National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration June 2017 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On May 31, 2017, we, NMFS, published a notice of availability to revise the Recovery Plan Preparation and Implementation Priorities and Recovery Plans contained in the 1990 Listing and Recovery Priority Guidelines. We opened a public comment period that lasted through June 30, 2017. We received several requests to extend the public comment period. Thus, we are extending the period through August 28, 2017.

NMFS issues this rule to implement annual management measures and harvest specifications to establish the allowable catch levels (i.e., annual catch limit (ACL)/harvest guideline (HG)) for the northern subpopulation of Pacific sardine (hereafter, Pacific sardine), in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the Pacific coast for the fishing season of July 1, 2017, through June 30, 2018. These specifications were determined according to the Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP). This action includes a prohibition on directed non-tribal Pacific sardine commercial fishing off the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California, which is required because the estimated 2017 biomass of Pacific sardine has dropped below the biomass threshold specified in the HG control rule. Under this action, Pacific sardine may still be harvested as part of either the live bait or tribal fishery, or as incidental catch in other fisheries; the incidental harvest of Pacific sardine would initially be limited to 40- percent by weight of all fish per trip when caught with other CPS or up to 2 metric tons (mt) when caught with non-CPS. The ACL for the 2017- 2018 Pacific sardine fishing year is 8,000 mt. This action is intended to conserve and manage the Pacific sardine stock off the U.S. West Coast.

The SEDAR 56 assessment of the South Atlantic stock of black seabass will consist of a series webinars. Due to changes to the schedule for the stock assessment, webinars scheduled for Thursday, July 20, 2017 and Wednesday, August 16, 2017 have been cancelled. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

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

In accordance with the regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) as amended, notification is hereby given that NMFS has issued an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to the City of San Diego to incidentally harass, by Level B harassment only, marine mammals during construction and demolition activities associated with a public parking lot and sidewalk improvements project in La Jolla, California.

NMFS proposes regulations to allow an exemption to enable vessels with Federal Limited Access General Category Individual Fishing Quota permits from the State of Maine and Commonwealth of Massachusetts to continue fishing in their respective state waters once NMFS has announced that the Federal Northern Gulf of Maine total allowable catch has been fully harvested in a given year. Additionally, Massachusetts has requested that Federal Limited Access General Category Northern Gulf of Maine permits also be included in its exemption. Both states have requested this exemption as part of the Scallop State Water Exemption Program. This proposed rule is necessary to solicit comments on the state requests and to inform the public that NMFS is considering granting the requests.

NMFS proposes regulations to implement Amendment 6 to the Tilefish Fishery Management Plan. Amendment 6 was developed by the Mid- Atlantic Fishery Management Council to establish management measures and 2017 harvest limits for the blueline tilefish fishery north of the Virginia/North Carolina border. These changes are intended to propose permanent management measures for this fishery, consistent with requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

