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

NMFS proposes regulations to implement Amendment 93 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (FMP). The proposed regulations would apply exclusively to the directed pollock trawl fisheries in the Central and Western Reporting Areas of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) (Central and Western GOA). If approved, Amendment 93 would establish separate prohibited species catch (PSC) limits in the Central and Western GOA for Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), which would cause NMFS to close the directed pollock fishery in the Central or Western regulatory areas of the Gulf of Alaska, if the applicable limit is reached. This action also would require retention of salmon by all vessels in the Central and Western GOA pollock fisheries until the catch is delivered to a processing facility where an observer is provided the opportunity to count the number of salmon and to collect scientific data or biological samples from the salmon. Amendment 93 would increase observer coverage on vessels less than 60 feet (18.3 m) length overall that participate in the directed pollock fishery in the Central or Western regulatory areas of the GOA by January 2013, unless the restructured North Pacific Groundfish Observer Program is in place by this time. Amendment 93 is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the FMP, and other applicable laws.

The ONMS is seeking applications for the following vacant seats on the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve Advisory Council: Native Hawaiian Representative, Ocean Related Tourism Representative, Conservation Alternate, Native Hawaiian (Elder) Alternate, and, two Native Hawaiian Alternates. Applicants are chosen based upon their particular expertise and experience in relation to the seat for which they are applying; community and professional affiliations; and philosophy regarding the protection and management of marine and cultural resources. Applicants, who are chosen as members, should expect to serve 2 year terms, pursuant to the council's charter, or until a Monument Alliance is formed in compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA).

This final rule establishes the 2012 harvest specifications and management measures for certain groundfish species taken in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (PCGFMP). This action includes regulations to implement Secretarial Amendment 1 to the PCGFMP. Secretarial Amendment 1 contains the rebuilding plans for overfished species and new reference points for assessed flatfish species.

We, NMFS, announce a 6-month extension of the deadline for a final determination regarding the December 10, 2010, proposed rule to list two distinct population segments (DPS) of the bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus) as threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). We are taking this action because there is substantial disagreement regarding the sufficiency or accuracy of the available data relevant to the proposed listing rule. An additional 6 months will allow us to solicit additional data, evaluate and assess special independent peer review of those aspects of the status review report over which there is substantial disagreement, and better inform our final determination on the proposed listing rule.

Notice is hereby given that NMFS has received an application for scientific research from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) in Sacramento, CA. This document serves to notify the public of the availability of the permit application for review and comment before a final approval or disapproval is made by NMFS.

The SEDAR 28 assessments of the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic stocks of Spanish mackerel and cobia will consist of a series of workshops and webinars: A Data Workshop and webinar, an Assessment Workshop and webinars, and a Review Workshop. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

The New England Fishery Management Council has submitted Amendment 17 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan for review by the Secretary of Commerce. NMFS is requesting comments from the public on Amendment 17, which was adopted by the Council, including an Environmental Assessment prepared by NMFS, to explicitly define and facilitate the effective operation of state-operated permit banks.

Free Atlantic Shark Identification Workshops and Protected Species Safe Handling, Release, and Identification Workshops will be held in January, February, and March of 2012. Certain fishermen and shark dealers are required to attend a workshop to meet regulatory requirements and maintain valid permits. Specifically, the Atlantic Shark Identification Workshop is mandatory for all federally permitted Atlantic shark dealers. The Protected Species Safe Handling, Release, and Identification Workshop is mandatory for vessel owners and operators who use bottom longline, pelagic longline, or gillnet gear, and who have also been issued shark or swordfish limited access permits. Additional free workshops will be conducted during 2012.

This Notice announces a decision by the Federal Geographic Data Committee's Federal Geodetic Control Subcommittee in accordance with the Office of Management and Budget; Circular A-16 (https:// www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a016/a016.html), to affirm the Virgin Islands Vertical Datum of 2009 (VIVD09) as the official civilian vertical datum for surveying and mapping activities for the islands of St. Croix, St. John, and St. Thomas of the United States Virgin Islands, and to the extent practicable, legally allowable and feasible, require that all Federal agencies, with the exception of those with specific military related applications, using or producing vertical height information undertake an orderly transition to VIVD09.

NMFS has determined that the Atlantic tunas General category daily retention limit of Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) should be adjusted for the January 2012 subquota period, based on consideration of the regulatory determination criteria regarding inseason adjustments. This action applies to Atlantic tunas General category (commercial) permitted vessels and Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Charter/Headboat category permitted vessels (when fishing commercially for BFT).

NMFS apportions amounts of the non-specified reserve to the initial total allowable catch of sculpins in the Bering Sea subarea of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area. This action is necessary to allow fishing operations to continue. It is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the fishery management plan for the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area.

Notice is hereby given that D. Ann Pabst, Ph.D., University of North Carolina Wilmington, has applied in due form for a permit to conduct research on marine mammals.

Notice is hereby given that Dr. Peter Tyack, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA has applied for an amendment to Permit No. 14241-02 to conduct research on marine mammals. This document makes a correction to a previously published document (December 2, 2011) in which the DATES section was inadvertently omitted.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Council) Highly Migratory Species Management Team (HMSMT) will a hold work session, which is open to the public.

In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) regulation, 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, for an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to conducting a marine geophysical survey in the central Pacific Ocean, November, 2011 through January, 2012.

NMFS issues this final rule to implement Amendment 10 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Spiny Lobster Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic (FMP), as prepared and submitted by the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic Fishery Management Councils (Councils). This rule revises the lobster species contained within the fishery management unit; establishes an annual catch limit (ACL) for Caribbean spiny lobster; revises the Federal spiny lobster tail-separation permit requirements; revises the regulations specifying the condition of spiny lobster landed during a fishing trip; modifies the undersized attractant regulations; modifies the framework procedures and the protocol for cooperative management with Florida; and authorizes the removal of derelict traps in Federal waters off Florida through Florida's trap cleanup program. Additionally, this rule revises codified text to reflect updated contact information for the state of Florida and regulatory references for the Florida Administrative Code. The intent of this final rule is to specify ACLs for spiny lobster while maintaining catch levels consistent with achieving optimum yield (OY) for the resource.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is finalizing requirements for fishermen to replace currently required Mobile Transmitting Unit (MTU) Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) units with Enhanced Mobile Transmitting Unit (E-MTU) VMS in Atlantic HMS fisheries. The key difference between MTU and E-MTU VMS units is that the E-MTU VMS units are capable of two-way communication. The purpose of this final action is to facilitate enhanced communication with HMS vessels at sea, provide HMS fishery participants with an additional means of sending and receiving information at sea, ensure that HMS VMS units are consistent with the current VMS technology and type approval requirements that apply to newly installed units, and to provide NMFS enforcement with additional information describing gear onboard and target species. This rule affects all HMS pelagic longline (PLL), bottom longline (BLL), and shark gillnet fishermen who are currently required to have VMS onboard their vessels.

NMFS withdraws the temporary rule that would have closed the U.S. pelagic longline fishery for bigeye tuna in the western and central Pacific Ocean as a result of the fishery reaching the 2011 catch limit. NMFS no longer expects that the fishery will reach the limit by the date specified in the temporary rule.

This notice sets forth the schedule and topics of an upcoming forum hosted by the NOAA National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, North Carolina on January 11-13, 2012. Invited participants will discuss topics as outlined below. Members of the public are invited to attend the forum and are required to RSVP to Brooke.Stewart@noaa.gov by 5 p.m. EST, Wednesday, December 28, 2011 if they wish to attend. The forum is to be held in a federal facility; building security restrictions preclude attendance by members of the public who do not RSVP by the deadline. Space is also limited and public attendees will be admitted based on the order in which RSVPs are received. Members of the public will be invited to offer their comments during a 30-minute period to be held from 9:30 to 10 a.m. on Wednesday, January 11, 2012. Each individual or group making a verbal presentation will be limited to a total time of five minutes. Please indicate your intention to participate in the public comment period when submitting your RSVP. Time for public comments will be allotted based on the order in which RSVPs are received. Written comments may be submitted via email or in hardcopy and must be received by December 28, 2011. For information on how to submit written comments, please see addresses below. Special Accommodations: These meetings are physically accessible to people with disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids should be directed to Brooke Stewart (828) 257- 3020, Brooke.Stewart@noaa.gov) by December 28, 2011.

