[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 164 (Thursday, August 25, 2005)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 49901-49902]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-16939]
[[Page 49902]]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 229
[Docket No. 041108310-5222-03; I.D. 100104H]
RIN 0648-AS78
List of Fisheries for 2005
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability; proposed rule; reopening of public
comment period.
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SUMMARY: On December 2, 2004, the proposed List of Fisheries (LOF) for
2005 under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) was published in the
Federal Register. NMFS subsequently prepared a draft Environmental
Assessment (EA) on the process for classifying U.S. commercial
fisheries on the LOF. NMFS is reopening the comment period on the
proposed 2005 LOF for an additional 60 days to allow the public to
concurrently review and comment on both the draft EA and proposed 2005
LOF.
DATES: Comments must be received by October 24, 2005.
ADDRESSES: Send comments on the proposed 2005 LOF and draft EA 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 email to
2005LOF.comments@noaa.gov or the Federal eRulemaking portal: http://
www.regulations.gov (Follow instructions for submitting comments).
Comments regarding the burden-hour estimates, or any other aspect
of the collection of information requirements contained in the proposed
rule, should be submitted in writing to the Chief, Marine Mammal
Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-
West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910 and to David Rostker, OMB, by e-
mail at David--Rostker@omb.eop.gov or by fax to 202-395-7285.
Copies of the draft EA for this action are available on the NMFS
Office of Protected Resources website, which is listed under the
Electronic Access portion of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kristy Long, Office of Protected
Resources, 301-713-2322; David Gouveia, Northeast Region, 978-281-9300;
Juan Levesque, Southeast Region, 727-551-5779; Cathy Campbell,
Southwest Region, 562-980-4060; Brent Norberg, Northwest Region, 206-
526-6733; Bridget Mansfield, Alaska Region, 907-586-7642; Chris Yates,
Pacific Islands Region, 808-944-2235. Individuals who use a
telecommunications device for the hearing impaired may call the Federal
Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Eastern time, Monday through Friday, excluding Federal holidays.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Electronic Access
The proposed 2005 LOF Federal Register notice and draft EA for this
action can be downloaded from the NMFS Office of Protected Resources
website at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/interactions/lof/.
Background
On December 2, 2004, the proposed List of Fisheries for 2005 under
the Marine Mammal Protection Act was published in the Federal Register
(69 FR 70094). NMFS 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. NMFS must publish in the Federal Register any necessary
changes to the LOF after notice and opportunity for public comment. In
the proposed LOF for 2005, NMFS proposed several fishery
classification, fishery name, and organizational changes. In
particular, NMFS proposed to reclassify the California/Oregon thresher
shark/swordfish drift gillnet ([gteqt]14 in. mesh) from Category II
(occasional incidental mortality and serious injury) to Category I
(frequent incidental mortality and serious injury) and to reclassify
the Northeast bottom trawl, Mid-Atlantic bottom trawl, and five Alaska
fisheries from Category III (remote likelihood of or no known
incidental mortality and serious injury) to Category II. The five
Alaska fisheries include the following: Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands
(BSAI) flatfish trawl, BSAI Greenland turbot longline, BSAI pollock
trawl, Bering Sea sablefish pot, and Gulf of Alaska Pacific cod
longline.
NMFS extended the comment period on the proposed 2005 LOF for an
additional 30 days (70 FR 776, January 5, 2005). In that Federal
Register notice, NMFS also announced its intent to prepare an EA on the
process for classifying fisheries on the LOF. NMFS is reopening the
comment period on this proposed action to allow the public an
opportunity to review and comment on the draft EA and supplement any
previous comments on the proposed 2005 LOF. Therefore, NMFS is
reopening the public comment period on the proposed LOF for 2005 for an
additional 60 days.
Dated: August 22, 2005.
William T. Hogarth,
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 05-16939 Filed 8-24-05; 8:45 am]
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