Southwest

Northwest

Northwest

Alaska

Alaska

New England/Mid-Atlantic

Atlantic/Gulf

Gulf

International

International

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Marine Part Names Reef in Memory of NOAA Scientist Nancy Foster

Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Announces New Recreational Fishing Rep on Advisory Council

Southwest – Critical Habitat Designations Proposed for Endangered Species

NOAA Fisheries has proposed the designation of critical habitat for 2 Evolutionarily Significant Units (ESUs) of Chinook salmon and five ESUs of O. mykiss (inclusive of anadromous steelhead and resident rainbow trout) listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The specific areas proposed for designation include approximately 11,668 miles of riverine habitat and 947 square miles of bay/estuarine habitat (primarily in San Francisco-San Pablo-Suisun Bays) in California. The proposed rule and related materials can be found at: http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/1salmon/salmesa/crithab/CHsite.htm

However, NOAA Fisheries is considering excluding many of these areas from the final designation based on existing land management plans and policies, voluntary conservation efforts and other factors that could substantially reduce the scope of the final designations. The public is invited to submit additional information and comments on all aspects of the proposed designation.

Comments on this proposed rule will be accepted for 60 days. Requests for public hearings must be made in writing within 45 days. Detailed instructions for submitting comments are provided in the proposed rule.

For further information, contact Craig.Wingert@noaa.gov or Marta.Nammack@noaa.gov.

Northwest – Critical Habitat Designations Proposed for Endangered Species

NOAA Fisheries has proposed to designate critical habitat for 13 Evolutionarily Significant Units (ESUs) of Pacific salmon (Chinook, chum, coho, sockeye) and O. mykiss (inclusive of anadromous steelhead and resident rainbow trout) listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The specific areas proposed for designation include approximately 27,553 miles of lake, riverine, and estuarine habitat in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, as well as approximately 2,121 miles of marine nearshore habitat in Puget Sound, Washington. The proposed rule, maps, and other materials relating to this proposal can be found on our website at: http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/1salmon/salmesa/crithab/CHsite.htm.

However, NOAA Fisheries is considering excluding many of these areas from the final designation based on existing land management plans and policies, voluntary conservation efforts and other factors that could substantially reduce the scope of the final designations. The public is invited to submit additional information and comments on all aspects of the proposed designation. A schedule of public hearings is posted on the Northwest Region’s website (see above).

Comments on this proposed rule will be accepted for 60 days. Requests for public hearings must be made in writing within 45 days. Detailed instructions for submitting comments are provided in the proposed rule.

For further information, contact Steve.Stone@noaa.gov or Marta.Nammack@noaa.gov.

Northwest – Revised Biological Opinion for Columbia and Lower Snake River Dams is Available on Web

NOAA Fisheries has released its biological opinion entitled "Consultation on Remand for Operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System and 19 Bureau of Reclamation Projects in the Columbia Basin." The Action Agencies' Final Updated Proposed Action for the FCRPS Biological Opinion Remand (UPA) is also available. The Action Agencies formally transmitted the final UPA to NOAA Fisheries on November 24, 2004. Click here to view the news release.

For more information on how this supports the twin goals of a healthy environment and a strong economy, read the open letter to the citizens of the Northwest: Letter to the Region.

Alaska - NOAA Issues $3.44 Million Penalty for Violations of the American Fisheries Act

As a result of NOAA's investigation, Icicle Seafoods, Inc., Adak Fisheries, and Adak Fisheries Development have been assessed a $3.44-million penalty for violating the American Fisheries Act of 1998 (AFA) by exceeding the company's crab-processing cap. The AFA is meant to encourage diversity and competition among fish harvesters and processors, and conservation of the resource. Certain processors are authorized to participate in the lucrative pollock fishery in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands, but are strictly limited in how much non-pollock fishing and processing is authorized. Under the AFA, if one company controls more than 10 percent of another company, they are considered the same company for purposes of applying the crab-processing cap.

Seattle-based Icicle Seafoods, one of the largest seafood processing operations in Alaska, was a co-partner in Adak Fisheries, the sole fish processor on Adak. Adak Fisheries leased space in its plant to Adak Development, the sole crab processor which is owned by Icicle Seafoods co-partner in Adak Fisheries. According to the notice of violation, although Adak Fisheries and Adak Fisheries Development were separately incorporated, they both used the same facility, the same employees, the same management team and were both supplied with virtually all administrative support from Icicle Seafoods.

As a result of Icicle Seafoods' actions, non-AFA crab processors lost the market opportunity to conduct the processing of over 3.8 million pounds of brown king crab. The purchase price paid to the vessel for this crab was over $13 million, and the value of the processed crab would be greater than the purchase price. The three companies are all being charged together and are jointly responsible for paying the fine. Any or all of them can request a hearing before a Federal Administrative Law Judge to the review the charges and their case. For more information, contact Mark.Oswell@noaa.gov.

Alaska – Crab Rationalization in the Bering Sea Moves Forward

NOAA Fisheries has released the Record of Decision for the Bering Sea Aleutian Islands Crab Fisheries Environmental Impact Statement and approved the Crab Rationalization Program, as mandated by the Magnuson-Stevens Act. A proposed rule was published in the Federal Register (see November 5 issue of Fishnews) and public comments on the rule will be accepted until December 13, 2004. "This decision marks another step in our efforts to get a new crab management plan—crab rationalization--in place for the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands," said Dr. James Balsiger, NOAA Fisheries’ Alaska Regional Administrator. "The North Pacific Fishery Management Council voted on crab rationalization in June 2002 and Congress voted to mandate it in January. We want to see it on the water next fall."

Officials chose the Environmental Impact Statement's Alternative 2 in their Record of Decision. Alternative 2 is a comprehensive program that balances the interests of several groups that depend on Alaska crab fisheries. Harvesters, communities and captains all receive harvest shares under the program. Harvesters can form cooperatives. Processors are allocated processing shares. The program allocates crab landings and processing activities regionally in order to preserve historic community interests in the fisheries. Alternative 2 also includes an arbitration system for the resolution of price disputes, economic data collection, a program review to assess the impacts of crab rationalization, and monitoring and enforcement.

For more information on the preferred alternative or to receive a copy of the Bering Sea Aleutian Islands Crab Fisheries Environmental Impact Statement, contact Gretchen.Harrington@noaa.gov.

The Record of Decision, Environmental Impact Statement, proposed rule, and other relevant information can be viewed online at http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/sustainablefisheries/crab/crfaq.htm

New England/Mid-Atlantic - Proposed Quotas for Surfclams and Ocean Quahogs

NOAA Fisheries has proposed fishing quotas for the Atlantic surfclam, ocean quahog, and Maine mahogany ocean quahog fisheries for 2005-2007. The status quo (2004) level for mahogany quahog and surfclam quotas would be maintained for 2005-2007, but the ocean quahog quota would be increased incrementally by 20 percent over the three-year period.

Copies of supporting documents, including the Environmental Assessment, Regulatory Impact Review, Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (EA/RIR/IRFA), and the Essential Fish Habitat Assessment, are available via the Internet at http://www.nero.gov/ro/doc/nr.htm. For further information, contact Brian.Hooker@noaa.gov.

Comments must be received no later than 5 p.m., eastern standard time, on December 20, 2004. The mailbox address for providing email comments is 0648AR52@noaa.gov. Include in the subject line of the email the following document identifier: "Comments on Surfclam/Ocean Quahog Proposed Specifications.''

Atlantic/Gulf – Regional Quota Adjustments for 2005 Commercial Shark Fishery & 2005 First Trimester Fishing Season

NOAA Fisheries announced this week that it will adjust the regional and trimester quotas for large coastal sharks and small coastal sharks based on updated landings information, create a framework for annual adjustment of regional quotas, remove the requirement to publish season length information at least 30 days prior to the season start date, and announce quotas and season lengths for the first trimester season of 2005.

For complete details of this announcement, visit the Highly Migratory Species division web page, the Federal Register, or contact chris.rilling@noaa.gov.