NMFS proposes regulations to implement the Comprehensive Annual Catch Limit Amendment (Comprehensive ACL Amendment) to the Fishery Management Plans (FMPs) for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (Snapper-Grouper), the Golden Crab Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (Golden Crab), the Dolphin and Wahoo Fishery off the Atlantic States (Dolphin and Wahoo), and the Pelagic Sargassum Habitat of the South Atlantic Region (Sargassum) as prepared and submitted by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council). If implemented, this rule would specify annual catch limits (ACLs) and accountability measures (AMs) for species in the FMPs for Snapper- Grouper, Dolphin and Wahoo, and Golden Crab. The rule would also describe the current terminology and measures in place in the Sargassum FMP that are equivalent to an ACL and AMs. For Sargassum, the rule would not specifically set an ACL because there is currently a commercial quota in place which functions as an ACL, and there are commercial closure provisions in the event the quota is met or projected to be met which functions as an AM. In addition, the rule would revise the snapper-grouper fishery management unit (FMU), including the removal of some species, designation of ecosystem component (EC) species, and the development of species groups. This rule would establish a daily vessel limit for the recreational possession of wreckfish, create a closed season for the wreckfish recreational sector, prohibit recreational bag limit sales of dolphin from for-hire vessels, and set a minimum size limit for dolphin off most of the South Atlantic states. The intent of this rule is to specify ACLs for species not undergoing overfishing while maintaining catch levels consistent with achieving optimum yield (OY) for the resource.

On May 26, 2000, President Clinton signed Executive Order (EO) 13158, directing federal agencies (led by NOAA and DOI) to establish a comprehensive national system of MPAs serving multiple conservation and management goals. To this end, the EO directs NOAA to establish a National Marine Protected Area Center (``MPA Center'') within NOAA (Sec. 4(e)) to carry out several provisions in cooperation with the Department of the Interior. Over the past decade, the MPA Center has conducted a variety of efforts to establish and support the growing national system through targeted science, information resources, coordination and policy development. An external review of the MPA Center is needed to maximize its effectiveness and transparency and to ensure that the MPA Center is conducting high quality work of significant value to NOAA and the nation. To this end, the MPA Center is seeking external feedback, including public comment on the program's approach to balancing competing priorities. All comments received in response to this request will be summarized and provided to an expert review panel scheduled to convene in late January, 2012.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) previously published a NOI for Amendment 18 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (Amendment 18), on January 28, 2009, which has subsequently been divided into five separate amendments to the FMP for the Snapper- Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (Snapper-Grouper FMP). The new amendments to the Snapper-Grouper FMP are: Amendment 18A, which is supported by an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS); Amendment 18B, which is supported by an Environmental Assessment (EA); Amendment 18C, for which the specific National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) document type (EIS or EA) has not yet been determined; Amendment 20A, which is supported by an EA; and Amendment 20B, for which the specific NEPA document has also not yet been determined. If Amendments 18C and 20B to the Snapper-Grouper FMP subsequently require the development of DEISs, NOIs for those amendments will be published in the Federal Register at a later date. This supplemental NOI is intended to inform the public of the Council's decision to divide the actions in Amendment 18 into five separate amendments and subsequently prepare separate supporting NEPA documents for the new amendments. Comments are being solicited on each of the Amendments, regardless of the specific NEPA document being prepared.

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.

In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), as amended, and implementing regulations, notification is hereby given that a letter of authorization (LOA) has been issued to the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, U.S. Navy (Navy), to take three species of seals and sea lions incidental to missile launch operations from San Nicolas Island (SNI), California, a military readiness activity.

NMFS issues regulations to limit access of Federally permitted pot and hook-and-line catcher/processors (C/Ps) to the Pacific cod fishery in Alaska State waters within 3 nautical miles of shore adjacent to the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). The affected fishery is commonly known as the ``parallel'' fishery. The parallel fishery is managed by the State of Alaska concurrent with the Federal pot and hook-and-line fishery for Pacific cod in the BSAI. This rule limits access by Federally permitted vessels to the parallel fishery for Pacific cod in three ways. First, it requires an owner of a Federally permitted pot or hook-and-line C/P vessel used to catch Pacific cod in the State of Alaska parallel fishery to be issued the same endorsements on his or her Federal fisheries permit (FFP) or license limitation program (LLP) license as currently are required for catching Pacific cod in the Federal waters of the BSAI. Second, it provides that the owner of a pot or hook-and-line C/P vessel who surrenders an FFP will not be reissued a new FFP for that vessel within the 3-year term of the permit. Third, it requires an operator of any Federally permitted pot or hook-and-line C/P vessel used to catch Pacific cod in the parallel fishery to comply with the same seasonal closures of Pacific cod that apply in the Federal fishery. These three measures are necessary to limit some C/Ps from catching a greater amount of Pacific cod in the parallel fishery than has been allocated to their sector from the BSAI total allowable catch. Maintaining Pacific cod catch amounts within BSAI sector allocations also will reduce the potential for shortened Pacific cod seasons for C/Ps in the Federal fishery. These three measures will improve the effectiveness of NMFS' catch accounting and monitoring requirements on vessels participating in the parallel fishery. This action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, and other applicable laws.