National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration August 2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's Surfclam and Ocean Quahog Committee and Advisory Panel will hold a public webinar meeting. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for agenda details.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's Spiny Dogfish Advisory Panel will hold a public meeting. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for agenda details.

NMFS will convene the Assessment Oversight Panel (AOP) to convene the Management Track Assessment Peer Review Meeting for the purpose of reviewing Red Hake (North and South), Acadian Redfish, Skate Complex, Atlantic Mackerel, Northern Windowpane Flounder, and Spiny Dogfish stocks. 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. 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.

This action proposes regulations that would implement Amendment 32 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan. The proposed regulations include a suite of changes to non-trawl area management measures seaward of California and Oregon. Specifically, NMFS proposes to: allow increased fishing access with specific gear types to the Non-Trawl Rockfish Conservation Area for the commercial groundfish limited entry fixed gear sector and vessels that gear switch under the Trawl Individual Fishing Quota program; modify gear restrictions in the Non-Trawl Rockfish Conservation Area for all non- trawl commercial groundfish sectors; move the seaward boundary of the Non-Trawl Rockfish Conservation Area to 75 fathoms (137 meters) for all non-trawl commercial groundfish sectors and the directed commercial Pacific halibut fishery; create new Groundfish Conservation Areas, including new Yelloweye Rockfish Conservation Areas seaward of Oregon and Groundfish Exclusion Areas seaward of Southern California; create new Essential Fish Habitat Conservation Areas off Oregon; remove the Cowcod Conservation Area seaward of Southern California for all groundfish commercial and recreational non-trawl sectors, and enable the use of Block Area Closures to control the catch of groundfish for all commercial non-trawl sectors. The purpose of Amendment 32 is to provide fishing access to healthy groundfish stocks for non-trawl groundfish fisheries and the directed commercial halibut fishery while still meeting the conservation objectives of the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan. NMFS also announces the availability of a draft Environmental Assessment that analyzes the potential effects of the associated proposed rule. In addition, this action proposes minor administrative regulatory revisions which would correct the name of the Cordell Bank Groundfish Conservation Area, amend the description of the Cordell Bank Groundfish Conservation Area, add new regulatory definitions for different types of fishing bait, and add new exemptions to Vessel Monitoring System reporting requirements.

NMFS announces a closure for the 2023 fishing season for the red snapper private angling component in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off Texas in the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) through this temporary rule. The red snapper recreational private angling component in the Gulf EEZ off Texas closes on September 2, 2023 until 12:01 a.m., local time, on January 1, 2024. This closure is necessary to prevent the private angling component from exceeding the Texas regional management area annual catch limit (ACL) and to prevent overfishing of the Gulf red snapper resource.

NMFS is opening directed fishing for Pacific cod by catcher vessels less than 60 feet (18.3 meters) length overall (LOA) using hook-and-line or pot gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI). This action is necessary to fully use the 2023 total allowable catch of Pacific cod allocated to catcher vessels less than 60 feet (18.3 meters) LOA using hook-and-line or pot gear in the BSAI.

We, NMFS, are issuing a proposed rule to change the status of pillar coral (Dendrogyra cylindrus) on the Federal List of Threatened and Endangered Species from threatened to endangered as recommended in the recent 5-year review of the species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973. We propose this action based on population declines and susceptibility to a recently emerged coral disease.

NMFS announces that the State of New Jersey is transferring a portion of its 2023 commercial bluefish quota to the States of North Carolina and Rhode Island. These adjustments to the 2023 fishing year quotas are necessary to comply with the Atlantic Bluefish Fishery Management Plan quota transfer provisions. This announcement informs the public of the revised 2023 commercial bluefish quotas for New Jersey, North Carolina, and Rhode Island.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) Office of Coast Survey (OCS) requests public comment from all interested parties on a draft of the newly-revised Hydrographic Survey Specifications and Deliverables document (HSSD). The HSSD has been rewritten to be more forward looking with respect to new and developing technologies, best facilitate the use of automated tools, and better integrate with the S-100 based products and the National Bathymetric Source (NBS), which is the OCS database for best-available bathymetry. Additionally, the revised HSSD will better accommodate the increasing amounts of hydrographic data obtained from external sources, with metadata tags to denote data quality and universal data licenses to define terms of use, which will result in more streamlined, standardized workflows. Numerous subject matter experts collaborated to modernize the HSSD so that it best supports OCS as a data-driven organization.

