Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 216 / Tuesday, November 9, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 68725 

(C) Additional protection areas within 

the Kings Bay manatee refuge, but 

outside of the existing manatee 

sanctuaries set forth in paragraphs (a)(1) 

through (a)(7) of this section will be 

posted to distances as described in 

paragraph (c)(14)(ii)(A) of this section 

and identified by the following devices: 

buoys, float lines, signs, advisories from 

on-site Service employees and their 

designees, or other methods. 

(iii) Exceptions. Private and public 

landowners who own property that 

adjoins designated no entry areas in 

Kings Bay are authorized to be in these 

areas for the purpose of accessing their 

property and local waterways, storing 

watercraft, and maintaining owned 

property and waterways. Authorized 

individuals include property owners, 

their guests, employees, and their 

designees. All watercraft operated by 

authorized individuals will be 

identified by a sticker placed on the 

watercraft in a conspicuous location; the 

Service will provide identifying 

stickers. All authorized watercraft must 

operate at idle speed when in adjoining 

waters. Maintenance activities include 

those actions necessary to maintain 

property and waterways, subject to any 

Federal, State, and local government 

permitting requirements. 

(iv) Notifications. When waterborne 

activities pose an immediate threat to 

aggregations of manatees and are likely 

to take one or more manatees, additional 

protection areas outside of existing 

manatee sanctuaries set forth in 

paragraphs (a)(1) through (a)(7) of this 

section but within the Kings Bay 

manatee refuge will be posted to 

distances as described in paragraph 

(c)(14)(ii)(A) of this section. No-entry 

area designations will occur 

immediately. We will advise the public 

of designations through public notice(s) 

announcing and describing the 

measures in a local newspaper and 

other media, including but not limited 

to, local television and radio broadcasts, 

Web sites, and other news outlets, as 

soon as time permits. Onsite Service 

employees and their designees, when 

present, will also inform waterway users 

of designations. 

(v) Prohibitions. Pursuant to the ESA 

and MMPA, all takings, including 

takings by harassment, are prohibited 

throughout the year and any manatee 

takings, wherever they may occur, are 

prohibited. To better prevent the take of 

manatees by individuals engaged in 

waterborne activities while in the water, 

in boats, or on-shore within the Kings 

Bay Manatee Refuge, we specifically 

identify and prohibit the following 

types of activities. 

(A) Chasing or pursuing manatee(s). 

(B) Disturbing or touching resting or 

feeding manatee(s). 

(C) Diving from the surface on to 

resting or feeding manatee(s). 

(D) Cornering or surrounding or 

attempting to corner or surround a 

manatee(s). 

(E) Riding, holding, grabbing, or 

pinching or attempting to ride, hold, 

grab, or pinch manatee(s). 

(F) Poking, prodding, or stabbing, or 

attempting to poke, prod, or stab 

manatee(s) with anything, including 

your hands and feet. 

(G) Standing on or attempting to stand 

on manatee(s). 

(H) Separating a mother and calf or 

attempting to separate a mother and 

calf. 

(I) Separating manatee(s) from a group 

or attempting to separate manatee(s) 

from a group. 

(J) Giving manatee(s) anything to eat 

or drink or attempting to give 

manatee(s) anything to eat or drink. 

(K) Actively initiating contact with 

belted and/or tagged manatee(s) and 

associated gear, including any belts, 

harnesses, tracking devices, and 

antennae. 

(L) The following waterborne 

activities are prohibited within Three 

Sisters Springs, from November 15 to 

March 15: 

(1) Scuba diving. 

(2) Fishing, including with hook and 

line, by cast net, or spear. 

(vi) The area defined as Three Sisters 

Springs where scuba diving and fishing 

is prohibited is delineated as the 

following: The area known locally as 

Three Sisters Springs, which is located 

along the north shore of the canal that 

begins on the west side of the City of 

Crystal River’s SE Cutler Spur 

Boulevard and runs west northwest to 

Kings Bay. The area includes at least 

three main spring vents and numerous 

smaller vents within the Three Sisters 

Springs complex, and the spring run 

that connects the springs to the canal. 

