National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration November 23, 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of National Marine Sanctuaries is providing the public with an opportunity to comment on NOAA's Regulatory Impact Review (RIR), a supporting document to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for the expansion of the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS). While NOAA summarized the RIR in the proposed rule for this action, due to an oversight, the RIR was not included as a supporting document when the NPRM was published. The comment period for the NPRM that was published on May 1, 2020 closed on July 3, 2020. With this notice, NOAA will only accept comments on the RIR, and any other comments on the proposed expansion will not be considered.

NMFS announces a valid specified fishing agreement that allocates up to 1,000 metric tons (t) of the 2020 bigeye tuna limit for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) to U.S. longline fishing vessels. The agreement supports the long-term sustainability of fishery resources of the U.S. Pacific Islands, and fisheries development in the CNMI.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Scallop 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.

NMFS announces that the State of North Carolina is transferring a portion of its 2020 commercial summer flounder quota to the State of Connecticut. This quota adjustment is necessary to comply with the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan quota transfer provisions. This announcement informs the public of the revised commercial quotas for North Carolina and Connecticut.