Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 16 / Wednesday, January 24, 2024 / Notices 4595 

respond, including the use of automated 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology. 

Comments that you submit in 

response to this notice are a matter of 

public record. We will include or 

summarize each comment in our request 

to OMB to approve this ICR. Before 

including your address, phone number, 

email address, or other personal 

identifying information in your 

comment, you should be aware that 

your entire comment—including your 

personal identifying information—may 

be made publicly available at any time. 

While you may ask us in your comment 

to withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

Sheleen Dumas, 

Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of 

the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, 

Commerce Department. 

[FR Doc. 2024–01278 Filed 1–23–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XD671] 

Implementation of Fish and Fish 

Product Import Provisions of the 

Marine Mammal Protection Act— 

Notification of Issuance of 

Comparability Findings 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Under the authority of the 

Marine Mammal Protection Act 

(MMPA), the NMFS Assistant 

Administrator for Fisheries (Assistant 

Administrator) has issued comparability 

findings for the Government of New 

Zealand’s (GNZ) regulated fisheries: 

West Coast North Island multi-species 

set-net fishery, and West Coast North 

Island multi-species trawl fishery. 

NMFS bases the comparability findings 

on documentary evidence submitted by 

the GNZ and other relevant, readily 

available information. 

DATES: These comparability findings are 

valid from February 21,2024, through 

December 31, 2025, unless revoked or 

revised by the Assistant Administrator 

in a subsequent action. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kellie Foster-Taylor, NMFS Office of 

International Affairs, Trade, and 

Commerce at mmpa.loff@noaa.gov or by 

phone at 301–427–7721. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

The MMPA Import Provisions 

The MMPA, 16 U.S.C. 1371 et seq., 

states that the Secretary of the Treasury 

shall ban the importation of commercial 

fish or products from fish which have 

been caught with commercial fishing 

technology which results in the 

incidental kill or incidental serious 

injury of ocean mammals in excess of 

U.S. standards. For purposes of 

applying this import restriction, the 

Secretary of Commerce shall insist on 

reasonable proof from the government of 

any nation, from which fish or fish 

products will be exported to the United 

States, of the effects on ocean mammals 

of the commercial fishing technology in 

use for such fish or fish products 

exported from such nation to the United 

States. 

In August 2016, NMFS published a 

final rule (81 FR 54390; August 15, 

2016) implementing the fish and fish 

product import provisions in section 

101(a)(2) of the MMPA (MMPA Import 

Provisions). This rule established 

conditions for evaluating a harvesting 

nation’s regulatory programs to address 

incidental and intentional mortality and 

serious injury of marine mammals in 

fisheries operated by nations that export 

fish and fish products to the United 

States. Under the final rule, fish or fish 

products may not be imported into the 

United States from commercial fishing 

operations that result in the incidental 

mortality or serious injury of marine 

mammals in excess of U.S. standards 

(16 U.S.C. 1371(a)(2)). 

The final rule established a 5-year 

exemption period, through December 

31, 2021, before imports would be 

subject to any trade restrictions (see 50 

CFR 216.24(h)(2)(ii)). The Department of 

Commerce and NMFS have revised the 

regulations implementing the Fish and 

Fish Product Import Provisions of the 

MMPA Import Provisions to extend the 

exemption period, most recently on 

November 17, 2023. Following careful 

consideration, the Department of 

Commerce and NMFS concluded that 

additional time is required to effectively 

complete the comparability finding 

evaluation process and issued a Federal 

Register notice (88 FR 80193; November 

17, 2023) extending the exemption 

period to end on December 31, 2025 for 

foreign nations to receive a 

comparability finding for their 

commercial fishing operations to export 

fish and fish products to the United 

States. 

