18706 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 65 / Tuesday, April 5, 2011 / Proposed Rules 

Finding 

On the basis of our evaluation under 

section 4(b)(3)(A) of the Act, we find 

that the petition presents substantial 

scientific or commercial information 

indicating that listing both the Peary 

and Dolphin and Union caribou as 

endangered or threatened may be 

warranted. This finding is based on 

information evaluated under factors D 

and E for both subspecies. Because we 

have found that the petition presents 

substantial information indicating that 

listing these two subspecies may be 

warranted, we are initiating a status 

review to determine whether listing 

these two subspecies of caribou as 

endangered or threatened under the Act 

is warranted. 

References Cited 

A complete list of references cited is 

available on the Internet at http:// 

www.regulations.gov and upon request 

from the Branch of Foreign Species, 

Endangered Species Program, U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service (see FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT). 

Authors 

The primary authors of this notice are 

the staff members of the Branch of 

Foreign Species, Endangered Species 

Program, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

(see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). 

Authority: The authority for this action is 

the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 

amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 

Dated: March 11, 2011. 

Rowan W. Gould, 

Acting Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 2011–7653 Filed 4–4–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Parts 300 and 660 

[Docket No. 110218143–1209–01] 

RIN 0648–BA49 

Fisheries in the Eastern Pacific Ocean; 

Pelagic Fisheries; Vessel Identification 

Requirements 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS proposes to revise 

vessel identification requirements for 

U.S. vessels based out of the U.S. West 

Coast that fish for highly migratory 

species. The new measures would allow 

these vessels to be marked in 

accordance with the international 

standards that were implemented by 

NMFS for vessels fishing on the high 

seas in the Area of the Convention on 

the Conservation and Management of 

Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the 

Western and Central Pacific Ocean 

(Convention Area) in early 2010. 

Currently, the domestic marking 

requirements for some U.S. West Coast 

vessels do not comport with these 

international standards. The new 

measures would require vessels that fish 

in the Convention Area to display their 

International Telecommunication Union 

Radio Call Sign (IRCS), or if an IRCS has 

not been assigned to the vessel, the 

vessel would be required to display its 

official number, preceded by the 

characters ‘‘USA–’’. The intent of the 

proposed action is to bring the existing 

vessel identification requirements into 

conformity with the binding vessel 

identification requirements adopted by 

the Western and Central Pacific 

Fisheries Commission (WCPFC). 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

5 p.m., local time, on May 5, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by 0648–BA49, by any one of 

the following methods: 

• Electronic Submissions: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

• Fax: 562–980–4047, Attn: Heidi 

Hermsmeyer. 

• Mail: Rodney R. McInnis, Regional 

Administrator, NMFS Southwest 

Regional Office (SWR), 501 W. Ocean 

Blvd., Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 

90802. Include the identifier ‘‘0648– 

BA49’’ in the comments. 

Instructions: All comments received 

are a part of the public record and will 

generally be posted to http:// 

www.regulations.gov without change. 

All Personal Identifying Information (for 

example, name, address, etc.) 

voluntarily submitted by the commenter 

may be publicly accessible. Do not 

submit Confidential Business 

Information or otherwise sensitive or 

protected information. 

NMFS will accept anonymous 

comments (enter N/A in the required 

fields, if you wish to remain 

anonymous). You may submit 

attachments to electronic comments in 

Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or 

Adobe PDF file formats only. 

Written comments regarding the 

burden-hour estimates or other aspects 

of the collection-of-information 

requirements contained in this proposed 

rule may be submitted to NMFS SWR at 

the address above, and by e-mail to 

OIRA_Submission@omb.eop.gov, or fax 

to (202) 395–7285. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Heidi Hermsmeyer, NMFS SWR, 562– 

980–4036. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

WCPFC was established under the 

Convention on the Conservation and 

Management of Highly Migratory Fish 

Stocks in the Western and Central 

Pacific Ocean (Convention). The 

Convention’s objective is to ensure, 

through effective management, the longterm conservation and sustainable use 

of highly migratory fish stocks in the 

western and central Pacific Ocean, 

including measures to manage and 

conserve tunas and to minimize impacts 

on protected resources, such as sea 

turtles and seabirds. Figure 1 is a map 

of the Convention Area. The Convention 

Area includes the operational areas of 

U.S. troll, pole-and-line, tuna purse 

seine, and pelagic longline fisheries. 

