National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration April 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Notice is hereby given that NMFS has received eight scientific research permit application requests relating to Pacific salmon. The proposed research is intended to increase knowledge of species listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and to help guide management and conservation efforts. The applications may be viewed online at: https:/ /apps.nmfs.noaa.gov/preview/previewopenforcomment.cfm.

NMFS announces a workshop to solicit input from owners and operators of longline catcher/processors (freezer longliners) engaged in the Pacific cod fisheries off Alaska. The workshop concerns proposed changes to equipment and operational requirements for monitoring catch under a voluntary cooperative. The workshop is open to the public, but NMFS is particularly seeking participation by people who are knowledgeable about the operations of Pacific cod freezer longliners and who can discuss with NMFS the potential operational impacts of proposed monitoring requirements.

This notice sets forth the schedule and proposed agenda of a forthcoming meeting of the NOAA Science Advisory Board. The members will discuss and provide advice on issues outlined in the agenda below.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will convene Public Hearings on: Amendment 18 to the Fishery Management Plan for Coastal Migratory Pelagic Resources in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico; Joint Amendment 10 to the Spiny Lobster Fishery Management Plan for the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic; Generic Annual Catch Limits/ Accountability Measures Amendment for the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council's Red Drum, Reef Fish, Shrimp, Coral and Coral Reefs, and Stony Crab Fishery Management Plans.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announces the publication and issuance of a final Policy for the Assessment of Civil Administrative Penalties and Permit Sanctions (Penalty Policy).

Notice is hereby given that the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) has submitted a Fishery Management and Evaluation Plan (FMEP) pursuant to the protective regulations promulgated for salmon and steelhead listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The FMEP specifies the future management of freshwater inland recreational fisheries potentially affecting listed salmon and steelhead in the State of Idaho. This document serves to notify the public of the availability of the FMEPs for review and comment before final approval or disapproval is made by NMFS.

NMFS is opening directed fishing for Pacific cod by catcher vessels using trawl gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI). This action is necessary to fully use the B season allowance of the 2011 total allowable catch (TAC) of Pacific cod allocated to catcher vessels using trawl gear in the BSAI.

In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) regulations, notification is hereby given that NMFS has issued an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (L-DEO), a part of Columbia University, to take small numbers of marine mammals, by Level B harassment, incidental to conducting a marine geophysical survey in the eastern tropical Pacific (ETP) Ocean off Costa Rica, April through June, 2011.

The ONMS is seeking applications for the following vacant seats on the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council: Diving, Education (alternate), Research (alternate), Tourism (alternate) and Agriculture (alternate). Applicants are chosen based upon their particular expertise and experience in relation to the seat for which they are applying; community and professional affiliations; philosophy regarding the protection and management of marine resources; and possibly the length of residence in the area affected by the sanctuary. Applicants who are chosen should expect to serve until February 2014. The Research alternate and Agriculture alternate should expect to serve until February 2013 because the seats were vacated prematurely.

NMFS, upon application from the U.S. Navy (Navy), is issuing regulations to govern the unintentional taking of marine mammals incidental to activities conducted at the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Keyport Range Complex for the period of April 2011 through April 2016. The Navy's activities are considered military readiness activities pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), as amended by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 (NDAA). These regulations, which allow for the issuance of ``Letters of Authorization'' (LOAs) for the incidental take of marine mammals during the described activities and specified timeframes, prescribe the permissible methods of taking and other means of effecting the least practicable adverse impact on marine mammal species and their habitat, as well as requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such taking.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for pollock in the West Yakutat District of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2011 total allowable catch (TAC) of pollock in the West Yakutat District of the GOA.

NMFS proposes regulations to implement Amendment 15 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan (FMP), which was developed by the New England Fishery Management Council (Council). The Council submitted Amendment 15, incorporating the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA), for review by the Secretary of Commerce. NMFS has also published a Notice of Availability requesting comments from the public on Amendment 15 pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA). Amendment 15 was developed primarily to implement annual catch limits (ACLs) and accountability measures (AMs) to bring the Scallop FMP into compliance with requirements of the MSA as reauthorized in 2007. Amendment 15 includes additional measures recommended by the Council, including: A revision of the overfishing definition (OFD); modification of the essential fish habitat (EFH) closed areas under the Scallop FMP; adjustments to measures for the Limited Access General Category (LAGC) fishery; adjustments to the scallop research set-aside (RSA) program; and additions to the list of measures that can be adjusted by framework adjustments.

The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Northeast Region, NMFS (Assistant Regional Administrator), has made a preliminary determination that an Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) application contains all of the required information and warrants further consideration. This EFP application would exempt commercial fishing vessels from the following Federal American lobster regulations: (1) Gear specifications (including escape vents, ghost panel and maximum trap size; (2) trap limits; and (3) trap tags to allow 11 Federally permitted vessels to utilize a combined total of 35 modified lobster traps to catch juvenile lobsters, (30-50 mm carapace length), throughout lobster management area 3 (Area 3), in an attempt to understand patterns of larval dispersal and settlement. This proposed project would be conducted by the Atlantic Offshore Lobster Association (AOLA) in conjunction with scientists and the fishing industry. 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.