Dated: October 25, 2010. 

Will Shafroth, 

Acting Assistant Secretary for Fish and 

Wildlife and Parks. 

[FR Doc. 2010–28196 Filed 11–8–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 300 

[Docket No. 090130102–91386–02] 

RIN 0648–XZ39 

Western and Central Pacific Fisheries 

for Highly Migratory Species; 2010 

Bigeye Tuna Longline Fishery Closure 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; fishery closure. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is closing the U.S. 

pelagic longline fishery for bigeye tuna 

in the western and central Pacific Ocean 

as a result of the fishery reaching the 

2010 catch limit. 

DATES: Effective November 22, 2010, 

through December 31, 2010. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom 

Graham, NMFS Pacific Islands Region, 

808–944–2219. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pelagic 

longline fishing in the western and 

central Pacific Ocean is managed, in 

part, under the Western and Central 

Pacific Fisheries Convention 

Implementation Act (Act). Regulations 

governing fishing by U.S. vessels in 

accordance with the Act appear at 50 

CFR part 300, subpart O. 

NMFS established a limit (74 FR 

63999, December 7, 2009, and codified 

at 50 CFR 300.224) for calendar year 

2010 of 3,763 metric tons (mt) of bigeye 

tuna (Thunnus obesus) that may be 

caught and retained in the U.S. pelagic 

longline fishery in the area of 

application of the Convention on the 

Conservation and Management of 

Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the 

Western and Central Pacific Ocean 

(Convention Area). NMFS monitored 

the retained catches of bigeye tuna using 

logbook data submitted by vessel 

captains and other available 

information, and determined that the 

2010 catch limit is expected to be 

reached on November 22, 2010. In 

accordance with § 300.224(d), this rule 

serves as advance notification to 

fishermen, the fishing industry, and the 

general public that the U.S. longline 

fishery for bigeye tuna in the 

Convention Area will be closed starting 

on November 22, 2010, through the end 

of the 2010 calendar year. The 2011 

fishing year is scheduled to open on 

January 1, 2011; the 2011 bigeye tuna 

catch limit will be 3,763 mt. This rule 

does not apply to the longline fisheries 


wwoods2 on DSK1DXX6B1PROD with RULES_PART 1
68726 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 216 / Tuesday, November 9, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

of American Samoa, Guam, or the 

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

Islands (CNMI), as described below. 

During the closure, a U.S. fishing 

vessel may not retain on board, 

transship, or land bigeye tuna captured 

by longline gear in the Convention Area, 

except that any bigeye tuna already on 

board a fishing vessel upon the effective 

date of the restrictions may be retained 

on board, transshipped, and landed, 

provided that they are landed within 14 

days of the start of the closure, that is, 

by December 6, 2010. This 14-day 

landing requirement does not apply to 

a vessel that has declared to NMFS, 

pursuant to 50 CFR 665.803(a), that the 

current trip type is shallow-setting. 

Furthermore, bigeye tuna caught by 

longline gear may be retained on board, 

transshipped, and landed if the fish are 

caught by a vessel registered for use 

under a valid NMFS-issued American 

Samoa Longline Limited Access Permit 

or if they are landed in American 

Samoa, Guam, or the CNMI. In either of 

these two cases, however, the following 

conditions must be met: 

(1) The bigeye tuna are not caught in 

the portion of the U.S. Exclusive 

Economic Zone (EEZ) around the 

Hawaiian Archipelago; 

(2) Such retention, transshipment, 

and/or landing is in compliance with 

applicable laws and regulations; and 

(3) The bigeye tuna are landed by a 

U.S. fishing vessel operated in 

compliance with a valid permit issued 

under 50 CFR 660.707 or 665.801. 

During the closure, a U.S. vessel is 

also prohibited from transshipping 

bigeye tuna caught in the Convention 

Area by longline gear to any vessel other 

than a U.S. fishing vessel operated with 

a valid permit issued under 50 CFR 

660.707 or 665.801. 

