Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 62 / Friday, March 30, 2012 / Notices 19225 

hereby given that the ACEHR will hold 

a meeting via teleconference on Friday, 

April 20, 2012, from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m. 

Eastern Time. There will be no central 

meeting location. Interested members of 

the public will be able to participate in 

the meeting from remote locations by 

calling into a central phone number. 

The primary purpose of this meeting is 

to develop the Committee’s draft annual 

report to the NIST Director. Any draft 

meeting materials will be posted on the 

NEHRP Web site at http://nehrp.gov/. 

Individuals and representatives of 

organizations who would like to offer 

comments and suggestions related to the 

Committee’s affairs are invited to 

request detailed instructions by 

contacting Michelle Harman on how to 

dial in from a remote location to 

participate in the meeting. Michelle 

Harman’s email address is 

michelle.harman@nist.gov, and her 

phone number is 301–975–5324. 

Approximately fifteen minutes will be 

reserved from 2:45 p.m.–3 p.m. Eastern 

Time for public comments; speaking 

times will be assigned on a first-come, 

first-serve basis. The amount of time per 

speaker will be determined by the 

number of requests received, but is 

likely to be about 3 minutes each. 

Questions from the public will not be 

considered during this period. Speakers 

who wish to expand upon their oral 

statements, those who had wished to 

speak but could not be accommodated, 

and those who were unable to 

participate are invited to submit written 

statements to the ACEHR, National 

Institute of Standards and Technology, 

100 Bureau Drive, MS 8604, 

Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899–8604, via 

fax at (301) 975–5433, or electronically 

by email to info@nehrp.gov. 

All participants of the meeting are 

required to pre-register. Anyone wishing 

to participate must register by close of 

business Friday, April 13, 2012, in order 

to be included. Please submit your 

name, email address, and phone number 

to Michelle Harman. After registering, 

participants will be provided with 

detailed instructions on how to dial in 

from a remote location in order to 

participate. Michelle Harman’s email 

address is michelle.harman@nist.gov, 

and her phone number is (301) 975– 

5324. 

Dated: March 21, 2012. 

Willie E. May, 

Associate Director for Laboratory Programs. 

[FR Doc. 2012–7480 Filed 3–29–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XB114 

Notice of Availability of Draft 

Documents for Public Comment 

Related to a Fishery Conservation Plan 

and Research Permits for the 

Washington State Department of Fish 

and Wildlife 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Washington State 

Department of Fish and Wildlife 

(WDFW) has submitted applications to 

NMFS for four scientific research 

permits and one incidental take permit 

(Permits) under the Endangered Species 

Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). We 

prepared a draft Environmental 

Assessment (EA) to support permitissuance decisions. As required by the 

ESA, WDFW has also prepared a 

Conservation Plan (Plan) designed to 

minimize and mitigate any such take of 

endangered or threatened species. The 

Permit applications are related to 

scientific research and fisheries 

management measures in waters of the 

Puget Sound/Georgia Basin, 

Washington. The research permits and 

fishery permit and the Plan each have 

a proposed term of 5 years. 

We request comments from the public 

on the draft EA, the proposed Plan and 

associated applications. All comments 

received will become part of the public 

record. 

DATES: Written comments on the draft 

EA and proposed Plan and associated 

applications must be received on or 

before April 23, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Address all written 

comments to: Dan Tonnes, National 

Marine Fisheries Service, 7600 Sand 

Point Way NE., Building Number 1, 

Seattle, WA 98115–6349, facsimile (206) 

526–6426. Comments may be submitted 

by email to the following address: 

WDFWEA.nwr@noaa.gov. In the subject 

line of the email, include the Document 

identifier: WDFW EA. Comments and 

materials received will be available for 

public inspection, by appointment, 

during normal business hours at the 

office listed in the ADDRESSES section of 

this notice. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dan 

Tonnes, National Marine Fisheries 

Service, 7600 Sand Point Way NE., 

Building Number 1, Seattle, WA 98115– 

6349, facsimile (206) 526–6426, phone 

(206) 526–4643, email: 

Dan.Tonnes@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Statutory Authority 

