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

The SEDAR 50 assessment(s) of the Atlantic stock(s) of blueline tilefish will consist of a series of workshops and Webinars: Stock ID Work Group Meeting; Data Workshop; Assessment Workshop and Webinars; and a Review Workshop. For agenda details, see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

NMFS proposes management measures for the 2016 summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass recreational fisheries. NMFS is also proposing a change to the commercial scup incidental possession limit, and two minor corrections to the summer flounder minimum mesh size regulations. The implementing regulations for these fisheries require NMFS to publish recreational measures for the fishing year and to provide an opportunity for public comment. The intent of these measures is to constrain recreational catch to established limits and prevent overfishing of the summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass resources. The intent of the commercial scup regulatory change is to reduce unnecessary discards by allowing more incidentally caught scup to be retained by vessels. The regulatory corrections are intended to clarify the original purpose of the regulation.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Groundfish 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 North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) and its advisory committees will meet June 6 through June 14, 2016.

The SEDAR Data Best Practices Panel will develop, review, and evaluate best practice recommendations for SEDAR Data Workshops. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Scallop Committee Meeting on Wednesday, June 8, 2016, 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 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 41 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico (Amendment 41). Amendment 41 will consider management approaches for the harvest of red snapper from vessels with a Gulf Charter Vessel/Headboat Permit for Reef Fish that do not participate in the Southeast Region Headboat Survey. The purpose of this NOI is to solicit public comments on the scope of issues to be addressed in the DEIS.

NMFS is opening 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 to fully use the 2016 groundfish total allowable catch specified for the species comprising the deep- water species category in the GOA.

The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold its 123rd Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) meeting and its 166th Council meeting to take actions on fishery management issues in the Western Pacific Region. The Council will also hold meetings of its advisory groups, namely: (1) The Guam Regional Ecosystem Advisory Committee (REAC); (2) Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) REAC; (3) Joint Guam and CNMI Marianas Advisory Panel (AP); (4) Fishery Data Collection and Research Committee (FDCRC); (5) Program Planning and Research Standing Committee; and (6) Executive and Budget Standing Committee.

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

NMFS issues this final rule for the 2016 Pacific whiting fishery under the authority of the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP), the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), and the Pacific Whiting Act of 2006. This final rule announces the 2016 U.S. Total Allowable Catch (TAC) of 367,553 metric tons of Pacific whiting, establishes the tribal allocation of 64,322 metric tons, establishes a set-aside for research and bycatch of 1,500 metric tons, and announces the allocations of Pacific whiting to the non-tribal fishery for 2016. This rule will ensure that the 2016 Pacific whiting fishery is managed in accordance with the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the FMP, the Pacific Whiting Act of 2006, and other applicable laws.

Notice is hereby given that Paul Ponganis, Ph.D., University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, has applied in due form for a permit to conduct research on California sea lions (Zalophus californianus).

NMFS is adjusting the Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) General category daily retention limit from the default limit of one large medium or giant BFT to five large medium or giant BFT for June 1 through August 31, 2016. This action is based on consideration of the regulatory determination criteria regarding inseason adjustments, and applies to Atlantic Tunas General category (commercial) permitted vessels and Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Charter/Headboat category permitted vessels when fishing commercially for BFT.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's (Council) Mackerel-Squid-Butterfish (MSB) Monitoring Committee will meet via webinar to develop recommendations for future MSB specifications.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council's Pacific Northwest Crab Industry Advisory Committee (PNCIAC) will meet May 31, 2016.

NMFS issues this final rule to implement measures described in Amendment 7 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Reef Fish Fishery of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) (Reef Fish FMP), Amendment 6 to the FMP for the Spiny Lobster Fishery of Puerto Rico and the USVI (Spiny Lobster FMP), Amendment 5 to the FMP for Corals and Reef Associated Plants and Invertebrates of Puerto Rico and the USVI (Coral FMP), and Amendment 4 to the FMP for the Queen Conch Resources of Puerto Rico and the USVI (Queen Conch FMP), as prepared by the Caribbean Fishery Management Council (Council). In combination, these amendments represent the Application of Accountability Measures (AM) Amendment (AM Application Amendment). The AM Application Amendment resolves an existing inconsistency between language in the FMPs and the regulations implementing the application of AMs in the U.S. Caribbean exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The purpose of the AM Application Amendment is to ensure the authorizing FMPs are consistent with the regulations governing AMs in the Caribbean EEZ. Additionally, this final rule clarifies the AM closure provisions, the application of the spiny lobster ACL in the Puerto Rico management area of the Caribbean EEZ, and the minimum size limit for queen conch in the Caribbean EEZ.

