National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration July 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific ocean perch by trawl catcher vessels participating in the rockfish entry level fishery in the Central Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2010 directed fishing allowance of Pacific ocean perch for trawl catcher vessels participating in the rockfish entry level fishery in the Central Regulatory Area of the GOA.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Greenland turbot in the Aleutian Islands subarea of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2010 Greenland turbot total allowable catch (TAC) in the Aleutian Islands subarea of the BSAI.

In accordance with the regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) as amended, notification is hereby given that NMFS has issued an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), to incidentally harass, by Level B harassment only, small numbers of marine mammals during the specified activity.

NMFS proposes regulations that would amend the limited access program for charter vessels in the guided sport fishery for Pacific halibut in the waters of International Pacific Halibut Commission Regulatory Area 2C (Southeast Alaska) and Area 3A (Central Gulf of Alaska). If approved, the proposed action would revise the method for assigning angler endorsements to charter halibut permits to more closely align each endorsement with the greatest number of charter vessel anglers reported for each vessel that a charter business used to qualify for a charter halibut permit. This action is necessary to achieve the halibut fishery management goals of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council submitted Amendments 95 and 96 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI)-as well as Amendment 87 to the FMP for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA)-to NMFS for review. If approved, Amendment 95 would move skates from the other species category to the target species category in the FMP for Groundfish of the BSAI. Amendments 96 and 87 would revise the FMPs to meet the National Standard 1 guidelines for annual catch limits and accountability measures. These amendments would move all remaining species groups from the ``other species'' category to the ``target species'' category, remove the ``other species'' category from the FMPs, establish an ecosystem component category, and describe the current practices for groundfish fisheries management in the FMPs, as required by the guidelines. 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.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council submitted Amendment 86 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (FMP) to NMFS for review. If approved, Amendment 86 would add a Pacific cod endorsement on licenses issued under the license limitation program (LLP) if those licenses have been used on vessels that meet minimum recent landing requirements using non-trawl gear, commonly known as fixed gear. This proposed action would exempt vessels that use jig gear from the requirement to hold an LLP license, modify the maximum length designation on a specific set of fixed gear LLP licenses, and allow entities representing specific communities to receive a limited number of fixed gear licenses with Pacific cod endorsements for use on vessels designated by entities representing the communities. This proposed action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the FMP, and other applicable law.

Notice is hereby given that SeaWorld, LLC., 9205 South Center Loop, Suite 400 Orlando, FL 32819, has applied in due form for a permit to import one short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus) for public display.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Pacific Council) will convene a meeting of the Ecosystem Plan Development Team (EPDT) which is open to the public.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Herring Oversight Committee, on July 27-28, 2010, 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.

This final rule revises the 2010 harvest guidelines for yelloweye rockfish and makes in-season adjustments to trawl fishery management measures for several groundfish species taken in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California. These actions, which are authorized by the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP), are intended to prevent exceeding the 2010 OYs for yelloweye rockfish, an overfished species, and for petrale sole and sablefish.