[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 225 (Friday, November 24, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 82339-82340]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-25986]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XD225]


2024 Annual Determination To Implement the Sea Turtle Observer 
Requirement

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notification of Annual Determination of fisheries.

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SUMMARY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is providing 
notification that the agency will not identify additional fisheries to 
observe on the 2024 Annual Determination (AD), pursuant to its 
authority under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Through the AD, NMFS 
identifies U.S. fisheries operating in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of 
Mexico, and Pacific Ocean that will be required to take observers upon 
NMFS' request. The purpose of observing identified fisheries is to 
learn more about sea turtle bycatch in a given fishery, evaluate 
measures to prevent or reduce sea turtle bycatch, and implement the 
prohibition against sea turtle takes. Fisheries identified on the 2020 
and 2023 ADs (see table 1) remain on the AD for a 5-year period and are 
required to carry observers upon NMFS' request until September 29, 
2025, for the 2020 AD and December 31, 2027, for the 2023 AD.

ADDRESSES: Chief, Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Conservation Division, 
Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver 
Spring, MD 20910.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wendy Piniak, Office of Protected 
Resources, 301-427-8402; Ellen Keane, Greater Atlantic Region, 978-282-
8476; Dennis Klemm, Southeast Region, 727-824-5312; Dan Lawson, West 
Coast Region, 206-526-4740; Irene Kelly, Pacific Islands Region, 808-
725-5141. Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the 
hearing impaired may call the Federal Information Relay Service at 800-
877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday, 
excluding Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Purpose of the Sea Turtle Observer Requirement

    Under the ESA, 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq., NMFS has the responsibility 
to implement programs to conserve marine life listed as endangered or 
threatened. All sea turtles found in U.S. waters are listed as either 
endangered or threatened under the ESA. Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys 
kempii), loggerhead (Caretta caretta; North Pacific distinct population 
segment (DPS)), leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), green (Chelonia 
mydas; Central West Pacific and Central South Pacific DPSs), and 
hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) sea turtles are listed as 
endangered. Loggerhead (Northwest Atlantic Ocean DPS), green (North 
Atlantic, South Atlantic, Central North Pacific, and East Pacific 
DPSs), and olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) sea turtles are listed 
as threatened, except for breeding colony populations of olive ridleys 
on the Pacific coast of Mexico, which are listed as endangered. Due to 
the inability to distinguish between populations of olive ridley 
turtles away from the nesting beach, NMFS considers these turtles 
endangered wherever they occur in U.S. Pacific waters. While some sea 
turtle populations have shown signs of recovery, many populations 
continue to decline.
    Bycatch in fishing gear is the primary anthropogenic source of sea 
turtle injury and mortality in U.S. waters. Section 9 of the ESA 
prohibits the take (defined to include harassing, harming, pursuing, 
hunting, shooting, wounding, killing, trapping, capturing, or 
collecting or attempting to engage in any such conduct), including 
incidental take, of endangered sea turtles. Pursuant to section 4(d) of 
the ESA, NMFS has issued regulations extending the prohibition of take, 
with exceptions, to threatened sea turtles (50 CFR 223.205 and 
223.206). Section 11 of the ESA provides for civil and criminal 
penalties for anyone who violates the ESA or a regulation issued to 
implement the ESA. NMFS may grant exceptions to the take prohibitions 
with an incidental take statement or an incidental take permit issued 
pursuant to ESA section 7 or 10, respectively. To do so, NMFS must 
determine that the activity that will result in incidental take is not 
likely to jeopardize the continued existence of the affected listed 
species. For some Federal fisheries and most state fisheries, NMFS has 
not granted an exception for incidental takes of sea turtles primarily 
because we lack information about fishery-sea turtle interactions.
    For most fisheries, the most effective way for NMFS to learn more 
about bycatch in order to implement the take prohibitions and prevent 
or minimize take is to place observers aboard fishing vessels. In 2007, 
NMFS issued a regulation (50 CFR 222.402) establishing procedures to 
annually identify, pursuant to specified criteria and after notice and 
opportunity for comment, those fisheries in which the agency intends to 
place observers (72 FR 43176; August 3, 2007). These regulations 
specify that NMFS may place observers on U.S. fishing vessels, 
commercial or recreational, operating in U.S. territorial waters, the 
U.S. exclusive economic zone, or on the high seas, or on vessels that 
are otherwise subject to the jurisdiction of the U.S. Failure to comply 
with the requirements under this regulation may result in civil or 
criminal penalties under the ESA.
    NMFS will pay the direct costs for vessels to carry the required 
observers. These include observer salary and insurance costs. NMFS may 
also evaluate other potential direct costs, should they arise. Once 
selected, a fishery will be required to carry observers, if requested, 
for a period of 5 years without further action by NMFS. This will 
enable NMFS to develop appropriate observer coverage and

[[Page 82340]]

sampling protocols to investigate whether, how, when, where, and under 
what conditions sea turtle bycatch is occurring and to evaluate whether 
existing measures are minimizing or preventing bycatch.

2024 Annual Determination

    Pursuant to 50 CFR 222.402(a), NOAA's Assistant Administrator for 
Fisheries, in consultation with Regional Administrators and Fisheries 
Science Center Directors, annually identifies fisheries for inclusion 
on the AD based on the extent to which:
    (1) The fishery operates in the same waters and at the same time as 
sea turtles are present;
    (2) The fishery operates at the same time or prior to elevated sea 
turtle strandings; or
    (3) The fishery uses a gear or technique that is known or likely to 
result in incidental take of sea turtles based on documented or 
reported takes in the same or similar fisheries; and
    (4) NMFS intends to monitor the fishery and anticipates that it 
will have the funds to do so.
    NMFS is providing notification that the agency is not identifying 
additional fisheries to observe on the 2024 AD, pursuant to its 
authority under the ESA. NMFS is not identifying additional fisheries 
at this time given lack of dedicated resources to implement new 
observer programs or expand existing observer programs to focus on sea 
turtles. The four fisheries identified on the 2020 AD (see table 1) 
will remain on the AD for a 5-year period and are required to carry 
observers upon NMFS' request until September 29, 2025. The two 
fisheries identified on the 2023 AD (see table 1) will remain on the AD 
for a 5-year period and are required to carry observers upon NMFS' 
request until December 31, 2027.

Table 1--State and Federal Commercial Fisheries Included on the 2020 and
                       2023 Annual Determinations
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                                                          Years eligible
                         Fishery                             to carry
                                                             observers
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Trawl Fisheries:
  Southeastern U.S. Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico shrimp            2020-2025
   trawl................................................
  Gulf of Mexico mixed species fish trawl...............       2020-2025
Gillnet Fisheries:
  Chesapeake Bay inshore gillnet........................       2020-2025
  Long Island inshore gillnet...........................       2020-2025
  Mid-Atlantic gillnet..................................       2023-2027
Pound Net/Weir/Seine Fisheries:
  Gulf of Mexico menhaden purse seine...................       2023-2027
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    Dated: November 20, 2023.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-25986 Filed 11-22-23; 8:45 am]
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