National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration December 23, 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) Bering Sea Fishery Ecosystem Plan Climate Change Taskforce will meet January 13, 2020 through January 15, 2020.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Scientific & Statistical 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.

This document contains corrections to the DATES caption of the notice of issuance of an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) for the take of marine mammals incidental to the Sand Island Pile Dike System Test Piles Project Near the Mouth of the Columbia River. This action is necessary to correct errors in the effective dates of the issued IHA. The scope of the activities and anticipated effects remain the same, authorized take numbers have not changed, and the required mitigation, monitoring, and reporting remain the same.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary because a biological assessment of stock condition for Pacific cod in the GOA projects that the spawning biomass will be below 20 percent of the projected unfished spawning biomass during 2020.

NMFS, upon request from the U.S. Navy (Navy), issues these regulations pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) to govern the taking of marine mammals incidental to the training and testing activities conducted in the Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing (AFTT) Study Area over the course of seven years, effectively extending the time period from November 13, 2023, to November 13, 2025. In August 2018, the MMPA was amended by the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2019 to allow for seven-year authorizations for military readiness activities, as compared to the previously allowed five years. The Navy's activities qualify as military readiness activities pursuant to the MMPA as amended by the NDAA for Fiscal Year 2004. These regulations, which allow for the issuance of Letters of Authorization (LOAs) for the incidental take of marine mammals during the described activities and 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, and establish requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such taking.