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

The Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) published a notice in the Federal Register on April 10, 2006 announcing availability of funds to establish a Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM) Cooperative Institute (CI). That notice contained an error in the description of how proposals on cost-sharing would be evaluated. This notice corrects the error.

The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold its 133rd meeting to consider and take actions on fishery management issues in the Western Pacific Region.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) and its advisory entities will hold public meetings.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Habitat/MPA/Ecosystem Committee Meeting in June, 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 North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) and its advisory committees will hold public meetings/hearing in Kodiak, AK.

NMFS issues this final rule to implement recreational management measures for the 2006 summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass fisheries. The intent of these measures is to prevent overfishing of the summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass resources.

NMFS amends the regulations governing the North and South Atlantic swordfish fisheries to modify the North and South Atlantic Swordfish quotas for the 2005 fishing year (Junej 1, 2005, through May 31, 2006) to account for updated landings information from the 2003 and 2004 fishing years. This action is necessary to ensure that current quotas are based on the most recent landings information and account for any underharvest from previous fishing years, consistent with the regulations at 50 CFR part 635. Additionally, this action implements a subsequent recommendation by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT)(Recommendation 04-02) to extend the 2005 North Atlantic swordfish management measures.

NMFS issues this proposed rule to implement Amendment 18A to the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico (Amendment 18A) prepared by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council). This proposed rule would prohibit vessels from retaining reef fish caught under the recreational size and bag/ possession limits when commercial quantities of Gulf reef fish are on board; adjust the number of persons allowed onboard when a vessel with both commercial and charter vessel/headboat reef fish permits and a Certificate of Inspection (COI) is fishing commercially; prohibit use of Gulf reef fish, except sand perch or dwarf sand perch, as bait in any commercial or recreational fishery in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Gulf of Mexico, with a limited exception for crustacean trap fisheries; require a NMFS-approved vessel monitoring system (VMS) on board vessels with Federal commercial permits for Gulf reef fish, including charter vessels/headboats with such commercial permits; and require owners and operators of vessels with Federal commercial or charter vessel/headboat permits for Gulf reef fish to comply with sea turtle and smalltooth sawfish release protocols, possess on board specific gear to ensure proper release of such species, and comply with guidelines for proper care and release of incidentally caught sawfish and sea turtles. NMFS is also proposing to require annual permit application rather than application every 2 years (biennial). In addition, Amendment 18A would revise the total allowable catch (TAC) framework procedure to reflect current practices and terminology. The intended effects of this proposed rule are to improve enforceability and monitoring in the reef fish fishery in the Gulf of Mexico and to reduce mortality of incidentally caught sea turtles and smalltooth sawfish.

This document contains an extension to the comment period and revisions to the time for the first of two meetings for a notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement for the proposed issuance of an incidental take and scoping meetings. The original notice was published March 27, 2006.

NMFS published a final rule on April 24, 2006, to implement the Bottlenose Dolphin Take Reduction Plan (BDTRP) and amend the Mid- Atlantic large mesh gillnet rule. NMFS is announcing workshops on these new regulations. The purpose of the workshops is to provide opportunities for commercial fishermen who are affected by the new regulations to learn about and understand any new requirements. The workshops will consist of presentations on the components of the final rule and gear research related to the BDTRP, as well as an opportunity to ask questions. Eleven workshops are planned from New Jersey through the east coast of Florida, which is the geographic scope of the BDTRP.

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council's (Council) Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) will hold its 92nd meeting.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Council) Steller Sea Lion Mitigation Committee (SSLMC) Impact Evaluation Tool Development Subcommittee will meet in Seattle, WA.

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.

NMFS apportions amounts of the non-specified reserve of groundfish to the Alaska plaice initial total allowable catch (ITAC) in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to allow the fishery to continue operating. It is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the fishery management plan for the BSAI.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) announces its intent to prepare, in cooperation with NMFS, an SEIS to assess the potential effects on the human environment of alternative measures for managing the small-mesh multispecies fishery pursuant to the Magnuson- Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. This notice announces a public process for determining the scope of issues to be addressed and for identifying the significant issues relating to management of the small-mesh multispecies fishery. The Council will use the scoping process and the SEIS to develop Amendment 14 to the Northeast (NE) Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Small-Mesh Multispecies.

Notice is hereby given that NMFS, National Marine Mammal Laboratory (Principle Investigator: Dr. Robert DeLong), Alaska Fisheries Science Center, Seattle, WA has been issued a permit to conduct research on California sea lions (Zalophus californianus), northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris), harbor seals (Phoca vitulina), and northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) on the southern California Channel Islands, surrounding waters, and at haul-out sites along the coast of California, Oregon, and Washington.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meetings of its Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology (SBRM) Committee in June, 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 Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) will convene its Ecosystem SSC via conference call to discuss planning of an ecosystem modeling workshop to be held by the SSC later in the year.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meetings of its Magnuson-Stevens Committee in June, 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 Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) will convene its Southeast Data, Assessment and Review (SEDAR) Selection Committee via Conference Call to select participants for SEDAR 12 for red grouper for recommendation to the Council.

NMFS announces an adjustment in the Atlantic bluefish commercial quota available to New York. This action complies with regulations implementing the Atlantic Bluefish Fishery Management Plan (FMP), which require that landings in excess of a state's commercial quota be deducted from that state's quota the following year. The public is advised that a quota adjustment has been made and is informed of the revised quota for New York.

NMFS announces that the Commonwealth of Virginia is transferring 100,000 lb (45,359 kg) of commercial bluefish quota to the State of North Carolina from its 2006 quota. By this action, NMFS adjusts the quotas and announces the revised commercial quota for each state involved.

The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Northeast Region, NMFS (Assistant Regional Administrator) has made a preliminary determination that the subject Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) application from the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen's Association (CCCHFA) for exemptions from the Georges Bank Closed Areas (CA) I and II, Western Gulf of Maine (WGOM) Closure Area, Cashes Ledge (Cashes) Closure Area, and Rolling Closure Areas III and IV, as well as the GB hook gear restrictions, for the purposes of tagging haddock, contains all of the required information and warrants further consideration. The Assistant Regional Administrator has also made a preliminary determination that the activities authorized under the EFP would be consistent with the goals and objectives of the Northeast (NE) Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP). However, further review and consultation may be necessary before a final determination is made to issue the EFP. Therefore, NMFS announces that the Assistant Regional Administrator proposes to issue an EFP that would allow vessels to conduct fishing operations that are otherwise restricted by the regulations governing the fisheries of the Northeastern United States. 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 EFPs.

NMFS has received an application from Conoco Phillips Alaska, Inc, (Conoco) for an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take small numbers of marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to conducting open-water seismic data aquisition in the Chukchi Sea during the summer of 2006. Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an authorization to Conoco to incidentally take, by harassment, small numbers of several species of marine mammals during the seismic survey.

NMFS is implementing the regulatory provisions of Amendment 19 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP). Amendment 19 provides for a comprehensive program to describe and protect essential fish habitat (EFH) for Pacific Coast Groundfish. The management measures to implement Amendment 19, which are authorized by the FMP and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management or Magnuson-Stevens Act), are intended to minimize, to the extent practicable, adverse effects to EFH from fishing. The measures include fishing gear restrictions and prohibitions, areas that are closed to bottom trawling, and areas that are closed to all fishing that contacts the bottom.