542 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 3 / Wednesday, January 5, 2011 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XA123 

Marine Mammals; File No. 15616 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; receipt of application. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

Craig Matkin, North Gulf Oceanic 

Society, Homer, AK, has applied in due 

form for a permit to conduct research on 

marine mammals. 

DATES: Written, telefaxed, or e-mail 

comments must be received on or before 

February 4, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: The application and related 

documents are available for review by 

selecting ‘‘Records Open for Public 

Comment’’ from the Features box on the 

Applications and Permits for Protected 

Species (APPS) home page, https:// 

apps.nmfs.noaa.gov, and then selecting 

File No. 15616 from the list of available 

applications. 

These documents are also available 

upon written request or by appointment 

in the following office(s): 

Permits, Conservation and Education 

Division, Office of Protected Resources, 

NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 

13705, Silver Spring, MD 20910; phone 

(301) 713–2289; fax (301) 713–0376; and 

Alaska Region, NMFS, P.O. Box 

21668, Juneau, AK 99802–1668; phone 

(907) 586–7221; fax (907) 586–7249. 

Written comments on this application 

should be submitted to the Chief, 

Permits, Conservation and Education 

Division, at the address listed above. 

Comments may also be submitted by 

facsimile to (301) 713–0376, or by email to NMFS.Pr1Comments@noaa.gov. 

Please include the File No. in the 

subject line of the email comment. 

Those individuals requesting a public 

hearing should submit a written request 

to the Chief, Permits, Conservation and 

Education Division at the address listed 

above. The request should set forth the 

specific reasons why a hearing on this 

application would be appropriate. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Tammy Adams or Kristy Beard, (301) 

713–2289. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

subject permit is requested under the 

authority of the Marine Mammal 

Protection Act of 1972, as amended 

(MMPA; 16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.), and the 

regulations governing the taking and 

importing of marine mammals (50 CFR 

part 216). 

The applicant requests a five-year 

permit to study marine mammals in 

Alaskan waters, including southeast 

Alaska, Prince William Sound, the 

Kenai Peninsula, the Eastern Aleutian 

Islands, and the Bering Sea. The 

purpose of the research is to maintain a 

long-term killer whale (Orcinus orca) 

monitoring program in Alaskan waters 

that was initiated over 25 years ago. In 

addition, the permit holder would 

examine movements of other nonendangered cetacean species along the 

North Gulf Coast of Alaska in relation to 

U.S. Navy testing activities. The 

proposed research activities include 

photo-identification, passive acoustic 

recording, biopsy sampling, tagging 

with barbed darts and suction cups, and 

collecting samples of marine mammal 

carcasses from sites of killer whale 

predation. 

The applicant requests to 

photoidentify and acoustically record 

(PI), biopsy sample (BS), attach barbed 

dart satellite tags (DT), and suction cup 

tags (ST) to the following cetacean 

species: killer whales (PI 2000, BS 100, 

DT 75, ST 75), gray whales (Eschrichtius 

robustus; PI 100, BS 8, DT 25), Baird’s 

beaked whales (Berardius bairdii; PI 50, 

BS 8, DT 8), Cuvier’s beaked whales 

(Ziphius cavirostris; PI 50, BS 8, DT 8), 

and Stejneger’s beaked whales 

(Mesoplodon stejnegeri; PI 50, BS 8, DT 

8). Prey remains would be collected 

from carcasses of the following species: 

15 minke whales (Balaenoptera 

acutorostrata), 25 gray whale, 15 harbor 

porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), 15 

Dall’s porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli), 25 

harbor seals (Phoca vitulina), 15 Pacific 

white-sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus 

obliquidens), 25 northern fur seals 

(Callorhinus ursinus), 25 other 

‘‘unidentified’’ cetaceans, and 25 other 

‘‘unidentified’’ pinnipeds. 

An initial determination has been 

made in compliance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) 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 29, 2010. 

P. Michael Payne, 

Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education 

Division, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–33309 Filed 1–4–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XA126 

Pacific Fishery Management Council 

(Council); Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of a public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Pacific Fishery 

Management Council (Pacific Council) 

will convene a meeting of the Ecosystem 

Plan Development Team (EPDT) which 

is open to the public. 

DATES: The EPDT will meet on 

Wednesday, January 26, 2011, beginning 

at 1:30 p.m. and on Thursday, January 

27th beginning at 8:30 a.m. Both 

meeting sessions will conclude at 

5 p.m., or when business for each day 

is completed. 

ADDRESSES: The EPDT meeting will be 

held at the NMFS, Southwest Fisheries 

Science Center, Conference Room, 110 

Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95060; 

telephone: (831) 420–3900. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mike Burner, Staff Officer; telephone: 

(503) 820–2280. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Please 

note, this is not a public hearing; it is 

a work session for the primary purpose 

of drafting a report and 

recommendations to the Council on the 

development of an Ecosystem Fishery 

Management Plan (EFMP). At the 

September 2010 Council meeting, the 

EPDT and the Ecosystem Advisory 

Subpanel provided an initial report on 

EFMP development that included a 

draft statement of purpose and need, a 

list of initial goals and objectives, and 

options for the EFMP’s geographic 

range, managed species, and regulatory 

scope. In response, the Council tasked 

the EPDT with a review of the Council’s 

four fishery management plans (FMPs) 

to identify existing ecosystem-based 

principles as well as common 

management needs that may benefit 

from a coordinated overarching EFMP 

framework. A draft version of an EPDT 

report responding to the Council’s 

direction will be reviewed at this 

meeting and is ultimately scheduled to 

be presented to the Council and its 

Advisory Bodies at the March 2011 

Council meeting in Vancouver, WA. 