Section 9 of the ESA and its 

implementing Federal regulations 

prohibit the taking of a species listed as 

endangered or threatened. The term 

‘‘take’’ is defined under the ESA to 

mean harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, 

wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or 

to attempt to engage in any such 

conduct (16 U.S.C. 1532(19). ‘‘Harm’’ is 

defined to include significant habitat 

modification or degradation where it 

actually kills or injures wildlife by 

significantly impairing essential 

behavioral patterns, including breeding, 

feeding, and sheltering (64 FR 60727, 

November 8, 1999). ‘‘Harass’’ is defined 

as an intentional or negligent act or 

omission which creates the likelihood of 

injury to wildlife by annoying it to such 

an extent as to significantly disrupt 

normal behavioral patterns including 

breeding, feeding, and sheltering. 

NMFS may issue permits, under 

limited circumstances, to allow the take 

of listed species incidental to, and not 

the purpose of, otherwise lawful 

activities, and for scientific research. 

NMFS proposes to issue four research 

permits pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(A) 

and one incidental take permit pursuant 

to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA. NMFS 

regulations governing permits for 

threatened and endangered species are 

at 50 CFR 222.307. 

Background 

Fisheries within portions of the Puget 

Sound/Georgia Basin are managed by 

the WDFW. ESA-listed yelloweye 

rockfish (Sebastes ruberrimus), canary 

rockfish (Seb. pinniger), and bocaccio 

(Seb. paucispinis) and threatened Puget 

Sound Chinook salmon (Oncorhyncus 

tshawytscha) are incidentally caught in 

the commercial shrimp trawl fishery 

and the recreational bottom fish fishery 

authorized by the state. The threatened 

southern DPS of eulachon (Thaleichthys 

pacificus) and threatened southern DPS 

of North American green sturgeon 

(Acipenser medirostris) can be 

incidentally caught in the commercial 

shrimp trawl fishery that occur in the 

Puget Sound/Georgia Basin. WDFW 

conducts scientific research in the Puget 

Sound/Georgia Basin that takes ESAlisted rockfish, the threatened 

Evolutionarily Significant Units (ESUs) 

of Puget Sound Chinook salmon and 

Hood Canal summer-run chum salmon 

(O. keta), the DPSs of threatened Puget 

Sound steelhead (O. mykiss), southern 

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19226 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 62 / Friday, March 30, 2012 / Notices 

North American green sturgeon, and 

southern eulachon. The Permit 

applications WDFW submitted to NMFS 

address the potential take these listed 

species. 

On April 27, 2010, NMFS listed the 

Puget Sound/Georgia Basin Distinct 

Population Segments (DPSs) of 

yelloweye rockfish, and canary rockfish, 

as threatened, and bocaccio as 

endangered species under the ESA (75 

FR 22276). Prior to the listing, WDFW 

initiated discussions with NMFS to 

pursue ESA compliance for state 

authorized fisheries and research 

activities that are likely to incidentally 

encounter ESA-listed rockfish within 

state waters of the DPSs. NMFS has 

provided assistance to the WDFW in 

development of a Conservation Plan and 

an application for an incidental take 

permit (ITP) for ESA-listed rockfish and 

other species likely to be affected by 

several state-authorized fisheries and 

state-conducted research efforts. 

The draft EA analyzes three 

alternatives. In the no-action alternative 

NMFS would not issue research permits 

or incidental take permit, and WDFW 

would close the the commercial shrimp 

trawl fishery and the recreational 

bottom fish fishery, and no longer 

conduct certain research. In the 

proposed alternative NMFS would issue 

all four research permits, and the 

fisheries permit. The fishery permit 

would be issued with additional 

protections to limit and track take of 

listed fish. In the third alternative 

NMFS would issue all four research 

permits and the fishery permit. The 

fishery permit would include less 

fisheries restrictions and would result in 

greater take numbers of ESA-listed 

rockfish. NMFS’s proposed action is to 

issue the four research permits and the 

fisheries permit that include protections 

to further reduce and track take of listed 

fish. 

NMFS will evaluate the applications, 

associated documents, and comments 

submitted to determine whether the 

applications meet requirements of the 

ESA and NEPA. We will then prepare 

the final EA. Our decisions of whether 

to issue an incidental take permit and 

scientific research permits will be made 

upon completion of the final EA and the 

ESA determination. 

