National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration August 6, 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Acting Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Region, NMFS, has made a preliminary determination that an Exempted Fishing Permit application contains all of the required information and warrants further consideration. The Exempted Fishing Permit would allow commercial fishing vessels to fish outside of scallop regulations in support of research conducted by the Coonamessett Farm Foundation. These exemptions would support research conducted on trips to test gear modifications for bycatch reduction in the scallop dredge fishery. Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act require publication of this notification to provide interested parties the opportunity to comment on applications for proposed Exempted Fishing Permits.

NMFS has received a request from the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT&PF) to issue an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) previously issued to ADOT&PF to incidentally take nine species of marine mammal, by Level A and Level B harassment, during construction activities associated with the Sand Point City Dock Replacement Project in Sand Point, Alaska. ADOT&PF reported that the project has been delayed. The IHA issued on October 13, 2017 has effective dates of August 1, 2018 through July 31, 2019. ADOT&PF requested that a new IHA be issued to conduct their work between May 31, 2019 and May 30, 2020. NMFS is, therefore, issuing a second IHA to cover the incidental take analyzed and authorized in the first IHA. The authorized take numbers would be the same as authorized previously, and the required mitigation, monitoring, and reporting would remain the same as authorized for the 2018 IHA referenced above. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is notifying the public about the issuance of an IHA to ADOT&PF to incidentally take marine mammals, by Level A and Level B harassment only, during the specified activity.

This notice sets forth the proposed schedule and agenda of a forthcoming meeting of the Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee's (MAFAC's) Columbia Basin Partnership Task Force (CBP Task Force). The CBP Task Force will discuss the issues outlined in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION below.

The Caribbean Fishery Management Council will hold its 163rd meeting in August to discuss the items contained in the agenda in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) Trawl Electronic Monitoring Committee will hold a public meeting on August 23, 2018 through August 24, 2018.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Pacific Council) Salmon Technical Team (STT), Salmon Advisory Subpanel (SAS), and Model Evaluation Workgroup (MEW) will hold a joint meeting to discuss and make recommendations on issues on the Pacific Council's September 2018 agenda. This meeting will be held via webinar and is open to the public.