Since 1999, RCO, through the Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB), has distributed more than $1.23 billion in state and federal funds to advance salmon recovery statewide, with more than $649 million directed toward efforts in the Puget Sound. An additional case from 2011, previously noted in our 2020 Final LOF response to comments (85 FR 21079, April 16, 2020) but not mentioned in MLA's comment, also included recovered gear with these red tracers, though the location of that entanglement remains unknown (E11-11/RW 4040). documents in the last year, 86 Comment 7: HLA restates a previous comment opposing the inclusion of the Hawaii stocks of Kogia species (pygmy or dwarf sperm whales) on the list of species and/or stocks incidentally killed or injured in the Category I HI deep-set longline fishery. Discarded catch is accounted for by the West Coast Groundfish Observer Program. NOAA Fisheries - Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, Honolulu, HI, USA . While we recognize this variety within the fishery at large, there are not clear boundaries to divide gear use across the wider area as suggested by this comment. 02-204-01. Many fisheries operate in both U.S. waters and on the high seas, creating some overlap between the fisheries listed in Tables 1 and 2 and those in Table 3. AOLA requests NMFS incorporate more timely data and recent information into the 2021 LOF. To reduce impacts on seabirds, streamer lines (tori lines, bird scaring lines) or night setting are required for longline vessels with an overall length greater than 26 feet (see streamer line regulations). Our work covers a vast geography, including the inland and coastal waters of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and California. Harbor seal, Prince William Sound. AK Peninsula/Aleutian Islands salmon drift gillnet, AK Peninsula/Aleutian Islands salmon set gillnet, AK Prince William Sound salmon drift gillnet. We also ensure that federal ocean fisheries along the West Coast are managed to uphold Native American Tribal treaty fishing rights. That Is the Question, Endangered Salmon Regain Access to Healthy West Coast Habitat through 20 Projects Funded by NOAA Fisheries, An Entangled Web: Research Collaboration Unravels Causes and Consequences of Sea Lion Entanglements, We help other federal agencies conserve habitat for protected species and for, to support commercial, tribal, and recreational fisheries. Northeast mid-water trawl (including pair trawl). We also manage and conserve marine mammals under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and coordinate and support the marine mammal stranding networks. We work to recover and conserve threatened and endangered marine and anadromous species, as well as manage and conserve marine mammals. 2020 certificates may be retained or replacements downloaded from https://go.usa.gov/xArUW. Regulatory Branch Chief U.S. Army Corps of Engineers . Comment 16: Whale Safe USA requests NMFS maintain the Category I classifications for Northeast/Mid-Atlantic American lobster trap/pot fishery and Northeast sink gillnet fishery. The classification of fisheries on the LOF is not considered to be a management action that would adversely affect threatened or endangered species. This prototype edition of the The commenter alleges There are zero instances of Maine lobster gear associated with a right whale serious injury or mortality in any data set, and only one known entanglement where Maine lobster was the primary entangling gear in 2002 resulting in non-serious injury determination. We recognize that there has only been one confirmed mortality (in 2012) in identified U.S. trap/pot gear in the past decade. Injury determinations for humpback whales and other cetaceans reported to the Hawaiian Islands Disentanglement and Pacific Islands Marine Mammal Response Networks during 2013-2016. Therefore, the HI troll fishery cannot be classified by analogy to other fisheries that use similar fishing techniques that are known to cause mortality or serious injury of pantropical spotted dolphins. NMFS also removes both the Eastern North Pacific AK resident stock and Gulf of Alaska, BSAI transient stock of killer whales from the list of species and/or stocks incidentally killed or injured in the BSAI Pacific cod longline fishery. Because there were no data to indicate specific stock or reliable data that could be used to partition the 2012 killer whale M/SI, the M/SI was assigned to both stocks as prescribed by NMFS' Guidelines for Preparing Stock Assessment Reports Pursuant to the 1994 Amendments to the MMPA. The Regional Administrator's Office establishes policies, principles and priorities for the West Coast Region. In 2006, through Amendment 19, over 100,000 square miles of the EEZ, including approximately 14,000 square miles of some of the most sensitive ocean floor habitats off Washington, Oregon, and California, were closed to bottom trawling, or to all bottom-contacting gears. The Commission notes the final 2012 LOF (76 FR 73912, November 29, 2011) did not finalize the fishery proposed reclassifications. The Sustainable Fisheries Division is responsible for conservation of fishery resources, eliminating overfishing, rebuilding overfished populations, maintaining healthy commercial and recreational fisheries, creating long-term economic and social benefits to the nation from living marine resources, and ensuring that harvest and hatchery decisions are consistent with the Federal governments Indian trust responsibilities and treaty obligations. HI deep-set