National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration October 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Through this notice, NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announces the establishment of the Coastal Gulf of Maine Closure Area under the Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan (Plan), and temporarily shifts the effective date of year 1 of its implementation from October 1, 2012, to February 1, 2013. Recent information suggests that harbor porpoise bycatch is higher in February and March than in October and November since the implementation of sectors in May 2010, warranting a temporary shift of the closure in year 1 to a time period that would provide greater conservation benefit to harbor porpoises and allow time for more complete consideration of updated information on harbor porpoise bycatch, harbor porpoise abundance, and fishing effort by the Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Team (Team). As such, this area will be closed to gillnet fishing in February and March of 2013 rather than October and November of 2012.

The Caribbean Fishery Management Council's Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) will hold meetings.

In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 4314(c)(4), NOAA announces the appointment of members who will serve on the NOAA Performance Review Board (PRB). The NOAA PRB is responsible for reviewing performance appraisals and ratings of Senior Executive Service Professional members and making written recommendations to the appointing authority on retention and compensation matters, including performance-based pay adjustments, awarding of bonuses, and reviewing recommendations for potential Presidential Rank Award nominees. The appointment of new members to the NOAA PRB will be for a period of two (2) years.

On August 8, 2012, NMFS published a final rule that will require, among other things, Federal Atlantic swordfish, shark, and tunas dealers (except for dealers reporting Atlantic bluefin tuna) to report receipt of Atlantic sharks, swordfish, and bigeye, albacore, yellowfin, and skipjack (BAYS) tunas through one centralized electronic reporting system starting on January 1, 2013. This electronic reporting system will allow dealers to submit Atlantic sharks, swordfish, and BAYS tuna data on a more real-time basis and more efficiently, and will reduce duplicative data submissions from different regions. This notice announces the dates and locations of several training workshops to introduce the new reporting system to HMS dealers. These workshops will be held in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic regions and are open to any interested parties.

Notice is hereby given that the Estuarine Reserves Division, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce approves the Rookery Bay, Florida and the Kachemak Bay, Alaska National Estuarine Research Reserve Management Plan Revisions. The revised management plans outline the administrative structure; the research, education, training, and stewardship goals of the reserve; and the plans for future land acquisition and facility development to support reserve operations. The Rookery Bay Reserve takes an integrated approach to management, linking research, education, training and stewardship functions to address high priority issues within the 110,000 acre Reserve including land use changes affecting freshwater inflow, loss of native biodiversity, lack of public awareness and community involvement in stewardship, incompatible use by visitors, and ecological impacts of catastrophic change events. The Reserve's Environmental Learning Center provides excellent visitor education experiences and a connecting pedestrian bridge connects visitors to a boardwalk and interpretive trails. The Kachemak Bay Reserve takes an integrated approach to management by linking research, education, and training functions within the 372,000 acre Reserve to address high priority issues including climate change and harvested species, such as salmon and shellfish. The Reserve will continue research on coastal dynamics, monitoring of invasive species and harmful algal blooms, and will transfer information to coastal decision makers. The Rookery Bay, Florida Reserve Management Plan can be found at www.floridadep.org/rookery/management/plan.htm and the Kachemak Bay, Alaska Reserve Management Plan can be found at www.adfg.alaska.gov/ index.cfm?adfg=kbrr_resources.management.

This notice sets forth the schedule and proposed agenda of a forthcoming meeting of the Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee (MAFAC). The members will discuss and provide advice on issues outlined under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION below.

This fishery management plan (FMP) amendment addresses Atlantic highly migratory species (HMS) fishery management measures in the U.S. Caribbean territories including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. There are substantial differences between some segments of the U.S. Caribbean HMS fisheries and the HMS fisheries that occur off the mainland of the United States, including: Limited fishing permit and dealer permit possession; smaller vessels; limited availability of processing and cold storage facilities; shorter trips; limited profit margins; and high local consumption of catches. These differences create an awkward fit between current federal HMS fishery regulations and the traditional operation of small-scale Caribbean HMS fisheries, and some small-scale commercial fishermen in the Caribbean may not be currently operating consistently with HMS fishing and dealer reporting requirements. NMFS is implementing management measures through this rulemaking that amend the HMS fishery management regulations in the U.S. Caribbean territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to better manage the traditional small-scale commercial HMS fishing fleet in the U.S. Caribbean Region, enhance fishing opportunities and improve profits for the fleet, and to provide us with an improved capability to monitor and sustainably manage those fisheries. This final rule creates an HMS Commercial Caribbean Small Boat (CCSB) permit, which allows fishing for and sale of bigeye, albacore, yellowfin, and skipjack (BAYS) tunas, Atlantic swordfish, and Atlantic sharks within local U.S. Caribbean markets. Management measures under the CCSB permit include specific species authorizations and retention limits, reporting requirement modifications, specific gear authorizations, vessel size restrictions, and mandatory workshop training. Additionally, NMFS stipulates that the CCSB permit cannot be held in combination with any other HMS permit.

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 Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold meetings of its 111th Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC), Executive and Budget Standing Committee, and 155th Council to take actions on fishery management issues in the Western Pacific Region.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Council) Steller Sea Lion Mitigation Committee (SSLMC) will meet in Juneau, AK.