National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration October 13, 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NMFS is proposing regulations under the authority of Section 303(b) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) to implement an immediate closure of the California thresher shark/swordfish drift gillnet (DGN) (mesh size >=14 inches) fishery if a hard cap (i.e., limit) on mortality/injury is met or exceeded for certain protected species during a rolling 2-year period. The length of the closure would be dependent on whenduring the 2-year periodthe hard cap is reached.

NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announces the adoption of the Final Endangered Species Act (ESA) Coastal Multispecies Recovery Plan for the California Coastal (CC) Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU), Northern California (NC) steelhead (O. mykiss) Distinct Population Segment (DPS), and Central California Coast (CCC) steelhead (O. mykiss) DPS. These species spawn and rear in streams and rivers along the central and northern California coast, and in tributaries to San Francisco Bay.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Office for Coastal Management (OCM) is issuing this notice to advise the public of a 13-day extension to the public comment period on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement and Draft Management Plan (DEIS/ DMP) prepared for the proposed designation of the He[revaps]eia National Estuarine Research Reserve in Hawai[revaps]i. The initial Notice of Availability was published in the Federal Register on September 2, 2016 (81 FR 60676), and established a public comment period from September 2, 2016 through October 17, 2016. NOAA OCM is hereby extending the deadline for submitting public comments on this matter to October 30, 2016. NOAA will consider all relevant comments received by October 30, 2016. The October 6, 2016, date of the associated public hearing described in the September 2, 2016, Notice of Availability remains unchanged.

NMFS issues regulations to modify the recordkeeping and reporting requirements for the groundfish fisheries in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands management areas. This rule is organized into four actions. Under the first action, NMFS implements a requirement for tender vessel operators to use the applications software ``tLandings'' to prepare electronic landing reports. This action is necessary to improve timeliness and reliability of landing reports for catcher vessels delivering to tender vessels for use in catch accounting and inseason management. Under the second action, NMFS modifies the definition of a buying station. This action is necessary to clarify the different requirements that apply to tender vessels and land-based buying stations. Under the third action, NMFS removes the requirement for buying stations to complete the buying station report because this report is no longer necessary. Under the fourth action, NMFS revises the definition of a mothership to remove unnecessary formatting without changing the substance of the definition. This final rule is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson- Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI FMP), the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA FMP), and other applicable laws.