National

Atlantic

Atlantic

Mid-Atlantic

New England

Alaska

Pacific

Pacific

National – Comment Period Extended for MMPA List of Fisheries

On April 13, 2004, the proposed List of Fisheries (LOF) for 2004 under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) was published in the Federal Register. NOAA Fisheries must categorize each commercial fishery on the LOF into one of three categories under the MMPA based on the level of serious injury and mortality of marine mammals that occurs incidental to the fishery. NOAA Fisheries is extending the comment period on this proposed LOF until June 14, 2004. Send comments to Chief, Marine Mammal Conservation Division, Attn: List of Fisheries, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Comments may also be sent via e-mail to 2004LOF.comments@noaa.gov.

Atlantic – NOAA Fisheries Seeks Comment on Proposed Trade Regulations

NOAA Fisheries has proposed to lift bans on imports from Belize and Honduras of bigeye tuna, bluefin tuna, and swordfish; lift bans on imports from St. Vincent and the Grenadines of bigeye tuna; prohibit imports from Bolivia and Georgia of bigeye tuna; prohibit imports from Sierra Leone of bigeye tuna, bluefin tuna, and swordfish; implement regulations and require chartering permits to manage more effectively the chartering arrangements made between vessels and contracting parties other than their flag countries; and implement measures to address illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in the Atlantic Ocean. These proposed trade measures resulted from agreements reached with other member nations during meetings in 2002 and 2003 of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas.

The comment period for this proposed rule will close on June 21, 2004. NOAA Fisheries will hold one public hearing to receive comments from fishery participants and other members of the public regarding these proposed amendments. It is scheduled for May 19, 2004, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the NOAA Science Center, Building 4, Silver Spring, MD 20910. More information is available here: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms.

Atlantic – NOAA Fisheries Proposes Adjustment to the Atlantic Large Coastal Shark Seasonal Quota; Seeks Public Comment

NOAA Fisheries has proposed to adjust the seasonal quota for the Atlantic large coastal shark fishery for the 2004 fishing season. The proposal would adjust the split for the North Atlantic region, as outlined in Amendment 1, from a 50/50 split to a 20/80 split between the two semi-annual fishing seasons to allow a greater proportion of the quota to be landed in the second semi-annual season. Thus, without adjusting for over- or underharvest the North Atlantic regional quotas would be 8.1 metric tons (mt) dressed weight (dw) and 32.5 mt dw for the first and second semi-annual seasons, respectively.

This rule would not change the annual regional quota for the North Atlantic, but would rather adjust the North Atlantic regional quota allocation between the two 2004 semi-annual fishing seasons. This rule will be available on the HMS Web site at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms.

Comments should be sent to Christopher Rogers, Chief, Highly Migratory Species Division, 1315 East West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910 by May 28, 2004. Comments can also be e-mailed to 0648.AS28@noaa.gov.

Mid-Atlantic – NOAA Fisheries Finalizes Pound Net Regulations to Protect Sea Turtles in the Virginia Chesapeake Bay

NOAA Fisheries has finalized mandatory changes to pound nets used in parts of Virginia Chesapeake Bay during the time of year when hundreds of threatened and endangered sea turtles – known to become entangled in or trapped against pound net leaders – migrate into the area.

Under the new rules, no "offshore" pound net leaders may be used between May 6 through July 15 annually in a portion of the lower bay. Approximately 10 licensees fished with offshore pound nets in the affected area in 2002. An "offshore" leader is one set with the inland end more than 10 feet from the mean low water line. Outside of this closure area, the restrictions on pound net leaders are unchanged. Each spring, hundreds of sea turtles migrate north along the Atlantic coast and into the Chesapeake Bay where they forage throughout the summer on the Bay’s rich marine life. During May and June in recent years, the agency has documented sea turtles in pound net leaders, as well as high numbers of stranded sea turtles around the bay. For more information, contact carrie.upite@noaa.gov.

New England – Director of NOAA Fisheries Stands Behind Amendment 13

Dr. William Hogarth, director NOAA Fisheries, today applauded the New England Council and NOAA Fisheries’ Northeast Regional Administrator, Pat Kurkul, for working with industry this week to provide additional flexibility to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan. With heavy involvement from the fishing industry, the Council developed and approved Amendment 13, which NOAA Fisheries implemented on May 1. The final measures approved in Amendment 13 were based on an industry proposal and provided the best possible solution for meeting the needs of conservation, the industry and the law.

“Last year, Northeast Regional Administrator Pat Kurkul and I vowed to work with the New England fishing industry and the Council to find a balance for Amendment 13 that would make the groundfish fishery sustainable, get it in compliance with the law, and keep them fishing,” he said. “I made the final decision to implement Amendment 13, and I applaud the efforts of the Council and Pat to work with the fishing industry and our other constituents to develop a robust plan that will bring this fleet in compliance with the law and keep management of the fishery out of the courts,” he said.

NOAA Fisheries continues working with the Council to address additional issues that will provide industry with the maximum flexibility to harvest the healthiest groundfish stocks. Hogarth said management of New England groundfish would be much easier to understand and less complex if the industry would support an annual total allowable catch program rather than the current complex system of days at sea and closed areas.