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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 65 / Tuesday, April 5, 2011 / Proposed Rules 18707 

Under the Convention, vessels that 

are authorized to fish on the high seas 

in the Convention Area are required to 

be identified in accordance with the 

Standard Specifications for the Marking 

and Identification of Fishing Vessels of 

the Food and Agriculture Organization 

of the United Nations. By final rules 

published on January 21, 2010 (75 FR 

3335 and 3416), NMFS implemented 

those standards for U.S. fishing vessels 

under the authority of the Western and 

Central Pacific Fisheries Convention 

Implementation Act (WCPFCIA, Pub. L. 

109–479, sec. 501, et seq., and codified 

at 16 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.). Specifically, 

U.S. vessels used for commercial fishing 

for highly migratory species (HMS) on 

the high seas with a NMFS-issued 

WCPFC Area Endorsement would be 

required to display its IRCS on the port 

and starboard sides of the hull or 

superstructure and deck surface. If an 

IRCS has not been assigned, the vessel 

must display its official number (i.e., 

USCG documentation number or other 

registration number) preceded by the 

characters ‘‘USA’’ and a hyphen (i.e., 

‘‘USA—’’). Only these markings would 

be allowed on the hull or 

superstructure, apart from the vessel’s 

name and hailing port. 

This proposed rule is consistent with 

the requirements established under the 

WCPFCIA as it would revise existing 

vessel identification regulations at Title 

50, Code of Federal Regulations, 

§§ 660.704 and 300.173 to conform to 

the international standards. United 

States vessels that are issued a permit 

under 50 CFR 660.707, i.e., vessels that 

fish for HMS off or land HMS in the 

States of California, Oregon, and 

Washington, and that fish for HMS on 

the high seas of the Convention Area 

would be required to display vessel 

markings as described above. Vessels 

that fish for pelagic species only within 

the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) 

or on the high seas outside the 

Convention Area would have the option 

to be marked pursuant to the vessel 

identification requirements described 

above, or maintain markings pursuant to 

existing vessel identification 

requirements. The proposed rule would 

modify only the characters with which 

Federally-permitted pelagic fishing 

vessels are marked, and would not 

modify vessel operations or other 

aspects of the pelagic fisheries. 

Classification 

Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C. 

1854(b)(1)(A)), the NMFS Assistant 

Administrator has determined that this 

proposed rule is consistent with the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other 

applicable law, subject to further 

consideration after public comment. 

This proposed rule has been 

determined to be not significant for 

purposes of Executive Order 12866. 


WReier-Aviles on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with PROPOSALSEP05AP11.010</GPH>
18708 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 65 / Tuesday, April 5, 2011 / Proposed Rules 

The Chief Council for Regulation of 

the Department of Commerce certified 

to the Chief Council for Advocacy of the 

Small Business Administration that this 

proposed rule, if adopted, would not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities. A 

description of the action, why it is being 

considered, and the legal basis for this 

action are contained in the preamble to 

this proposed rule. All vessels having 

the potential to be affected by this 

action are considered to be small 

entities under the current Small 

Business Administration definition of 

small fish-harvesting businesses (gross 

receipts not in excess of $ 4.0 million). 

The proposed rule would result in an 

estimated one-time cost to each vessel of 

around $10 dollars to conform to the 

new vessel marking requirements. It is 

estimated that at a maximum 125 

vessels would be required to change 

their markings (estimate based on the 

current number of active vessels 

targeting HMS on the high seas that 

have the potential to fish in the WCPFC 

Convention Area). The majority, if not 

all, of these vessels would be troll and 

pole-and-line vessels targeting albacore 

tuna. The estimated 2008 average gross 

revenue per vessel for the troll and poleand-line fisheries was approximately 

$52,000. Average gross revenues per 

vessel for other fisheries that have the 

potential to be affected would be equal 

to or greater than the estimate for the 

troll and pole-and-line fisheries. 

Therefore, the cost of vessel marking for 

those vessels represents less than one 

percent of gross revenues per vessel on 

average. It is highly unlikely that this 

action would result in any vessel’s costs 

exceeding three percent of gross 

revenues (which would translate to an 

estimated cost of $1,550 for the troll and 

pole-and-line fisheries). 

This proposed action contains no 

fishery management controls that affect 

the operations of the fishery, other than 

vessel identification. Thus, significant 

impacts to the profitability of a 

substantial number of small entities are 

not anticipated. This rule does not 

duplicate, overlap, or conflict with other 

Federal rules. There are no 

disproportionate economic impacts 

from this rule based on home port, gear 

type, or relative vessel size. The Pacific 

Fishery Management Council (Council) 

was briefed on this issue at their 

September 2008 meeting; in a letter 

dated November 20, 2008, the Council 

formally recommended that NMFS 

revise regulations accordingly. 

Pursuant to section 605(b) of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 

605(b), the NMFS Southwest Regional 

Office (SWR) has determined that, for 

the reasons described above, this rule 

will not have a significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities. As a result, an initial regulatory 

flexibility analysis is not required and 

none has been prepared. 

This proposed rule contains 

collection-of-information requirements 

subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act 

(PRA) and which have been approved 

by the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) under control numbers 

0648–0361 and 0648–0492. Public 

reporting burden for vessel 

identification requirements under 0648– 

0361 is estimated to average 45 minutes 

per response, and public reporting 

burden for vessel marking requirement 

under 0648–0492 is estimated to average 

5 minutes per response, including the 

time for reviewing instructions, 

searching existing data sources, 

gathering and maintaining the data 

needed, and completing and reviewing 

the collection of information. Send 

comments regarding this burden 

estimate, or any other aspect of this data 

collection, including suggestions for 

reducing the burden, to NMFS 

Southwest Regional Office (see 

ADDRESSES) and by e-mail to 

OIRA_Submission@omb.eop.gov, or fax 

to 202–395–7285. 

Notwithstanding any other provision 

of the law, no person is required to 

respond to, and no person shall be 

subject to penalty for failure to comply 

with, a collection of information subject 

to the requirements of the PRA, unless 

that collection of information displays a 

currently valid OMB Control Number. 

List of Subjects 

50 CFR Part 300 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Fisheries, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

50 CFR Part 660 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

Dated: March 31, 2011. 

John Oliver, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Operations, National Marine Fisheries 

Service. 

For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, 50 CFR parts 300 and 660 are 

proposed to be amended as follows: 

PART 300—INTERNATIONAL 

FISHERIES REGULATIONS 

1. The authority citation for part 300 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 2431 et seq., 31 U.S.C. 

9701 et seq. 

2. Section § 300.173 is revised to read 

as follows: 

§ 300.173 Vessel identification. 

Each U.S. vessel fishing under the 

Treaty must be marked for identification 

purposes, as follows: 

(a) A vessel used to fish on the high 

seas within the Convention Area as 

defined in § 300.211 must be marked in 

accordance with the requirements at 

§ 300.14 and 300.217. 

(b) A vessel not used to fish on the 

high seas within the Convention Area as 

defined in § 300.211 must be marked in 

accordance with either: 

(1) Sections 300.14 and 300.217, or 

(2) The vessel’s name and U.S. Coast 

Guard Documentation number (or if not 

documented, the state registration 

number) followed by the letter U must 

be prominently displayed where they 

will be clearly visible both from the air 

and from a surface vessel. Numerals and 

the letter U must meet the size 

requirements of § 660.704 of this title. 