longline fishery from 145 to 143 vessels/persons; HI shallow-set longline fishery from 18 to 11 vessels/persons; American Samoa longline fishery from 15 to 13 vessels/persons; and. Dam Removal Puts California Salmon in Hot Pursuit of Cold Water. West Coast groundfish fisheries, and fisheries that may take groundfish incidentally, are managed with a variety of closed areas. Following consultation with the U.S. legal research should verify their results against an official edition of While the Federal waters portion of the Maine lobster fishery is managed through the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission as part of Lobster Management Area 1, it is also subject to further regulation and enforcement by the state of Maine through the Lobster Management Policy Councils. That 2016 SAR also reported a total annual M/SI estimate of 34 animals for the two fisheries combined. A bill introduced in Congress this week calls for a federal study on the possibilities of coastal seaweed farming, and creating a new seaweed farming fund to "reduce cost barriers for indigenous communities, emboldening them to participate in coastal seaweed farming," according to sponsors Reps. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., and Mary Peltola, D . Limited Entry Trawl North of 4010' N Lat. NMFS also reviews other sources of new information, including injury determination reports, bycatch estimation reports, observer data, logbook data, stranding data, disentanglement network data, fishermen self-reports (i.e., MMPA mortality/injury reports), and anecdotal reports from that time period. The Arctic region extends from the Bering Strait to the Chukchi. West Coast Steelhead, or occasionally steelhead trout, is the common name of the anadromous form of the coastal rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus m. irideus) or Columbia River redband trout (O. m. gairdneri, also called redband steelhead). These grants build up NOAA's continuing long . NMFS began posting Category III fishery fact sheets online with the LOF for 2016. Ream, E.L. Richmond, K.E.W. In a joint statement the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's . Open for Comment, Russian Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions, Economic Sanctions & Foreign Assets Control, Fisheries of the Northeastern United States, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government. Additional details regarding categorization of fisheries is provided in the preamble to the final rule implementing section 118 of the MMPA (60 FR 45086; August 30, 1995).Start Printed Page 3036. For the 2021 LOF, NMFS retains the Category II classification for the Yakutat salmon set gillnet and SE Alaska salmon drift gillnet fisheries until more data are available. Annual bycatch estimates are prorated using a process outlined in detail in the SARs, which account for M/SI that occur within the MHI-pelagic or NWHI-pelagic overlap zones. As noted in the 2016 SAR (Muto et al., 2017), the 2012 killer whale M/SI in the BSAI Pacific cod longline fishery was assigned to both the resident and transient stocks of killer whale, given no genetic samples were collected and the overlap in the range of the two stocks in Alaska waters. documents in the last year, 1411 AOLA recommends NMFS split undetermined North Atlantic right whale M/SI between the two countries based on the percentage of known entanglements from each country and this prorated distribution of M/SI should be used when classifying fisheries on the LOF. The impacts of numerous fisheries have been analyzed in various biological opinions, and this rule will not affect the conclusions of those opinions. Section 118 of the MMPA requires NMFS to place all U.S. commercial fisheries into one of three categories based on the level of incidental mortality and serious injury of marine mammals occurring in each fishery (16 U.S.C. NOAA Fisheries and the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) oversee the management of West Coast groundfish in U.S. federal waters. 2017. Harbor seal, WNA. This rule makes minor corrections and clarifications to the final rule for the 2023-2024 harvest specifications and management measures for the Pacific Coast groundfish fishery which published on December 16. Serious injury and mortality determinations for baleen whale stocks along the Gulf of Mexico, United States East Coast, and Atlantic Canadian Provinces, 2012-2016. electronic version on GPOs govinfo.gov. Extending along the U.S. Coast from Canada to Mexico, the California Current is characterized by some of the most dramatic annual, interannual, and decadal environmental variability in the world. This list includes all species and/or stocks known to be killed or injured in a given fishery, but also includes species and/or stocks for which there are anecdotal records of a mortality or injury. We review federal proposals for land and water development to make sure these activities do not further degrade habitat or harm protected species. As a result, the recovery of some rockfish species has occurred more than a decade earlier than the timeline estimated by scientists. This killer whale M/SI occurred in 2012, and no additional M/SI have been observed or reported for the 2013-2017 data analysis timeframe for this fishery. In the table below, the Region column shows if the species can be found in a NOAA Fisheries region. The fishery is also split into two groups based on whether vessels are required to hold a federal limited entry permit to participate or whether they fish