Select stocks to include in the report: provide legal notice to the public or judicial notice to the courts. 2022. We participate in the implementation of numerous international treaties and other agreements to sustainably conserve fisheries for cross-boundary species including highly migratory fish, particularly tuna; whiting; halibut, and salmon; and protect marine mammals of mutual interest to nations of the Pacific. For questions related to West Coast groundfish permits and licenses or the associated forms, please contact the NOAA Fisheries Permit Office at (206) 526-4353. The best available scientific information included in these reports is based on data through 2017. There are two primary species of salmon that are caught as bycatch in the Pacific Groundfish fishery, Chinook and coho salmon. The groundfish fishery management plan contains measures to conserve and protect groundfish essential fish habitat. Bradford, A.L., E.M. Oleson, R.W. These are intended to either minimize the bycatch of overfished groundfish species or to protect groundfish habitat. For these fisheries, NMFS will review the other sources of information listed above and use its discretion to decide when it is appropriate to remove a species or stock. To Krill or Not to Krill? NOAA Technical Memorandum . Chief, Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. This information suggests hookings and/or entanglements may occur, and the fishing technique of trolling through groups and repositioning presents a heightened risk of hooking or entanglement to pantropical spotted dolphins. on NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, and Southwest Fisheries Science Center work together to apply the latest science to sustainably manage the rich marine resources of the region for generations to come. However, the current implemented measures are not enough to suggest Massachusetts's state waters lobster trap/pot fishery should be split from the Category I Northeast/mid-Atlantic American lobster trap/pot fishery. documents in the last year, 663 Fisheries off West Coast States; Highly Migratory Fisheries; Amendment 6 to the Fishery Management Plan for West Coast Fisheries for Highly Migratory Species; Authorization of Deep-Set Buoy Gear A Proposed Rule by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on 02/06/2023 While floating groundline is prohibited in ALWTRP non-exempt management areas, there are waters along the east coast (including off the coast of Maine) that are exempted from this ALWTRP requirement. 2020 certificates may be retained or replacements downloaded from https://go.usa.gov/xArUW. For the best experience, please use a modern browser such as Chrome, Firefox, or Edge. At this time, we do not have enough information to suggest Maine's fisheries should be split from the Northeast/mid-Atlantic American lobster trap/pot fishery, because the gear used in Maine waters is not unique from other states. If the total annual mortality and serious injury of a marine mammal stock, across all fisheries, is less than or equal to 10 percent of the PBR level of the stock, all fisheries interacting with the stock will be placed in Category III (unless those fisheries interact with other stock(s) for which total annual mortality and serious injury is greater than 10 percent of PBR). The Regional Administrator's Office establishes policies, principles and priorities for the West Coast Region. Rockfish: Numerous species, including widow, yellowtail, canary, and vermilion rockfish; bocaccio, chilipepper, cowcod, yelloweye, thornyheads, and Pacific ocean perch. Guidelines for Preparing Stock Assessment Reports Pursuant to the 1994 Amendments to the MMPA. 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. Injury is defined in 50 CFR 229.2 as a wound or other physical harm. Send comments regarding these reporting burden estimates or any other aspect of the COI, including suggestions for reducing burden, to NMFS (see ADDRESSES). Many of the closed areas are gear-specific, meaning that they are closed to some particular gear types but not others. In the proposed rule, NMFS based the proposed change on reports of hooking spotted dolphins, and information on the prevalence of vessels from these fisheries targeting Pantropical spotted dolphin pods. The commenter notes that revising the single M/SI between both killer whale stocks (based on probability of encounter) would distribute the single 2012 M/SI in the BSAI Pacific cod longline fishery from 100 percent for both stocks to 80 percent to the resident stock and 20 percent to the transient stock. Response: NMFS appreciates the actions the state of Massachusetts has taken, and continues to take, to help conserve and protect North Atlantic right whales. The study did not estimate mortality or injury rates incidental to fisheries. Bottlenose dolphin, Southern Migratory coastal. These fisheries, though listed separately on Table 1 or 2 and Table 3, are considered the same fisheries on either side of the EEZ boundary. FLC also states that the BSAI Pacific cod longline fishery is currently classified as a Category II based on a killer whale M/SI in 2012. In the table below, the Region column shows if the species can be found in a NOAA Fisheries region. In the Mid-Atlantic and New England fisheries, the numbers represent the potential effort for each fishery, given the multiple gear types for which several state permits may allow. The ultimate goal of these efforts is to ensure that the regions living marine resources remain at healthy and sustainable levels, as functioning parts of their ecosystems, and continue to enhance the quality of life for the public. If you are using public inspection listings for legal research, you NMFS continues to pursue options for additional observer coverage to collect more recent and more geographically comprehensive data on mortality in Alaska's state fisheries, and we will prioritize observation of the Southeast Alaska drift gillnet fishery. However, due to the large number of Category III fisheries on the LOF and the lack of accessible and detailed information on many of these fisheries, the development of these fishery fact sheets is taking significant time to complete. NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region 1201 NE Lloyd Blvd., Suite 1100 . On March 18, 2022, NMFS West Coast Region received a permit renewal request (Permit 16608-3R) from Reclamation to conduct species enhancement activities for CCV steelhead and the sDPS of North American green sturgeon in the SJRRP Restoration Area. The LOF for 2021 reflects new information on interactions between commercial fisheries and marine mammals. Response: NMFS uses the classification criteria described in the preamble to classify fisheries as Category I, Category II, or Category III. Our scientists conduct biological, ecological and oceanographic research, observations, and monitoring of the regions living marine resources and their environments. Copies of the SARs are available on the NMFS Office of Protected Resources website at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/marine-mammal-stock-assessment-reports-region. Maine gear was involved in a second case in 2004, but it was not the primary entangling gear in this case. However, there have been a number of entanglements for which interventions occurred because these entanglements were determined to be resulting in serious injuries (Henry et al., 2019). This unique population is cut off from its historical spawning and rearing habitat, and faces many other threats, but efforts are underway to help it recover. Non-trawl (commercial, including limited entry and open access), Specifications of OFL, ABC, ACL, ACT and Fishery HG, Sablefish North of 36 N lat. May 10, 2019. Until the ACFR grants it official status, the XML These waters support valuable commercial, tribal, and recreational fisheries and are also home to many protected species of marine mammals, turtles, and seabirds. Bottlenose dolphin, GMX bay, sound, estuarine. The following stock is making progress towards being rebuilt: For updated information, view our Fishery Stock Status Updates. Bottlenose dolphin, Northern SC estuarine system. has no substantive legal effect. However, not all eulachon avoid the groundfish fishery's trawl nets and thus some are observed as bycatch. We work with numerous partners and our NOAA Fisheries counterpartsthe Northwest, Pacific Islands and Alaska Fisheries Science Centers and the West Coast Regional Officeto provide sound science for domestic and international management decisions. "We've always been like the punching bag for, like, the whale people. According to NMFS' Process for Distinguishing Serious from Non-Serious Injury of Marine Mammals (NMFS 2015, 02-238-01), cases that would have been serious injuries prior to disentanglement are not counted against PBR in the SAR, but they are included in the recorded takes for the LOF and associated management measures. Critical habitat has not been designated for all listed entities. Today, most of the 90 plus stocks managed under the West Coast groundfish fisheries are not overfished and are not experiencing overfishing. A complete explanation of the variability is available in the Environmental Impact Statement to Reduce the Incidental Bycatch and Mortality of Sea Turtles in the Southeastern U.S. Shrimp Fisheries (November 4, 2019). The OFR/GPO partnership is committed to presenting accurate and reliable NMFS adds a superscript 1 to the following four stocks to indicate they are driving the Category II classification of the Northeast trawl fishery: (1) Western North Atlantic stock of Risso's dolphin, (2) Western North Atlantic stock of long-finned pilot whale, (3) Western North Atlantic offshore stock of bottlenose dolphin, and (4) Western North Atlantic stock of gray seal. Further, gear marking and right whale monitoring efforts throughout Maine waters are insufficient to determine that the gear or area presents a different risk to large whales. The Protected Resources Division is responsible for the oversight, policy direction, guidance and coordination of management programs mandated by the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA). edition of the Federal Register. These fishery fact sheets provide the full history of each Category I and II fishery, including: When the fishery was added to the LOF; the basis for the fishery's initial classification; classification changes to the fishery; changes to the list of species and/or stocks incidentally killed or injured in the fishery; fishery gear and methods used; observer coverage levels; fishery management and regulation; and applicable TRPs or TRTs, if any. electronic version on GPOs govinfo.gov. [FR Doc. Southeastern U.S. Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico golden crab trap/pot, Gulf of Maine herring and Atlantic mackerel stop seine/weir. Comment 8: HLA recommends NMFS remove the Central North Pacific humpback whale stock from the list of species and/or stocks incidentally killed or injured in the Category II HI shallow-set longline fishery. ^Only applicable to the portion of the fishery operating in the Atlantic Ocean. (Federal Register 11 January 2023 [Proposed Rule] Pages 1548-1555) . At this time, NMFS retains the Category I classification for the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic American lobster trap/pot fishery, which includes the state waters of Massachusetts. On the West Coast and in the watersheds of Washington, Oregon, California, and Idaho, we manage commercial and recreational fisheries for more than 100 species of salmon, groundfish, coastal pelagics such as anchovy and sardine, and highly migratory species such as billfish, sharks, and tunas. 24 pp. FLC further states that NMFS attributes the single M/SI to both stocks equally. We assimilated more than 4500 unique estimates of published juvenile densities (e.g., fish/m2) in estuarine and floodplain habitats. Observed entanglements in the groundfish gear are rare but have been seen in the Limited Entry sablefish pot fishery and the Open Access Fixed Gear pot fishery. Limited Entry Fixed Gear (LEFG) South of 4010' N Lat. NMFS removes the Western U.S. stock of Steller sea lion from the list of species/stocks incidentally killed or injured in the Category II AK Gulf of Alaska sablefish longline fishery. For questions related to West Coast groundfish regulations, contact the West Coast Regions Groundfish Branch at (206) 526-6140. 1999. There are no current data on interactions with pantropical dolphins (or other dolphin species) in any other Pacific Ocean commercial troll fisheries. A method to assign cause to these unknown, as well as undetected mortalities, while addressing country entanglement of origin, is currently under development (Hayes et al., 2020). and E. Lyman. Refer to NMFS No. on FederalRegister.gov Additionally, NMFS is proposing a schedule of RFDs for every Tuesday and Friday from December 1, 2023 through March 31, 2024. How does NMFS determine which species or stocks are included as incidentally killed or injured in a fishery? The tribal West Coast groundfish fisheries include tribal commercial fishermen who have a federally recognized treaty right to fish for federally managed groundfish in their "usual and accustomed" fishing areas. Bottlenose dolphin, Charleston estuarine system. should verify the contents of the documents against a final, official Additional species are currently under review or have been proposed for Endangered Species Act listing: 2 petitioned species awaiting a 90-day finding, 15 candidate species for ESA listing, 1 proposed species for ESA listing. In this Issue, Documents We work to recover and conserve threatened and endangered marine and anadromous species, as well as manage and conserve marine mammals. Information on observer coverage levels in Category I, II, and III fisheries can be found in the fishery fact sheets on the NMFS Office of Protected Resources' website: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/list-fisheries-summary-tables. PORTLAND, OR 97232-1274. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person is required to respond to, nor shall a person be subject to a penalty for failure to comply with a COI, subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act, unless that COI displays a currently valid OMB control number. NMFS published the final rule to implement harvest specifications and management measures for the 2023-2024 biennium for most species managed under the PCGFMP on December 16, 2022 (87 FR 77007). 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. The PBR level for the SEAK harbor porpoise stock was estimated based on a survey that covered only a portion of the currently-recognized distribution of this stock, and it included commercial fishery M/SI that occurred far north of the surveyed areas. See response to comment #11 above about M/SI of right whales that is attributed to the Northeast/mid-Atlantic American lobster trap/pot fishery. We initiated this review in response to a petition submitted by the Center for Biological Diversity, dated August 16, 2005, to list the North Pacific right whale as a separate endangered species. Response: The LOF is the annual process NMFS conducts 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. Further, we maintain that entanglement data indicate that the gear used across this fishery remains a risk to right whales. Alaska Marine Mammal Stock Assessments, 2016. Some of the populations of each species are protected under the Endangered Species Act. 