The catch limit and this closure do 

not apply to bigeye tuna caught by 

longline gear outside the Convention 

Area, such as in the eastern Pacific 

Ocean. To ensure compliance with the 

restrictions related to bigeye tuna caught 

by longline gear in the Convention Area, 

however, the following requirements 

apply during the closure period: 

(1) A U.S. fishing vessel may not be 

used to fish with longline gear both 

inside and outside the Convention Area 

during the same fishing trip, with the 

exception of a fishing trip that is in 

progress on November 22, 2010. In that 

case, the catch of bigeye tuna must be 

landed by December 6, 2010; and 

(2) If a U.S. vessel is used to fish using 

longline gear outside the Convention 

Area and the vessel enters the 

Convention Area at any time during the 

same fishing trip, the longline gear on 

the fishing vessel must be stowed in a 

manner so as not to be readily available 

for fishing while the vessel is in the 

Convention Area. Specifically, the 

hooks, branch or dropper lines, and 

floats used to buoy the mainline must be 

stowed and not available for immediate 

use, and any power-operated mainline 

hauler on deck must be covered in such 

a manner that it is not readily available 

for use. 

The above two additional prohibitions 

do not apply to the following vessels: 

(1) Vessels on declared shallowsetting trips pursuant to 50 CFR 

665.803(a); and 

(2) Vessels registered for use under 

valid American Samoa Longline Limited 

Access Permits and vessels landing their 

bigeye tuna catch in American Samoa, 

Guam, or the CNMI, so long as these 

vessels conduct fishing activities in 

accordance with the conditions 

described above, that is, the bigeye tuna 

were not caught in the EEZ around the 

Hawaiian Archipelago, the retention, 

transshipment, and/or landing is in 

compliance with applicable laws and 

regulations, and the bigeye tuna are 

landed by a vessel that has a valid 

permit issued under 50 CFR 660.707 or 

665.801. 

Classification 

There is good cause to waive prior 

notice and opportunity for public 

comment pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B). 

This action is based on the best 

available information and is necessary 

for the conservation and management of 

bigeye tuna. Compliance with the notice 

and comment requirement would be 

impracticable and contrary to the public 

interest, since NMFS would be unable 

to ensure that the 2010 bigeye tuna 

catch limit is not exceeded. The annual 

catch limit is an important mechanism 

to ensure that the U.S.A. complies with 

its international obligations in 

preventing overfishing and managing 

the fishery at optimum yield. Moreover, 

NMFS previously solicited public 

comments on the rule that established 

the catch limit (74 FR 63999, December 

7, 2009). For the same reasons, there is 

good cause to establish an effective date 

less than 30 days after date of 

publication of this notice. 

This action is required by § 300.224(d) 

and is exempt from review under 

Executive Order 12866. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 6901 et seq. 

Dated: November 4, 2010. 

James P. Burgess, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–28284 Filed 11–8–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 679 

[Docket No. 0910131363–0087–02] 

RIN 0648–XAO21 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Pacific Ocean Perch 

in the Bering Sea Subarea of the 

Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 

Management Area 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; modification of 

a closure. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is opening directed 

fishing for Pacific ocean perch in the 

Bering Sea subarea of the Bering Sea 

and Aleutian Islands management area. 

This action is necessary to fully use the 

2010 total allowable catch of Pacific 

ocean perch specified for the Bering Sea 

subarea of the Bering Sea and Aleutian 

Islands management area. 

DATES: Effective 1200 hrs, Alaska local 

time (A.l.t.), November 4, 2010, through 

2400 hrs, A.l.t., December 31, 2010. 

Comments must be received at the 

following address no later than 4:30 

p.m., A.l.t., November 24, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Sue 

Salveson, Assistant Regional 

Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries 

Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, Attn: 

Ellen Sebastian. You may submit 

comments, identified by 0648–XAO21, 

by any one of the following methods: 

• Electronic Submissions: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal Web site at 

http://www.regulations.gov. 

• Mail: P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 

99802. 

• Fax: (907) 586–7557. 

• Hand delivery to the Federal 

Building: 709 West 9th Street, Room 

420A, Juneau, AK. 

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 (e.g., name, address) 

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). Attachments to electronic 


wwoods2 on DSK1DXX6B1PROD with RULES_PART 1