Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 36 / Thursday, February 25, 2021 / Notices 11503 

Dated: February 18, 2021. 

Christian Marsh, 

Acting Assistant Secretary for Enforcement 

and Compliance. 

[FR Doc. 2021–03902 Filed 2–24–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XA844] 

Fisheries of the U.S. Caribbean; 

Southeast Data, Assessment, and 

Review (SEDAR); Public Meeting; 

Cancellation 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of cancellation of SEDAR 

80 Life History Topical Working Group 

Webinar I for U.S. Caribbean Queen 

Triggerfish. 

SUMMARY: The SEDAR 80 stock 

assessment of U.S. Caribbean queen 

triggerfish will consist of a series of data 

webinars. See SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION. 

DATES: The SEDAR 80 Life History 

Topical Working Group Webinar I was 

scheduled for March 10, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: 

Meeting address: The meeting was to 

be held via webinar. 

SEDAR address: 4055 Faber Place 

Drive, Suite 201, North Charleston, SC 

29405. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julie 

A. Neer, SEDAR Coordinator; (843) 571– 

4366; Email: Julie.neer@safmc.net. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

meeting notice published on February 3, 

2021 (86 FR 8003). This notice 

announces that the meeting is cancelled. 

(Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) 

Dated: February 19, 2021. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–03856 Filed 2–24–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XA853] 

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of 

Mexico, and South Atlantic; Exempted 

Fishing Permits 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of receipt of an 

application for exempted fishing permit; 

request for comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces the receipt 

of an application for an exempted 

fishing permit (EFP) from Dr. David 

Portnoy, Texas A&M University, Corpus 

Christi. If granted, the EFP would allow 

a limited harvest of speckled hind in 

South Atlantic Federal waters by select 

commercial fishermen. The samples 

collected would be used to assess the 

speckled hind population structure, 

genetic diversity, and life history in the 

South Atlantic. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received on or before March 12, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on the application, identified by 

‘‘NOAA–NMFS–2021–0007’’ by any of 

the following methods: 

• Electronic Submission: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to 

https://www.regulations.gov and enter 

‘‘NOAA–NMFS–2021–0007’’ in the 

Search box. Click on the ‘‘Comment’’ 

icon, complete the required fields, and 

enter or attach your comments. 

• Mail: Submit written comments to 

Frank Helies, Southeast Regional Office, 

NMFS, 263 13th Avenue South, St. 

Petersburg, FL 33701. 

Instructions: Comments sent by any 

other method, to any other address or 

individual, or received after the end of 

the comment period, may not be 

considered by NMFS. All comments 

received are a part of the public record 

and will generally be posted for public 

viewing on www.regulations.gov 

without change. All personal identifying 

information (e.g., name, address, etc), 

confidential business information, or 

otherwise sensitive information 

submitted voluntarily by the sender will 

be publicly accessible. NMFS will 

accept anonymous comments (enter ‘‘N/ 

A’’ in the required fields if you wish to 

remain anonymous). 

Electronic copies of the EFP 

application may be obtained from the 

Southeast Regional Office website at 

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/ 

southeast/about-us/south-atlanticspeckled-hind-exempted-fishing-permitapplication/. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Frank Helies, 727–824–5305; email: 

frank.helies@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The EFP is 

requested under the authority of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act; 16 U.S.C 1801 

et seq.), and regulations at 50 CFR 

600.745(b) concerning exempted 

fishing. 

Currently, Federal regulations at 50 

CFR 622.181 (b)(3) prohibit the harvest 

and possession of speckled hind in or 

from South Atlantic Federal waters. 

Speckled hind are sedentary, long-lived, 

deep-water groupers and are considered 

to be undergoing overfishing in the U.S. 

South Atlantic. There are no known 

data regarding the stock structure of 

speckled hind in South Atlantic waters 

and little is known about their biology; 

consequently, there are not enough data 

to accurately determine whether the 

species is overfished. 

Dr. Portnoy was awarded a Marine 

Fisheries Initiative grant to assess the 

population structure, genetic diversity, 

and life history of speckled hind in the 

U.S. South Atlantic. Beginning in 2018, 

Dr. Portnoy has already acquired some 

of his project’s needed speckled hind 

samples from fishery independent 

surveys conducted by NMFS and the 

South Carolina Department of Natural 

Resources. However, as a result of low 

encounter rates with the species since 

2018, and reduced fishery independent 

survey effort in 2020, additional 

samples will need to be collected 

through this EFP to obtain a sufficient 

number of samples for the project. 

If granted, the EFP would be valid 

through August 31, 2022, and would 

allow a limited harvest of up to 40 

speckled hind per calendar year (up to 

80 total for the duration of the EFP) in 

the Federal waters of the South Atlantic. 

The EFP would exempt select 

commercial fishermen from Federal 

regulations prohibiting the harvest and 

possession of speckled hind in Federal 

waters of the South Atlantic at 50 CFR 

622.181(b)(3). Because speckled hind 

would be harvested incidentally during 

routine commercial fishing trips, NMFS 

does not expect that any additional 

environmental impacts would occur 

through the issuance of the EFP. 

Dr. Portnoy proposes to collect 

speckled hind from select commercial 

fishermen who occasionally encounter 

speckled hind in South Atlantic Federal 

waters during routine commercial