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

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Scallop Advisory Panel and General Category Scallop Advisory Panel in May, 2006 to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from these groups will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) will convene two public meetings of the Ad Hoc Shrimp Effort Working Group (SEWG).

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for pollock in the West Yakutat District of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2006 total allowable catch (TAC) of pollock specified for the West Yakutat District of the GOA.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration publishes this notice to announce the availability of the draft Prospectus for one of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) Synthesis and Assessment Products (Products) for public comment. This draft Prospectus addresses the following CCSP Topic: Product 3.3 Climate Extremes: Analysis of the Observed Changes and Variations and Prospects for the Future. After consideration of comments received on the draft Prospectus, the final Prospectus along with the comments received will be published on the CCSP web site.

The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold the annual meeting of the Council Bottomfish Plan Team (BPT).

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by catcher processor vessels using pot gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2006 first seasonal allowance of the Pacific cod total allowable catch (TAC) specified for catcher processor vessels using pot gear in the BSAI.

NMFS announces changes to management measures in the recreational Pacific Coast groundfish fisheries. These actions, which are authorized by the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP) are intended to protect overfished groundfish stocks, to reduce possible confusion in the public over differing state and Federal regulations, and to improve the ability to enforce groundfish regulations.

The Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) invites applications to establish a Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM) Cooperative Institute (CI). The creation of this CI is the cornerstone of NOAA's commitment to the Gulf of Mexico Alliance, and NOAA's response the U.S. Ocean Action Plan (Executive Office of the President, December, 2004). This institute will facilitate a long-term collaborative environment between NOAA and the recipients within which broad-based research, development, education and outreach capabilities focusing on the priorities in the northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM) region can be developed and sustained. The CI will be regional in scope and should consist of a group of research institutions in the NGOM region (which is defined by the states of Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, and Texas). Most of the workforce is expected to be located in Stennis Space Center, MS.

NMFS is closing directed fishing for groundfish with non- pelagic trawl gear in the red king crab savings subarea (RKCSS) of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2006 red king crab prohibited species catch (PSC) limit that is specified for the RKCSS of the BSAI.

The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NMFS, (Assistant Administrator) has renewed the affirmative finding for the Government of Mexico under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). This affirmative finding will allow yellowfin tuna harvested in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean(ETP) in compliance with the International Dolphin Conservation Program (IDCP) by Mexican-flag purse seine vessels or purse seine vessels operating under Mexican jurisdiction to be imported into the United States. The affirmative finding was based on review of documentary evidence submitted by the Government of Mexico and obtained from the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) and the U.S. Department of State.

This Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) application is a continuation of a collaborative project involving the University of New Hampshire (UNH), Durham, New Hampshire (NH); the Lobster Conservancy, Friendship, Maine; the New England Aquarium, Boston, Massachusetts; and the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen's Association, Candia, NH. The EFP proposes to continue monitoring a total of 150 legal sized egg bearing female lobsters (berried lobsters) carrying early-stage eggs until the eggs mature and are released. Each berried lobster will be tagged and fitted with a small ambient temperature recording device (Tidbit temperature-loggers) and then the movement and egg-development stages of these tagged berried lobsters will be documented. When a tagged berried lobster is recaptured in commercial lobster gear, participating lobstermen will download thermal data from the attached Tidbit temperature-logger, and also preserve a maximum of 10 eggs from each tagged berried lobster to allow researchers to estimate the egg developmental stage and time to maturity. The tagged berried lobsters will then be released unharmed. The EFP would waive the prohibition on removal of eggs specified at 50 CFR 697.7(c)(1)(iv) for a maximum of 16 participating vessels and is limited to the 150 pre-tagged berried lobsters in this project. The Director, State, Federal and Constituent Programs Office, Northeast Region, NMFS (Office Director) has made a preliminary determination that the subject EFP application contains all the required information and warrants further consideration. The Office Director has also made a preliminary determination that the activities authorized under the EFPs would be consistent with the goals and objectives of Federal management of the American lobster resource. However, further review and consultation may be necessary before a final determination is made to issue EFPs. Therefore, NMFS announces that the Office Director proposes to issue EFPs that would allow a maximum of 16 Federally permitted commercial fishing vessels to participate in the continuation of a project designed to monitor the movement of berried lobsters in two inshore locations in the vicinity of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Friendship, Maine, and in two offshore locations along the northern edge of Georges Bank and in Corsair and Lydonia Canyons to the southeast of Georges Bank. This project would not involve the authorization of any additional trap gear, and all trap gear would conform to existing Federal lobster regulations. There would be no anticipated adverse effects on protected resources or habitat as a result of this research. Therefore, this document invites comments on the issuance of EFPs to allow a maximum of 16 commercial fishing vessels in possession of Federal lobster permits to remove a maximum of 10 eggs each time any one of the 150 tagged berried lobsters are captured during the course of normal fishing operations in the designated study areas.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) publishes this notice to announce the availability of the Draft NOAA Coral Ecosystem Research Plan Part II: Regional Priorities for public comment. The Draft NOAA Coral Ecosystem Research Plan is being developed by the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program to set priorities and guide NOAA-supported coral ecosystem research for fiscal years 2006 to 2010, including research conducted through extramural partners, grants, and contracts. The Draft NOAA Coral Ecosystem Research Plan covers all coral reef ecosystems under the jurisdiction of the United States and the Pacific Freely Associated States; and is written for a broad audience, including resource managers, scientists, policy makers, and the public.

