National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration November 10, 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This rule announces the approval of, and regulations to implement, an action to require commercially permitted vessels in both the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council regions to submit vessel trip reports electronically within 48 hours of the end of a trip. This action will also require for-hire vessels with permits for species managed by the New England Fishery Management Council to submit vessel trip reports electronically within 48 hours of the end of a trip. Document retention requirements will be removed with this action. This action is intended to increase data quality and timeliness of vessel trip reports.

NMFS has received a request from the City of Ketchikan, Alaska (COK) for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to the Berth III New Mooring Dolphins Project in Ketchikan, AK. 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-time, 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.