National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration May 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Herring Committee 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.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a meeting of its Outreach and Education Technical Committee.

Notice is hereby given that Living Planet Productions/ Silverback Films, 1 St. Augustines Yard, Gaunts Lane, Bristol, BS1 5DE, United Kingdom, has applied in due form for a permit to conduct commercial or educational photography on bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus).

Notice is hereby given that the NOAA Office of Science and Technology (Ned Cyr, Responsible Party), 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910, has applied in due form for a permit to conduct research on sixteen species of marine mammals in the Pacific Ocean.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will hold a two and a half day meeting of its Standing, Socioeconomic, Shrimp, Spiny Lobster, and Reef Fish Scientific and Statistical Committees (SSC).

We, NMFS, announce a 90-day finding on a petition to list the Taiwanese humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis taiwanensis) range-wide as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). We find that the petition and information in our files present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted for the Taiwanese humpback dolphin. We will conduct a status review of the species to determine if the petitioned action is warranted. To ensure that the status review is comprehensive, we are soliciting scientific and commercial information pertaining to the species from any interested party.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's (MAFMC) Northeast Trawl Advisory Panel (NTAP) will hold a meeting.

The NMFS Assistant Administrator, (Assistant Administrator) has issued an affirmative finding annual renewal for the Government of El Salvador under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). This affirmative finding annual renewal will allow yellowfin tuna and yellowfin tuna products harvested in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean (ETP) in compliance with the International Dolphin Conservation Program (IDCP) by Salvadoran-flag purse seine vessels or purse seine vessels operating under Salvadoran jurisdiction to be imported into the United States. The affirmative finding annual renewal was based on review of documentary evidence submitted by the Government of El Salvador and obtained from the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC).

The NMFS Southeast Region, in collaboration with the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council), intends to prepare a DEIS to describe and analyze a range of alternatives for management actions to be included in Amendment 42 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico (Amendment 42). Amendment 42 will consider an allocation-based management program for the headboat component of the reef fish recreational fishery in the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf). The purpose of this NOI is to solicit public comments on the scope of issues to be addressed in the DEIS.

Notice is hereby given that the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island, Tribal Government, Ecosystem Conservation Office [File No. 19436], 2050 Venia Minor Road, P.O. Box 86, St. Paul Island, AK 99660 [Responsible Party: Pamela Lestenkof], and the St. George Traditional Council, Ecosystem Conservation Office [File No. 19592], P.O. Box 940, St. George Island, Alaska 99591 [Responsible Party: Chris Merculief], have applied in due form for a permit to conduct research on and export specimens of northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus), Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) and harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) for scientific research.

Notice is hereby given of a meeting of the Sanctuary System Business Advisory Council (council). The meeting is open to the public, and participants may provide comments at the appropriate time during the meeting.

The Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) of the Mid- Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a meeting.

This action revises scale requirements for processing vessels that are required to weigh fish at sea, i.e., mothership and catcher/ processor vessels, and Shorebased Individual Fishery Quota Program (IFQ) first receivers. For motherships and catcher/processors that weigh fish at sea, the action requires the use of updated scale technology, requires enhanced daily scale testing for flow scales (also known as belt scales), and requires the use of video to monitor the flow scale and the area around the flow scale. For Shorebased IFQ first receivers, the action adds criteria for inseason flow scale tests. In addition, the action includes housekeeping changes that are intended to better align the regulations with defined terms, and to provide clarity and consistency between paragraphs. Action is needed to provide precise and accurate catch estimates and to reduce the likelihood that vessels will under report harvests.

The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Region, NMFS, has made a preliminary determination that an Exempted Fishing Permit application contains all of the required information and warrants further consideration. This Exempted Fishing Permit would allow eight commercial fishing vessels to fish outside of the limited access sea scallop regulations in support of a study on seasonal bycatch distribution and optimal scallop meat yield on Georges Bank. 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 Exempted Fishing Permits.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for species that comprise the deep-water species fishery by vessels using trawl gear in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary because the second seasonal apportionment of the Pacific halibut bycatch allowance specified for the deep-water species fishery in the GOA has been reached.

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), this notice announces that NMFS intends to obtain information necessary to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for 10 Hatchery and Genetic Management Plans (HGMPs) for salmon and steelhead hatchery programs jointly submitted by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) with the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe and the Suquamish Tribe (referred to as the co-managers), for NMFS's evaluation and determination under Limit 6 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) 4(d) Rule for threatened salmon and steelhead. The HGMPs specify the propagation of salmon and steelhead in the Duwamish-Green River basin in Washington State. NMFS provides this notice to advise other agencies and the public of its plans to analyze effects related to the action, and obtain suggestions and information that may be useful to the scope of issues and alternatives to include in the EIS.

Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), intends to grant to Picarro, Inc. of Santa Clara, California, an exclusive global license to its rights in ``Methods For Rapid Gas Sampling With High Horizontal Spatial Resolution In A Manner Suitable For Subsequent Constituent Gas Analysis''.

NMFS has received a request from the Municipality of Skagway (MOS) for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to reconstructing the existing ore dock in Skagway Harbor, Alaska, referred to as the Skagway Gateway Initiative project. The MOS requests that the IHA be valid for 1 year, from July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting public comment on its proposal to issue an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to the MOS to incidentally take, marine mammals for its reconstruction of the Skagway ore terminal in Skagway, AK.

Through this final rule, NMFS establishes fishery management measures for the 2016 ocean salmon fisheries off Washington, Oregon, and California and the 2017 salmon seasons opening earlier than May 1, 2017. The temporary rule for emergency action (emergency rule), under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), implements the 2016 annual management measures for the West Coast ocean salmon fisheries for the area from the U.S./Canada border to Cape Falcon, OR from May 1, 2016, through October 28, 2016. The emergency rule is required because preseason forecast abundance of several stocks of coho from the Washington coast and Puget Sound is below the stock- specific spawning escapement goals (i.e., conservation objective) specified in the Pacific Coast Salmon Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and allocation of coho harvest in the recreational fishery will not be distributed consistent with the FMP in order to limit fishery impacts on these weak coho stocks. The fishery management measures for the area from Cape Falcon, OR, to the U.S./Mexico border are consistent with the FMP and are implemented through a final rule. Specific fishery management measures vary by fishery and by area. The measures establish fishing areas, seasons, quotas, legal gear, recreational fishing days and catch limits, possession and landing restrictions, and minimum lengths for salmon taken in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) (3- 200 NM) off Washington, Oregon, and California. The management measures are intended to prevent overfishing and to apportion the ocean harvest equitably among treaty Indian, non-treaty commercial, and recreational fisheries. The measures are also intended to allow a portion of the salmon runs to escape the ocean fisheries in order to provide for spawning escapement and inside fisheries (fisheries occurring in state internal waters).

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold seven public hearings in May and June 2016 to solicit public input on the Unmanaged Forage Omnibus Amendment. The Council is also soliciting written comments on the amendment through 11:59 p.m. on Friday, June 17, 2016. The goal of this amendment is to prohibit the development of new and expansion of existing directed commercial fisheries on unmanaged forage species in Mid-Atlantic Federal waters until the Council has had an adequate opportunity to both assess the scientific information relating to any new or expanded directed fisheries and consider potential impacts to existing fisheries, fishing communities, and the marine ecosystem.

This action sets the recreational management measures for Gulf of Maine cod and haddock for the 2016 fishing year. This action is intended to increase recreational fishing opportunities for cod and haddock consistent with the 2016 catch limits for these stocks, while ensuring the quotas are not exceeded. This action is expected to facilitate the recreational fishery achieving the recreational quotas for 2016.