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

NMFS received a request from the Port of Kalama (POK) to issue an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) previously issued to the POK to incidentally take three species of marine mammal, by Level B harassment only, during construction activities associated with an expansion project at the Port of Kalama on the Lower Columbia River, Washington. The current IHA was issued in 2017 and is in effect until August 31, 2018 (2017-2018 IHA). However, the project has been delayed such that none of the work covered by the 2017-2018 IHA has been initiated and, therefore, the POK requested that an IHA be issued to conduct their work beginning on or about September 1, 2018 (2018-2019 IHA). NMFS is seeking public comment on its proposal to issue the 2018- 2019 IHA to cover the incidental take analyzed and authorized in the 2017-2018 IHA. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an IHA to POK to incidentally take, by Level B harassment, small numbers of marine mammals during the specified activities. The authorized take numbers and related analyses would be the same as for the 2017-2018 IHA, and the required mitigation, monitoring, and reporting would remain the same as authorized in the 2017-2018 IHA referenced above. NMFS will consider public comments prior to making any final decision on the issuance of the requested MMPA authorization and agency responses will be summarized in the final notice of our decision.

NMFS proposes to modify the subsistence use regulations for the Eastern Pacific stock of northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) in response to a petition from the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island, Tribal Government (ACSPI). The Fur Seal Act (FSA) prohibits all taking of northern fur seals except in accordance with regulations authorizing Alaska Natives who reside on the Pribilof Islands (Pribilovians) to take northern fur seals for subsistence uses in compliance with a number of explicit regulatory restrictions. The proposed rule would simplify the existing regulations and would enable Pribilovians on St. Paul Island to resume traditional cultural practices that are prohibited by existing regulations, with no adverse consequences to northern fur seals at the population level. The proposed rule would streamline and simplify the regulations and otherwise eliminate several duplicative and unnecessary regulations governing St. Paul and St. George Islands.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's Spiny Dogfish Monitoring Committee will hold a public meeting to review annual specifications and management measures and make any appropriate recommendations.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's (Council) Spiny Dogfish Advisory Panel (AP) will meet to review recent fishery performance and develop a Fishery Performance Report and/or other recommendations in preparation for development of annual specifications commencing May 1, 2019. Specifications can be set for up to five years.

In accordance with the regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) as amended, notification is hereby given that NMFS has issued an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to USGS to incidentally harass, by Level B harassment only, marine mammals during geophysical survey activities associated with a the USGS's Mid- Atlantic Resource Imaging Experiment (MATRIX) survey project in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is seeking expression of interest from private firms interested in entering into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with NOAA to conduct collaborative research and development (R&D) on new and innovative approaches that could lead to new and better ways of processing, exploiting and disseminating space-based Earth and space weather observations from NOAA developed and deployed satellites, with a wide range of applications, societal and economic benefits.

NMFS proposes modifications to the commercial summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass accountability measures, as recommended by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. The proposed change would adjust the accountability measures based on the status of the stocks. This rule is intended to provide additional flexibility in determining when accountability measures are appropriate, similar to how the accountability measures are applied towards the recreational fisheries for these species.

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 proposes a 2018 limit of 2,000 metric tons (t) of longline-caught bigeye tuna for each U.S. Pacific territory (American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)). NMFS would allow each territory to allocate up to 1,000 t each year to U.S. longline fishing vessels in a specified fishing agreement that meets established criteria. As an accountability measure, NMFS would monitor, attribute, and restrict (if necessary) catches of longline-caught bigeye tuna, including catches made under a specified fishing agreement. The proposed catch limits and accountability measures would support the long-term sustainability of fishery resources of the U.S. Pacific Islands.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has prepared four draft programmatic environmental assessments for the proposed continuation of field operations for each region of sites managed by the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. The field operations support resource protection, research and education objectives as mandated by the National Marine Sanctuaries Act and as described in site-specific management plans. In each PEA, NOAA analyzes the potential effects on the human environment of two alternatives to implement field operations in the subject region. NOAA is soliciting public comment on the four regional draft programmatic environmental assessments.

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.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Office for Coastal Management will hold a public meeting to solicit comments for the performance evaluation of the Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Pacific Council) will convene a webinar meeting of its Ad Hoc Trawl Groundfish Electronic Monitoring Policy Advisory Committee (GEMPAC) which is open to the public.

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 announces ten inseason actions in the ocean salmon fisheries. These inseason actions modified the commercial salmon fisheries in the area from the U.S./Canada border to the U.S./Mexico border.