New England Council Executive Director Paul Howard noted that the Council approved additional measures this week as part of a framework action to deal with issues that were a source of this week’s protests in Providence, such as the use of ‘B’ days at sea, special access areas for haddock and easier access to management areas established under Amendment 13. “Amendment 13 is a hard pill to swallow for everyone,” Howard said. “The fishing cutbacks were inevitable and required by the Magnuson-Stevens Act. NOAA Fisheries and the New England Council developed the amendment with the goal of minimizing social and economic impacts as much as possible while satisfying the law.”

Alaska – NOAA Fisheries Issues Final Rules for Skates

On May 12, NOAA Fisheries published final 2004 specifications for skates, and a separate final rule to implement Amendment 63 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (FMP). Amendment 63 moves skates from the "other species'' list to the “target species” list in the FMP. The implementing final rule will facilitate incidental catch management by clarifying the maximum retainable amounts (MRAs) of groundfish in the skate directed fishery and the MRAs for skates in other groundfish directed fisheries. Harvest specifications establishing overfishing levels (OFLs), acceptable biological catch (ABC), and total allowable catch (TAC) amounts for skates will allow management of the directed fishery for skates, reducing the potential for overfishing of skate species.

For more information on the implementation of Amendment 63, contact melanie.brown@noaa.gov, and for further information on the 2004 specifications, contact tom.pearson@noaa.gov.

Pacific – NOAA Fisheries Announces that Whiting is No Longer Overfished; Outlines 2004 Fishery Specifications

This final rule establishes the 2004 fishery specifications for whiting in waters off the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California as authorized by the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan. NOAA Fisheries has also announced that the whiting resource is estimated to be above the target rebuilding biomass and will no longer have an overfished species status. The intended effect of this action is to establish allowable harvest levels of whiting based on the best available scientific information. These regulations are effective April 27, 2004, through December 31, 2004. The rule specifies the allowable biological catch (ABC), optimum yield (OY), tribal allocation, and allocations for the non-tribal commercial sectors.

NOAA Fisheries is specifically seeking comments on changes to the ABC in this final rule. These changes are described in the section of the preamble titled ABC/OY Recommendations. Copies of the supporting documents are available online at the Council's Web site: http://www.pcouncil.org or on the NOAA Fisheries Web site: http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/sustfsh/gdfsh01.htm. For more information, contact Becky Renko or Yvonne deReynier (Northwest Region) at 206-526-6150; or Svein Fougner (Southwest Region) at 562-980-4040.

Comments on the whiting ABC must be received by June 1, 2004. You may submit comments by E-mail, GWhiting2004ABC.nwr@noaa.gov: [identified by 031216314-01 and/or 0648-AR54 in the subject line of the message]; by Fax: 206-526-6736, or by Mail: D. Robert Lohn, Administrator, Northwest Region (Regional Administrator), NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way, NE. Seattle, WA 98115-0070; Robert Lohn, Administrator.

Pacific – Annual Management Measures for Ocean Salmon Fisheries

Fishery management measures have been set for the 2004 ocean salmon fisheries off Washington, Oregon, and California and the 2005 salmon seasons opening earlier than May 1, 2005. These measures were recommended by the Pacific Fishery Management Council at its April 5-9, 2004, meeting. NOAA Fisheries provided Endangered Species Act (ESA) consultation standards and guidance for the management of stocks listed under the ESA in preparation for the 2004 management season in order to ensure that these measures comply with the ESA.

The final rule establishes 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 nm) off Washington, Oregon, and California. These 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 for fisheries occurring in state internal waters. Copies of the rule and background documents are posted at: http://www.pcouncil.org.

Comments on the management measures and the related environmental assessment (EA) may be sent to D. Robert Lohn, Regional Administrator, Northwest Region, NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., Seattle, WA 98115-0070, fax: 206-526-6376; or to Rod McInnis, Acting Regional Administrator, Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 West Ocean Boulevard, Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802-4213, fax: 562-980-4018. Comments can also be submitted via e-mail at: 2004oceansalmonregs.nwr@noaa.gov.

May 3, 2004

Rule. Pacific Halibut Catch Sharing Plan

May 5, 2004

Notice. Turtle Take Prohibitions
Rule. Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; West Coast Salmon Fisheries; 2004 Management Measures.
Rule. Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Annual Specifications and Management Measures; Inseason Adjustments; Pacific Halibut Fisheries; Corrections.

May 6, 2004

Notice. Marine Mammals
Proposed Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Trade Restrictive Measures
Notice. Gulf of Mexico FMC; Public Meetings

May 7, 2004

Notice. Pacific FMC; Meeting (Economic Subcommittee)
Notice. Pacific FMC; Meeting (Ad Hoc Groundfish Quota Enforcement Group)

May 11, 2004

Notice. Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; Southeastern Data, Assessment, and Review (SEDAR) Steering Committee Meeting

May 12, 2004

Notice. NOI to Conduct Scoping Meetings for Puget Sound Hatchery Programs
Notice. Take of Anadromous Fish (Idaho Dept. of Fish and Game)
Rule. Fisheries of the Northeastern United States

May 13, 2004

Northeast Multi-species Fishery; Commercial Haddock Harvest
Notice. NE Region Permit Family of Forms
Notice. Pacific FMC; Public meeting
Notice. Fisheries Certificate of Origin
Notice. End. Species; Permit No. 1199
Notice. Electronic Chart Systems...User Survey
Notice. U.S.-Canada Albacore Treaty Reporting System
Proposed Rule. List of Fisheries for 2004
Proposed Rule. Adjustment of Semi-annual Quotas for Large Coastal
Sharks in the North Atlantic Area