Although non-emergency issues not 

contained in the meeting agenda may 

come before the EPDT for discussion, 

those issues may not be the subject of 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 3 / Wednesday, January 5, 2011 / Notices 543 

formal EPDT action during this meeting. 

EPDT action will be restricted to those 

issues specifically listed in this notice 

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 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 Ms. 

Carolyn Porter at (503) 820–2280 at least 

5 days prior to the meeting date. 

Dated: December 30, 2010. 

William D. Chappell, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–33277 Filed 1–4–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XA127 

New England 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 New England Fishery 

Management Council (Council) will 

hold a 3-day Council meeting on 

Tuesday–Thursday, January 25–27, 

2011 to consider actions affecting New 

England fisheries in the exclusive 

economic zone (EEZ). 

DATES: The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. 

on Tuesday, January 25 and at 8:30 a.m. 

on each of the following two meeting 

days. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at 

the Sheraton Harborside Hotel, 250 

Market Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801; 

telephone: (603) 431–2300 and fax: 

(603) 433–5649. 

Council address: New England 

Fishery Management Council, 50 Water 

Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950; 

telephone: (978) 465–0492. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul 

J. Howard, Executive Director, New 

England Fishery Management Council; 

telephone: (978) 465–0492. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Tuesday, January 25, 2011 

Following introductions and any 

announcements, the Council will begin 

its meeting with a series of brief reports 

from the Council Chairman and 

Executive Director, the NOAA Fisheries 

Northeast Regional Administrator, 

Northeast Fisheries Science Center and 

Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management 

Council liaisons, NOAA General 

Counsel, representatives of the U.S. 

Coast Guard and the Atlantic States 

Marine Fisheries Commission, as well 

as NOAA Enforcement. These reports 

will be followed by a review of any 

experimental fishery permit 

applications that have been received 

since the last Council meeting in 

November 2010. The Chairman of the 

Habitat Committee will then provide a 

brief update on activities to date to 

complete Habitat Omnibus 2, an action 

that will amend all of the Council’s 

Fishery Management Plans (FMPs) with 

respect to Essential Fish Habitat and 

minimizing the habitat impacts of 

fishing activities. Members of the 

Council’s Scientific and Statistical 

Committee (SSC) will report on their 

white paper and further outline 

approaches to undertaking ecosystembased fisheries management. Prior to a 

lunch break, an Ocean Observatories 

Initiative representative will present an 

outline of their project—a networked 

sensor system array proposed for 

offshore Southern New England to 

measure the physical, chemical, 

geological and biological variables in 

the ocean and its seafloor. During the 

afternoon session, the Council will 

accept public comments on issues 

related to fisheries management, but not 

listed on the meeting agenda. Later, the 

Skate Committee will discuss and the 

Council will consider approval of an 

action to lower the skate wing 

possession limit for the 2011 fishing 

year. A Northeast Fisheries Science 

Center representative will report on the 

November 2010 Stock Assessment 

Workshop/Stock Assessment Review 

Committee meeting that determined the 

status of Loligo, and five species of 

hake. The day will conclude with a 

report on the recent International 

Commission for the Conservation of 

Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) meeting. The 

focus will be on bluefin tuna and 

northern swordfish. 

Wednesday, January 26, 2011 

During the morning session, the 

Council may initiate a framework 

adjustment to the Northeast 

Multispecies FMP that could include a 

catch cap for haddock taken in the 

herring midwater trawl fishery. 

Following this discussion, the Herring 

Committee will ask the Council to 

approve management alternatives for 

inclusion in a Draft Environmental 

Impact Statement that will accompany 

Amendment 5 to the Atlantic Herring 

FMP. The action may address the 

following: catch monitoring alternatives; 

river herring bycatch; midwater trawl 

access to the groundfish closed areas; 

interactions with the Atlantic mackerel 

fishery; and protection for spawning 

herring. This agenda item will be 

discussed until the meeting adjourns at 

the end of the business day. 

Thursday, November 19, 2009 

The last day of the Council meeting 

will begin with a discussion of an 

amendment to the Northeast 

Multispecies FMP that could authorize 

state-operated permit banks as well as 

groundfish fleet diversity and 

accumulation limits. The Council also 

may discuss recent legislation that will 

affect the U.S./Canada Resource Sharing 

Understanding and may comment on 

the NMFS proposed rule for Framework 

Adjustment 45 to the Multispecies FMP. 

NOAA General Counsel in the Northeast 

Region will provide an update on case 

developments and/or regulatory issues 

that have arisen over the last six-to-eight 

months. Following this review, the 

Council plans to initiate Framework 

Adjustment 23 to the Sea Scallop FMP. 

The action could require scallop dredge 

vessels to use a turtle excluder device, 

possibly modify the amount of 

yellowtail flounder allocated to the 

scallop fishery and modify the limited 

access general category program in the 

Northern Gulf of Maine. The Council 

also plans to take final action on 

Framework Adjustment 7 to the 

Monkfish FMP. Included are measures 

to revise the biomass reference points, 

and accordingly, the Annual Catch 

Target in the monkfish Northern 

Management Area. Days-at-sea and trip 

limits for the 2011–13 fishing years also 

will be modified. Before adjournment, 

the Council may address any other 

outstanding business related to this 

meeting. 

Although other non-emergency issues 

not contained in this agenda may come 

before this Council for discussion, those 

issues may not be the subjects of formal 

action during this meeting. Council 

action will be restricted to those issues 

specifically listed in this notice and any 

issues arising after publication of this 

notice that require emergency action 

under section 305(c) of the MagnusonStevens Act, provided that the public 

has been notified of the Council’s intent 

to take final action to address the 

emergency. 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES