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

The NOAA Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) announces its intent to evaluate the performance of the Tijuana River (California), North Carolina, and Kachemak Bay (Alaska) National Estuarine Research Reserves.

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.

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 is announcing the opening and closing dates of the Amendment 80 cooperative's Atka mackerel directed fishery within the harvest limit area (HLA) in Statistical Areas 542 and 543 (Area 542 and Area 543), and the opening and closing dates of the BSAI Trawl Limited Access Atka mackerel directed fishery within the harvest limit area (HLA) in Statistical Area 542 . This action is necessary to fully use the 2009 A season HLA limits of Atka mackerel in Areas 542 and 543 of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI).

On January 2, 2009, NMFS published in the Federal Register a final rule containing final specifications for the 2009 scup and black sea bass fisheries. On six occasions in the preamble text of that rule, the English system of measurement in pounds for various iterations of the scup and black sea bass specifications were incorrectly converted into metric system of measurement equivalents. This document corrects those values to insure that the metric values are consistent with the 2009 specifications.

NMFS announces the receipt of exempted fishing permit (EFP) applications, and is considering issuance of EFPs for vessels participating in the EFP fisheries. The EFPs are necessary to allow activities that are otherwise prohibited by Federal regulations. The EFPs will be effective no earlier than April 27, 2009, and would expire no later than December 31, 2009, but could be terminated earlier under terms and conditions of the EFPs and other applicable laws.

NMFS issues a regulation to revise the maximum retainable amounts (MRAs) of groundfish using arrowtooth flounder as a basis species in the Gulf of Alaska. This action increases the MRAs from 0 percent to 20 percent for deep-water flatfish, rex sole, flathead sole, shallow-water flatfish, Atka mackerel, and skates; from 0 percent to 5 percent for aggregated rockfish; and from 0 percent to 1 percent for sablefish. The intended effect of this action is to reduce regulatory discards of otherwise marketable groundfish in the arrowtooth flounder fishery. This action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska, and other applicable law.

NMFS closes the commercial fishery for king mackerel in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the western zone of the Gulf of Mexico. This closure is necessary to protect the Gulf king mackerel resource.

This notice advises the public that the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) will convene meetings of the Hawaii Archipelago Plan Team (PT), Advisory Panel (AP), and Regional Ecosystem Advisory Committee (REAC) in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Pursuant to 43 CFR 11.32 and 11.81-.82, notice is hereby given that a document entitled, ``A Draft Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment for the Bayou Verdine Site, Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana'' (Draft DARP/EA) is available for public review and comment. This document has been prepared by the state and federal

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by trawl catcher vessels in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the A season allowance of the 2009 Pacific cod allowable catch (TAC) specified for trawl catcher vessels in the BSAI.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) will convene public meetings.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council submitted Amendment 85 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA FMP) to NMFS for review. If approved, Amendment 85 would modify the GOA FMP and the Central Gulf of Alaska Rockfish Program to remove a restriction that prohibits certain catcher/processors from participating in directed groundfish fisheries in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area in July. This action is necessary to improve flexibility and reduce operating costs for catcher/processors that participate in the Central Gulf of Alaska Rockfish Program. This action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson- Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the GOA FMP, and other applicable laws.

This notice announces receipt of an exempted fishing permit (EFP) application from the Best Use Cooperative (BUC). If granted, this permit would allow three BUC vessels to remove halibut from a codend on the deck, and release those fish back to the water after determining the physical condition of the halibut with the International Pacific Halibut Commission method for predicting halibut mortality. The EFP would allow operators of BUC non-pelagic trawl vessels to study methods for reducing halibut mortality in trawl fisheries by evaluating various fishing and handling practices. This activity has the potential to promote the objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act by assessing techniques for reducing halibut discard mortality in non-pelagic trawl fisheries. Comments will be accepted at the April 1 to April 7, 2009, North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) meeting in Anchorage, AK.