Free Atlantic Shark Identification Workshops and Safe Handling, Release, and Identification Workshops will be held in October, November, and December of 2023. Certain fishermen and shark dealers are required to attend a workshop to meet regulatory requirements and to maintain valid permits. Specifically, the Atlantic Shark Identification Workshop is mandatory for all federally permitted Atlantic shark dealers. The Safe Handling, Release, and Identification Workshop is mandatory for vessel owners and operators who use bottom longline, pelagic longline, or gillnet gear, and who have also been issued shark or swordfish limited access permits. Additional free workshops will be conducted in 2024 and will be announced in a future notice. In addition, NMFS has implemented online recertification workshops for persons who have already taken an in-person training.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's (MAFMC) Ecosystem and Ocean Planning Advisory Panel and Committee will hold a meeting. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for agenda details.

We, NMFS, designate and authorize the release of nonessential experimental populations (NEPs or experimental populations) of Sacramento River (SR) winter-run Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and Central Valley (CV) spring-run Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha) in the McCloud and Upper Sacramento Rivers upstream of Shasta Dam (the NEP Area), California, and, under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), establish a limited set of take exceptions for the experimental populations. Successful reintroduction of populations within the species' historical ranges will contribute to viability and further conservation of these species. The issuance of limited protective regulations for the conservation of these species will provide assurances regarding the regulatory provisions of the ESA as they apply to SR winter-run and CV spring-run Chinook salmon to the people in the Upper Sacramento River and McCloud River watersheds. This final rule also announces the availability of a final environmental assessment (EA) that analyzed the environmental impacts of promulgating the experimental population rule and associated take exceptions.

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

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's (Council) Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) will hold a meeting.

NMFS is implementing regulation changes to integrate the vessel reporting requirements for the Atlantic surfclam and ocean quahog fisheries with the reporting requirements for all other commercial fisheries in the Greater Atlantic Region. These changes are intended to simplify the regulations and make it easier for surfclam and ocean quahog vessel operators to submit the required fishing trip reports electronically. This action will result in improved administration and management of the surfclam and ocean quahog fisheries.

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.

In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), as amended, its implementing regulations, and NMFS' MMPA Regulations for Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Geophysical Surveys Related to Oil and Gas Activities in the Gulf of Mexico, notification is hereby given that a Letter of Authorization (LOA) has been issued to ExxonMobil Corporation (ExxonMobil) for the take of marine mammals incidental to geophysical survey activity in the Gulf of Mexico.

Notice is hereby given that the Office for Coastal Management, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce approves the revised management plan for the He`eia National Estuarine Research Reserve in Hawai`i. In accordance with the Coastal Zone Management Act and its implementing regulations. The University of Hawai`i Institute of Marine Biology revised the reserve's management plan, which replaces the management plan previously approved in 2016.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold meetings of the following: Mackerel Cobia Committee, Habitat Protection and Ecosystem-Based Management (Habitat) Committee, Southeast Data, Assessment and Review (SEDAR) Committee, and the Snapper Grouper Committee. The meeting week will also include a formal public comment session and a meeting of the Full Council.

On August 8, 2023, NMFS published a final rule to implement Amendment 122 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI FMP). The final rule included an incorrect cross reference and inadvertently left out two footnotes in a table. This correction fixes these errors.

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 before the Department submits the information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Notice is hereby given that NMFS has received 18 scientific research permit application requests relating to Pacific salmon, steelhead, green sturgeon, rockfish, and eulachon. NMFS has also received one permit application to enhance the propagation and survival of one listed salmonid species (Snake River steelhead). The proposed activities in all permits are intended to increase knowledge of species listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and to help guide management and conservation efforts.

NMFS is reallocating the projected unused amount of Pacific cod from vessels using jig gear, trawl catcher vessels, and catcher vessels greater than or equal to 60 feet (18.3 meters (m)) length overall (LOA) using hook-and-line gear to catcher vessels less than 60 feet (18.3 m) LOA using hook-and-line or pot gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to allow the 2023 total allowable catch (TAC) of Pacific cod to be harvested.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a meeting of the Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) on September 7, 2023. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.