Gulf – Comments Requested on Proposed Rebuilding Plan for Red Snapper

NOAA Fisheries has proposed new regulations to implement Amendment 22 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico. Amendment 22 establishes a stock rebuilding plan, biological reference points, and stock status determination criteria for red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico. The proposed red snapper rebuilding plan would initially maintain the total allowable catch at 9.12 million lbs, end overfishing between 2009 and 2010, and rebuild the red snapper stock by 2032.

Copies of Amendment 22 and supporting documents can be downloaded from the Council's website at http://www.gulfcouncil.org.

For more information, please contact peter.hood@noaa.gov. Written comments on the proposed rule must be received no later than 5 p.m., eastern time, on January 7, 2005. You may submit comments on the proposed rule by E-mail: 0648-AP02.Proposed@noaa.gov. Include in the subject line the following document identifier: 0648-AP02.

International – NOAA Announces Ocean Observing Milestone

NOAA and its partners announced that 1,500 free-floating, data collecting devices are now in operation in the world's oceans, reaching the half-way point of an eventual fleet of 3,000 floats. The devices, named Argo, are now in all parts of the world's ice-free oceans and are the backbone of many nations' climate and weather programs. The European Union and seventeen nations participated in the collaborative Argo program.

Two of NOAA's laboratories – the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory in Miami and the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle – are Argo program participants. Data collected by the floats are available without restriction to anyone wanting to use them. They are made available as soon as initial quality checks have been completed, most within 24 hours. Scientists around the world use the Argo data in a variety of ways, including calculating heat storage by the ocean, which is important in verifying climate models; studying salinity changes because of changing rainfall; predicting El Niño events; assessing impacts of ocean temperature, salinity and currents on fisheries; studying the interaction between atmosphere and ocean during monsoons; serving marine transportation needs in ocean forecasting models; and monitoring how the oceans drive hurricanes and typhoons.

The floats travel throughout the ocean gathering and transmitting data. They sink to a depth of about 6,000 feet, travel for about 10 days following the ocean currents, and then rise to the surface to transmit information via satellite about temperature and salinity collected on their return to the surface. After transmitting that data they sink below the waves and repeat the process. The floats have a life expectancy of approximately four years. Argo floats are unique in measuring subsurface currents that can be used to calculate global-scale heat transport by the oceans. In 2004 more than 800 floats will be deployed. The array should approach the 3000-float target in 2007.

Argo is a major contributor to the World Climate Research Programme's Climate Variability and Predictability Experiment (CLIVAR) project and to the Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE). The Argo array is part of the Global Climate Observing System/Global Ocean Observing System GCOS/GOOS). To view the press release, visit www.noaa.gov.

International – Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Marine Part Names Reef in Memory of NOAA Scientist Nancy Foster

Nancy Foster, longtime National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientist and administrator, has been honored posthumously by Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park with the naming of a section of the world's largest coral reef in her honor. Foster becomes only the second American so recognized, the other is famed ecologist and author Rachel Carson for whom a reef was designated in 1996.

Foster played a significant role at NOAA as a coral reef advocate. She was a strong supporter of the establishment of NOAA's coral program; was involved in the initial cooperative agreement between Florida and NOAA for the establishment of the Key Largo and Looe Key sanctuaries which led to the creation of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary; and she was a strong advocate behind the creation of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve.

The Nancy Foster Reef is located at Latitude 21°22' South, Longitude 151° 22' East and while no marker will be placed on the reef itself, the reef will be marked on all future charts and maps of the Great Barrier Reef.

December 1, 2004

Rule. I.D. 112304C - Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska;
Reallocation of Pacific Cod in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area

December 2, 2004

Proposed Rule. I.D. 100104H - List of Fisheries for 2005.

December 3, 2004

Notice. I.D. 101204A - Low Energy Seismic Survey in the Southwest Pacific Ocean.

Notice. I.D. 102204A - Taking of California Sea Lions, Pacific Harbor Seals and Northern Elephant Seals.