Document Availability 

The documents are available 

electronically on the World Wide Web 

at http://www.nwr.noaa.gov. 

Dated: March 21, 2012. 

Larissa Plants, 

Acting Chief, Endangered Species Division, 

Office of Protected Resources, National 

Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–7599 Filed 3–29–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XB043 

Identification of Nations Whose 

Fishing Vessels Are Engaged in Illegal, 

Unreported, or Unregulated Fishing 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Request for information. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is seeking information 

regarding nations whose vessels are 

engaged in illegal, unreported, or 

unregulated (IUU) fishing, bycatch of 

protected living marine resources 

(PLMRs), and/or fishing activities in 

waters beyond any national jurisdiction 

that target or incidentally catch sharks. 

Such information will be reviewed for 

the purposes of the identification of 

nations pursuant to the High Seas 

Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection 

Act (Moratorium Protection Act). 

DATES: Information should be received 

on or before April 30, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Information should be 

submitted to NMFS Office of 

International Affairs, Attn.: MSRA 

Information, 1315 East-West Highway, 

Silver Spring, MD 20910. Email address: 

IUU.PLMR.Sharks@noaa.gov or fax 

(301) 713–2313. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kristin Rusello, 301–427–8376. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management 

Reauthorization Act of 2006 (MSRA) 

amended the Moratorium Protection Act 

(16 U.S.C.1826d–k) to require actions be 

taken by the United States to strengthen 

international fishery management 

organizations and address IUU fishing 

and bycatch of PLMRs. The Shark 

Conservation Act of 2010 (S.850) further 

amended the Moratorium Protection Act 

by requiring that actions be taken by the 

United States to strengthen shark 

conservation. 

Specifically, the Moratorium 

Protection Act requires the Secretary of 

Commerce (Secretary) to identify in a 

biennial report to Congress those 

nations whose fishing vessels are 

engaged, or have been engaged at any 

point during the preceding two years, in 

IUU fishing. In this context, IUU fishing 

is defined (16 U.S.C. 1826j; 50 CFR 

300.200–201) as: 

(1) Fishing activities that violate 

conservation and management measures 

required under an international fishery 

management agreement to which the 

United States is a party, including catch 

limits or quotas, capacity restrictions, 

and bycatch reduction requirements; 

(2) Overfishing of fish stocks shared 

by the United States, for which there are 

no applicable international conservation 

or management measures or in areas 

with no applicable international fishery 

management organization or agreement, 

that has adverse impacts on such stocks; 

and 

(3) Fishing activity that has an 

adverse impact on seamounts, 

hydrothermal vents, and cold water 

corals located beyond national 

jurisdiction, for which there are no 

applicable conservation or management 

measures or in areas with no applicable 

international fishery management 

organization or agreement. 

In addition, the Secretary must 

identify in the biennial report those 

nations whose fishing vessels are 

engaged, or have been engaged in the 

previous calendar year in fishing 

activities either (1) in waters beyond 

any national jurisdiction that result in 

bycatch of a PLMR, or (2) beyond the 

U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) that 

result in bycatch of a PLMR shared by 

the United States. In this context, 

PLMRs are defined as non-target fish, 

sea turtles, sharks, or marine mammals 

that are protected under U.S. law or 

international agreement, including the 

Marine Mammal Protection Act, the 

Endangered Species Act, the Shark 

Finning Prohibition Act, and the 

Convention on International Trade in 

Endangered Species of Wild Flora and 

Fauna. PLMRs do not include species, 

except sharks, managed under the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act, the 

Atlantic Tunas Convention Act, or any 

international fishery management 

agreement. A list of species considered 

as PLMRs for this purpose is available 

online at: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/ 

msa2007/docs/ 

list_of_protected_lmr_act_022610.pdf. 

Furthermore, the Shark Conservation 

Act requires that the Secretary of 

Commerce identify nations in a biennial 

report to Congress whose fishing vessels 

are engaged, or have been engaged 

during the calendar year previous to the 

biennial report in fishing activities or 

practices in waters beyond any national 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES