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

The Caribbean Fishery Management Council's (Council) Outreach and Education Advisory Panel (OEAP) will hold a 2-day meeting in February to discuss the items contained in the agenda in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold public meetings of the Council and its Committees.

NMFS announces that the Commonwealth of Virginia is transferring a portion of its 2019 commercial summer flounder quota to the State of New York. This retroactive adjustment to the 2019 fishing year quota 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 retroactively revised 2019 commercial quotas for Virginia and New York.

NMFS proposes to implement management measures as described in an abbreviated framework action to the Fishery Management Plans (FMPs) for Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico (Reef Fish FMP) and Coastal Migratory Pelagic (CMP) Resources of the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Region (CMP FMP), as prepared by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Gulf Council). This proposed rule would modify the Federal regulations for historical captain permits in the reef fish and CMP fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), to provide an opportunity for eligible historical captain permit holders to replace their permits with standard Federal charter vessel/ headboat permits. It is expected that the rule would reduce the regulatory and economic burden on historical captain permit holders. In addition, NMFS proposes a correction to the regulations regarding commercial king mackerel permit requirements from an inadvertent error in the final rule for Amendment 20A to the FMP for the CMP Resources in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Region.

NMFS has received a request from Halibut Point Marine Services, LLC (HPMS) for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to the Old Sitka Dock North Dolphins Expansion Project in Sitka, Alaska. 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 publishes the standard ex-vessel prices and fee percentage for cost recovery under the Central Gulf of Alaska Rockfish Program. This action is intended to provide participants in a rockfish cooperative with the standard prices and fee percentage for the 2019 fishing year, which was authorized from May 1 through November 15. The fee percentage is 3.0 percent. The fee payments are due from each rockfish cooperative on or before February 15, 2020.

NMFS has received a request from the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT) for the re-issuance of a previously issued incidental harassment authorization (IHA) with the only change being effective dates. The initial IHA authorized take of seven species of marine mammals, by Level B harassment, incidental to construction associated with the city dock and ferry terminal improvement project in Tenakee Springs, Alaska. The project has been delayed and none of the work covered in the initial IHA has been conducted. The initial IHA was effective from June 1, 2019, through May 31, 2020. ADOT has requested re-issuance with new effective dates of June 1, 2020, through May 31, 2021. The scope of the activities and anticipated effects remain the same, authorized take numbers are not changed, and the required mitigation, monitoring, and reporting remains the same as included in the initial IHA. NMFS is, therefore, issuing a second IHA to cover the incidental take analyzed and authorized in the initial IHA.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Pacific Council) will hold a methodology review meeting to evaluate and review fishery independent visual survey methodologies, using remotely operate vehicles (ROVs), for nearshore groundfish species off the states of Oregon and California. The meeting is open to the public.

NMFS is extending the period for submission of nominations for appointment to a new Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee (MAFAC) task force to support its advisory work for the Secretary of Commerce on living marine resource matters. The task force will provide expert advice on the generation, delivery, and use of electronically reported data from private recreational anglers to assist NMFS in fulfilling its mission activities. NMFS will appoint the members in consultation with MAFAC and they will serve for a term of up to two (2) years. The extended comment period closes on February 21, 2020.

NMFS has received a request from Hilcorp Alaska, LLC (Hilcorp) and Eni US Operating Co. Inc. (Eni) for authorization to take small numbers of marine mammals incidental to ice road and ice trail construction, maintenance, and operation in Alaska's North Slope, over the course of five years (2020-2025). As required by the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is proposing regulations to govern that take and requests comments on the proposed regulations. 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 is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by catcher/processors using pot gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the A season apportionment of the 2020 Pacific cod total allowable catch allocated to catcher/processors using pot gear in the BSAI.

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 comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

NMFS has received a request from the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT&PF) for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to pile driving and construction associated with the Gustavus Ferry Terminal Improvements Project in Gustavus, Alaska. 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 has received a request from University of California Santa Cruz's Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (UCSC/PISCO) for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to rocky intertidal monitoring surveys along the Oregon and California coasts. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is proposing regulations to govern that take, and requests comments on the proposed regulations. 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.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council), jointly with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) will hold 11 public scoping meetings and a written comment period to solicit public comments on potential topics to be addressed by a Commercial/ Recreational Allocation Amendment to the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan (FMP).

NMFS publishes Fraser River salmon inseason orders to regulate treaty and non-treaty (all citizen) commercial salmon fisheries in U.S. waters. The orders were issued by the Fraser River Panel (Panel) of the Pacific Salmon Commission (Commission) and subsequently approved and issued by NMFS during 2019 for sockeye and pink salmon fisheries within the U.S. Fraser River Panel Area. These orders established fishing dates, times, and areas for the gear types of U.S. treaty Indian and all citizen commercial fisheries during the period the Panel exercised jurisdiction over these fisheries.

Notice is hereby given that permits or permit amendments have been issued to the following entities under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA), as applicable.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's (Council) Northeast Trawl Advisory Panel (NTAP) will hold a meeting.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council, NEFMC) will hold a three-day meeting to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

In accordance with the regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) as amended, notification is hereby given that NMFS has issued incidental harassment authorizations (IHAs) to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to incidentally harass, by Level B harassment only, marine mammals during pile driving and removal activities over two years associated with the Coos Bay North Jetty maintenance and repairs project.

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

NMFS issues a final rule that implements Amendment 118 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI FMP) and a regulatory amendment that revises regulations on Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) requirements in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) and Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This final rule is necessary to improve efficiency and provide economic benefits for the Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) and Community Development Quota (CDQ) fleets, minimize whale depredation and seabird interactions in the IFQ and CDQ fisheries, and reduce the risk of exceeding an overfishing limit for any species. This final rule is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), the Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1982 (Halibut Act), the BSAI FMP, and other applicable laws.

NMFS and the Assessment Oversight Panel will convene the Red Hake Stock Structure Research Track Assessment Peer Review Meeting for the purpose of reviewing the stock structure of Red Hake. The Research Track Assessment Peer Review is a formal scientific peer-review process for evaluating and presenting stock assessment results to managers for fish stocks in the offshore U.S. waters of the northwest Atlantic. Assessments are prepared by Stock Assessment Workshop (SAW) working groups and reviewed by an independent panel of stock assessment experts called the Assessment Oversight Panel (AOP). The public is invited to attend the presentations and discussions between the review panel and the scientists who have participated in the stock assessment process.

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