[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 198 (Friday, October 11, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 82573-82575]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-23559]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XE370]


Endangered and Threatened Species; File No. 27106

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

ACTION: Notice; issuance of permit.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the North Carolina Department of 
Marine Fisheries (NCDMF) has been issued a permit for the incidental 
take of Endangered Species Act listed sea turtles and sturgeon 
associated with the otherwise lawful commercial inshore gillnet fishery 
in North Carolina.

ADDRESSES: The incidental take permit, final environmental assessment, 
and other related documents are available on the NMFS Office of 
Protected Resources website at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-permit-north-carolina-division-marine-fisheries-sea-turtles-and-sturgeon.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Celeste Stout, NMFS, Office of 
Protected Resources at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#caa9afa6afb9beafe4b9bea5bfbe8aa4a5ababe4ada5bc"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="ec8f8980899f9889c29f98839998ac82838d8dc28b839a">[email protected]</span></a>, 301-427-8403.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 9 of the ESA and Federal regulations 
prohibit the `taking' of a species listed as endangered or threatened. 
The ESA defines ``take'' to mean harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, 
wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any 
such conduct. NMFS may issue permits, under limited circumstances to 
take listed species incidental to, and not the purpose of, otherwise 
lawful activities. Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA provides a mechanism 
for authorizing incidental take of listed species. NMFS regulations 
governing permits for threatened and endangered species are located in 
50 CFR 222.307.

Species Covered in This Permit

    Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii), hawksbill (Eretmochelys 
imbricata), leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) sea turtles; North 
Atlantic and South Atlantic distinct population segments (DPSs) of 
green (Chelonia mydas) sea turtles; Northwest Atlantic Ocean DPS of 
loggerhead (Caretta caretta) sea turtles; New York Bight, Chesapeake, 
Carolina, and South Atlantic DPSs of Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser 
oxyrinchus oxyrinchus); and and shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser 
brevirostrum).

Background

    NMFS received a draft permit application and conservation plan from 
NCDMF on June 22, 2022. Based on our review of the draft application, 
we requested further information and clarification on their 
minimization, monitoring, and mitigation measures and take requests. 
After several draft submissions and reviews, on December 2, 2022, NCDMF 
submitted a complete revised application for the incidental take of 
ESA-listed sea turtles and sturgeon. On December 22, 2022, we published 
a notice of receipt (87 FR 78659) of application and conservation

[[Page 82574]]

plan from NCDMF for an incidental take permit. In that notice, we made 
the Incidental Take Permit (ITP) application and associated 
conservation plan available for public comment during a 30-day public 
comment period. Subsequently, we received a request to extend the 
public comment period. NMFS provided a 30-day extension (88 FR 3971, 
January 23, 2023) to the comment period, which closed on February 22, 
2023. We received 231 comments on the application and conservation plan 
and responses to these comments are available in the draft 
Environmental Assessment (EA).
    On August 10, 2023, a Federal Register notice was published to 
inform the public of the availability of, and request comments on, the 
draft EA (88 FR 54303). The public comment period ended on September 
11, 2023, and 22 comments were received. The comments received and 
their accompanying responses are located in appendix D of the final EA. 
Comments received were considered and any revisions needed to address 
comments were incorporated in the final EA and NCDMF's final ITP 
application and conservation plan.
    NMFS has issued the requested incidental take permit under the 
authority of the ESA of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and 
the regulations governing the taking, importing, and exporting of 
endangered and threatened species (50 CFR parts 222-226).
    Incidental takes by species in rolling 2-year (ITP year) intervals 
or ITP duration that are authorized under the permit were based on 
annual take values from model predictions or observed counts based on 
previous interaction data for the duration of requested ITP (10 years; 
Please see section 7.A.2 Estimation of Incidental Takes of the 
conservation plan). Authorized takes include the total number of 
predicted takes across the fishery whenever possible; otherwise takes 
are based on counts of observed takes. Takes are either combined or 
separate for mesh-size category and disposition of the incidentally 
captured animals. Mesh-size categories are large (>=5 Inches Stretched 
Mesh (ISM), >=12.7 Centimeters Stretched Mesh (CSM) and small (<5 ISM, 
<12.7 CSM).

                                Table 1--Authorized Takes Under Permit No. 27106
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                                                                                                   Requested 2-
             Species                Mesh-size category      Disposition          Predicted or      year rolling
                                                                                observed takes         take
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Atlantic Sturgeon................  Large & Small......  Live...............  Predicted..........             436
                                   Large & Small......  Dead...............  Observed...........               6
Green sea turtle (North and South  Large & Small......  Live...............  Predicted..........             542
 Atlantic DPSs).
                                   Large & Small......  Dead...............  Predicted..........             170
Kemp's ridley sea turtle.........  Large..............  Live...............  Observed...........              10
                                   Large..............  Dead...............  Observed...........               4
                                   Small..............  Live or Dead.......  Observed...........               4
Loggerhead sea turtle (Northwest   Large & Small......  Live or Dead.......  Observed...........               4
 Atlantic Ocean DPS).
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                                                                                                    Total take
             Species                Mesh-size category      Disposition          Predicted or      over 10-year
                                                                                observed takes        permit
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shortnose sturgeon...............  Large & Small......  Live or Dead.......  Observed...........               4
Hawksbill sea turtle.............  Large & Small......  Live or Dead.......  Observed...........               2
Leatherback sea turtle...........  Large & Small......  Live or Dead.......  Observed...........               2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Below we describes the approximate assignment of DPS from the 
predicted number and observed count of Atlantic sturgeon take by live 
or dead status across the 10 years of the requested ITP. Individuals 
<500 mm total length (TL) and >=1,500 mm TL are assumed to belong to 
the DPS where they were collected (ASMFC 2017) because individuals of 
these sizes are generally regarded as juveniles natal to those 
locations but not large enough to leave the river or adults that are 
most likely returning to their natal rivers to reproduce. Thus, based 
on previous interactions, 13.1 percent of total bycatch could be 
assigned to the Carolina DPS without further evaluation, but the 
correct DPS for the remaining portion of bycatch is unknown. For the 
remaining 86.8 percent of the predicted numbers, DPS assignment was 
based on proportions provided in Kazyk et al. (2021) for the geographic 
area ``Mid Riverine/Estuarine''.
    Approximate assignment of DPS from the predicted number and 
observed count of Atlantic sturgeon takes by live or dead status across 
the 10 years of the ITP are indicated in the table below. Take of 
Atlantic sturgeon will affect four DPSs, at a total rate up to 15.9 
percent New York Bight DPS, 4.2 percent Chesapeake Bay DPS, 66.2 
percent Carolina DPS, and 13.8 percent South Atlantic DPS.

                                            Table 2--Approximate Assignment of DPS od Atlantic Sturgon Takes
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                                                                           Takes across   New York Bight                                  South atlantic
       Atlantic sturgeon disposition        Predicted or observed counts     10 years           DPS       Chesapeake DPS   Carolina DPS         DPS
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Live......................................  Predicted...................           2,180             346              91           1,443             300
Dead......................................  Observed Counts.............              30               5               1              20               4
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 82575]]

    Due to uncertainty about the exact proportion of each DPS in the 
inshore waters of North Carolina, the above breakdown may not perfectly 
represent the actual proportion of each DPS. This expected variation is 
influenced by natural seasonal and annual fluctuations in the 
proportions of each DPS. Therefore, the take estimates provided for 
each DPS do not aim to precisely estimate the proportion of each DPS to 
be taken.
Conservation Plan
    NCDMF's conservation plan includes measures to minimize, monitor, 
and mitigate the incidental take of ESA-listed sea turtles and 
sturgeon. The conservation plan addresses gill net fisheries operating 
in estuarine waters and deploying anchored gill nets as regulated 
through fisheries rules adopted by the North Carolina Marine Fisheries 
Commission and proclamations issued by the NCDMF director. Regulations 
include mandatory attendance, yardage limits, mesh size restrictions, a 
minimum distance between fishing operations, gear marking requirements, 
soak-time restrictions, net shot limits, net height tie-down 
requirements, closed areas, and monitoring and reporting requirements. 
The conservation plan includes an adaptive management and monitoring 
program, fisheries reduction, outreach, and timely response to 
``hotspots'' where sturgeon and/or sea turtle interactions are 
unusually high.
    Additionally, NCDMF will commit funds of up to $2,000 per year to 
purchase Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tags, which equates to 
approximately 100 PIT tags per year. As part of their Observer Program 
sampling protocol, fin clips are taken from live and dead sturgeon. 
These samples are stored until they can be submitted for genetic 
analysis and included in the Atlantic Coast Sturgeon Tissue Research 
Repository (ACSTRR) housed at the United States Geological Survey, 
Leetown Science Center. The NCDMF will commit up to $3,000 per year to 
fund genetic analysis; at approximately $100 per sample, this funding 
provides for the analysis of approximately 30 fin clips per year. The 
NCDMF will consult with NMFS to ensure samples collected during the 
current ITP and future samples collected under the requested ITP are 
appropriately selected based on criteria such as sturgeon length, 
location, and season. Should fewer than 30 fin clips be collected for a 
given year, any funds not expended from this allocation could be used 
for analysis of historical samples provided by NCDMF.
    NCDMF's monitoring program is funded by the North Carolina 
Commercial Research is also a valuable tool to address data gaps and 
inform management decisions. The assistance and cooperation of 
commercial fishery stakeholders in the research can greatly benefit 
scientific understanding of the species. The NCDMF will continue to 
support and assist research efforts and facilitate the establishment of 
relationships with the commercial fishing industry. Also, the NCDMF 
will help, to the extent possible, respond to sea turtle cold-stun 
events, which occur in NC with some regularity (Niemuth et al. 2020). 
During future cold-stun events, the NCDMF will help provide 
transportation of staff, supplies, and turtles using Observer Program 
resources The NCDMF will communicate with the North Carolina Wilflife 
Resources Commission (NCWRC) about this commitment to ensure they reach 
out for assistance when needed.
    Fishing Resource Fund (G.S. 113-173.1) state appropriations and is 
supplemented through other sources such as the Atlantic Coastal 
Cooperative Statistics Program and the National Fish and Wildlife 
Foundation.

Criteria for Issuing an Incidental Take Permit

    Issuance criteria are described in ESA section 10(a)(2)(B) and 
associated implementing regulations (50 CFR 222.307(c)(2)). Under 
section 10(a)(2)(B) of the ESA, NMFS shall issue the requested 
incidental take permit, if NMFS finds that the following criteria are 
met:
    (i) The taking will be incidental;
    (ii) The applicant will, to the maximum extent practicable, 
monitor, minimize, and mitigate the impacts of such taking;
    (iii) The taking will not appreciably reduce the likelihood of the 
survival and recovery of the species in the wild;
    (iv) The applicant has amended the conservation plan to include any 
measures (not originally proposed by the applicant) that the Assistant 
Administrator determines are necessary or appropriate; and
    (v) There are adequate assurances that the conservation plan will 
be funded and implemented, including any measures required by the 
Assistant Administrator.
    NMFS found that NCDMF met the criteria for the issuance of an 
incidental take permit, and as such, NMFS issued an incidental take 
permit to NCDMF for the incidental take of ESA-Listed sea turtles and 
sturgeon associated with the otherwise lawful commercial inshore 
gillnet fishery in North Carolina.

    Dated: October 4, 2024.
Lisa Manning,
Acting Chief, Endangered Species Conservation Division, Office of 
Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-23559 Filed 10-10-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P


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