NOAA published final revised management plans and revised regulations for the Gulf of the Farallones, Cordell Bank, and Monterey Bay national marine sanctuaries (GFNMS, CBNMS, and MBNMS respectively) on November 20, 2008 (73 FR 70488). Under the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, the final regulations would automatically take effect after 45 days of continuous session of Congress beginning from November 20, 2008. (Given the break in the 110th Congress, the period was reset and began again with the 111th Congress. For purposes of this action, the 45 days of continuous session of Congress ended on March 9, 2009.) The period allows a governor for a state affected by modified term(s) of designation to certify to the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) whether any of the modified terms of designation are unacceptable, and if such a term is certified as unacceptable, it does not take effect in the area of the national marine sanctuary lying within the seaward boundary of the State. During the 45-day period, the Governor of California sent a letter to the Secretary conditionally objecting to certain provisions of the regulations within state waters of California. The Governor conditionally objected to the portions of the regulations that would have prohibited the introduction of introduced species in state waters of the GFNMS and MBNMS. Through this notice, NOAA is announcing the regulations for the CBNMS and GFNMS became effective on March 9, 2009 in their entirety; and the regulations for the MBNMS also became effective on March 9, 2009, except the one prohibiting the introduction of introduced species in the state waters of MBNMS; and it will initiate a process to consider making the Governor's requested changes to the introduced species regulation in GFNMS.

NMFS is opening directed fishing for sablefish with fixed gear managed under the Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Program. The season will open 1200 hrs, Alaska local time (A.l.t.), March 21, 2009, and will close 1200 hrs, A.l.t., November 15, 2009. This period is the same as the 2009 IFQ and Community Development Quota season for Pacific halibut adopted by the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC). The IFQ halibut season is specified by a separate publication in the Federal Register of annual management measures.

NMFS is correcting a final regulation that appeared in the Federal Register on March 10, 2009. The document contained the final regulations for a vessel license limitation program for the non-tribal sectors of the Pacific whiting fishery. The document was published with some errors, including errors in the final date of the application period, the final date of appeals period, and the effective date for the Pacific whiting vessel license requirement. This document corrects those errors.

The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA (AA), on behalf of the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC), publishes annual management measures promulgated as regulations by the IPHC and approved by the Secretary of State governing the Pacific halibut fishery. The AA also announces modifications to the Catch Sharing Plan (CSP) for Area 2A (waters off the U.S. West Coast) and implementing regulations for 2009, and announces approval of the Area 2A CSP. These actions are intended to enhance the conservation of Pacific halibut and further the goals and objectives of the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) and the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) (Councils).

The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a meeting of its Marine Mammal Advisory Committee (MMAC).

NMFS has received a request from the U.S. Navy (Navy) for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to military readiness training activities and research, development, testing and evaluation (RDT&E) to be conducted in the Mariana Islands Range Complex (MIRC) for the period beginning December 2009 and ending December 2014. Pursuant to the implementing regulations of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is announcing our receipt of the Navy's request for the development and implementation of regulations governing the incidental taking of marine mammals and inviting information, suggestions, and comments on the Navy's application and request.

NMFS announces that it is establishing a revised control date that may be used to control future access to the commercial sector of the reef fish fishery operating in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf). If changes to the management regime are developed and implemented under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), a control date could be used to limit the number of participants in the fishery. This announcement is intended, in part, to promote awareness of the potential eligibility criteria for future access so as to discourage speculative entry into the fishery while the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) and NMFS consider whether and how access to the commercial sector of the reef fish fishery should be controlled.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by catcher vessels less than 60 ft (< 18.3 m) length overall (LOA) using hook-and-line or pot gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2009 Pacific cod total allowable catch (TAC) allocated to catcher vessels < 60 ft LOA using hook-and-line or pot gear in the BSAI.

NMFS announces the reduction of the scup coastwide commercial possession limit from Maine through North Carolina for the Winter I period. Regulations governing the scup fishery require publication of this notification to advise the coastal states from Maine through North Carolina that 80 percent of the commercial quota allocated to the Winter I period is projected to be harvested and to announce that the possession limit for a Federal vessel permit holder is reduced.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the International Trade Administration will host a seminar on April 1, 2009 at the U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230, in Room 4830. The seminar will present climate data, services, and programs available from the U.S. Department of Commerce for U.S. companies coming to terms with climate variability. The agenda will feature strategies for sustainability, competitiveness, and networking for the business community.