National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration February 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold an EMERGENCY public meeting of the Council via webinar regarding blueline tilefish.

This action corrects an omission in the final rule to designate critical habitat for three DPSs of rockfish from the Puget Sound/Georgia Basin. The final rule for ``Designation of Critical Habitat for the Puget Sound/Georgia Basin Distinct Population Segments of Yelloweye Rockfish, Canary Rockfish and Bocaccio'' failed to update the columns labeled ``Critical habitat,'' in the tables of threatened and endangered species to cross reference these new rules. Therefore, this document corrects the tables by citing the critical habitat designations in the columns of the tables.

NMFS is prohibiting retention of big skate in the Central Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary because the 2015 total allowable catch of big skate in the Central Regulatory Area of the GOA will be reached.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a meeting via webinar.

Notice is hereby given that a major amendment to Permit No. 13430-01 has been issued to the NMFS National Marine Mammal Laboratory (Responsible Party: John Bengtson, Ph.D.), 7600 Sand Point Way, NE., BIN C15700, Bldg. 1, Seattle, WA 98115-0070.

Notice is hereby given that the Texas Sealife Center, 14220 South Padre Island Drive, Corpus Christi, TX 78418, [Responsible Party: Tim Tristan], has applied in due form for a permit to conduct research on bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus).

ONMS is seeking applications for vacant seats for 11 of its 13 national marine sanctuary advisory councils and for the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve Advisory Council (advisory councils). Vacant seats, including positions (i.e., primary member and alternate), for each of the advisory councils are listed in this notice under Supplementary Information. Applicants are chosen based upon their particular expertise and experience in relation to the seat for which they are applying; community and professional affiliations; views regarding the protection and management of marine or Great Lake resources; and possibly the length of residence in the area affected by the sanctuary. Applicants who are chosen as members or alternates should expect to serve two- or three year terms, pursuant to the charter of the specific national marine sanctuary advisory council or the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve Advisory Council.

NMFS issues a proposed rule that would implement Amendment 45 to the Fishery Management Plan for Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crabs (Crab FMP). If approved, Amendment 45 would establish, for a limited period of time, a process for NMFS to permanently remove Pacific cod catch limits, known as sideboard limits, which are applicable to certain hook-and-line catcher/processors in the Central and Western Gulf of Alaska (GOA) Regulatory Areas. This action would authorize NMFS to remove these Pacific cod sideboard limits in the Central and/or Western GOA if all eligible participants in the hook- and-line catcher/processor sector in a regulatory area sign and submit a request that NMFS remove the sideboard limit. Each eligible participant would be required to submit the request to NMFS within 1 year of the date of publication of a final rule implementing Amendment 45, if it is approved by the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary). This action is necessary to provide participants in the Central and Western GOA hook-and-line catcher/processor sectors with an opportunity to cooperatively coordinate harvests of Pacific cod through private arrangement to the participants' mutual benefit, which would remove the need for sideboard limits in these regulatory areas. This action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), the Crab FMP, and other applicable laws.

NMFS announces a public meeting to solicit comments on the proposed revisions to the General section of the National Standard (NS) guidelines and the guidelines for NS1, NS3, and NS7 of the Magnuson- Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), which published January 20, 2015.

The Department of Commerce published a document in the Federal Register of February 2, 2015, concerning request for comments on a proposed information collection under the Paperwork Reduction Act, OMB Control No. 0648-0449. The document contained incorrect dates.

Notice is hereby given that Dr. Terrie Williams, Long Marine Laboratory, Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California at Santa Cruz, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA has been issued a minor amendment to Permit No. 13602-01.

On January 25, 2013, we, NMFS, received a petition submitted by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Foundation to remove the exclusion of captive animals from the endangered species listing of Southern Resident killer whale DPS, as well as, recognize the captive killer whale (Orcinus orca) ``Lolita'' as a protected member of the endangered Southern Resident killer whale Distinct Population Segment (DPS). We completed a status review and published a proposed rule, and we are now amending the regulatory language of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) listing of the DPS by removing the exclusion for captive members of the population. We have further determined that Lolita, a female killer whale captured from the Southern Resident killer whale population in 1970 who resides at the Miami Seaquarium in Miami, Florida, is not excluded from the Southern Resident killer whale DPS due to her captive status. We proposed to amend the regulatory language of the ESA listing to remove the exclusion for captive whales from the Southern Resident killer whale DPS on January 27, 2014. Additionally, we solicited scientific and commercial information pertaining to the proposed rule and also conducted a peer review of the status review information on Lolita that informed the proposed rule. We have determined that captive members of the Southern Resident killer whale population should be included in the listed Southern Resident killer whale DPS. This rule amends the regulatory language of the listing to remove the exclusion for captive members of the DPS.

