National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Region, NMFS, has made a preliminary determination that an Exempted Fishing Permit application from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center contains all the required information and warrants further consideration. Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act require publication of this notice to provide interested parties the opportunity to comment on applications for proposed Exempted Fishing Permits.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's (Council) Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish (MSB) Committee will hold a meeting.

The Caribbean Fishery Management Council's (Council) District Advisory Panels (DAPs) will hold public virtual meetings to address the items contained in the tentative agenda included in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

The Caribbean Fishery Management Council's (Council) Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management Technical Advisory Panel (EBFM TAP) will hold a two-day virtual meeting to address the items on the tentative agenda included in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

The New England Fishery Management Council's is convening its Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) via webinar 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.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will host a webinar meeting for all of its Advisory Panels, including the Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Advisory Panel; the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Advisory Panel; the Bluefish Advisory Panel; the Spiny Dogfish Advisory Panel; the Surfclam and Ocean Quahog Advisory Panel; the Tilefish Advisory Panel; the Ecosystem and Ocean Planning Advisory Panel; and the River Herring and Shad Advisory Panel.

NMFS announces a revision to the format of the public meeting of the Scientific Advisory Subcommittee (SAS) to the General Advisory Committee (GAC) scheduled on June 17, 2020, and a public meeting of the GAC to the U.S. Section to the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) scheduled on June 18, 2020. These meetings will now be held solely via webinar instead of in-person, due to the current local guidance and travel restrictions. The timing of the meetings is adjusted accordingly. Additionally, NMFS announces that the U.S. Stakeholder conference call to discuss IATTC tropical tuna management in the eastern Pacific Ocean scheduled for May 22, 2020, is cancelled, and the content of that call will be included in the SAS and GAC webinars. The meeting topics are described under the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice.

NMFS announces approval of a Marine Conservation Plan (MCP) for the Northern Mariana Islands.

NMFS proposes to implement management measures described in Framework Amendment 8 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Coastal Migratory Pelagics (CMP) of the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) and Atlantic Region (CMP FMP), as prepared by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council). This proposed rule would revise the Atlantic migratory group king mackerel commercial trip limit in the Atlantic southern zone during the October through February fishing season. The purpose of this proposed rule is to support increased fishing activity and economic opportunity while continuing to constrain harvest to the annual catch limit (ACL).

The National Marine Fisheries Service is correcting a final rule that published on March 10, 2020, implementing the final 2020 and 2021 harvest specifications and prohibited species catch allowances for the groundfish fishery of the Gulf of Alaska. One table in the document contains errors associated with deep-water flatfish, and another table contains an error associated with northern rockfish. These corrections are necessary to provide the correct information about the amount of deep-water flatfish and northern rockfish available for commercial harvest in 2020, thus allowing commercial fishermen to maximize their economic opportunities in this fishery. This correction also is necessary to comport with the requirements of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a joint public meeting of its Whiting Committee and Advisory Panel via webinar 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.

The SEDAR 70 assessment of Gulf of Mexico Greater Amberjack will consist of a series of data and assessment webinars. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

This action approves revised 2020 and projected 2021 specifications for the scup and black sea bass fisheries. Changes to the specifications are necessary to better achieve optimum yield within the fishery while controlling overfishing, consistent with recent stock assessment updates and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. This rule informs the public of the changes to the specifications for the remainder of the 2020 fishing year and announces projected 2021 specifications.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Pacific Council) Groundfish Management Team (GMT) will hold an online meeting to discuss items on the Pacific Council's June 2020 meeting agenda. The meeting is open to the public.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Pacific Council) Southern Resident Killer Whale (SRKW) Workgroup (Workgroup) will host two online meetings that are open to the public.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will hold a half day webinar meeting of its Standing, Reef Fish, and Socioeconomic Scientific and Statistical Committees (SSC).

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Monitoring Committee will hold a public webinar meeting.

The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (WPFMC) will host a virtual meeting of the Council Coordination Committee (CCC), consisting of the Regional Fishery Management Council chairs, vice chairs, and executive directors on May 27 to May 28, 2020. The intent of this meeting is to discuss issues of relevance to the Councils and NMFS, including issues related to the implementation of the Magnuson- Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act. All sessions are open to the public and time will be set aside for public comments at the end of each session.

NMFS proposes revised specifications for the 2020 Atlantic bluefish fishery and projected specifications for fishing year 2021, as recommended by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. This action is necessary to establish allowable harvest levels and other management measures to prevent overfishing, consistent with the most recent scientific information. This action also informs the public of the proposed fishery specifications and provides an opportunity for comment.

Through this final rule, NMFS establishes fishery management measures for the 2020 ocean salmon fisheries off Washington, Oregon, and California and the 2021 salmon seasons opening earlier than the effective date of the 2021 rule, which is expected to be no later than May 16, 2021, under authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA). Specific fishery management measures vary by fishery and by area, and establish fishing areas, seasons, quotas, legal gear, recreational fishing days and catch limits, possession and landing restrictions, and minimum lengths for salmon taken in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) (3-200 nautical miles (nmi)) off Washington, Oregon, and California. The management measures are intended to prevent overfishing and to apportion the ocean harvest equitably among treaty Indian, non-treaty commercial, and recreational fisheries. The measures are also intended to allow a portion of the salmon runs to escape the ocean fisheries in order to provide for spawning escapement and to provide fishing opportunity for inside fisheries (fisheries occurring in state internal waters).

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Scallop Advisory Panel via webinar 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.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Pacific Council) Ad Hoc Groundfish Electronic Monitoring Policy Advisory Committee and Technical Advisory Committee (Committees) will hold an online meeting, which is open to the public.