Markings must be legible and of a color 

that contrasts with the background. 

PART 660—FISHERIES OFF WEST 

COAST STATES 

1. The authority citation for part 660 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. and 16 

U.S.C. 7001 et seq. 

2. Section 660.704 is revised to read 

as follows: 

§ 660.704 Vessel identification. 

(a) Applicability. This section only 

applies to commercial fishing vessels 

that fish for HMS off, or land HMS in 

the States of California, Oregon, and 

Washington. This section does not 

apply to recreational charter vessels that 

fish for HMS off or land HMS in the 

States of California, Oregon, and 

Washington. Each fishing vessel must be 

marked for identification purposes, as 

follows: 

(1) A vessel used to fish on the high 

seas within the Convention Area as 

defined in § 300.211 of this title must be 

marked in accordance with the 

requirements at § 300.14 and 300.217 of 

this title. 

(2) A vessel not used to fish on the 

high seas within the Convention Area as 

defined in § 300.211 of this title must be 

marked in accordance with either: 

(i) Sections 300.14 and 300.217 of this 

title, or 

(ii) The vessel’s official number must 

be affixed to the port and starboard 

sides of the deckhouse or hull, and on 

an appropriate weather deck so as to be 

visible from enforcement vessels and 

aircraft. The official number must be 

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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 65 / Tuesday, April 5, 2011 / Proposed Rules 18709 

affixed to each vessel subject to this 

section in block Arabic numerals at least 

10 inches (25.40 cm) in height for 

vessels more than 25 ft (7.62 m) but 

equal to or less than 65 ft (19.81 m) in 

length; and 18 inches (45.72 cm) in 

height for vessels longer than 65 ft 

(19.81 m) in length. Markings must be 

legible and of a color that contrasts with 

the background. 

(b) [Reserved]. 

[FR Doc. 2011–8075 Filed 4–4–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 660 

[Docket No. 110311192–1204–01] 

RIN 0648–BA95 

Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; 

Fisheries Off West Coast States; 

Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; 2011 

Tribal Fishery for Pacific Whiting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is issuing this 

proposed rule for the 2011 Pacific 

whiting tribal fishery under the 

authority of the Pacific Coast 

Groundfish Fishery Management Plan 

(FMP) and the Magnuson Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act (Magnuson Act). Washington 

coastal treaty Indian tribes mean the 

Hoh, Makah, and Quileute Indian Tribes 

and the Quinault Indian Nation. This 

proposed rule establishes an interim 

tribal allocation of Pacific whiting for 

the 2011 season only, based on 

discussions with the Makah and 

Quileute tribes and Quinault Indian 

Nation regarding their fishing plans. At 

the March, 2011 Pacific Fishery 

Management Council (Council) meeting, 

the Council recommended a coastwide 

Optimum Yield (OY) of 393,751 mt. 

This would result in a U.S. OY of 

290,903 mt. The proposed rule, based 

on communications to date with the 

tribes, proposes a tribal allocation of 

66,908 mt, for 2011 only, given the 

Council’s recommended OY. 

DATES: Comments on this proposed rule 

must be received no later than 5 p.m., 

local time on April 19, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by RIN 0648–BA95 by any 

one of the following methods: 

• Electronic Submissions: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

• Fax: 206–526–6736, Attn: Kevin C. 

Duffy 

• Mail: William W. Stelle, Jr., 

Regional Administrator, Northwest 

Region, NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way 

NE, Seattle, WA 98115–0070, Attn: 

Kevin C. Duffy. 

Instructions: All comments received 

are a part of the public record and will 

generally be posted to http:// 

www.regulations.gov without change. 

All Personal Identifying Information (for 

example, name, address, etc.) 

voluntarily submitted by the commenter 

may be publicly accessible. Do not 

submit Confidential Business 

Information or otherwise sensitive or 

protected information. 