without a federal permit in the open access fishery. Internet Explorer lacks support for the features of this website. These species are key elements of the ecosystem and are critically important for our culture, recreation, and economy. In recognition of logistical challenges with certificate issuance related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the MMAP certificate issued in 2020 remains in effect, valid through December 31, 2021, for vessel or gear owners participating in all Category I and II fisheries as of the final 2021 LOF. In addition, Maine's state and Federal waters lobstermen must declare a lobster zone and are required to fish the majority of gear in their home zone, limiting the spatial footprint of where individual lobstermen can set gear. NMFS adds a superscript 1 to the CA/OR/WA stock of minke whale indicating it is driving the Category II classification of the CA thresher shark/swordfish drift gillnet (14 in mesh) fishery. NMFS looks forward to seeing what measures the state of Massachusetts will finalize and implement for the state lobster trap/pot fishery in the future. Collaboration Offers the Best Hope for Lasting Puget Sound Salmon Solution, International Collaboration To Monitor And Respond To Tagged Gray Whale, Blob Research Reveals Environmental Effects That Shut Down Fishing and Hiked Whale Entanglements, California Ecosystem Surveys Give Insight on Ocean Changes to Come, "There is No Typical": Life as a West Coast Groundfish Observer, Woody Venard holds a skilfish on the deck of a fishing vessel. This wire mesh, along with the 7/16 inch poly and associated gangions, is consistent with gear used in trap/pot fisheries conducted along the east coast of the U.S. and Canada (NMFS 2010 Large Whale Entanglement Report), which is consistent with some gear fished in exempted waters. NMFS reclassifies the AK BSAI Pacific cod longline fishery from at Category II to Category III fishery. Therefore, the 9/16 inch float rope that was recovered from E01-09/RW 3311, again, does not explicitly rule out Maine lobster fisheries. Dahle, M.E. Several shark species have been identified as future priority species . We harvestclose to a billion pounds of seafood, worth nearly $1 billion, each year. For fisheries with no observer coverage and for observed fisheries with evidence indicating that undocumented interactions may be occurring (e.g., fishery has low observer coverage and stranding network data include evidence of fisheries interactions that cannot be attributed to a specific Start Printed Page 3030fishery) species and stocks may be retained for longer than 5 years. AOLA recommends NMFS take a more equitable approach when assessing entanglement risk across fisheries, countries, and non-fishery sources, and also notes this would assist in assuring fishermen are treated fairly. Pacific highly migratory species troll fishery from 119 to 111 HSFCA permits. Roundfish: The six species are lingcod, cabezon, kelp greenling, Pacific cod, Pacific whiting (hake), and sablefish. Table 1 lists commercial fisheries in the Pacific Ocean (including Alaska), Table 2 lists commercial fisheries in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean, Table 3 lists commercial fisheries on the high seas, and Table 4 lists fisheries affected by TRPs or TRTs. A single, high-flow channel at Finn Rock Reach. Due to the observed injury, the Central North Pacific stock of humpback whale is retained on the list of species and/or stocks incidentally killed or injured in the Category II HI shallow-set longline fishery. Beginning with the 2009 LOF, NMFS includes high seas fisheries in Table 3 of the LOF, along with the number of valid High Seas Fishing Compliance Act (HSFCA) permits in each fishery. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce. We also note that two additional entanglements have been identified as Massachusetts lobster trap/pot entanglements (E36-16/RW 3623 and E25-09). The catch locations help understand the distribution of salmon in the ocean in winter. This variability is due to multiple permitting agencies, differences in fishery management, and artifacts with available data sets. Video and sensor data is reviewed after the trip to determine fishing locations and quantify discards. To Krill or Not to Krill? From the Marshall Islands, silky . Back . Box 22668, 709 West 9th Street, Juneau, AK 99802, Attn: Suzie Teerlink; orStart Printed Page 3032. Additional information about HSFCA permits can be found at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/high-seas-fishing-permits. That final rule was effective January 1, 2023. In fisheries with sufficient observer coverage, NMFS extrapolates annual M/SI estimates for bycaught species. ^The list of marine mammal species and/or stocks killed or injured in this fishery is identical to the list of marine mammal species and/or stocks killed or injured in U.S. waters component of the fishery, minus species and/or stocks that have geographic ranges exclusively in coastal waters, because the marine mammal species and/or stocks are also found on the high seas and the fishery remains the same on both sides of the EEZ boundary. MLA recommends NMFS reclassify the Maine state waters lobster fishery as Category III fishery since there are no documented serious injuries or mortalities with this fishery, and NMFS determined that regulating the waters exempt from the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (ALWTRP) would have no significant benefit to large whales.

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