Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 39 / Tuesday, March 2, 2021 / Notices 12177 

5. Report on Mariana Archipelago FEP 

AP Plan Activities 

6. Fishery Issues and Activities 

7. Public Comment 

8. Discussion and Recommendations 

9. Other Business 

Special Accommodations 

These meetings are physically 

accessible to people with disabilities. 

Requests for sign language 

interpretation or other auxiliary aids 

should be directed to Kitty M. Simonds, 

(808) 522–8220 (voice) or (808) 522– 

8226 (fax), at least 5 days prior to the 

meeting date. 

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

Dated: February 25, 2021. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–04269 Filed 3–1–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XA905] 

Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management 

Council; Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of a public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Gulf of Mexico Fishery 

Management Council will hold a 

meeting of its Mackerel Advisory Panel 

(AP) via webinar. 

DATES: The webinar will convene on 

Wednesday, March 24, 2021, from 9 

a.m. to 5 p.m., EDT. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held 

via webinar. Visit the Gulf Council 

website for registration and log in 

information. 

Council address: Gulf of Mexico 

Fishery Management Council, 4701 W. 

Spruce Street, Suite 200, Tampa, FL 

33607; telephone: (813) 348–1630. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Natasha Mendez-Ferrer, Fishery 

Biologist, Gulf of Mexico Fishery 

Management Council; natasha.mendez@

gulfcouncil.org; telephone: (813) 348– 

1630. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

following items are on the agenda, 

though agenda items may be addressed 

out of order (changes will be noted on 

the Council’s website when possible). 

Wednesday, March 24, 2021; 9 a.m.–5 

p.m.; EDT 

The meeting will begin with 

Introduction; Election of Chair and 

Vice-Chair; 

Adoption of Agenda; Approval of 

Minutes from the October 9, 2018 

webinar; and, review of Scope of Work 

with its members. 

The AP will receive an update on the 

Coastal Migratory Pelagic Landings; 

SEDAR 28 Update: Gulf Migratory 

Group Cobia—with presentations on the 

stock assessment and results, 

Something’s Fishy, and Draft 

Management Alternatives. The AP will 

then provide recommendations. 

Following lunch, the AP will receive 

an update on SEDAR 38: Gulf of Mexico 

King Mackerel—with presentations on 

the stock assessment and results, 

Something’s Fishy, and scoping of 

management alternatives. The AP will 

then provide recommendations. 

The AP will receive a summary on the 

Coastal Migratory Pelagics Amendment 

34 for Atlantic King Mackerel; and will 

review a presentation and discuss 

Commercial Electronic Logbooks. 

The AP will receive any public 

comment; and discuss any Other 

Business items. 

—Meeting Adjourns 

The meeting will be held via webinar. 

You may register for the webinar by 

visiting www.gulfcouncil.org and 

clicking on the Mackerel Advisory Panel 

meeting on the calendar. 

The Agenda is subject to change, and 

the latest version along with other 

meeting materials will be posted on 

www.gulfcouncil.org as they become 

available. 

Although other non-emergency issues 

not on the agenda may come before the 

Advisory Panel for discussion, in 

accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act, those issues may not be the subject 

of formal action during this meeting. 

Actions of the Advisory Panel will be 

restricted to those issues specifically 

identified in the agenda and any issues 

arising after publication of this notice 

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 Council’s intent to takeaction to address the emergency. 

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

Dated: February 25, 2021. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–04266 Filed 3–1–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XA846] 

Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; 

General Provisions for Domestic 

Fisheries; Application for Exempted 

Fishing Permits 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The Assistant Regional 

Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, 

Greater Atlantic Region, NMFS, has 

made a preliminary determination that 

an Exempted Fishing Permit application 

from the Coonamessett Farm 

Foundation contains all of the required 

information and warrants further 

consideration. This Exempted Fishing 

Permit would allow a participating 

party/charter fishing vessel to 

temporarily possess undersized black 

sea bass for tagging and biological 

sampling purposes. Regulations under 

the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

require publication of this notification 

to provide interested parties the 

opportunity to comment on applications 

for proposed Exempted Fishing Permits. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before March 17, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit written 

comments by the following method: 

• Email: NMFS.GAR.EFP@noaa.gov. 

Include in the subject line ‘‘Comments 

on CFF Black Sea Bass Tagging EFP.’’ If 

you cannot submit a comment through 

this method, please contact Laura 

Hansen at 978–281–9225, or email at 

Laura.Hansen@noaa.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Laura Hansen, Fishery Management 

Specialist, 978–281–9225, 

Laura.Hansen@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Coonamessett Farm Foundation (CFF) 

submitted a complete application for an 

Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) on 

October 26, 2020, to conduct fishing 

activities that the regulations would 

otherwise restrict. The EFP would 

authorize a participating vessel to 

temporarily possess undersize black sea 

bass while conducting tagging 

procedures and biological sampling. 

This research is designed to tag and 

release black sea bass to study 

movement patterns, habitat usage, and 

migratory cycles for up to the 2-year 

battery life of the telemetry tags. 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
12178 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 39 / Tuesday, March 2, 2021 / Notices 

If approved, this research would be 

conducted over the course of two 3-day 

sampling trips in April and August of 

2021, for a total of 6 research fishing 

days. All fishing would be conducted 

using rod and reel gear on a contracted 

charter vessel in state and Federal 

waters off the coasts of Maryland, 

Virginia, and North Carolina. The exact 

fishing locations would be determined 

by the vessel captain and recorded via 

GPS. 

