National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration January 19, 2021 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Research Steering Committee (RSC) of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a meeting.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Pacific Council) Groundfish Advisory Subpanel (GAP) will hold an online meeting, which is open to the public.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Pacific Council) has begun its annual preseason management process for the 2021 ocean salmon fisheries off the U.S. West Coast. This notice informs the public of opportunities to provide comments on the development of 2021 ocean salmon management measures.

NMFS is issuing regulations under the Tuna Conventions Act to implement Resolution C-20-05 (Conservation of Tuna in the Eastern Pacific Ocean During 2021), which was adopted by the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC or Commission) on December 22, 2020. All of the provisions of Resolution C-20-05 are identical in content to the previous resolution on tropical tuna management that expired at the end of 2020. This interim final rule implements the C-20-05 fishing management measures for tropical tuna (i.e., bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus), yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), and skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis)) in the eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO). The fishing restrictions in this interim final rule are applicable in 2021 only and apply to purse seine vessels of class sizes 4-6 (carrying capacity of 182 metric tons (mt) or greater) and longline vessels greater than 24 meters (m) in overall length that fish for tropical tuna in the EPO. This interim final rule is necessary for the conservation of tropical tuna stocks in the EPO and for the United States to satisfy its obligations as a member of the IATTC.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issues final regulations to implement the expansion of the boundaries of Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS or sanctuary) and revise the sanctuary's terms of designation. The purpose of this action is to expand the sanctuary to include portions of 14 additional reefs and banks in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico, representing approximately a 104 square mile increase in area. With this action, the existing FGBNMS regulations will apply to the expanded locations.

NMFS, upon request from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), hereby issues regulations to govern the unintentional taking of marine mammals incidental to geophysical survey activities conducted by oil and gas industry operators, and those persons authorized to conduct activities on their behalf (collectively ``industry operators''), in Federal waters of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GOM) over the course of five years. These regulations, which allow for the issuance of Letters of Authorization (LOA) to industry operators for the incidental take of marine mammals during the described activities and specified timeframe, prescribe the permissible methods of taking and other means of effecting the least practicable adverse impact on marine mammal species or stocks and their habitat, as well as requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such taking.