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

The Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) invites applications for the establishment of a Great Lakes (GL) Cooperative Institute (CI). The Great Lakes are one of the Nation's most important aquatic resources from an economic, geographic, international, ecological, and societal perspective. U.S. support for Great Lakes activities is described in Executive Order 13340. Activities associated with the proposed Cooperative Institute will provide the necessary capabilities to complement NOAA's current and planned activities in the region in support of the 5-year Research Plan and the 20-year Research Vision. The CI will be regional in scope and will consist of a group of research institutions with expertise and capabilities in the NOAA priority areas. This institute will facilitate a long-term collaborative environment between NOAA and the recipients within which broad-based research, prototype development, and education and outreach capabilities that focus on the priorities in the Great Lakes region can be developed and sustained.

NMFS will hold three public hearings in August 2006, to receive public comments on the North Atlantic right whale ship strike reduction strategy and draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) in Boston, MA; Baltimore, MD; and Jacksonville, FL.

NMFS received a request from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers- Jacksonville District (Corps) for an authorization to take marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to expanding and deepening the Port Sutton Navigation Channel in Tampa Harbor, FL (Port Sutton project). On August 18, 2005, NMFS published a Federal Register notice to solicit public comments for the Corps' proposed project and NMFS preliminary determination of issuing an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to the Corps. Subsequently, the Corps submitted additional information to NMFS on charge weight of the explosives and calculations for impact zones from a similar port construction project that the Corps completed in Miami. Due to the similarity of the geophysical structure and rock substrate between the Port of Miami and Port Sutton, the Corps proposes to modify certain aspects of the proposed project in Port Sutton with the best available scientific information obtained from the Port of Miami project. NMFS is requesting comments on the proposed modifications to the Port Sutton project and its IHA.

NMFS announces final specifications for the 2006-2008 fishing years, which is May 1, 2006, through April 30, 2009. NMFS is also establishing possession limits for dogfish at 600 lb (272 kg) for both quota periods 1 and 2 of the fishery.

The SEDAR assessment of the Gulf of Mexico stock of red grouper will be developed through a series of three workshops: a Data Workshop, an Assessment Workshop, and a Review Workshop. This is the twelfth SEDAR. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

NMFS issues a final rule to implement Amendment 21 to the Fishery Management Plan for Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crabs (FMP). This action makes changes to the arbitration system in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) Crab Rationalization Program (Program) by modifying the timing for harvesters and processors to match harvesting and processing shares and the timing for initiating arbitration proceedings to resolve price and other delivery disputes. This action is necessary to increase resource conservation and economic efficiency in the crab fisheries that are subject to the Program. This action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson- Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), the FMP, and other applicable law.

NMFS announces that the Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, is considering issuing an Exempted Fishing Permit to Limuli Laboratories of Cape May Court House, NJ, to conduct the sixth year of an exempted fishing operation otherwise restricted by regulations prohibiting the harvest of horseshoe crabs in the Carl N. Schuster Jr. Horseshoe Crab Reserve (Reserve) located 3 nautical miles (nm) seaward from the mouth of the Delaware Bay. If granted, the EFP would allow the harvest of 10,000 horseshoe crabs for biomedical purposes and require, as a condition of the EFP, the collection of data related to the status of horseshoe crabs within the Reserve. This notice also invites comments on the issuance of the EFP to Limuli Laboratories.

NMFS announces that the 577 allowed trips for general category scallop vessels into the Nantucket Lightship Scallop Access Area (NLCA) are projected to be taken by 0001 hr local time, July 13, 2006. The area will be closed to general category vessels until it reopens on June 15, 2007. This action is being taken to prevent the allocation of general category trips in the NLCA from being exceeded during the 2006 fishing year in accordance with the regulations implemented under Framework 18 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific Ocean perch in the Western Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2006 total allowable catch (TAC) of Pacific Ocean perch in the Western Regulatory Area of the GOA.

The Science Advisory Board (SAB) was established by a Decision Memorandum dated September 25, 1997, and is the only Federal Advisory Committee with responsibility to advise the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere on strategies for research, education, and application of science to operations and information services. SAB activities and advice provide necessary input to ensure that National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) science programs are of the highest quality and provide optimal support to resource management.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Scallop Committee in July, 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.

The proposed rule would implement measures adopted by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) to facilitate conservation and management of AMLR. The proposed rule would require the use of the Centralized satellite-linked vessel monitoring system by all U.S. vessels harvesting AMLR and would be a condition of import for all U.S. dealers seeking to import shipments of toothfish (Dissostichus) into the United States. This proposed rule would also exempt all shipments of fresh toothfish from the NMFS preapproval process and allow importers of frozen toothfish to submit the U.S. Customs 7501 entry number subsequent to their initial application for preapproval. The proposed rule would require the use of Electronic Catch Documents, after a 60-day transition period, for all U.S. dealers seeking to import shipments of toothfish into the United States. Paper-based catch documents for toothfish would no longer be accepted. The proposed rule would also require the use of a seal excluder device on krill vessels using trawl gear in the Area of the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (Convention Area). The proposed rule would add or amend definitions of ``Antarctic marine living resources'', ``export'', ``import'', ``international observer'', ``land or landing'', ``mobile transceiver unit'', ``national observer'', ``Office for Law Enforcement (OLE)'', ``Port State'', ``re-export'', ``seal excluder device'', ``transship or transshipment'', and ``vessel monitoring system (VMS)''. The proposed rule would also expand the list of requirements and prohibitions regarding scientific observers and clarify the duties and responsibilities of the observers on the vessels and of the vessel owners hosting the observers. The proposed rule identifies new information on all vessels licensed by CCAMLR Members to harvest AMLR in the area identified in the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (Convention). The intent of this rule is to incorporate new conservation measures, to revise procedures to facilitate enforcement, and to fulfill U.S. agreements in CCAMLR.

