National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration July 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a four-day meeting to consider actions affecting the Gulf of Mexico fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Notice is hereby given of a meeting of the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS[supreg]) Advisory Committee (Committee) in Juneau, Alaska.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Office for Coastal Management will hold a public meeting to solicit comments on the performance evaluation of the Mississippi Coastal Management Program.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold public meetings of the Council and its Committees.

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 Chesapeake Tunnel Joint Venture (CTJV) to incidentally take, by Level A and/or Level B harassment, four species of marine mammals during the Parallel Thimble Shoal Tunnel Project (PTST) in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

NMFS' Office of Protected Resources (OPR), upon request of NMFS' Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC), hereby issues regulations to govern the unintentional taking of marine mammals incidental to fisheries research conducted in the Pacific Ocean over the course of five years. These regulations, which allow for the issuance of Letters of Authorization (LOA) for the incidental take of marine mammals during the described activities and specified timeframes, prescribe the permissible methods of taking and other means of effecting the least practicable adverse impact on marine mammal species or stocks and their habitat, as well as requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such taking.

NMFS closes the northern area Angling category fishery for large medium and giant (``trophy'' (i.e., measuring 73 inches curved fork length or greater)) Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT). This action is being taken to prevent further overharvest of the Angling category northern area trophy BFT subquota.

NMFS is proposing to amend the 2006 Consolidated Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP) based on the results of the 2017 stock assessment and a subsequent binding recommendation by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) for North Atlantic shortfin mako sharks. The North Atlantic shortfin mako shark stock is overfished and is experiencing overfishing. Consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) and the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act (ATCA), NMFS is proposing management measures that would reduce fishing mortality on shortfin mako sharks and establish a foundation for rebuilding the shortfin mako shark population consistent with legal requirements. The proposed measures could affect U.S. commercial and recreational fishermen who target and harvest shortfin mako sharks in the Atlantic Ocean, including the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea by increasing live releases and reducing landings.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for sablefish by vessels using trawl gear in the Aleutian Islands subarea of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2018 sablefish initial total allowable catch (ITAC) in the Aleutian Islands subarea of the BSAI.

NMFS received a request from the Port of Kalama (POK) to issue an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) previously issued to the POK to incidentally take three species of marine mammal, by Level B harassment only, during construction activities associated with an expansion project at the Port of Kalama on the Lower Columbia River, Washington. The current IHA was issued in 2017 and is in effect until August 31, 2018 (2017-2018 IHA). However, the project has been delayed such that none of the work covered by the 2017-2018 IHA has been initiated and, therefore, the POK requested that an IHA be issued to conduct their work beginning on or about September 1, 2018 (2018-2019 IHA). NMFS is seeking public comment on its proposal to issue the 2018- 2019 IHA to cover the incidental take analyzed and authorized in the 2017-2018 IHA. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an IHA to POK to incidentally take, by Level B harassment, small numbers of marine mammals during the specified activities. The authorized take numbers and related analyses would be the same as for the 2017-2018 IHA, and the required mitigation, monitoring, and reporting would remain the same as authorized in the 2017-2018 IHA referenced above. 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.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (collectively referred to as the ``Services'' or ``we''), propose to revise portions of our regulations that implement section 4 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The proposed revisions to the regulations clarify, interpret, and implement portions of the Act concerning the procedures and criteria used for listing or removing species from the Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants and designating critical habitat. We also propose to make multiple technical revisions to update existing sections or to refer appropriately to other sections.

NMFS implements accountability measures (AMs) for commercial snowy grouper in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the South Atlantic. NMFS projects commercial landings for snowy grouper will reach the commercial annual catch limit (ACL) by July 24, 2018. Therefore, NMFS closes the commercial sector for snowy grouper in the South Atlantic EEZ on July 24, 2018, and it will remain closed until the start of the next commercial fishing season on January 1, 2019. This closure is necessary to protect the snowy grouper resource.

The Acting 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 exempt eight commercial fishing vessels from 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 publishes for public review and comment information regarding a permit application for transshipment of Atlantic herring by Canadian vessels, submitted under provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). This action is necessary for NMFS to make a determination that the permit application can be approved.

The Caribbean Fishery Management Council's (Council) Outreach and Education Advisory Panel (OEAP) will hold a 2-day meeting in August to discuss the items contained in the agenda in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

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.

NMFS publishes notification of a 1.85 percent fee for cost recovery under the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization Program. This action is intended to provide holders of crab allocations with the fee percentage for the 2018/2019 crab fishing year so they can calculate the required payment for cost recovery fees that must be submitted by July 31, 2019.

Notice is hereby given that permits or permit amendments have been issued to the following entities under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA), as applicable.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a series of public scoping meetings via webinar pertaining to three amendments to the Snapper Grouper Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the South Atlantic Region. Amendment 47 considers modifications to the federally permitted South Atlantic snapper grouper for-hire fishery. Regulatory Amendment 29 considers options to implement best fishing practices and remove powerhead restrictions in the federal waters off the coast of South Carolina. Regulatory Amendment 32 addresses options for revisions to the in-season accountability measures for yellowtail snapper.

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

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.

Notice is hereby given that the Shaw Institute, 55 Main Street, Blue Hill, ME 04614 (Responsible Party: Susan Shaw), has applied in due form for a permit receive, import, and export marine mammal parts for scientific research.

Under authority of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Convention Implementation Act (WCPFC Implementation Act), NMFS issues this final rule that establishes limits on fishing effort by U.S. purse seine vessels in the U.S. exclusive economic zone and on the high seas between the latitudes of 20[deg] N and 20[deg] S in the area of application of the Convention on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (Convention); restrictions regarding the use of fish aggregating devices (FADs) for U.S. purse seine fishing vessels; limits on the catches of bigeye tuna by U.S. longline vessels in the Convention area; prohibitions on U.S. vessels used to fish for highly migratory species from engaging in transshipment in a particular area of the high seas (the Eastern High Seas Special Management Area or EHSSMA); and removal of existing reporting requirements for vessels transiting the EHSSMA. The rule also makes corrections to outdated cross references in existing regulatory text. This action is necessary to satisfy the obligations of the United States under the Convention, to which it is a Contracting Party.

NMFS is closing the Southern Exclusion Zone (SEZ) to deep-set longline fishing through December 31, 2018, for all vessels registered under the Hawaii longline limited access program, as a result of the fishery reaching the established annual trigger of two observed false killer whale mortalities or serious injuries (M&SI) in the fishery within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) around Hawaii. This action is necessary to comply with False Killer Whale Take Reduction Plan (Plan) regulations that establish the SEZ closure trigger and procedures to limit M&SI of false killer whales in the Hawaii deep-set longline fishery.