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

NMFS is implementing annual harvest specifications and management measures for the northern subpopulation of Pacific sardine (hereafter, Pacific sardine), for the fishing year, which runs from July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2022. This final rule will prohibit most directed commercial fishing for Pacific sardine off the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California. Pacific sardine harvest will 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 will 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 annual catch limit for the 2021- 2022 Pacific sardine fishing year is 3,329 metric tons. This final rule is intended to conserve and manage the Pacific sardine stock off the U.S. West Coast.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a meeting of its Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) via webinar. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

Notice is hereby given that Terrie Williams, Ph.D., University of California at Santa Cruz, Long Marine Lab, Center for Ocean Health, 115 McAllister Way, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, has applied in due form for a permit to conduct research on captive marine mammals.

In accordance with the regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), as amended, notification is hereby given that NMFS has issued a Renewal incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to incidentally harass, by Level B harassment only, marine mammals incidental to construction activities associated with the second phase of the Elkhorn Slough Tidal Marsh Restoration Project in Monterey County, California.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has prepared a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) that considers three alternatives for the proposed designation of a national marine sanctuary to manage a nationally significant collection of shipwrecks and other underwater cultural resources in New York's eastern Lake Ontario and the Thousand Islands region of the St. Lawrence River. NOAA also prepared a draft management plan that describes the proposed goals, objectives, and strategies for managing the proposed sanctuary. NOAA is soliciting public comment on the DEIS and draft management plan.

The Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and continuing information collections, which helps us assess the impact of our information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment preceding submission of the collection to OMB.

Notice is hereby given that Jane Provancha, Herndon Solutions Group, LLC., 2562 Meadow Lane, Cocoa, FL 32926 and the NMFS Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC), 75 Virginia Beach Drive, Miami, FL 33149 (Responsible Party: Lisa Desfosse), have applied in due form for permits to take green (Chelonia mydas), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii), leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), loggerhead (Caretta caretta), olive ridley (L. olivacea), and unidentified hardshell sea turtles for purposes of scientific research.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is soliciting comments from the public regarding a proposed revision of the management plan for the Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve. The management plan provides a framework for the direction and timing of a reserve's programs; allows reserve managers to assess a reserve's success in meeting its goals and to identify any necessary changes in direction; and is used to guide programmatic evaluations of the reserve. Plan revisions are required of each reserve in the National Estuarine Research Reserve System at least every five years. This revised plan is intended to replace the plan approved in 2015.

The SEDAR 74 assessment of Gulf of Mexico red snapper will consist of a Data workshop, a series of assessment webinars, and a Review workshop. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

The NMFS Assistant Administrator (Assistant Administrator) has completed an affirmative finding annual renewal for the Governments of Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, and Spain. (referred to hereafter as ``The Nations'') under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). These affirmative findings will continue to allow the importation into the United States of yellowfin tuna and yellowfin tuna products harvested in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean (ETP) for 1 year in compliance with the Agreement on the International Dolphin Conservation Program (AIDCP) by purse seine vessels operating under The Nations' jurisdiction or exported from The Nations. NMFS bases the affirmative finding annual renewals on reviews of documentary evidence submitted by the Governments of The Nations and of information obtained from the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC).

The Caribbean Fishery Management Council's (Council) Outreach and Education Advisory Panel (OEAP) will hold a 2-day public virtual meeting on July 28-29, 2021, to discuss the items contained in the agenda in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

NMFS announces an inseason action in the 2021 ocean salmon fisheries. These inseason actions modified the commercial salmon fisheries in the area from the U.S./Canada border to Cape Falcon, OR.

NMFS has received a request from the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (AKDOT&PF) for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to pile driving/removal and down-the- hole drilling (DTH) activities during maintenance improvements to the existing Metlakatla Seaplane Facility (MSF) in Southeast 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.

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) requires that NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS) periodically review existing regulations that have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities, such as small businesses, small organizations, and small governmental jurisdictions. This plan describes how ONMS will perform this review and describes the regulations proposed for review in fiscal year 2022.

NMFS implements an accountability measure (AM) for commercial Spanish mackerel in the northern zone of the Atlantic exclusive economic zone (EEZ). NMFS projects that the commercial quota for Spanish mackerel in the northern zone of the Atlantic EEZ will be reached by June 28, 2021. Therefore, NMFS closes the northern zone in the Atlantic EEZ to commercial harvest of Spanish mackerel on June 28, 2021. This closure is necessary to protect the Spanish mackerel resource in the Atlantic.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will hold a meeting of its Coastal Migratory Pelagic Advisory Panel via webinar.

NMFS and the Assessment Oversight Panel (AOP) will convene the Management Track Assessment Peer Review Meeting for the purpose of reviewing Atlantic mackerel, black sea bass, golden tilefish, and scup. The Management 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 the lead stock assessment analyst and reviewed by an independent panel of stock assessment experts called the 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 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Office for Coastal Management will hold a public meeting to solicit comments on the performance evaluation of the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve.

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 Vineyard Wind 1, LLC (Vineyard Wind) to take, by Level A harassment and Level B harassment, marine mammals during construction of a commercial wind energy project offshore Massachusetts.

NMFS implements the measures of the New England Fishery Management Council's Omnibus Deep-Sea Coral Amendment. This action protects deep-sea corals from the impacts of commercial fishing gear on Georges Bank and in the Gulf of Maine. These management measures are intended to reduce, to the extent practicable, impacts of fishing gear on deep-sea corals in New England while balancing the continued operations of commercial fisheries.

This action proposes to approve and implement Framework Adjustment 61 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan. This rule would revise the status determination criteria for Georges Bank and Southern New England-Mid Atlantic winter flounder, implement a revised rebuilding plan for white hake, set or adjust catch limits for 17 of the 20 multispecies (groundfish) stocks, and implement a universal exemption for sectors to target Acadian redfish. This action is necessary to respond to updated scientific information and to achieve the goals and objectives of the fishery management plan. The proposed measures are intended to help prevent overfishing, rebuild overfished stocks, achieve optimum yield, and ensure that management measures are based on the best scientific information available.