NMFS will accept anonymous 

comments. Attachments to electronic 

comments will be accepted in Microsoft 

Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe 

PDF file formats only. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kevin C. Duffy (Northwest Region, 

NMFS), phone: 206–526–4743, fax: 

206–526–6736 and e-mail: 

kevin.duffy@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Electronic Access 

This proposed rule is accessible via 

the Internet at the Office of the Federal 

Register’s Web site at http:// 

www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html. 

Background information and documents 

are available at the Pacific Fishery 

Management Council’s Web site at 

http://www.pcouncil.org/. 

Background 

The regulations at 50 CFR 660.50(d) 

establish the process by which the tribes 

with treaty fishing rights in the area 

covered by the Pacific Coast Groundfish 

Fishery Management Plan (FMP) request 

new allocations or regulations specific 

to the tribes, in writing, during the 

biennial harvest specifications and 

management measures process. The 

regulations state ‘‘the Secretary will 

develop tribal allocations and 

regulations under this paragraph in 

consultation with the affected tribe(s) 

and, insofar as possible, with tribal 

consensus.’’ These procedures employed 

by NOAA in implementing tribal treaty 

rights under the FMP, in place since 

May 31, 1996, were designed to provide 

a framework process by which NMFS 

can accommodate tribal treaty rights by 

setting aside appropriate amounts of 

fish in conjunction with the Pacific 

Fishery Management Council (Council) 

process for determining harvest 

specifications and management 

measures. The Council’s groundfish 

fisheries require a high degree of 

coordination among the tribal, state, and 

federal co-managers in order to rebuild 

overfished species and prevent 

overfishing, while allowing fishermen 

opportunities to sustainably harvest 

over 90 species of groundfish managed 

under the FMP. 

Since 1996, NMFS has been allocating 

a portion of the U.S. OY of Pacific 

whiting to the tribal fishery following 

the process established in 50 CFR 

660.50(d). The tribal allocation is 

subtracted from the whiting OY before 

allocation to the non-tribal sectors. To 

date, there has been no determination of 

the total amount of whiting for which 

the tribes are entitled to fish under their 

treaty right. Therefore, allocations to 

date have been on an interim basis, and 

are not considered to set precedent with 

respect to the amount of the treaty right. 

To date, only the Makah Tribe has 

prosecuted a tribal fishery for Pacific 

whiting. The Makah Tribe has annually 

harvested a whiting allocation every 

year since 1996 using midwater trawl 

gear. From 1999 until 2009, the tribal 

allocation was based on a statement of 

need for their tribal fishery. In recent 

years prior to 2009, the specific tribal 

amount was generally, although not 

always, determined using a sliding scale 

relative to the U.S. whiting OY of 

between 14 and 17.5 percent, depending 

on the specific OY determined by the 

Council. In general, years with a 

relatively low OY resulted in a tribal 

allocation closer to 17.5 percent, and 

years with a relatively high OY result in 

a tribal allocation closer to 14 percent. 

Between 2000 and 2008, the U.S. OY 

ranged from a high of 269,545 mt in 

2008 to a low of 129,600 mt in 2002. In 

absolute amounts, the tribal allocation 

from 2000 to 2008 ranged from a high 

of 35,000 mt in 2005, 2007, and 2008 to 

a low of 22,680 mt in 2002. 

For the 2009 fishery, the Quileute 

Tribe first stated their intent to 

participate in the fishery. That year, the 

U.S. OY was 135,939 mt, and the tribal 

allocation was set at 50,000 mt (36.78 

percent of the U.S. OY). A set-aside of 

42,000 mt was established for the 

Makah, and an 8,000 mt set-aside was 

established for the Quileute. The final 

rule in 2009 anticipated the Makah 

managing their fisheries to achieve a 

harvest of no more than 42,000 mt, and 

the Quileute managing their fisheries to 

achieve a harvest of no more than 8,000 

mt. For 2010, both the Makah and 

WReier-Aviles on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with PROPOSALS