All black sea bass caught on directed 

research trips under this EFP would be 

placed in a live well, and the length and 

sex of each individual would be 

recorded before tagging. Each black sea 

bass would then be tagged with an 

internal anchor spaghetti tag, allowed to 

recover from the procedure, assessed for 

barotrauma, and released back into the 

water using a pressure-activated 

recompression descending release 

device. All non-target species would be 

returned to the water as quickly as 

possible, and no catch would be 

retained for sale. CFF personnel would 

accompany all trips and oversee these 

research activities. 

In addition to the spaghetti tags, 77 

black sea bass would be tagged with 

specialty tags/equipment through this 

project, with the type of specialized tag 

used and data gathered depending on 

the size and vigor of each fish. A total 

of 40 fish would receive acoustic 

transmitters to record temperature. An 

additional 34 slightly larger fish (greater 

than 25 cm) would receive an archival 

tag that records temperature, depth, and 

conductivity, and 3 fish (greater than 46 

cm) will be affixed with satellite tags. 

The satellite tags measure temperature, 

depth, light level, and geolocation. CFF 

will also distribute 2,000 Floy internal 

anchor tags to collaborators to 

opportunistically tag black sea bass. 

CFF is requesting temporary 

exemptions from the recreational 

possession limit and minimum size 

restrictions in the Black Sea Bass 

Fishery Management Plan found at 50 

CFR 648.145(a) and § 648.147(b), 

respectively, to sample and tag all black 

sea bass during these selected fishing 

trips. Funding for this research has been 

awarded under a NOAA Chesapeake 

Bay Fisheries Research grant 

(NA18NMF4570257). 

If approved, CFF may request minor 

modifications and extensions to the EFP 

throughout the study period. EFP 

modifications and extensions may be 

granted without further notice if they 

are deemed essential to facilitate 

completion of the proposed research 

and have minimal impacts that do not 

change the scope or impact of the 

initially approved EFP request. Any 

fishing activity conducted outside the 

scope of the exempted fishing activity 

would be prohibited. 

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

Dated: February 25, 2021. 

Jennifer M. Wallace, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–04264 Filed 3–1–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Submission to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

Review and Approval; Comment 

Request; Western Pacific Community 

Development Program Process 

AGENCY: National Oceanic & 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of Information 

Collection, request for comment. 

SUMMARY: The Department of 

Commerce, in accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(PRA), invites the general public and 

other Federal agencies to comment on 

proposed, and continuing information 

collections, which helps us assess the 

impact of our information collection 

requirements and minimize the public’s 

reporting burden. The purpose of this 

notice is to allow for 60 days of public 

comment preceding submission of the 

collection to OMB. 

DATES: To ensure consideration, 

comments regarding this proposed 

information collection must be received 

on or before May 3, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit written comments to 

Adrienne Thomas, NOAA PRA Officer, 

at Adrienne.thomas@noaa.gov. Please 

reference OMB Control Number 0648– 

0612 in the subject line of your 

comments. Do not submit Confidential 

Business Information or otherwise 

sensitive or protected information. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Requests for additional information or 

specific questions related to collection 

activities should be directed to Kate 

Taylor, National Marine Fisheries 

Service, Pacific Islands Regional Office, 

1845 Wasp Blvd. 176, Honolulu, HI 

96818. Telephone: (808) 725–5182; 

Email: kate.taylor@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract 

This request is for an extension of a 

currently approved information 

collection. The Federal regulations at 50 

CFR part 665 authorize the Regional 

Administrator of the National Marine 

Fisheries Service (NMFS), Pacific Island 

Region to provide eligible western 

Pacific communities with access to 

fisheries that they have traditionally 

depended upon, but may not have the 

capabilities to support continued and 

substantial participation, possibly due 

to economic, regulatory, or other 

barriers. To be eligible to participate in 

the western Pacific community 

development program, a community 

must meet the criteria set forth in 50 

CFR part 665.20, and submit a 

community development plan that 

describes the purposes and goals of the 

plan, the justification for proposed 

fishing activities, and the degree of 

involvement by the indigenous 

community members, including contact 

information. 

This collection of information 

provides NMFS and the Western Pacific 

Fishery Management Council (Council) 

with data to determine whether a 

community that submits a community 

development plan meets the regulatory 

requirements for participation in the 

program, and whether the activities 

proposed under the plan are consistent 

with the intent of the program, the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act, and 

other applicable laws. The information 

is also important for evaluating 

potential impacts of the proposed 

community development plan activities 

on fish stocks, endangered species, 

marine mammals, and other 

components of the affected environment 

for the purposes of compliance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act, the 

Endangered Species Act and other 

applicable laws. 

II. Method of Collection 

The collection of information of a 

community development plan involves 

no forms and respondents have a choice 

of submitting information by electronic 

transmission or by mail. Instructions on 

how to submit a community 

development plan can be found on the 

Council’s website at http://

www.wpcouncil.org/western-pacificcommunity-development-program/. 

III. Data 

OMB Control Number: 0648–0612. 

Form Number(s): None. 

Type of Review: Regular submission 

(extension of a current information 

collection). 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES