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

This action modifies the gear requirements for the U.S./ Canada Management Area to prohibit all limited access Northeast (NE) multispecies vessels fishing on a NE multispecies day-at-sea (DAS) with trawl gear in the Western U.S./Canada Area south of 41[deg]40' N. lat. from using trawl nets, except if using a properly configured haddock separator trawl or Ruhle trawl. This action is authorized by the regulations implementing Amendment 13 to the NE Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP), and is intended to avoid exceeding the total allowable catch (TAC) for Georges Bank (GB) yellowtail flounder while continuing to allow access to stocks of Eastern GB cod and Eastern GB haddock during the 2009 fishing year (FY). This action is being taken to optimize the harvest of transboundary stocks of GB yellowtail flounder, haddock, and cod under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will convene a meeting of its Ecosystem Scientific and Statistical Committee.

Notice is hereby given that Robert Pilley, Leighside, Bridge Road, Leighwoods, Bristol, BS8 3PB, United Kingdom, has applied in due form for a permit to conduct commercial/educational photography of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus).

NMFS is reallocating the projected unused amount of halibut prohibited species catch (PSC) from rockfish cooperatives in the Central Gulf of Alaska (GOA) Rockfish Pilot Program to vessels using trawl gear in the GOA. This action is necessary to provide the opportunity to vessels using trawl gear to harvest available GOA groundfish total allowable catch (TAC) under existing PSC limits.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) and its advisory committees will hold public meetings, December 7-15, 2009, in Anchorage, AK.

NMFS issues this final rule to implement Amendment 15B to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (FMP), as prepared and submitted by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council). This final rule, for South Atlantic snapper-grouper, requires a private recreational vessel that fishes in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), if selected by NMFS, to maintain and submit fishing records; requires a vessel that fishes in the EEZ, if selected by NMFS, to carry an observer and install an electronic logbook (ELB) and/or video monitoring equipment provided by NMFS; prohibits the sale of snapper-grouper harvested or possessed in the EEZ under the bag limits and prohibits the sale of snapper-grouper harvested or possessed under the bag limits by vessels with a Federal charter vessel/headboat permit for South Atlantic snapper-grouper regardless of where the snapper-grouper were harvested; requires an owner and operator of a vessel for which a commercial or charter vessel/headboat permit has been issued and that has on board any hook- and-line gear 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 such species that are incidentally caught; and expands the allowable transfer of a commercial vessel permit under the limited access program and extends the allowable period for renewal of such a permit. Amendment 15B also revises the stock status determination criteria for golden tilefish and specifies commercial/recreational allocations for snowy grouper and red porgy. In addition, NMFS removes language specifying commercial quotas for snowy grouper and red porgy that are no longer in effect and revises sea turtle bycatch mitigation requirements applicable to the Gulf reef fish fishery to add two devices that were inadvertently omitted from a prior rule. The intended effects of this final rule are to provide additional information for, and otherwise improve the effective management of, the South Atlantic snapper-grouper fishery; minimize the impacts on incidentally caught threatened and endangered sea turtles and smalltooth sawfish; and remove outdated language.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program (DARRP) is announcing new indirect cost rates on the recovery of indirect costs for its component organizations involved in natural resource damage assessment and restoration activities for fiscal years (FY) 2007 and 2008. The indirect cost rates for these fiscal years and dates of implementation are provided in this notice. More information on these rates and the DARRP policy can be found at the DARRP Web site at http:/ /www.darrp.noaa.gov.

This temporary rule extends a closure of Federal waters. The FDA has determined that oceanographic conditions and alga sampling data suggest that the northern section of the Temporary Paralytic Shellfish Poison (PSP) Closure Area remain closed to the harvest of bivalve molluscan shellfish, with the exception of sea scallop adductor muscles harvested and shucked at sea, and that the southern area remain closed to the harvest of whole or roe-on scallops. The regulations contained in the temporary rule, emergency action, first published in 2005, and have been subsequently extended several times at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). NMFS is publishing the regulatory text associated with this closure in this temporary emergency rule in order to ensure that current regulations accurately reflect the codified text that has been modified and extended numerous times, so that the public is aware of the regulations being extended.

In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and implementing regulations, notification is hereby given that NMFS has issued a one-year Letters of Authorization (LOA) to take marine mammals incidental to the explosive removal of offshore oil and gas structures (EROS) in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) will convene a meeting of the Red Snapper Advisory Panel.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) and the Alaska Board of Fisheries will meet in Anchorage, AK.

NMFS, Alaska Region, and the U.S. Coast Guard, North Pacific Fisheries Training Center, will present a workshop on seaLandings, a consolidated electronic means of reporting production of commercial groundfish to multiple management agencies for Federal and State fisheries off the coast of Alaska, and 2010 recordkeeping and reporting requirements for the Alaska groundfish fisheries and Individual Fishing Quota fisheries.

NMFS has received an application from the Sonoma County Water Agency (Agency) for an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to Russian River Estuary (Estuary) management activities, specifically construction and maintenance of a lagoon outlet channel to improve rearing habitat for listed salmonid species and artificially breaching the barrier beach at the mouth of the river to minimize potential for flooding, as well as conducting a series of biological and physical monitoring activities. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an IHA to the Agency to incidentally harass, by Level B Harassment only, a small number of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina richardii), California sea lions (Zalophus califonianus), and northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) during the specified activity.

NMFS is prohibiting retention of Pacific cod by vessels catching Pacific cod for processing by the inshore component in the Central Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). NMFS is requiring that catch of Pacific cod in this area be treated in the same manner as prohibited species and discarded at sea with a minimum of injury.

NOAA Fisheries announces four inseason actions in the ocean salmon fisheries. Inseason actions 4, 6, and 7 modified the recreational fishery in the area from the U.S./ Canada Border to Cape Falcon, Oregon. Inseason action 5 modified the commercial fishery in the area from the U.S./Canada Border to Cape Falcon, Oregon.

NMFS closes commercial harvest of greater amberjack in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf). NMFS has determined that the commercial greater amberjack quota will have been reached by November 7, 2009. This closure is necessary to prevent overfishing of Gulf greater amberjack.

NMFS is reallocating projected unused amounts of Pacific cod from catcher vessels using trawl gear, catcher vessels using pot gear, catcher vessels using hook and line gear, and vessels using jig to catcher/processors using pot gear and catcher/processors using hook- and-line gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). These actions are necessary to allow the 2009 total allowable catch (TAC) of Pacific cod to be harvested.

Notice is hereby given that the Estuarine Reserves Division, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce is announcing a thirty-day public comment period on the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve Management Plan Revision.

NMFS issues a final rule to revise the criteria for rural residents to participate in the subsistence fishery for Pacific halibut in waters in and off Alaska. This action is necessary to allow subsistence halibut fishing opportunities for rural residents who reside in locations outside the legal boundaries of specified communities and who were prohibited from participating in the subsistence halibut fishery by previous regulations. This action is intended to allow these inadvertently-excluded rural residents to participate in the subsistence halibut fishery and to support the conservation and management provisions of the Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1982.

This final rule revises the November-December 2009 management measures for petrale sole taken in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California.

NMFS issues a final rule that implements the Fishery Management Plan for Fish Resources of the Arctic Management Area (Arctic FMP) and Amendment 29 to the Fishery Management Plan for Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crabs (Crab FMP). The Arctic FMP and Amendment 29 to the Crab FMP establish sustainable management of commercial fishing in the Arctic Management Area and move the northern boundary of the Crab FMP out of the Arctic Management Area south to Bering Strait. This action is necessary to establish a management framework for commercial fishing and to provide consistent management of fish resources in the Arctic Management Area before the potential onset of unregulated commercial fishing in the area. This action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the FMPs, and other applicable laws.

NMFS issues this notice to decrease the fee rate for the non- pollock groundfish fishery to repay the $35,000,000 reduction loan to finance the Non-Pollock groundfish fishing capacity reduction program.

NMFS announces its request for applications for the 2010 shark research fishery from commercial shark fishermen with a directed or incidental permit. The shark research fishery allows for the collection of fishery-dependent data for future stock assessments while also allowing NMFS and commercial fishermen to conduct cooperative research to meet the shark research objectives for the Agency. The only commercial vessels authorized to land sandbar sharks are those participating in the shark research fishery. Shark research fishery permittees may also land non-sandbar large coastal sharks (LCS), small coastal sharks (SCS), and pelagic sharks. Commercial vessels not participating in the shark research fishery may only land non-sandbar LCS, SCS, and pelagic sharks. Commercial shark fishermen who are interested in participating in the shark research fishery need to submit a completed Shark Research Fishery Permit Application in order to be considered. Generally, these permits will be valid through December 31, 2010, unless otherwise specified, subject to the terms and conditions of individual permits.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council's Rural Community Outreach Committee will meet by teleconference, (907) 271-2896.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council's GOA and BS/AI groundfish plan teams will meet in Seattle, WA.