National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration April 4, 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents
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Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Marine Site Characterization Surveys off of Delaware
NMFS has received a request from Garden State Offshore Energy, LLC (GSOE), for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to marine site characterization surveys off the coast of Delaware as part of the Skipjack Wind Project in the area of the Commercial Lease of Submerged Lands for Renewable Energy Development on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS-A 0482) and along potential submarine cable routes to a landfall location in Maryland or Delaware. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to incidentally take marine mammals during the specified activities. NMFS will consider public comments prior to making any final decision on the issuance of the requested MMPA authorizations and agency responses will be summarized in the final notice of our decision.
Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; Electronic Reporting for Federally Permitted Charter Vessels and Headboats in Atlantic Fisheries
NMFS proposes to implement management measures described in the For-hire Reporting Amendment, as prepared and submitted by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (South Atlantic Council) and Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) Fishery Management Council (Gulf Council). The For-hire Reporting Amendment includes Amendment 27 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Coastal Migratory Pelagic (CMP) Resources of the Gulf and Atlantic Region (CMP FMP), Amendment 9 to the FMP for the Dolphin and Wahoo Fishery off the Atlantic States (Dolphin Wahoo FMP), and Amendment 39 to the FMP for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (Snapper-Grouper FMP). If implemented, this proposed rule would establish new, and revise existing, electronic reporting requirements for federally permitted charter vessels and headboats (for-hire vessels), respectively. This proposed rule would require a charter vessel with a Federal charter vessel/headboat permit for Atlantic CMP, Atlantic dolphin and wahoo, or South Atlantic snapper-grouper species to submit an electronic fishing report weekly, or at shorter intervals if notified by NMFS, through NMFS-approved hardware and software. The proposed rule would also reduce the time allowed for headboats to submit an electronic fishing report. The purpose of this proposed rule is to increase and improve fisheries information collected from federally permitted for-hire vessels in the Atlantic. The information is expected to improve recreational fisheries management of the for-hire component in the Atlantic.
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to the Bravo Wharf Recapitalization Project
NMFS has received a request from the U.S. Navy (Navy) for an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) that would cover a subset of the take authorized in an IHA previously issued to the Navy to incidentally take bottlenose dolphins, by Level B harassment only, during construction activities associated with a wharf recapitalization project at Bravo Wharf, Naval Station Mayport, Florida. The project has been delayed, such that only a subset of the work covered in the 2017 IHA has been completed and, therefore, the Navy requested that an IHA be issued to cover the remainder of their work. NMFS is proposing to issue a second IHA to cover the remainder of the incidental take analyzed and authorized in the first IHA. The authorized take numbers would be adjusted (i.e., reduced) to account for the reduction in work (because a subset was already completed) and a revision of the source level based on a recent measurement, and the required mitigation, monitoring, and reporting would remain the same as authorized in the 2017 IHA referenced above. NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue this IHA to incidentally take marine mammals during the Navy's specified activities. NMFS will consider public comments prior to making any final decision on the issuance of the requested MMPA authorization and agency responses will be summarized in the final notice of our decision.
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