Notice is hereby given that permits or permit amendments have been issued to the following entities: RIN 0648-XA874; Permit No. 15240-01: NMFS Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), 1845 Wasp Boulevard, Building 176, Honolulu, HI 96818 (Responsible Party: Frank A. Parrish, Ph.D.); RIN 0648-XA172; Permit No. 15453-01: Waikiki Aquarium, 2777 Kalakaua Avenue, Honolulu, HI 96815 (Andrew Rossiter, Ph.D., Responsible Party); RIN 0648-XA626; Permit No. 15569-01: The Center for Whale Research (CWR; Kenneth C. Balcomb III, Responsible Party), P.O. Box 1577, Friday Harbor, WA 98250; RIN 0648-XA626; Permit No. 16160-02: The Whale Museum (Jenny Atkinson, Responsible Party), P.O. Box 945, Friday Harbor, WA 98250; RIN 0648-XA626; Permit No. 16163-03: NMFS Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC; M. Bradley Hanson, Ph.D., Responsible Party) 2725 Montlake Blvd. RIN 0648-XA84; Permit No. 16479-04: Pacific Whale Foundation (Gregory D. Kaufman, Responsible Party), 300 Maalaea Road, Suite 211, Wailuku, HI 96793; RIN 0648-XF213; Permit No. 16609: Zoological Society of San Diego (Douglas Myers, Responsible Party), P.O. Box 120551, San Diego, CA 92112; RIN 0648-XB005; Permit No. 17086-01: Robin Baird, Ph.D., Cascadia Research, 218 \1/2\ W. 4th Avenue, Olympia, WA 98501; RIN 0648-XC644; Permit No. 18016-01: Tamara McGuire, Ph.D., LGL Alaska Research Associates, Inc., 2000 W. International Airport Rd, Suite C1, Anchorage, AK 99502; RIN 0648-XD224; Permit No. 18537-02: Alaska Department of Fish and Game (Michael J. Rehberg, Responsible Party), 525 W. 67th Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska 99518; RIN 0648-XD824; Permit No. 18890-01: Alaska Department of Fish and Game (Lori Quakenbush, Responsible Party), 525 W. 67th Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska 99518; RIN 0648-XF158; Permit No. 19508: Katherine Mansfield, Ph.D., University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Boulevard, Building 20, BIO301, Orlando, FL 32825; RIN 0648-XE204; Permit No. 19621-01: Michael Arendt, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Marine Resources Division, 217 Fort Johnson Road, Charleston, SC 29412; RIN 0648-XE517; Permit No. 19697: Carlos E. Diez, Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales de Puerto Rico, Programa de Especies Protegidas, P.O. Box 366147, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 00936; RIN 0648-XF148; Permit No. 20294: Robert DiGiovanni, Jr., Chief Scientist, Atlantic Marine Conservation Society (P.O. Box 932, Hampton Bays, New York, 11946; RIN 0648-XE788; Permit No. 20339: NMFS Southeast Fisheries Center (SEFSC), 75 Virginia Beach Drive, Miami, FL 33149 [Responsible Party: Bonnie Ponwith]; RIN 0648-XE938; Permit No. 20430: James Harvey, Ph.D., Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, 8272 Moss Landing Road, Moss Landing, CA, 95039; RIN 0648-XF603; Permit No. 20455: Randall Wells, Ph.D., Chicago Zoological Society's Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, c/o Mote Marine Laboratory, 1600 Ken Thompson Parkway, Sarasota, FL 34236; RIN 0648-XF149; Permit No. 20465: NMFS Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) Marine Mammal Laboratory, 7600 Sand Point Way NE., Seattle, WA 98115-6349 (Responsible Party: Dr. John Bengtson); RIN 0648-XF082; Permit No. 20527: Ann Pabst, Ph.D., University of North Carolina Wilmington, Biology and Marine Biology, 601 S. College Road, Wilmington, NC 28403; RIN 0648-XF213; Permit No. 20646: Morgridge Institute for Research [James Thomson, Ph.D., Responsible Party], 330 N. Orchard St., Madison, WI 53715; RIN 0648-XF154; Permit No. 20993: Christopher Cilfone, Be Blue, 2569 Douglas Hwy. Unit 1, Juneau, AK 99801; RIN 0648-XF214; Permit No. 21026: Dorian Houser, Ph.D., National Marine Mammal Foundation, 22400 Shelter Island Drive #200, San Diego, CA 92106; RIN 0648-XF271; Permit No. 21043: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, 585 Prineville Street, Port Charlotte, FL 33954; RIN 0648-XF267; Permit No. 21155: Karina Amaral, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Zoology Department, Avenida Bento Goncalves, 9500 Build 43435, Room 206, Porto Alegre, MI, 91.501-970, Brazil; RIN 0648-XF352; Permit No. 21199: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Natural History Unit, BBC Bristol, Whiteladies Road, United Kingdom BS8 2LR, (Responsible Party: Vanessa Coates).

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's (MAFMC's) Demersal Committee will hold a public meeting, jointly with a subset of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's (ASMFC) Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Board (Board).

NMFS is adjusting the Swordfish (SWO) General Commercial permit retention limits for the Northwest Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and U.S. Caribbean regions for July through December of the 2017 fishing year, unless otherwise later noticed. The SWO General Commercial permit retention limit in each of these regions is increased from the regulatory default limits (either two or three fish) to six swordfish per vessel per trip. The SWO General Commercial permit retention limit in the Florida SWO Management Area will remain unchanged at the default limit of zero swordfish per vessel per trip. These adjustments apply to SWO General Commercial permitted vessels and Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Charter/Headboat permitted vessels when on a non-for-hire trip. This action is based upon consideration of the applicable inseason regional retention limit adjustment criteria.

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.

Pursuant to Executive Order 13795Implementing an America- First Offshore Energy Strategy, signed on April 28, 2017, the Department of Commerce is conducting a review of all designations and expansions of National Marine Sanctuaries and Marine National Monuments since April 28, 2007. The Secretary of Commerce will use the review to inform the preparation of a report under Executive Order 13795, Sec. 4(b)(ii). This Notice identifies 11 National Marine Sanctuaries and Marine National Monuments subject to the review and invites comments to inform the review.

We, NMFS, announce our 90-day findings on a petition to list ten species of giant clam as endangered or threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA). We find that the petition presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted for seven species (Hippopus hippopus, H. porcellanus, Tridacna costata, T. derasa, T. gigas, T. squamosa, and T. tevoroa). Accordingly, we will initiate status reviews of these seven giant clam species. To ensure that the status reviews are comprehensive, we are soliciting scientific and commercial information regarding these species. We find that the petition did not present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted for the other three petitioned giant clam species (T. crocea, T. maxima, or T. noae).

