National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration May 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This announcement provides notice that the deadline for issuing a decision has been extended by 15 days in the administrative appeal filed with the Department of Commerce (Department) by WesternGeco requesting that the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) override an objection by the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management to a consistency certification for a proposed project to conduct a marine Geological and Geophysical seismic survey in the Atlantic Ocean.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a joint public meeting via webinar of its Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management (EBFM) Committee via webinar to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from this group will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a four-day webinar meeting to consider actions affecting the Gulf of Mexico fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold meetings of the following: Information and Education Committee; Dolphin Wahoo Committee; Snapper Grouper Committee; Southeast Data, Assessment and Review (SEDAR) Committee; Citizen Science Committee; Executive Committee; and Mackerel Cobia Committee. The meeting week will also include a formal public comment session and meeting of the Full Council (partially Closed Session). Due to public health concerns associated with COVID-19 and current travel restrictions, the meeting originally planned for Key West, FL will be held via webinar.

NMFS announces one inseason action in the 2020 ocean salmon fisheries. This inseason action modified the commercial salmon fishery in the area from the U.S./Canada border to Leadbetter Point, WA.

NMFS proposes to implement annual harvest specifications and management measures for the northern subpopulation of Pacific sardine (hereafter, Pacific sardine), for the fishing year from July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2021. The proposed action would prohibit most directed commercial fishing for Pacific sardine off the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California. Pacific sardine harvest would be allowed only in the live bait fishery, minor directed fisheries, as incidental catch in other fisheries, or as authorized under exempted fishing permits. The incidental harvest of Pacific sardine would be limited to 20 percent by weight of all fish per trip when caught with other stocks managed under the Coastal Pelagic Species Fishery Management Plan or up to 2 metric tons per trip when caught with non-Coastal Pelagic Species stocks. The proposed annual catch limit for the 2020-2021 Pacific sardine fishing year is 4,288 metric tons. This proposed rule is intended to conserve and manage the Pacific sardine stock off the U.S. West Coast.

NMFS has received a request from Mayflower Wind Energy LLC (Mayflower) for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to site characterization surveys off the coast of Massachusetts in the area of the Commercial Lease of Submerged Lands for Renewable Energy Development on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS-A 0521) and along a potential submarine cable route to landfall at Falmouth, Massachusetts. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to incidentally take marine mammals during the specified activities. NMFS is also requesting comments on a possible one-year renewal that could be issued under certain circumstances and if all requirements are met, as described in Request for Public Comments at the end of this notice. NMFS will consider public comments prior to making any final decision on the issuance of the requested MMPA authorizations and agency responses will be summarized in the final notice of our decision.

NMFS closes the northern area Angling category fishery for large medium and giant (``trophy'' (i.e., measuring 73 inches (185 cm) curved fork length or greater)) Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT). This action is being taken to prevent further overharvest of the Angling category northern area trophy BFT subquota.

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 Power Systems & Supplies of Alaska (PSSA) to incidentally harass, by Level A and B harassment only, marine mammals during construction activities associated with the Ward Cove Cruise Ship Dock Project near Ketchikan, Alaska.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting via webinar of its Herring Advisory Panel via webinar to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from this group will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting via webinar of its Groundfish Committee to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from this group will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Pacific Council) Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast (SONCC) Coho Technical Team (Team) will hold an online meeting, which is open to the public.

The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Region, NMFS, has made a preliminary determination that an Exempted Fishing Permit application from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center contains all the required information and warrants further consideration. Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act require publication of this notice to provide interested parties the opportunity to comment on applications for proposed Exempted Fishing Permits.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's (Council) Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish (MSB) Committee will hold a meeting.

The Caribbean Fishery Management Council's (Council) District Advisory Panels (DAPs) will hold public virtual meetings to address the items contained in the tentative agenda included in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

The Caribbean Fishery Management Council's (Council) Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management Technical Advisory Panel (EBFM TAP) will hold a two-day virtual meeting to address the items on the tentative agenda included in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

The New England Fishery Management Council's is convening its Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) via webinar to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from this group will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will host a webinar meeting for all of its Advisory Panels, including the Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Advisory Panel; the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Advisory Panel; the Bluefish Advisory Panel; the Spiny Dogfish Advisory Panel; the Surfclam and Ocean Quahog Advisory Panel; the Tilefish Advisory Panel; the Ecosystem and Ocean Planning Advisory Panel; and the River Herring and Shad Advisory Panel.

NMFS announces a revision to the format of the public meeting of the Scientific Advisory Subcommittee (SAS) to the General Advisory Committee (GAC) scheduled on June 17, 2020, and a public meeting of the GAC to the U.S. Section to the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) scheduled on June 18, 2020. These meetings will now be held solely via webinar instead of in-person, due to the current local guidance and travel restrictions. The timing of the meetings is adjusted accordingly. Additionally, NMFS announces that the U.S. Stakeholder conference call to discuss IATTC tropical tuna management in the eastern Pacific Ocean scheduled for May 22, 2020, is cancelled, and the content of that call will be included in the SAS and GAC webinars. The meeting topics are described under the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice.

NMFS announces approval of a Marine Conservation Plan (MCP) for the Northern Mariana Islands.

NMFS proposes to implement management measures described in Framework Amendment 8 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Coastal Migratory Pelagics (CMP) of the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) and Atlantic Region (CMP FMP), as prepared by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council). This proposed rule would revise the Atlantic migratory group king mackerel commercial trip limit in the Atlantic southern zone during the October through February fishing season. The purpose of this proposed rule is to support increased fishing activity and economic opportunity while continuing to constrain harvest to the annual catch limit (ACL).

The National Marine Fisheries Service is correcting a final rule that published on March 10, 2020, implementing the final 2020 and 2021 harvest specifications and prohibited species catch allowances for the groundfish fishery of the Gulf of Alaska. One table in the document contains errors associated with deep-water flatfish, and another table contains an error associated with northern rockfish. These corrections are necessary to provide the correct information about the amount of deep-water flatfish and northern rockfish available for commercial harvest in 2020, thus allowing commercial fishermen to maximize their economic opportunities in this fishery. This correction also is necessary to comport with the requirements of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a joint public meeting of its Whiting Committee and Advisory Panel via webinar to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from this group will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.