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

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) Observer Advisory Committee Subgroup will meet May 11, 2018.

NMFS issues this temporary rule to reduce the commercial trip limit for vermilion snapper in or from the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the South Atlantic to 500 lb (227 kg), gutted weight, 555 lb (252 kg), round weight. This trip limit reduction is necessary to protect the South Atlantic vermilion snapper resource.

NMFS issued a final rule on December 9, 2016 to establish the Seafood Traceability Program, also known as the Seafood Import Monitoring Program or SIMP. Implementation of the Program for shrimp and abalone species was stayed indefinitely due to NMFS' determination that current data collection for shrimp and abalone aquacultured in the U.S. is not equivalent to the data that would have been required to be reported for imports of these products. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 directed the Secretary of Commerce, within 30 days of enactment of the Act, to lift the stay on the implementation of the Seafood Traceability Program with respect to shrimp and abalone. This rule informs the affected public of the effective and compliance dates for the reporting and recordkeeping requirements, applicable for imports of shrimp and abalone species originating from both wild capture fisheries and aquaculture operations.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council will hold a meeting of its Habitat AP in North Charleston, SC. The meeting is open to the public.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) Electronic Monitoring Workgroup (EMWG) will hold a public meeting on May 15, 2018.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) Social Science Planning Team will meet May 8, 2018 through May 9, 2018.

The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) will convene a meeting of its Plan Team for the Fishery Ecosystem Plan for Pelagics Fisheries of the Western Pacific Region (PPT) in Honolulu, HI to discuss fishery issues and develop recommendations for future management.

The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Region, NMFS, has made a preliminary determination that an Exempted Fishing Permit application contains all of the required information and warrants further consideration. This Exempted Fishing Permit would exempt one commercial fishing vessel from the Northeast multispecies minimum mesh size and minimum fish size regulations in support of gear research to target healthy haddock and redfish stocks. Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act require publication of this notification to provide interested parties the opportunity to comment on applications for proposed Exempted Fishing Permits.

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

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a public meeting of its Coral Advisory Panel.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a meeting of its Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) and Socio-Economic Panel (SEP) to review the seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) model proposed for use by the Southeast Regional Office (SERO) staff to conduct management analyses. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

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

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

NOAA's National Geodetic Survey (NGS) will establish the State Plane Coordinate System of 2022 (SPCS2022) as part of the transition to the 2022 Terrestrial Reference Frames (TRFs). SPCS2022 is the successor to previous versions referenced to the North American Datums of 1983 and 1927. Like its predecessors, SPCS2022 will be a system of conformal map projections for the entire National Spatial Reference System (NSRS). It will provide surveyors, engineers, and other geospatial professionals with a practical means for accessing and using the NSRS. NGS has developed draft policy and procedures that propose defining characteristics and requirements for SPCS2022. These documents also provide mechanisms for user input on initial design of SPCS2022 and subsequent changes. The aim is for SPCS2022 to meet the needs of NGS customers for the future NSRS. To achieve that goal, NGS is inviting written comments on the draft SPCS2022 policy. In addition, NGS seeks feedback on purposed ``special purpose'' zones.

NMFS is correcting the final 2018 and 2019 harvest specifications for groundfish in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). The amounts of Atka mackerel specified for the Amendment 80 sector in the Central Aleutian District (CAI) and the Western Aleutian District (WAI) were incorrect.

NMFS has received a request from Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to the dolphin (a man-made structure that protects other structures from being struck by boats) relocation project at the Bremerton and Edmonds ferry terminals in Washington State. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an IHA to incidentally take marine mammals during the specified activities.

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

The Acting Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Region, NMFS, has made a preliminary determination that Exempted Fishing Permits, to facilitate the use of fishing year 2018 monkfish research set-aside days-at-sea, warrants further consideration. This notice provides interested parties the opportunity to comment on the proposed Exempted Fishing Permits.

Notice is hereby given that Robert Garrott, Ph.D., Montana State University, 310 Lewis Hall, Bozeman, MT 59717, has applied for an amendment to Scientific Research Permit No. 21158-01.

NMFS has received a request from the U.S. Navy (Navy) for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to the pier construction activities conducted at the Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut, over the course of five years (2018- 2023). 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 vessels less than 60 feet (18.3 meters (m)) length overall (LOA) using jig or hook-and-line gear in the Bogoslof Pacific cod exemption area of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the limit of Pacific cod for catcher vessels less than 60 feet (18.3 m) LOA using jig or hook-and-line gear in the Bogoslof Pacific cod exemption area in the BSAI.

NMFS is prohibiting retention of sablefish by vessels using trawl gear and not participating in the cooperative fishery of the Rockfish Program in the Central Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary because the 2018 total allowable catch of sablefish allocated to vessels using trawl gear and not participating in the cooperative fishery of the Rockfish Program in the Central Regulatory Area of the GOA has been reached.

The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Region, NMFS, has made a preliminary determination that an exempted fishing permit application submitted by the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen's Alliance contains all of the required information and warrants further consideration. This exempted fishing permit would require participants to use electronic monitoring systems on 100 percent of sector trips for catch accounting in the groundfish fishery. Additionally, vessels would be authorized to access portions of groundfish closed areas. Regulations under the Magnuson- Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act require publication of this notification to provide interested parties the opportunity to comment on applications for proposed exempted fishing permits.

NMFS announces the adjustment of the commercial per-trip possession limit in the skate wing fishery for the remainder of the 2017 fishing year, through April 30, 2018, based on a revised landings projection. This possession limit adjustment is necessary to allow fishermen the opportunity to fully harvest the remaining skate wing annual total allowable landings. This announcement also informs the public that the skate wing possession limit is increased until the end of the fishing year (April 30).