This interpretation clarifies regulations that apply to vessels operating in the guided sport (charter) fishery for halibut in International Pacific Halibut Commission Management Area 2C (Southeast Alaska) and Area 3A (Central Gulf of Alaska). Under regulations implementing the charter halibut limited access program, all vessel operators in Area 2C and Area 3A with charter vessel anglers on board catching and retaining halibut must have a valid charter halibut permit that was issued by NMFS on board the vessel. This interpretation clarifies that a valid charter halibut permit must be on board a vessel when the charter vessel guide on board is being compensated to provide assistance to persons catching and retaining halibut. A charter vessel guide is not required to have a charter halibut permit on board a vessel during a recreational halibut fishing trip on which he or she is not being compensated to provide assistance to persons catching and retaining halibut.

At the request of the New England Fishery Management Council (Council), this notification announces that the Council and NMFS is considering and seeking public comment on, potential changes to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan that would be implemented through proposed rulemaking, under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson- Stevens Act), to limit the accumulation of excessive control or ownership of fishing privileges in the NE multispecies groundfish fishery. The date of publication of this notification, April 7, 2011, shall be known as the ``control date,'' and may be used as a reference date for future management measures related to such rulemaking. In particular this notification is intended to promote awareness of this possible rulemaking; provide notice to the public that any current or future accumulation of fishing privilege interests in the NE multispecies fishery may be affected, restricted, or even nullified; and to discourage speculative behavior in the market for fishing privileges while the Council considers whether and how such limitations on accumulation of fishing privileges should be developed. This notification also gives the public notice that interested participants should locate and preserve records that substantiate and verify their ownership or control of groundfish permits and other fishing privileges in the NE multispecies fishery in Federal waters.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a 3-day meeting on Tuesday through Thursday, April 26-28, 2011, to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Notice is hereby given that The University of California, Davis, Bodega Marine Laboratory, 2099 Westside Road, Bodega Bay, CA 94923 [Gary Cherr, Ph.D., Principal Investigator] has been issued a permit to take white abalone (Haliotis sorenseni) for purposes of scientific research and enhancement.

Notice is hereby given that the following applicants have been issued major amendments to permits for research on marine mammals in Alaska: (File No. 14330) the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island, Tribal Government, Ecosystem Conservation Office, St. Paul Island, AK; and (File No. 14335) the Alaska SeaLife Center, Seward, AK.

Notice is hereby given that that the Alaska SeaLife Center (ASLC), 301 Railway Avenue, Seward, AK 99664 (Dr. Ian Dutton, Responsible Party), has been issued a major amendment to Permit No. 14334.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by catcher vessels using trawl gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the B season allowance of the 2011 Pacific cod allowable catch (TAC) specified for catcher vessels using trawl gear in the BSAI.

Under this final rule, NMFS requires the use of ``weak hooks'' in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) pelagic longline (PLL) fishery. A weak hook is a circle hook that meets NMFS' current size and offset restrictions for the GOM PLL fishery, but is constructed of round wire stock that is thinner-gauge than the circle hooks currently used and is no larger than 3.65 mm in diameter. Weak hooks can allow incidentally hooked bluefin tuna (BFT) to escape capture because the hooks are more likely to straighten when a large fish is hooked. Requiring weak hooks in the GOM will reduce bycatch of BFT; allow the long-term beneficial socio- economic benefits of normal operation of directed fisheries in the GOM with minimal short-term negative socio-economic impacts; and have both short- and long-term beneficial impacts on the stock status of Atlantic BFT, an overfished species. This action affects commercial fishermen using PLL gear to fish for Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) in the GOM.

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.

Notice is hereby given that Mithriel MacKay, Texas A&M University at Galveston, Galveston, TX 75003, has applied in due form for a permit to conduct research on humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) [Principal Investigator: Bernd W[uuml]rsig].

Notice is hereby given that James T. Harvey, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, 8272 Moss Landing Road, Moss Landing, CA 95039 has been issued a permit to conduct research on blue (Balaenoptera musculus), fin (B. physalus), humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae), and gray (Eschrichtius robustus) whales.

On March 14, 2011, NMFS published a proposed rule to modify Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) base quotas for all domestic fishing categories; establish BFT quota specifications for the 2011 fishing year; reinstate pelagic longline target catch requirements for retaining BFT in the Northeast Distant Gear Restricted Area (NED); amend the Atlantic tunas possession at sea and landing regulations to allow removal of Atlantic tunas tail lobes; and clarify the transfer at sea regulations for Atlantic tunas. This action was necessary to implement recommendations of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), as required by the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act (ATCA), and to achieve domestic management objectives under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). On March 21, 2011, NMFS published a correction notice that extended the comment period for this action until April 28, 2011, allowing a 45-day comment period, rescheduled the Gloucester, MA, public hearing that was originally scheduled for March 21, 2011, to April 1, 2011, and announced that additional public hearings would be scheduled in a future notice. In this document NMFS is announcing additional public hearings in Fairhaven, MA, and Portland, ME, in order to provide greater opportunity for public comment on the proposed rule.