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 a revised, and continuing information collection described below, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

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

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

NMFS establishes the annual harvest guideline for the commercial lobster fishery in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands for calendar year 2015 at zero lobsters.

We, NMFS, announce 5-year reviews of 32 species listed under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA): 17 evolutionarily significant units (ESUs) of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.); 11 distinct population segments (DPSs) of steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss); the Puget Sound/Georgia Basin DPSs of yelloweye rockfish (Sebastes ruberrimus), canary rockfish (S. pinniger), and bocaccio rockfish (S. paucispinis); and the southern DPS of eulachon (Thaleichthys pacificus). The purpose of these reviews is to ensure the accuracy of the listing classifications of these threatened and endangered species. The 5-year reviews will be based on the best scientific and commercial data available at the time of the reviews; therefore, we request submission of any such information on these ESUs and DPSs that has become available since the original listing determinations, or since the species' status was last updated. Based on the results of these 5- year reviews, we will make the requisite determinations under the ESA.

NMFS implements an accountability measure (AM) to close the hook-and-line component of the commercial sector for king mackerel in the Florida west coast southern subzone. This closure is necessary to protect the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) king mackerel resource.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Pacific Council) Highly Migratory Species Management Team (HMSMT) will hold a meeting, which is open to the public.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by catcher vessels less than 60 feet (18.3 meters (m)) length overall (LOA) using hook-and-line or pot gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2015 Pacific cod total allowable catch allocated to catcher vessels less than 60 feet (18.3 m) LOA using hook-and-line or pot gear in the BSAI.

This action corrects a typographical error that appeared in the final rule implementing Amendment 7 to the 2006 Consolidated Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Fishery Management Plan (2006 Consolidated HMS FMP) that published in the Federal Register on December 2, 2014 (79 FR 71510). Specifically, this rule corrects one of the coordinates in the definition of the Cape Hatteras Gear Restricted Area (GRA) to make the geographic area in the definition match the geographic area analyzed and identified in all of the Amendment 7 documents.

NMFS announces the receipt of two applications for exempted fishing permits (EFPs), one from Dr. Janelle Fleming, on behalf of the Eastern Carolina Artificial Reef Association (ECARA); and one from Dr. James Morris of the National Ocean Service (NOS). If granted, the EFPs would authorize the deployment of Maine lobster traps, crab pot Christmas trees, and horizontal structures (fish attracting devices) at several sites in the Federal waters off North Carolina to determine the efficacy of these gear types for attracting and collecting invasive lionfish.

NMFS will host a meeting of the Council Coordination Committee (CCC), consisting of the Regional Fishery Management Council chairs, vice chairs, and executive directors on February 18-19, 2015. The intent of this meeting is to discuss issues of relevance to the Councils, including budget allocations for FY2015 and budget planning for FY2016 and beyond; FY2015 Priorities; an overview of the Saltonstall-Kennedy FY14-15 grants process; the FY2015 legislative outlook; updates on Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) National Standard 1, the Presidential Task Force on combatting Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing and seafood fraud, MSA operational guidelines, NMFS climate science strategy, and habitat conservation initiatives; updates on electronic monitoring implementation plans, the Fisheries Forum Information Network, the report on Science Center 2013 data program review and 2014 assessment program review; and Council workgroup updates, including stock rebuilding, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), allocation, and socioeconomic issues and other topics related to implementation of the MSA.

In accordance with section 304(e) of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, as amended, (NMSA), the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is initiating a review of Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS or Sanctuary) boundaries, based on the recommendation contained within the Sanctuary Expansion Action Plan of the FGBNMS Management Plan (April 2012). The review process, as required by the NMSA, will be conducted concurrently with a public process under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This document also informs the public that NOAA will coordinate its responsibilities under section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) with its ongoing NEPA process, including the use of NEPA documents and public and stakeholder meetings to also meet the requirements of section 106. The public scoping process is intended to solicit information and comments on the range and significance of issues related to the expansion of the FGBNMS boundaries. The results of this scoping process will assist NOAA in formulating alternatives for the draft environmental impact statement for the proposed revised sanctuary boundaries.

NMFS announces fishing opportunities in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) Regulatory Area. This action is necessary to make fishing privileges available on an equitable basis.