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. No comments were received on that certification, and no new information has been discovered to change that conclusion. The tier analysis requires a minimum amount of data, and NMFS does not have sufficient data to perform a tier analysis on certain fisheries. The Public Inspection page may also These markup elements allow the user to see how the document follows the The actions and activities of these efforts fall under the purview, authority, or regulation of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) via the Endangered Species Act (ESA), Federal Power. and Southern Oregon and Northern California Coastal Chinook Salmon as Threatened or Endangered under the Endangered Species Act (Draft) With our partners, we are working on hundreds of projects to protect and restore vital habitat for West Coast fish and wildlife populations. These habitat conservation measures restrict vessels targeting other species besides groundfish, and, when working in concert with other gear restrictions and fishery management measures, minimize the adverse effects of fishing on groundfish essential fish habitat. AOLA requests NMFS incorporate more timely data and recent information into the 2021 LOF. Our prolific bays and estuaries nurture Dungeness crabs, oysters, and other delectable shellfish prized around the world. (Photo courtesy of Woody Venard), Expanding Electronic Reporting Across the Pacific Ocean, Gray Whale Numbers Continue Decline; NOAA Fisheries Will Continue Monitoring, A gray whale mother calf pair migrating along the central California coast from the wintering grounds in Mexico to the summer feeding grounds in Alaska. AK Kuskokwim, Yukon, Norton Sound, Kotzebue salmon gillnet, AK Prince William Sound salmon set gillnet, AK roe herring and food/bait herring gillnet, WA Grays Harbor salmon drift gillnet (excluding treaty Tribal fishing), WA/OR Mainstem Columbia River eulachon gillnet, WA/OR lower Columbia River (includes tributaries) drift gillnet. One killer whale (Gulf of Alaska, BSAI transient stock) M/SI was driving the Category II classification of the BSAI Pacific cod longline fishery. We, NMFS, announce a 90-day finding on a petition to list the Oregon Coast (OC) and Southern Oregon and Northern California Coastal (SONCC) Chinook salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) Evolutionarily Significant Units (ESUs) as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) or, alternatively, list only the spring-run Chinook salmon The majority of the Southern DPS green sturgeon encountered are released alive and expected to survive. Bottlenose dolphin, GMX bay, sound, estuarine (FL west coast portion). This prototype edition of the Irma Lagomarsino Senior Policy Advisor at NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region 4d Report this post Report Report. Baird, R.W., and D.L. Several shark species have been identified as future priority species . Dahle, M.E. The MMPA and implementing regulations (50 CFR 229.6) also include a marine mammal mortality and injury reporting requirement for all Category I, II and III fisheries. Therefore, NMFS reclassifies the AK BSAI Pacific cod longline fishery from a Category II to a Category III fishery in this final rule. The management change resulted in a substantial reduction in discarded catch.It led to the full rebuilding of several groundfish species, some of them a decade or more ahead of expectations. The Groundfish Trawl Catch Share Program freed fishermen from having to race each other to catch the most fish. NMFS adds both the Eastern North Pacific Gulf of Alaska, Aleutian Islands, and Bering Sea Transient stock, and West Coast Transient stock, of killer whales to the list of species/stocks incidentally killed or injured in the Category II CA Dungeness crab pot fishery. 02-204-01. NMFS adds three stocks to the list of species/stocks incidentally killed or injured in the Category II AK Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands Pacific cod pot fishery: (1) Bristol Bay stock of harbor seal, (2) Western North Pacific stock of humpback whale, and (3) Central North Pacific stock of humpback whale. For more information on how NMFS classifies high seas fisheries on the LOF, see the preamble text in the final 2009 LOF (73 FR 73032; December 1, 2008). Angliss, B.A. Observers collect information on what is caught, whether it is landed or discarded at sea, to estimate bycatch. Under the MMPA, we conserve and manage marine mammal populations along the West Coast. We also conduct research on the impacts of environmental variability and climate change on marine ecosystems and on fishery and conservation socio-economics. NMFS adds the Cook Inlet stock of harbor seal to the list of species/stocks incidentally killed or injured in the Category III AK Gulf of Alaska halibut longline fishery.
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