Following completion of a comprehensive Endangered Species Act (ESA) Status Review and Update for the North American green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris; hereafter, ``green sturgeon''), we, NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), published a Proposed Rule to list the Southern distinct population segment (DPS) of green sturgeon as threatened on April 6, 2005. After considering public comments on the Proposed Rule, we are issuing a Final Rule to list the Southern DPS as a threatened species. NMFS is currently considering issuance of protective regulations that may be necessary and advisable to provide for the conservation of the species. With this document we are also soliciting information that may be relevant to our analysis of protective regulations and to the designation of critical habitat for the Southern DPS of green sturgeon. Details of our analyses, their outcome, and a request for public comment on our proposals will be published in subsequent Federal Register notices.

Notice is hereby given that John A. Musick, Ph.D., Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), Gloucester Point, VA 23062, has been issued a permit to take loggerhead (Caretta caretta), Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii), leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), green (Chelonia mydas), and hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) sea turtles for purposes of scientific research.

The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold its 132nd meeting to consider and take final action on recommendations to limit fishing in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI). The Council will also hold a public hearing during this 132nd Council meeting.

The Trawl Survey Advisory Panel, composed of representatives from the National Marine Fisheries Service's Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC), the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC), the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC), and several independent scientific researchers, will hold a public meeting.

The Caribbean Fishery Management Council's Advisory Panel (AP), Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) and Habitat Advisory Panel (HAP), will hold meetings.

The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries (AA), NOAA, announces temporary restrictions consistent with the requirements of the ALWTRP's implementing regulations. These regulations apply to lobster trap/pot and anchored gillnet fishermen in an area totaling approximately 1,514 nm\2\ ( 5,193 km\2\), southeast of the Great South Channel, for 15 days. The purpose of this action is to provide protection to an aggregation of northern right whales (right whales).

NMFS issues a final rule to implement a groundfish retention standard (GRS) program in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Island management area (BSAI) for trawl catcher/processor vessels (C/Ps) that are 125 ft (38.1 m) length overall (LOA) or greater and that are not listed American Fisheries Act (AFA) catcher/processors referred to throughout this rule as non-AFA trawl C/Ps. This action is necessary to reduce bycatch and improve utilization of groundfish harvested by these non- AFA trawl C/Ps. This action is intended to promote the management objectives of the Improved Retention/Improved Utilization (IRIU) program, the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (FMP), and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

The NOAA Office of Education (OEd) is issuing a request for applications from informal education institutions with interest in displaying NOAA's Science on a Sphere. Awards will be made as one-year cooperative agreements and will be issued in fiscal year 2006 (FY06). Funded projects will support informal education institutions in incorporating this data visualization technology and compatible environmental data products into public exhibits. The goal of this program is to build environmental literacy among the general public through increased use of NOAA or NOAA-related data and data products in informal education institutions. See NOAA's Education Plan for more details on this goal and strategy: (https://www.oesd.noaa.gov/NOAAEd Plan.pdf). It is anticipated that final recommendations for funding under this announcement will be made by June 30, 2006, and that projects funded under this announcement will have a start date no earlier than October 1, 2006.

Notice is hereby given that NMFS has received two scientific research permit application requests relating to Pacific salmon. The proposed research is intended to increase knowledge of species listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and to help guide management and conservation efforts.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) Charter Halibut Stakeholder Committee will meet in Anchorage, AK.