National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration September 28, 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a meeting of its American Samoa Archipelago Fishery Ecosystem Plan (FEP) Advisory Panel (AP) to discuss and make recommendations on fishery management issues in the Western Pacific Region.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a meeting of its Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) in Charleston, SC. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Region, NMFS, has made a preliminary determination that an Exempted Fishing Permit application from the Coonamessett Farm Foundation contains all of the required information and warrants further consideration. This Exempted Fishing Permit would allow participating commercial fishing vessels to temporarily possess undersized monkfish for biological sampling during normal fishing operations in the Southern Fishery Management Area. 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.

We, NMFS, announce a final rule to list the chambered nautilus (Nautilus pompilius) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). We have reviewed the status of the chambered nautilus, including efforts being made to protect this species, and considered public comments, including new information, submitted on the proposed rule. We have made our final determination based on the best scientific and commercial data available. At this time, we conclude that critical habitat is not determinable because data sufficient to perform the required analyses are lacking; however, we solicit information on habitat features and areas in U.S. waters that may meet the definition of critical habitat for the chambered nautilus.