National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration April 26, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NOAA publishes this notice to extend the solicitation period for proposals for NOAA's Faculty and Student Intern Research Program. Proposals are solicited from non-profit organizations who would design and provide administrative services, such as provide training, educational, and research opportunities to faculty, as well as graduate and undergraduate students pursuing degrees related to NOAA's mission. This solicitation was originally announced in the Federal Register on March 30, 2006. The solicitation period for this program was extended to provide the public more time to submit proposals.

NMFS will hold a meeting on a proposed cost recovery program for the Western Alaska Community Development Quota (CDQ) Program. The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson- Stevens Act) requires that the Secretary of Commerce establish a fee collection program for the recovery of the actual costs directly related to the management and enforcement of the CDQ Program. NMFS is seeking public input about the development of such a CDQ cost recovery program.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Scallop Committee in May, 2006 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 this final rule to implement regulatory and non- regulatory management measures to reduce the incidental mortality and serious injury (bycatch) of the western North Atlantic coastal bottlenose dolphin stock (dolphin) (Tursiops truncatus) in the mid- Atlantic coastal gillnet fishery and eight other coastal fisheries operating within the dolphin's distributional range. This final rule also revises the large mesh size restriction under the mid-Atlantic large mesh gillnet rule for conservation of endangered and threatened sea turtles (mid-Atlantic large mesh gillnet rule) to provide consistency among Federal and state management measures. The measures contained in this final rule will implement gillnet effort reduction, gear proximity requirements, gear or gear deployment modifications, and outreach and education measures to reduce dolphin bycatch below the marine mammal stock's potential biological removal level (PBR).