This notice sets forth the schedule and proposed agenda of a forthcoming meeting of the Ocean Exploration Advisory Board (OEAB). OEAB members will discuss and provide advice on Federal ocean exploration programs, with a particular emphasis on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Ocean Exploration and Research (OER) activities; the use of ocean exploration data by decision makers, including those in the not-for- profit organizations and the private sector; and other matters as described in the agenda found on the OEAB Web site at https:// oeab.noaa.gov.

The Caribbean Fishery Management Council's District Advisory Panels (DAPs) for Puerto Rico, St. Croix and St. Thomas/St. John, USVI, will hold a joint meeting.

In this notice, NMFS announces the availability of the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement and Restoration Plan to Compensate for Injuries to Natural Resources in Portland Harbor, Oregon. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1960, requires an assessment of any Federal action that may impact the environment, which, in this case, is the selection of a Restoration Plan. The purpose of the PEIS/RP is to evaluate, in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the potential direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of implementing the alternative programmatic approaches to restoration in the Portland Harbor area.

This action proposes approval of, and regulations to implement, Framework Adjustment 56 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan. This rule would set catch limits for four of the 20 groundfish stocks, adjust several allocations and accountability measures (AMs) for groundfish catch in non-groundfish fisheries, and make other administrative changes to groundfish management measures. This action is necessary to respond to updated scientific information and achieve the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan. The proposed measures are intended to help prevent overfishing, rebuild overfished stocks, achieve optimum yield, and ensure that management measures are based on the best scientific information available.

The NMFS Assistant Administrator (Assistant Administrator) has issued a five-year affirmative finding for the Government of Peru under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). This affirmative finding will allow yellowfin tuna and yellowfin tuna products harvested in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean (ETP) in compliance with the Agreement on the International Dolphin Conservation Program (AIDCP) by Peruvian- flagged purse seine vessels or purse seine vessels operating under Peruvian jurisdiction to be imported into the United States. The affirmative finding determination was based on reviews of documentary evidence submitted by the Government of Peru and by information obtained from the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC).

Notice is hereby given of a public meeting of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force (USCRTF). The meeting will be held Thursday, August 11, 2017, at 9:00 a.m. at the Harbor Beach Marriott Hotel, 3030 Holiday Dr, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316, in the Caribbean Salon I-IV meeting room. The meeting provides a forum for coordinated planning and action among federal agencies, state and territorial governments, and nongovernmental partners. Registration is requested for all events associated with the meeting. This meeting has time allotted for public comment. All public comments must be submitted in written format. A written summary of the meeting will be posted on the USCRTF Web site within two months of occurrence. For information about the meeting, registering and submitting public comments, go to https://www.coralreef.gov. Commenters may address the meeting, the role of the USCRTF, or general coral reef conservation issues. Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in your comments, you should be aware that your entire comment, including personal identifying information may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. Established by Presidential Executive Order 13089 in 1998, the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force mission is to lead, coordinate and strengthen U.S. government actions to better preserve and protect coral reef ecosystems. Co-chaired by the Departments of Commerce and Interior, Task Force members include leaders of 12 federal agencies, seven U.S. states and territories and three freely associated states.

As required by section 117(d) of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), the Secretary of Commerce established three independent regional scientific review groups (SRGs) to provide advice on a range of marine mammal science and management issues. NMFS has conducted a membership review of the Alaska, Atlantic, and Pacific SRGs, and is soliciting nominations for new members to fill vacancies and gaps in expertise.

NMFS is convening a peer review of a Calibration Model proposed by the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) to support its planned transition from a legacy telephone survey to a new mail survey for collecting data needed to estimate marine recreational fishing effort by shore and private/rental boat anglers on the Atlantic coast and in the Gulf of Mexico. The peer review includes reviewers appointed by the Center for Independent Experts (CIE), as well as reviewers selected by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and the New England, Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic, and Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Councils. This notice lists the time and place of the Peer Review Workshop.

We, NMFS, announce our intent to conduct a 5-year review for the Gulf of Maine distinct population segment (DPS) of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). The DPS is listed as endangered under the ESA. We are required by the ESA to conduct 5-year reviews to ensure that the listing classifications of the species are accurate. The 5-year review must be based on the best scientific and commercial data available at the time of the review. We request submission of any such information on the Gulf of Maine DPS of Atlantic salmon, particularly information on the status, threats and recovery of the species that has become available since the final listing determination in 2009.

On April 20, 2017, NMFS published a final rule to implement the portions of the Pacific Halibut Catch Share Plan (Plan) and management measures that are not regulated through the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC), including the sport fishery allocations and management measures for the IPHC's regulatory Area 2A off Washington, Oregon, and California (Area 2A). This regulation corrects the opening dates for the 2017 sport fishery in the Columbia River subarea (Leadbetter Point, WA to Cape Falcon, OR); these were incorrect in the original rule.

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.