National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration February 7, 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On December 19, 2019, NMFS received a request from the City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ) to modify an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) that was issued to CBJ on May 16, 2019 to take small numbers of harbor seals, by harassment, incidental to the Juneau dock and harbor waterfront improvement project. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to modify the IHA. This modification includes changes to the prescribed mitigation and to the amount of authorized take by Level A harassment. The total amount of authorized taking remains the same. There are no changes to the activity, NMFS' findings, the effective dates of the issued IHA, or any other aspect of the IHA. NMFS will consider public comments prior to making any final decision on the requested modification of the authorization and agency responses will be summarized in the final notice of our decision.

NMFS is publishing 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/Oregon drift gillnet (DGN) fishery for swordfish and thresher shark (14 inch (36 cm) minimum mesh size) 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 will be dependent on when the hard cap is reached. The implementation of hard caps is intended to manage the fishery under the MSA to protect certain non-target species. The publication of this final rule is necessary to comply with a court order issued January 8, 2020, as further described in SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION below.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) Cook Inlet Salmon Committee will meet on February 25, 2020 through February 26, 2020.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Pacific Council) Salmon Technical Team (STT) and Scientific and Statistical Committee salmon subcommittee (SSCSC) will hold a joint one-day methodology review meeting. This meeting will be held via webinar and is open to the public.

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.

Notice is hereby given that Andrew Trites, Ph.D., University of British Columbia, Room 247, Aquatic Ecosystems Research Laboratory, 2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada, has applied in due form for a permit to conduct research on marine mammals.