[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 235 (Friday, December 8, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 85605-85606]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-27014]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XD497]


Pacific Island Fisheries; Marine Conservation Plan for the 
Pacific Insular Area for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 
Islands; Western Pacific Sustainable Fisheries Fund

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

ACTION: Notice of agency decision.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces approval of a Marine Conservation Plan (MCP) 
for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).

DATES: This agency decision is effective from the publication of this 
notice through August 3, 2026.

ADDRESSES: You may obtain a copy of the MCP, identified by NOAA-NMFS-
2023-0150, from the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal, https://www.regulations.gov and type NOAA-NMFS-2023-0150 in the Search box 
(note: copying and pasting the FDMS Docket Number directly from this 
document may not yield search results), or from the Western Pacific 
Fishery Management Council (Council), 1164 Bishop St., Suite 1400, 
Honolulu, HI 96813, telephone 808-522-8220, https://www.wpcouncil.org.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Keith Kamikawa, Sustainable Fisheries, 
NMFS Pacific Islands Regional Office, 808-725-5177.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 204(e) of the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) 
authorizes the Secretary of State, with the concurrence of the 
Secretary of Commerce (Secretary), and in consultation with the 
Council, to negotiate and enter into a Pacific Insular Area fishery 
agreement (PIAFA). A PIAFA would allow foreign fishing within the U.S. 
Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) adjacent to American Samoa, Guam, or the 
CNMI. The Governor of the Pacific Insular Area to which the PIAFA 
applies must request the PIAFA. The Secretary of State may negotiate 
and enter the PIAFA after consultation with, and concurrence of, the 
applicable Governor.
    Before entering into a PIAFA, the applicable Governor, with 
concurrence of the Council, must develop and submit to the Secretary a 
3-year MCP providing details on uses for any funds collected by the 
Secretary under the PIAFA. NMFS is the designee of the Secretary for 
MCP review and approval. The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires payments 
received under a PIAFA to be deposited into the United States Treasury 
and then conveyed to the Treasury of the Pacific Insular Area for which 
funds were collected.
    In the case of violations by foreign fishing vessels in the EEZ 
around any Pacific Insular Area, amounts received by the Secretary 
attributable to fines and penalties imposed under the Magnuson-Stevens 
Act, including sums collected from the forfeiture and disposition or 
sale of property seized subject to its authority, shall be deposited 
into the Treasury of the Pacific Insular Area adjacent to the EEZ in 
which the violation occurred, after direct costs of the enforcement 
action are subtracted. The Pacific Insular Area government may use 
funds deposited into the Treasury of the Pacific Insular Area for 
fisheries enforcement and for implementation of an MCP.
    Federal regulations at 50 CFR 665.819 authorize NMFS to specify 
catch limits for longline-caught bigeye tuna for U.S. territories. NMFS 
may also authorize each territory to allocate a portion of that limit 
to U.S. longline fishing vessels that are permitted to fish under the 
Fishery Ecosystem Plan for Pelagic Fisheries of the Western Pacific 
(FEP). Payments collected under specified fishing agreements are 
deposited into the Western Pacific Sustainable Fisheries Fund (SFF), 
and any funds attributable to a particular territory may be used only 
for implementation of that territory's MCP. An MCP must be consistent 
with the Council's FEPs, must identify conservation and management 
objectives (including criteria for determining when such objectives 
have been met), and must prioritize planned marine conservation 
projects.
    At its 194th meeting held in March 2023, the Council reviewed and 
concurred with the MCP prepared by the Governor of the CNMI. This MCP 
was approved on June 20, 2023 and became effective on August 4, 2023 
and is currently in effect (88 FR 39831). However, after the MCP was 
approved by NMFS in June 2023, the CNMI Department of Land and Natural 
Resources (DLNR) submitted an application to PIRO to use funds from the 
Western Pacific SFF to implement the MCP. NMFS staff determined that 
the projects described in the CNMI's application were not within the 
scope of the MCP currently in effect. This prompted the CNMI to develop 
a revised MCP that better addresses the needs of the CNMI and DLNR. The 
Council reviewed and concurred with the updated MCP at its 196th 
meeting in September 2023. Then on October 2, 2023, the Governor of the 
CNMI submitted the new MCP to NMFS for review and approval. The revised 
MCP contains the following seven conservation and management 
objectives:
    1. Improve fisheries data collection and reporting;
    2. Conduct resource assessment, monitoring, and research to gain a 
better understanding of marine resources and fisheries;

[[Page 85606]]

    3. Conduct enforcement training and monitoring activities to 
promote compliance with federal and local mandates;
    4. Promote responsible domestic fisheries development to provide 
long-term economic growth, stability, and local food production;
    5. Conduct education and outreach, enhance public participation, 
and build local capacity;
    6. Promote an ecosystem approach to fisheries management, climate 
change adaptation and mitigation, and regional cooperation; and
    7. Recognize the importance of island cultures and traditional 
fishing practices in managing fishery resources, and foster 
opportunities for participation.
    The conservation and management objectives of this revised MCP are 
identical to those included in the MCP currently in effect. Two of the 
projects identified to fulfill Objectives 3 and 5 have been revised. 
Please refer to the revised MCP for further detail. The evaluative 
criteria have also not been revised.
    This notice announces that NMFS has reviewed the revised MCP 
submitted in October 2023, and has determined that it satisfies the 
requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and is consistent with the 
Council's FEPs. Accordingly, NMFS has approved the MCP for the time 
period from the publication of this notice through August 3, 2026. This 
MCP supersedes the one approved previously for August 4, 2023, through 
August 3, 2026 (88 FR 39831, June 20, 2023).

    Dated: December 5, 2023.
Everett Wayne Baxter,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-27014 Filed 12-7-23; 8:45 am]
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