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

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Pacific Council) and its advisory entities will hold public meetings.

The SEDAR 65 assessment process of HMS Atlantic blacktip shark will consist of a Data Workshop, a series of data and assessment webinars, and a Review Workshop. See 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.

Notice is hereby given that ONMS will solicit applications to fill seats on its 13 national marine sanctuary advisory councils and the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve Advisory Council (advisory councils), under the National Marine Sanctuaries Act and the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve Executive Order, respectively. Vacant seats, including positions (i.e., primary and alternate), for each of the advisory councils will be advertised differently at each site in accordance with the information provided in this notice. This notice contains web page links and contact information for each site, as well as additional resources on advisory council vacancies and the application process.

The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold meetings of its American Samoa Archipelago Fishery Ecosystem Plan (FEP) Advisory Panel (AP) and Mariana Archipelago FEP-Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) AP to discuss and make recommendations on fishery management issues in the Western Pacific Region.

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.

NMFS is exchanging unused yellowfin sole Community Development Quota (CDQ) for rock sole CDQ acceptable biological catch (ABC) reserves in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area. This action is necessary to allow the 2019 total allowable catch of rock sole in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area to be harvested.

In accordance with the regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) as amended, notification is hereby given that we have issued an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to the City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ), Alaska, to take small numbers of marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to the Juneau dock and harbor waterfront improvement project.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Pacific Council) Highly Migratory Species Management Team (HMSMT) will hold a webinar, which is open to the public.

NMFS announces the receipt of an application for an exempted fishing permit (EFP) from Julie Johnson, on behalf of the North Carolina Aquariums at Roanoke Island, Pine Knoll Shores, Fort Fisher, and Jennette's Pier, North Carolina. If granted, the EFP would authorize North Carolina Aquariums to collect, with certain conditions, various species of snapper-grouper, dolphin, and live rock in Federal waters along the North Carolina coast. The specimens would be used in educational exhibits displaying North Carolina native species at the aquariums.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Office for Coastal Management will hold a public meeting to solicit comments for the performance evaluation of the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve. NOAA will also accept written comments.

NMFS announces five inseason actions in the ocean salmon fisheries. These inseason actions modified the commercial and recreational salmon fisheries in the area from Cape Falcon, OR, to Pigeon Point, CA.

The NMFS Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Region, 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 allow up to six commercial fishing vessels to use raised-footrope trawl gear to target small-mesh multispecies (silver and red hake) within Small Mesh Area 1 before the start of the open season. 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 a proposed exempted fishing permit.

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 announces scoping meetings and webinars for three actions that will evaluate possible revisions to measures implemented under the 2006 Consolidated Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fisheries Management Plan (FMP). The public process for these actions commences with scoping to determine the range of issues for each action. For each action, a notice announcing NMFS' intent to prepare an environmental analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act, and availability of an issues and options paper, is published in a separate Federal Register Notice. In Amendment 13 to the HMS FMP, NMFS considers refining the Individual Bluefin Tuna Quota (IBQ) Program, reassessing allocation of bluefin tuna quotas, including the discontinuing or phasing out of the Purse Seine category, and other regulatory provisions regarding bluefin directed fisheries and incidental pelagic longline fisheries. Amendment 14 explores options to implement the newly-revised National Standard 1 (NS1) guidelines in the context of shark annual catch limits (ACLs), including how to account for uncertainty stemming from either stock assessments or the management process. In the third action, NMFS considers ways to perform research and collect data in closed areas to assess the effectiveness of spatial HMS management.

