National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration March 14, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NMFS will hold a 2-day Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Advisory Panel (AP) meeting in April 2014. The intent of the meeting is to consider options for the conservation and management of Atlantic HMS. The meeting is open to the public.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by catcher vessels less than 50 feet (15.2 meters (m)) length overall (LOA) using hook-and-line gear in the Central Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the A season allowance of the 2014 Pacific cod total allowable catch apportioned to catcher vessels less than 50 feet (15.2 m) LOA using hook-and-line gear in the Central Regulatory Area of the GOA.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) and its advisory entities will hold public meetings.

NMFS proposes regulations to implement Amendment 5 (Amendment 5) to Fishery Management Plan for the Dolphin and Wahoo Fishery off the Atlantic States (FMP), as prepared and submitted by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council). If implemented, this rule would revise the annual catch limits (ACLS) and accountability measures (AMs) for the commercial and recreational sectors for dolphin and wahoo, and update the framework procedures for the FMP. The purpose of this rule is to help achieve optimum yield (OY) within the dolphin and wahoo fishery and to minimize socio-economic impacts, to the extent practicable, in accordance with the requirements of the Magnuson- Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) publishes its final List of Fisheries (LOF) for 2014, as required by the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). The final LOF for 2014 reflects new information on interactions between commercial fisheries and marine mammals. NMFS must classify each commercial fishery on the LOF into one of three categories under the MMPA based upon the level of mortality and serious injury of marine mammals that occurs incidental to each fishery. The classification of a fishery on the LOF determines whether participants in that fishery are subject to certain provisions of the MMPA, such as registration, observer coverage, and take reduction plan (TRP) requirements.