In the 2016 final rule, NMFS stated 

that it may consider emergency actions 

during the exemption period to ban 

imports of fish and fish products from 

a foreign fishery having or likely to have 

an immediate and significant adverse 

impact on a marine mammal stock. (81 

FR 54390; August 15, 2016). In addition, 

pursuant to the MMPA Import 

Provisions rule, nothing prevents a 

nation from implementing a bycatch 

reduction regulatory program and 

seeking a comparability finding during 

the exemption period. The GNZ 

submitted its comparability finding 

application by the November 30, 2021 

regulatory deadline, including 

information pertaining to the West Coast 

North Island multi-species set-net 

fishery and the West Coast North Island 

multi-species trawl fishery. In December 

2022, after the Court of International 

Trade (CIT) enjoined the two fisheries, 

the GNZ submitted supplemental 

documentary evidence regarding its 

monitoring and reporting programs and 

estimates of Ma ̄ui dolphin 

(Cephalorhynchus hectori maui) 

mortality and serious injury pertaining 

to the two enjoined fisheries for NMFS’ 

consideration for comparability 

findings. NMFS is undertaking this 

action in response to the GNZ’s request 

and prior comparability findings, its 

2021 application for comparability 

findings and its submission of 

additional documentary evidence 

regarding its regulatory program to 

reduce mortality and serious injury of 

Ma ̄ui dolphin in the West Coast North 

Island multi-species set-net fishery and 

the West Coast North Island multispecies trawl fishery. 

Petition for Rulemaking and Request 

for a Comparability Finding 

On May 21, 2020, Sea Shepherd New 

Zealand and Sea Shepherd Conservation 

Society (collectively, ‘‘Plaintiffs’’) 

initiated a lawsuit in the CIT 

challenging NMFS’ denial of its 

petition. On June 24, 2020, the GNZ 

announced its final fisheries measures 

for reducing bycatch of Ma ̄ui dolphins 

(effective October 1, 2020) and its final 

Threat Management Plan (TMP). 

On July 15, 2020, the GNZ requested 

that NMFS perform a comparability 

assessment of the TMP and its 

regulatory program as it relates to Ma ̄ui 

dolphins.On November 9, 2020, NMFS 

issued comparability findings for the 

West Coast North Island multi-species 

set-net and trawl fisheries because the 

GNZ had implemented a regulatory 

program governing the bycatch of Ma ̄ui 

dolphin that is comparable in 

effectiveness to U.S. standards. Based 

on NMFS’ decision, Plaintiffs 

subsequently filed a Motion for 


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4596 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 16 / Wednesday, January 24, 2024 / Notices 

Preliminary Injunction on December 11, 

2020. 

The CIT granted this preliminary 

injunction, requiring the imposition of 

import restrictions and a comparability 

finding determination for the export 

fisheries operating on the West Coast 

North Island within the Ma ̄ui dolphin’s 

range. The judge’s order effectively 

removed the operative exemption 

period protections for these fisheries. 

In November 2021, the GNZ 

submitted its comparability finding 

application to NMFS for all its fisheries 

on the List of Foreign Fisheries (LOFF), 

including the West Coast North Island 

multi-species set-net fishery and the 

West Coast North Island multi-species 

trawl fishery. In December 2022, after 

the CIT enjoined the two fisheries, the 

GNZ submitted supplemental 

documentary evidence regarding its 

monitoring and reporting programs and 

estimates of Ma ̄ui dolphin mortality and 

serious injury, along with supplemental 

regulatory information, pertaining to the 

two enjoined fisheries for NMFS’ 

consideration for comparability 

findings. 

Under the MMPA Import Provisions, 

the Assistant Administrator is 

reconsidering comparability findings 

that were previously issued on 

November 9, 2020, based on 

supplemental information provided by 

the Plaintiffs and New Zealand since 

that time. As part of this review of 

comparability findings under the 

reconsideration provisions, NMFS has 

consulted with the GNZ to ascertain and 

discuss additional measures intended 

for implementation to eliminate the risk 

of Ma ̄ui dolphin bycatch in the future. 

The following is a summary of NMFS’ 

analysis and provides the evidence 

supporting compliance with each of the 

conditions needed for a comparability 

finding. Procedures and conditions for a 

comparability finding are specified in 

the MMPA Import Provisions at 50 CFR 

216.24(h)(6). 

NMFS Determination on the GNZ’s 

Comparability Finding Request 

The Government of New Zealand’s 

Regulatory Actions and Mitigation Plan 

The GNZ manages human-induced 

threats to Ma ̄ui dolphins under a 

Hector’s and Ma ̄ui dolphin TMP. The 

TMP is underpinned by a spatial risk 

assessment informed by the best 

available scientific information. On 

October 1, 2020, the GNZ adopted 

regulations to manage fisheries threats 

effectively that include: 

• A nationwide ban on recreational 

and commercial drift netting; 

• An extension of current set-net 

closures and the creation of new areas 

closed to set-netting in the North and 

South Islands; 

• An extension of the existing area 

closed to trawling off the West Coast of 

the North Island; 

• A management trigger that becomes 

effective if a single fishing-related 

mortality of a dolphin occurs within the 

Ma ̄ui Dolphin Habitat Zone (MDHZ) 

(from Cape Reinga to Wellington). This 

trigger allows the Minister of Fisheries 

to immediately impose additional 

fishing restrictions, including 

prohibiting all or any fishing or fishing 

methods within the West Coast of the 

North Island; and 

• An authorization to use commercial 

ring nets in set-net prohibition areas 

within West Coast North Island harbors 

(ring nets are a fishing method that does 

not pose a risk to the dolphins). 

Evidence That New Zealand Bans 

Intentional Mortality and Serious Injury 

of Ma ̄ui Dolphins 

Based on information provided by the 

GNZ, its Marine Mammal Protection Act 

of 1978 and the Fisheries Act of 1996 

the primary legislation governing the 

GNZ’s fisheries management system, 

prohibit the intentional killing of 

marine mammals in the course of 

commercial fishing operations and are 

comparable to U.S. standards. 

Evidence of a Vessel Registration 

System for Export Fisheries 

The GNZ’s Fisheries Act of 1996 

requires that vessels must be registered 

as a New Zealand ship (flagged to New 

Zealand) and be on the Fishing Vessel 

Register to commercially fish in New 

Zealand’s waters. Based on NMFS 

Office of International Affairs, Trade, 

and Commerce’s (IATC) analysis of the 

GNZs Fisheries Act of 1996, the GNZ’s 

regulations and vessel registration 

system are comparable to U.S. 

standards. 

Evidence of a Monitoring Plan 

The GNZ’s Marine Mammal 

Protection Act of 1978 and the Fisheries 

Act of 1996 require fishermen to report 

the mortality and injury of marine 

mammals in the course of commercial 

fishing. The GNZ has two types of 

monitoring programs: an at-sea 

monitoring program (observers and 

electronic monitoring) and vessel 

logbooks (self-reporting). 

The MDHZ was created along the 

West Coast of the North Island 

(including harbors) from the coast out to 

12 nautical miles. The MDHZ covers 

approximately 90–95 percent of Ma ̄ui 

dolphin habitat. Fishing effort within 

the MDHZ has been declining while 

monitoring effort has been increasing 

since the MDHZ fishing prohibitions 

went into effect. The levels of effort 

reduction and monitoring have been 

different for the set net and trawl fleets. 

Since the 2020–2021 fishing year, 

fishing effort has been reduced by 71 

percent for the trawl fleet and 97 

percent for the set net fleet while 50 

percent of trawl effort and 90 percent of 

set net effort were monitored. In 2022, 

the GNZ issued an amendment to its 

Fisheries (Electronic Monitoring) 

regulation that expanded the electronic 

monitoring program to include the 

entire MDHZ. This regulation states that 

if a vessel is qualified to carry a camera, 

then a vessel is unable to fish without 

an on-board camera. Based on IATC’s 

analysis of GNZ’s regulations and the 

implementation of the MDHZ and its 

accompanying rules, the GNZ’s selfreporting and observer programs are 

comparable in effectiveness to U.S. 

standards. IATC also finds the GNZ’s 

on-board camera monitoring program 

exceeds U.S. standards. New Zealand’s 

90 percent monitoring coverage through 

its monitoring program exceeds the U.S. 

requirements of section 118 of the 

MMPA for statistically reliable bycatch 

estimates. New Zealand’s electronic 

monitoring and observer program allows 

New Zealand to act in near real-time in 

the unlikely event that a Ma ̄ui dolphin 

were bycaught in a fishery allowing 

Minister to start an immediate review of 

New Zealand’s program to determine 

additional actions to be taken to reduce 

Ma ̄ui dolphin bycatch below the 

bycatch limit. Both nations also take 

observer health and safety along with 

vessel operational safety into 

consideration when determining 

deployments of observers on vessels 8 

meters or less. 

Evidence of a Population Abundance 

Estimate for Ma ̄ui Dolphins 

The GNZ has an abundance estimate 

for Ma ̄ui dolphins, which follows a 

scientifically sound process to estimate 

abundance and has plans to undertake 

a stock assessment survey to update that 

abundance estimate. Based on NMFS’ 

analysis the GNZ meets the condition to 

have an abundance estimate for a 

marine mammal stock, and their system 

for Ma ̄ui dolphin abundance estimation 

is comparable in effectiveness to U.S. 

standards. 

Evidence of a Bycatch Limit 

The GNZ has established a bycatch 

limit of one Ma ̄ui/Hector’s dolphin. 

When a bycatch limit has been set, the 

GNZs Fisheries Act enables the Minister 

to prohibit all or any fishing or fishing 


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 16 / Wednesday, January 24, 2024 / Notices 4597 

1Total hourly compensation for all civilian 

workers is estimated by the U.S. Bureau of Labor 

Statistics to be $43.26: Employer Costs for 

Employee Compensation, June 2023, Table 1, 

Continued 

methods in an area to ensure that any 

limit on fishing-related mortality is not 

exceeded. The purpose of the Fisheries 

Act is to provide for the utilization of 

fisheries resources while ensuring 

sustainability. This means that the 

Minister does not have discretion to 

choose whether to act or not, but rather 

the Minister has authority to quickly 

enact additional prohibitions 

considered necessary to ensure the 

bycatch limit is not exceeded. 

The GNZ created a Ma ̄ui dolphin 

Threat Management Plan (TMP). The 

TMP provides clear objectives to ensure 

that government agencies are operating 

collectively. Some of the TMP objectives 

are: ensure that dolphin deaths arising 

from fisheries threats do not exceed the 

population sustainability threshold 

(PST) with 95 percent certainty, causes 

localized depletion, create substantial 

barriers to dispersal between 

subpopulations, and allow localized 

subpopulations to recover and/or 

remain at or above 80 percent of their 

unimpacted status with 95 percent 

certainty. The TMP is underpinned by 

the GNZs multi-species Spatially 

Explicit Fisheries Risk Assessment 

(SEFRA) model. The SEFRA model 

allows for improved statistical 

estimation of commercial fisheries risks 

to protected species. Specifically, the 

SEFRA model addresses the needs of 

fisheries managers in low information 

fisheries where observer coverage is low 

and protected species capture rates are 

rare to inform statistically robust 

capture estimates. 

Evidence of a Regulatory Plan To 

Reduce Bycatch Below the Bycatch 

Limit 

Based on IATC’s analysis, the GNZ’s 

regulatory program, including the 

fishery-specific area restrictions are 

comparable in effectiveness to U.S. 

standards. This regulatory program will 

result in Ma ̄ui dolphin bycatch below 

PBR and concentrate the fisheries 

restrictions in the areas with the greatest 

risk, specifically those areas where 

fishing activities overlap with the Ma ̄ui 

dolphin population. These restrictions, 

which are focused on the area that 

represents the greatest density of Ma ̄ui 

dolphins, virtually eliminates the 

bycatch risk from set-nets and 

significantly reduces the trawl bycatch 

risk for Ma ̄ui dolphins in this area. The 

additional restrictions at the northern 

and southern extent (tails of the 

population) of the Ma ̄ui dolphin 

distribution reduces the bycatch risk for 

the extreme ranges (smaller proportion). 

This is comparable to U.S. standards, 

which does not require that a Take 

Reduction Plan or the U.S. regulatory 

program eliminate 100 percent of the 

bycatch risk to a particular marine 

mammal stock. The U.S. regulatory 

program seeks to target the greatest 

percentage of risk in the areas with the 

greatest overlap of fishing and the 

marine mammal distribution and 

mitigate that bycatch risk below the 

bycatch limit for that specific marine 

mammal. 

As a result of these findings, NMFS 

announces the issuance of positive 

comparability findings that will allow 

the importation into the United States of 

fish and fish products harvested by New 

Zealand’s set-net and trawl fisheries 

operating off the West Coast North 

Island within the Ma ̄ui dolphin’s range. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq. 

Dated: January 19, 2024. 

Samuel D. Rauch, III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–01368 Filed 1–22–24; 11:15 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket No. CPSC–2010–0112] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Extension of Collection; 

Contests, Challenges, and Awards 

AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice of information collection; 

request for comment. 

SUMMARY: As required by the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995, the Consumer 

Product Safety Commission (CPSC or 

Commission) announces that the 

Commission has submitted to the Office 

of Management and Budget (OMB) a 

request for extension of approval of a 

generic collection of information for 

CPSC-sponsored contests, challenges, 

and awards. OMB previously approved 

the collection of information under 

Control Number 3041–0151. OMB’s 

most recent extension of approval will 

expire on January 31, 2024. On 

November 15, 2023, CPSC published a 

notice in the Federal Register to 

announce the agency’s intention to seek 

extension of approval of the collection 

of information. The Commission 

received no comments. Therefore, by 

publication of this notice, the 

Commission announces that CPSC has 

submitted to the OMB a request for 

extension of approval of that collection 

of information. 

DATES: Submit comments on the 

collection of information by February 

23, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments about 

this request by email: OIRA_

submission@omb.eop.gov or fax: 202– 

395–6881. Comments by mail should be 

sent to the Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs, Attn: OMB Desk 

Officer for the CPSC, Office of 

Management and Budget, Room 10235, 

725 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 

20503. In addition, written comments 

that are sent to OMB also should be 

submitted electronically at http://

www.regulations.gov, under Docket No. 

CPSC–2010–0112. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Cynthia Gillham, Consumer Product 

Safety Commission, 4330 East West 

Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814; (301) 

504–7791, or by email to: pra@cpsc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: CPSC 

seeks to extend the following currently 

approved generic collection of 

information: 

Title: Contests, Challenges, and 

Awards. 

OMB Number: 3041–0151. 

Type of Review: Extension of generic 

collection. 

Frequency of Response: On occasion. 

Affected Public: Contestants, award 

nominees, award nominators. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

We estimate that there will be 500 

contest or award participants each year. 

In addition, 20 participants may be 

required to provide additional 

information upon selection. 

Estimated Time per Response: The 

estimated time to complete a contest or 

award submission is five hours per 

participant. In addition, the 20 

participants expected to provide 

additional information upon selection 

will require approximately two 

additional hours. 

Total Estimated Annual Burden: 

CPSC estimates that there will be 500 

participants who each require five hours 

to complete their submissions, and that 

20 participants will be asked to provide 

additional information that will take 

two hours to complete. As a result, 

CPSC estimates that the total annual 

burden of this collection is 2,540 hours. 

The annualized cost to respondents for 

the information collection is 

approximately $109,880 (2,540 hours × 

$43.26/hour), as estimated from total 

compensation data available from the 

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.1


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