leptonycotes weddellii).

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program (DARRP) is announcing new indirect cost rates on the recovery of indirect costs for its component organizations involved in natural resource damage assessment and restoration activities for fiscal year (FY) 2013 . The indirect cost rates for this fiscal year and date of implementation are provided in this notice. More information on these rates and the DARRP policy can be found at the DARRP Web site at www.darrp.noaa.gov.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Scallop Advisory Panel on 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.

This proposed rule would revise regulations for the Pacific Coast Groundfish fishery with a target implementation date of January 1, 2015. Final implementation of the 2015-2016 biennial harvest specifications and management measures will likely be delayed beyond January 1, 2015. NMFS has identified two issues that must be addressed prior to January 1, 2015, to prevent interruption of ongoing fisheries and to allow harvest of the total allowable groundfish catch. This action would address those issues by revising groundfish regulations in two ways. First, this action would replace language that was inadvertently deleted after a series of temporary rulemakings. This would reinstate a mechanism whereby NMFS can issue interim groundfish allocations at the beginning of the year, allowing the Pacific coast groundfish fishery to continue in years when annual groundfish harvest specifications are expiring and new ones are not yet finalized, as is likely for January 1, 2015. Second, this action would amend regulations to extend NMFS' authority to issue the full shorebased trawl allocation of groundfish to current quota share holders in the Shorebased Individual Fishing Quota Program. Specifically, the rule would allow NMFS to issue that portion of the allowable catch currently allocated to an Adaptive Management Program (AMP), to quota share holders until final criteria and a process for distribution of the AMP quota shares is developed and implemented.

NMFS is prohibiting retention of ``other rockfish'' in the Aleutian Islands subarea of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary because the 2014 total allowable catch (TAC) of ``other rockfish'' in the BSAI has been reached.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Joint VMS/Enforcement Committee and Advisory Panel Meeting 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.

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.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) has submitted Amendment 104 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (FMP). If approved, Amendment 104 to the FMP would designate six areas of skate egg concentration as Habitat Areas of Particular Concern (HAPC). Designating the six areas of skate egg concentration as HAPC in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI) would highlight the importance of this essential fish habitat for conservation. This action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson- Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the FMP, and other applicable laws.

NMFS proposes regulations under authority of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Convention Implementation Act (WCPFC Implementation Act) to establish restrictions on the use of fish aggregating devices (FADs) by U.S. purse seine vessels in the western and central Pacific Ocean. The restrictions would include a prohibition on the use of FADs during January and February and July through September of 2015, and a limit of 3,061 purse seine sets that may be made on FADs in 2015. This action is necessary for the United States to implement provisions of a conservation and management measure (CMM) adopted by the Commission for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPFC) and to satisfy the obligations of the United States 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.

NMFS is considering the adoption of a new competitive, merit- based, financial assistance program supporting research on Alaska pinniped populations (seals and sea lions). To this end, NMFS is soliciting comments from the public and the marine mammal research community concerning possible program priorities to consider for an annual Alaska Pinniped Research Program. The objective of the program would be to support effective conservation and management of pinnipeds in waters off Alaska through a grant program focused on high priority research objectives related to NMFS recovery plans, conservation plans, research plans (including those developed with Alaska Native co- management organizations), or post-delisting monitoring plans for these species. Final competitive program priorities will be selected by NMFS after considering input received from the public.

NMFS apportions amounts of the non-specified reserve to the initial total allowable catch of Bering Sea (BS) Greenland turbot, BS Pacific ocean perch, Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) Kamchatka flounder, and BSAI squids and the total allowable catch of BSAI sharks in the BSAI management area. This action is necessary to allow the fisheries to continue operating. It is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the fishery management plan for the BSAI management area.