Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 246 / Wednesday, December 26, 2018 / Notices 66251 

observations, measurements, 

bioacoustic recordings, acoustic 

playbacks, marking, flipper tagging, 

capture, and non-invasive physiological 

sampling. A total of 64, 927 elephant 

seals will be taken annually: 3,550 

handle/release takes, 500 capture/ 

handle/release takes, 1,575 harassment 

takes, 59,000 incidental disturbance 

takes, and two unintentional mortality 

takes, not to exceed five mortalities over 

the life of the permit. Samples from up 

to 300 naturally deceased elephant seals 

may be salvaged and imported, 

exported, or received annually. Nontarget species that may be incidentally 

disturbed include California sea lions 

(Zalophus californianus), harbor seals 

(Phoca vitulina), and northern fur seals 

(Callorhinus ursinus). 

In compliance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), an initial 

determination has been made that the 

activity proposed is categorically 

excluded from the requirement to 

prepare an environmental assessment or 

environmental impact statement. 

Concurrent with the publication of 

this notice in the Federal Register, 

NMFS is forwarding copies of the 

application to the Marine Mammal 

Commission and its Committee of 

Scientific Advisors. 

Dated: December 19, 2018. 

Julia Marie Harrison, 

Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, 

Office of Protected Resources, National 

Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2018–27870 Filed 12–21–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XG678 

Pacific Fishery Management Council; 

Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Pacific Fishery 

Management Council’s (Pacific Council) 

Ad Hoc Ecosystem Workgroup (EWG) 

will hold a meeting, which is open to 

the public. 

DATES: The meeting will be held 

Tuesday, January 15 and Wednesday, 

January 16, 2019. The meeting will start 

at 1 p.m. on January 15 and 8:30 a.m. 

on January 16 and will continue until 

4:30 p.m. on both days. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at 

Hyatt Place Portland Airport/Cascade 

Station, Meeting Place 2, 9750 NE 

Cascades Parkway, Portland, OR 97220; 

phone: (503) 288–2808. 

Council address: Pacific Fishery 

Management Council, 7700 NE 

Ambassador Place, Suite 101, Portland, 

OR 97220. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Kit Dahl, Pacific Council; telephone: 

(503) 820–2422. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

purpose of the meeting is for the EWG 

to discuss assignments from the Pacific 

Council due at the March Council 

meeting. These include topic selection 

for a climate change scenario planning 

exercise and recommendations on 

changes to the Fishery Ecosystem Plan 

as part of the 5-year review. The EWG 

will also meet with the Groundfish 

Management Team and Highly 

Migratory Species Management Team to 

discuss climate change scenario 

planning topics. 

Although non-emergency issues not 

contained in the meeting agenda may be 

discussed, those issues may not be the 

subject of formal action during this 

meeting. Action will be restricted to 

those issues specifically listed in this 

document and any issues arising after 

publication of this document that 

require emergency action under section 

305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act, 

provided the public has been notified of 

the intent to take final action to address 

the emergency. 

Special Accommodations 

This meeting is physically accessible 

to people with disabilities. Requests for 

sign language interpretation or other 

auxiliary aids should be directed to Mr. 

Kris Kleinschmidt, (503) 820–2411, at 

least 10 business days prior to the 

meeting date. 

Dated: December 19, 2018. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2018–27837 Filed 12–21–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XF888 

Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; 

Fisheries Off West Coast States; 

Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; 

Trawl Rationalization Program; 2019 

Cost Recovery 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; 2019 cost recovery fee 

percentages and mothership (MS) 

pricing. 

SUMMARY: This action provides 

participants in the Pacific Coast 

Groundfish Trawl Rationalization 

Program with the 2019 fee percentages 

and MS pricing needed to calculate the 

required payments for the cost recovery 

fees due in 2019. 

For calendar year 2019, NMFS 

announces the following fee percentages 

by sector specific program: 

• 2.9 percent for the Shorebased 

Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Program, 

• 0 percent for the MS Co-op 

Program, 

• 0 percent for the Catcher/Processer 

(CP) Co-op Program. 

For 2019, the MS pricing to be used 

as a proxy by the CP Co-op Program is: 

$0.07./lb for Pacific whiting. 

DATES: Applicable January 1, 2019. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Christopher Biegel, Cost Recovery 

Program Coordinator, (503) 231–6291, 

fax (503) 872–2737, email 

Christopher.Biegel@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(MSA) requires NMFS to collect fees to 

recover the costs directly related to the 

management, data collection and 

analysis, and enforcement directly 

related to and in support of a limited 

access privilege program (LAPP) (16 

U.S.C. 1854(d)(2)), also called ‘‘cost 

recovery.’’ The Pacific Coast Groundfish 

Trawl Rationalization Program is a 

LAPP, implemented in 2011, and 

consists of three sector-specific 

programs: The Shorebased IFQ Program, 

the MS Co-op Program, and the CP Coop Program. In accordance with the 

MSA, and based on a recommended 

structure and methodology developed in 

coordination with the Pacific Fishery 

Management Council (Council), NMFS 

began collecting mandatory fees of up to 

three percent of the ex-vessel value of 


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