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

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

NMFS is adjusting the Swordfish General Commercial permit retention limits for the Northwest Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and U.S. Caribbean regions for January through June of the 2021 fishing year, unless otherwise later noticed. The Swordfish General Commercial permit retention limit in each of these regions is increased from the regulatory default limit (either two or three fish) to six swordfish per vessel per trip. The Swordfish General Commercial permit retention limit in the Florida Swordfish Management Area will remain unchanged at the default limit of zero swordfish per vessel per trip, as discussed in more detail below. These adjustments apply to Swordfish General Commercial permitted vessels and to Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Charter/Headboat permitted vessels with a commercial endorsement when on a non-for-hire trip. This action is based upon consideration of the applicable inseason regional retention limit adjustment criteria.

The New England Fishery Management Council is drafting Amendment 21 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan, which considers measures related to the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area and various Limited Access General Category management measures. Based on the range of alternatives developed for this action, the Council has developed an environmental assessment to analyze the impacts. The purpose of this notice is to announce that the Council no longer intends to develop an environmental impact statement for Amendment 21.

The Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and continuing information collections, which helps us assess the impact of our information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment preceding submission of the collection to OMB.

NMFS proposes 2021 and 2022 harvest specifications, apportionments, and prohibited species catch allowances for the groundfish fisheries of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) management area. This action is necessary to establish harvest limits for groundfish during the 2021 and 2022 fishing years and to accomplish the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (FMP). The 2021 harvest specifications supersede those previously set in the final 2020 and 2021 harvest specifications, and the 2022 harvest specifications will be superseded in early 2022 when the final 2022 and 2023 harvest specifications are published. The intended effect of this action is to conserve and manage the groundfish resources in the BSAI in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

NMFS proposes 2021 and 2022 harvest specifications, apportionments, and Pacific halibut prohibited species catch limits for the groundfish fishery of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to establish harvest limits for groundfish during the 2021 and 2022 fishing years and to accomplish the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska. The 2021 harvest specifications supersede those previously set in the final 2020 and 2021 harvest specifications, and the 2022 harvest specifications will be superseded in early 2022 when the final 2022 and 2023 harvest specifications are published. The intended effect of this action is to conserve and manage the groundfish resources in the GOA in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

NMFS published a document in the Federal Register of November 23, 2020, announcing a valid specified fishing agreement that allocates up to 1,000 metric tons (t) of the 2020 bigeye tuna limit for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) to U.S. longline fishing vessels. The document incorrectly referred to American Samoa.

The Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and continuing information collections, which helps us assess the impact of our information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment preceding submission of the collection to OMB.

NMFS publishes standard prices and fee percentages for cost recovery for the Amendment 80 Program, the American Fisheries Act (AFA) Program, the Aleutian Islands Pollock (AIP) Program, and the Western Alaska Community Development Quota (CDQ) groundfish and halibut Programs. The fee percentage for 2020 is 1.19 percent for the Amendment 80 Program, 0.21 percent for the AFA inshore cooperatives, 3.0 percent for the AIP program, and 0.84 percent for the CDQ groundfish and halibut Programs. This action is intended to provide the 2020 standard prices and fee percentages to calculate the required payment for cost recovery fees due by December 31, 2020.

NMFS and the Center for Independent Experts (CIE) Panel will convene the Research Track Assessment Peer Review Meeting for the purpose of reviewing Index Based Methods and Harvest Control Rules. The Research Track Assessment Peer Review is a formal scientific peer- review process for evaluating and presenting stock assessment results to managers for fish stocks in the offshore U.S. waters of the northwest Atlantic. Assessments are prepared by Stock Assessment Workshop (SAW) working groups and reviewed by an independent panel of stock assessment experts from the Center of Independent Experts (CIE). The public is invited to attend the presentations and discussions between the review panel and the scientists who have participated in the stock assessment process.

