National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration November 27, 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This regulation proposes to facilitate conservation and management of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (AMLR). It would: further detail current U.S. requirements to only allow importation and/ or re-exportation of frozen toothfish or toothfish product with verifiable documentation that the harvesting vessel participated in the Centralized-Vessel Monitoring System (C-VMS) regardless of where the fish was harvested; revise the NMFS catch-documentation requirements for re-exporting toothfish and add requirements for exporting U.S.- caught toothfish; require applicants for an AMLR harvesting permit for krill to apply to NMFS no later than June 1 preceding the harvesting season for krill; and rescind the existing regulatory framework for annual management measures. The intent of the rule is to further detail requirements for importing and re-exporting toothfish, to facilitate enforcement, to fulfill U.S. obligations in the Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), and to simplify the process for informing the public of annual conservation measures.

NMFS announces that, effective 0001 hours, November 26, 2009, federally permitted vessels may not fish for, catch, possess, transfer, or land more than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of Atlantic herring in or from Management Area 1A (Area 1A) per trip or calendar day until January 1, 2010, when the 2010 total allowable catch (TAC) becomes available, except for transiting purposes as described in this notice. This action is based on the determination that 95 percent of the Atlantic herring TAC allocated to Area 1A for 2009 is projected to be harvested by November 26, 2009. Regulations governing the Atlantic herring fishery require publication of this notification to advise vessel and dealer permit holders that no TAC is available for the directed fishery for Atlantic herring harvested from Area 2.