NMFS announces a public meeting of the Permanent Advisory Committee (PAC) to advise the U.S. Commissioners to the Commission for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPFC) on June 16, 2016. Meeting topics are provided under the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice. The meeting will be held via conference call. Members of the public may submit written comments; the comments must be received within 14 days of the completion of the meeting. Mail comments to Emily Crigler at the address provided in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section below.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service, are reopening the comment period for our joint request for comments on the Butte Regional Conservation Plan (Plan) and the Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Report (DEIS/R) for Authorization of Incidental Take and Implementation of the Plan. As of January 19, 2016, we have received comments from four organizations and individuals requesting that the comment period be extended. In response to these requests, we are reopening the comment period. If you previously submitted comments, you need not resubmit them; we have already incorporated them into the public record and will fully consider them in finalizing these documents.

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 apportionment of the 2016 Pacific cod total allowable catch allocated to trawl catcher vessels in the BSAI.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold seven public hearings and one webinar to solicit public comments on Amendment 45Sector Separation Sunset.

The Caribbean Fishery Management Council (CFMC) will host a meeting of the Council Coordination Committee (CCC) consisting of eight Regional Fishery Management Councils (RFMC) chairs, vice chairs, and executive directors and its subcommittees in May 2016. The intent of this meeting is to discuss issues of relevance to the Councils, contained in the following proposed agenda. All sessions are open to the public:

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service (Services when referring to both, and Service when referring to when the action is taken by one agency), announce proposed revisions to the Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances policy under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. We propose to add a definition of ``net conservation benefit'' to this policy and to eliminate references to the confusing requirement of ``other necessary properties'' to clarify the level of conservation effort each agreement needs to include in order for the Service to approve an agreement. In a separate document published in today's Federal Register, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing changes to its regulations regarding Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances to make them consistent with these proposed changes to the policy.

NMFS has requested the Center for Independent Experts (CIE) to conduct a peer review of the agency's stock assessment of Eastern Bering Sea walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma). The CIE is a group affiliated with the University of Miami that provides independent peer reviews of NMFS science nationwide, including reviews of stock assessments for fish and marine mammals. The Eastern Bering Sea pollock stock assessment is reviewed annually by the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) Plan Team, and the NPFMC Scientific and Statistical Committee. The CIE review will examine whether the assessment incorporates the best available scientific information and provides a reasonable approach to understanding the population dynamics and stock status of Eastern Bering Sea pollock. The public is invited to attend and observe the presentations and discussions between the CIE panel and the NMFS scientists who collected and processed the data, and designed the underlying model.

NMFS approves and implements through regulations the measures included in Framework Adjustment 27 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan, which the New England Fishery Management Council adopted and submitted to NMFS for approval. The purpose of Framework 27 is to prevent overfishing, improve yield-per-recruit, and improve the overall management of the Atlantic sea scallop fishery. Framework 27 sets specifications for the scallop fishery for fishing year 2016, including days-at-sea allocations, individual fishing quotas, and sea scallop access area trip allocations; creates a new rotational closed area south of Closed Area 2 to protect small scallops; opens the northern portion of the Nantucket Lightship Access Area to the Limited Access General Category fleet; transfers 19 percent of the Limited Access General Category access area trips from the Mid-Atlantic Access Area to the northern portion of the Nantucket Lightship Access Area; and implements an accountability measure to the fishing year 2016 Northern Gulf of Maine Total Allowable Catch as a result of a fishing year 2015 catch overage.

On March 28, 2016, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced the availability of a Hatchery and Genetic Management Plan (HGMP) pursuant to the protective regulations promulgated for Pacific salmon and steelhead under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The HGMP, provided by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, specifies the operation of a hatchery program rearing steelhead in the Mad River subbasin within the State of California. The announcement opened a 30-day public comment period on the HGMP and associated draft environmental assessment (EA). In response to a request received from the public, NMFS is reopening the comment period for an additional 15 days. This action reopens the comment period for the notice that published March 28, 2016.