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

NMFS announces its request for applications for the 2021 shark research fishery from commercial shark fishermen with directed or incidental shark limited access permits. The shark research fishery allows for the collection of fishery-dependent and biological data for future stock assessments and to meet the research objectives of the Agency. The only commercial vessels authorized to land sandbar sharks are those participating in the shark research fishery. Shark research fishery permittees may also land other large coastal sharks (LCS), small coastal sharks (SCS), smoothhound, and pelagic sharks. Commercial shark fishermen who are interested in participating in the shark research fishery need to submit a completed Shark Research Fishery Permit Application to be considered.

NMFS and the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) will convene a Western Pacific Stock Assessment Review (WPSAR) of a 2020 stock assessment update for seven deep-water bottomfish species (``Deep 7'' bottomfish complex) in the Main Hawaiian Islands.

The GMFMC and SAFMC will host informational webinars on behalf of NOAA Fisheries regarding the implementation of the Southeast For- Hire Electronic Reporting Program.

The SEDAR 73 assessment of the South Atlantic stock of red snapper will consist of a data scoping webinar, a workshop, and a series of assessment webinars. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

The SEDAR 72 assessment of Gulf of Mexico gag grouper will consist of a series of data and assessment webinars. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

NMFS is transferring 19.5 metric tons (mt) of Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) quota from the Reserve category to the General category. This action is intended to provide additional opportunities for General category fishermen to participate in the December General category fishery, which is scheduled to reopen on December 1, 2020, and is based on consideration of the regulatory determination criteria regarding inseason adjustments. This action would affect 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.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Atka mackerel in the Bering Sea subarea and Eastern Aleutian District (BS/EAI) of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI) by vessels participating in the BSAI trawl limited access sector fishery. This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2020 total allowable catch (TAC) of Atka mackerel in the BS/EAI allocated to vessels participating in the BSAI trawl limited access sector fishery.

We (NMFS) announce a negative 90-day finding on a petition to delist the Arctic subspecies of ringed seal (Pusa hispida hispida) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). We find that the petition and information readily available in our files does not present new information or analyses that had not been previously considered and therefore does not present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted. Nevertheless, we note that we are separately initiating a five-year review of the status of the Arctic ringed seal pursuant to section 4(c)(2) of the ESA, including whether the best scientific and commercial data available indicate delisting is warranted.

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

This announcement provides notice that the decision record has closed for an administrative appeal filed by Jordan Cove Energy Project, L.P. and Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline, LP (collectively, ``Appellants'') under the Coastal Zone Management Act. Appellants have requested that the NOAA Administrator, pursuant to authority delegated by the Secretary of Commerce to decide Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (CZMA) federal consistency appeals, override an objection by the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development to a consistency certification for a proposed project to construct and operate a liquefied natural gas export terminal and a 229-mile natural gas pipeline and compressor station off the Pacific Coast.

We, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), propose to designate critical habitat for the seven threatened corals in U.S. waters in the Indo-Pacific (Acropora globiceps, Acropora jacquelineae, Acropora retusa, Acropora speciosa, Euphyllia paradivisa, Isopora crateriformis, and Seriatopora aculeata) pursuant to section 4 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Seventeen specific occupied areas containing physical features essential to the conservation of these coral species are being proposed for designation as critical habitat; these areas contain approximately 600 square kilometers (km\2\; 230 square miles) of marine habitat. We have considered positive and negative economic, national security, and other relevant impacts of the proposed designations, and we propose to exclude two areas from the critical habitat designations due to anticipated impacts on national security. We are soliciting comments from the public on all aspects of the proposal, including our identification of the geographical area and depths occupied by the species, the physical and biological feature essential to the coral species' conservation and identification, areas not included and excluded, and consideration of impacts of the proposed action.

The SEDAR 66 stock assessment of the South Atlantic stock of Tilefish will consist of a data scoping webinar, a workshop, and a series of assessment webinars. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.