NMFS proposes to revise the final 2006 and 2007 harvest specifications for the ``other species'' complex in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) by reducing the total allowable catch (TAC) for the complex to 4,500 metric tons (mt) annually. The intended effect of this action is to conserve and manage the groundfish resources in the GOA in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific Ocean perch in the Central Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2006 total allowable catch (TAC) of Pacific Ocean perch in the Central Regulatory Area of the GOA.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Research Steering Committee in July, 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 announces an adjustment to the ending date of the annual closure of the shrimp fishery in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off Texas. The closure is normally from May 15 to July 15 each year. For 2006, the closure began on May 15, and will end at 30 minutes after sunset on July 10. The Texas closure is intended to prohibit the harvest of brown shrimp during their major emigration from Texas estuaries to the Gulf of Mexico so the shrimp may reach a larger, more valuable size and to prevent the waste of brown shrimp that would be discarded in fishing operations because of their small size.

NMFS announces the receipt of an application for an exempted fishing permit (EFP) from Neil Allen on behalf of The Georgia Aquarium. If granted, the EFP would authorize the applicant, with certain conditions, to collect limited numbers of groupers, snappers, tilefish, sea basses, jacks, spadefish, grunts, porgies, mackerel, cero, cobia, dolphin fish, spiny lobster, little tunny, and triggerfish. Specimens would be collected primarily from Federal waters off the coast of Georgia but may also be collected from Federal waters off the coasts of South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas during 2006, 2007, and 2008, and displayed at The Georgia Aquarium, located in Atlanta, Georgia.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announces the availability for public review of the draft Recovery Plan (Plan) for the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus). NMFS is soliciting review and comment from the public and all interested parties on the Plan, and will consider all substantive comments received during the review period before submitting the Plan for final approval.

Notice is hereby given that NMFS has received an application to renew and modify a permit for scientific research from the National Park Service (NPS) in Point Reyes Station, CA (1046). The permit would affect federally endangered Central California Coast coho salmon, threatened California Coastal Chinook salmon, and threatened Central California Coast steelhead. This document serves to notify the public of the availability of the permit application for review and comment.

NMFS issues a final rule implementing changes to the regulations for the Crab Rationalization Program. This action is necessary to correct two discrepancies in the scope of the sideboard protections for Gulf of Alaska (GOA) groundfish fisheries provided in a previous rulemaking. Specifically, this action would remove the sideboard restrictions from vessels that did not generate Bering Sea snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) quota share and would apply the sideboards to federally permitted vessels operating in the State of Alaska (State) parallel fisheries. This action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crabs (FMP), the Magnuson- Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), and other applicable law.

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.

We, the National Marine Fisheries Service, are correcting a previously published Federal Register rule that contained incorrect data. On June 2, 2006, a correction was published in the Federal Register to add citations for elkhorn and staghorn corals to the published table of threatened species. The effective date for this correction was inadvertently set for a date prior to the effective date of the final rule to list these corals as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. In addition, the citation for the North American green sturgeon was inadvertently omitted from the table. This rule therefore serves to correct the effective date of the June 2, 2006 rule and to add the citation for green sturgeon to the table of threatened species.

NMFS is closing the U.S. longline fishery for bigeye tuna in the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) Convention Area for the remainder of 2006, because the bigeye tuna catch in the Convention Area has reached the 150-metric ton (mt) limit for 2006. This action, implemented under the regulations for the Pacific Tuna Fisheries will contribute to efforts to end overfishing of bigeye tuna in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean (ETP), consistent with recommendations by the IATTC that have been approved by the Department of State (DOS) under the Tuna Conventions Act. This action is intended to limit fishing mortality on the bigeye tuna stock caused by longline fishing in the Convention Area and contribute to the long-term conservation of the bigeye tuna stock at levels that support healthy fisheries.

NMFS issues a final rule to implement the annual harvest guideline for Pacific sardine in the U.S. exclusive economic zone off the Pacific coast for the fishing season of January 1, 2006, through December 31, 2006. This harvest guideline has been calculated according to the regulations implementing the Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and establishes allowable harvest levels for Pacific sardine off the Pacific coast.

Notice is hereby given that the following three individuals have applied in due form for permits for scientific research on marine mammals: Peter M. Scheifele, MD(r), Ph.D, University of Connecticut, Department of Animal Science, Bioacoustics and Neuroaudiology, 3636 Horsebarn Hill Road Ext., Unit 4040, Storrs, CT 06269 (File No. 1079- 1828); David Mann, Ph.D., College of Marine Science, The University of South Florida, College of Marine Science, 140 Seventh Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701 (File No. 1053-1825); and Dorian S. Houser, Ph.D., Biomimetica, 7951 Shantung Drive, Santee, CA 92071 (File No. 1095- 1837).