NMFS announces its intent to prepare an environmental impact analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and the availability of the Issues and Options Paper for Amendment 13 to the 2006 Consolidated Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP) (Issues and Options Paper). This notice announces the start of a public process for determining the scope of significant issues related to the management of Atlantic bluefin tuna (bluefin), and addressing issues identified by considering modification of bluefin regulations. The catalysts for beginning this regulatory process are the release of the Draft Three-Year Review of the IBQ Program (Three- Year Review), recent changes in the bluefin fishery, and advice and input from the HMS Advisory Panel and the public. The environmental impact analysis will include an assessment of the potential effects of alternative measures for management of bluefin under the 2006 Consolidated Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Fishery Management Plan (2006 Consolidated HMS FMP). The subjects in the Issues and Options Paper include refining the Individual Bluefin Quota (IBQ) Program, reassessing allocation of the bluefin quota and subquota, including the potential elimination or phasing out of the Purse Seine category, and other regulatory provisions regarding directed fisheries and incidental pelagic longline fisheries. The scoping process and environmental impact analysis would determine whether existing management measures are the best means of achieving current management objectives and providing flexibility to adapt to variability in the future, consistent with the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP, the Magnuson- Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act (ATCA), and other relevant Federal laws. NMFS will use the scoping process and the draft environmental impact analysis to consider development of Amendment 13 to the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP, if warranted. NMFS is requesting comments on this NOI and the management options described in the Issues and Options Paper, and other potential regulatory provisions regarding the bluefin directed fisheries and incidental pelagic longline fishery that would meet the purpose and need for this action. NMFS will hold public scoping meetings and a webinar to gather comment on these measures and potential management options. The time and location details of the scoping meetings and webinar will be announced in a separate Federal Register notice. NMFS will also present the Issues and Options Paper at the HMS Advisory Panel Meeting on May 22, 2019 (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/event/may-2019-hms-advisory- panel-meeting).

NMFS has received a request from the U.S. Navy Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southeast and Naval Facilities Engineering Command Atlantic (Navy) for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to the South Quay Wall Recapitalization Project, Naval Station (NAVSTA) Mayport, Florida. 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 is also requesting comments on a possible one-year renewal that could be issued under certain circumstances and if all requirements are met, as described in Request for Public Comments at the end of this notice. 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.

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 three large medium or giant BFT for June 1 through August 31, 2019. 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 with a commercial sale endorsement when fishing commercially for BFT.

The 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 six commercial fishing vessels from limited access sea scallop regulations in support of a study on seasonal bycatch distribution and characterize scallop meat health 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 has received a request from the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT&PF) for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to the Auke Bay Ferry Terminal Modifications and Improvements Project in Juneau, Alaska. 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 is also requesting comments on a possible one-year renewal that could be issued under certain circumstances and if all requirements are met, as described in Request for Public Comments at the end of this notice. 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.

NMFS issues revised specifications for the 2019 summer flounder fishery. Due to recently available information from a benchmark stock assessment, changes to the specifications are necessary to better achieve optimum yield within the fishery while controlling overfishing, consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. This rule is also intended to inform the public of the changes to the specifications for the remainder of the 2019 fishing year.

NMFS implements management measures described in Amendment 49 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) (Amendment 49), as prepared and submitted by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council). This final rule adds three new devices to the Federal regulations as options for fishermen with Federal commercial or charter vessel/headboat permits for Gulf reef fish to meet existing requirements for carrying sea turtle release gear on board vessels, and updates the regulations to simplify and clarify the requirements for other sea turtle release gear. This final rule also modifies the FMP framework procedure to allow for future changes to release gear and handling requirements for sea turtles and other protected resources. The purpose of this final rule is to allow the use of new devices to safely handle and release incidentally captured sea turtles, clarify existing requirements, and streamline the process for making any future changes to the release devices and handling procedures for sea turtles and other protected species.

NMFS announces its intent to prepare a draft environmental impact analysis for an action to consider options to perform research and collect data in areas closed to or restricting fishing and gear types for highly migratory species (HMS) in support of and to evaluate spatial fisheries management. Strategies to facilitate research and data collection in these areas could improve sustainable management of HMS. This action will consider ways to perform such research and data collection. To gather input from the public, NMFS also announces the availability of an Issues and Options Paper for Research and Data Collection in Support of Spatial Fisheries Management (Issues and Options Paper) that outlines possible strategies to perform research and collect data in areas that currently prohibit or restrict commercial and/or recreational fishing for HMS. Fishery-dependent data is vital in informing and supporting effective fisheries management, and areas that restrict fishing effort often have a commensurate decrease in fishery-dependent data collection. In addition, NMFS will hold scoping meetings to gather public comment on potential research and data collection options. Because constituents may be interested in several ongoing related rulemakings, these scoping meetings may be held in conjunction with scoping meetings for Amendment 13 (review of bluefin tuna measures including the Individual Bluefin Tuna Quota (IBQ) Program and quota allocations) and 14 (review of annual catch limits for sharks) to the 2006 Consolidated Atlantic HMS Fishery Management Plan. NMFS will announce the date and times for the scoping meetings in a separate Federal Register notice at a later date. NMFS requests comments on the approaches presented in the Issues and Options Paper as well as comments on or identification of other approaches that may warrant consideration.

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.