87566 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 213 / Monday, November 4, 2024 / Notices 

action also considers modifying the 

seasonal bycatch closure of Area II to 

improve yield and reduce impacts to 

northern windowpane flounder and 

modifying the possession prohibition 

for NGOM-permitted scallop vessels on 

a declared NGOM trip to possess 

scallops outside of the NGOM 

management area. Other business will 

be discussed, if necessary. 

Although non-emergency issues not 

contained on the agenda may come 

before this Council for discussion, those 

issues may not be the subject of formal 

action during this meeting. Council 

action will be restricted to those issues 

specifically listed in this notice and any 

issues arising after publication of this 

notice that require emergency action 

under section 305(c) of the MagnusonStevens Act, provided the public has 

been notified of the Council’s intent to 

take final action to address the 

emergency. The public also should be 

aware that the meeting will be recorded. 

Consistent with 16 U.S.C. 1852, a copy 

of the recording is available upon 

request. 

Special Accommodations 

This meeting is physically accessible 

to people with disabilities. Requests for 

sign language interpretation or other 

auxiliary aids should be directed to Cate 

O’Keefe, Executive Director, at (978) 

465–0492, at least 5 days prior to the 

meeting date. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. 

Dated: October 30, 2024. 

Rey Israel Marquez, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–25587 Filed 11–1–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XE443] 

2025 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. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is providing 

notification that the agency will not 

identify additional fisheries to observe 

on the 2025 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, and 

December 31, 2027, respectively. 

DATES: Published on November 4, 2024. 

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 


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 213 / Monday, November 4, 2024 / Notices 87567 

observers, if requested, for a period of 5 

years without further action by NMFS. 

This will enable NMFS to develop 

appropriate observer coverage and 

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. 

2025 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 2025 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

Fishery 

Years 

eligible 

to carry 

observers 

Trawl Fisheries: 

Southeastern U.S. Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico 

shrimp trawl ............... 2020–2025 

Gulf of Mexico mixed 

species fish trawl ....... 2020–2025 

Gillnet Fisheries: 

TABLE 1—STATE AND FEDERAL COMMERCIAL FISHERIES INCLUDED ON

THE 2020 AND 2023 ANNUAL DETERMINATIONS—Continued 

Fishery 

Years 

eligible 

to carry 

observers 

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 

Dated: October 29, 2024. 

Kimberly Damon-Randall, 

Director, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–25541 Filed 11–1–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Submission to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

NOAA Social, Behavioral, and 

Economic Science Studies for 

Weather, Water, and Climate 

The Department of Commerce will 

submit the following information 

collection request to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

review and clearance in accordance 

with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995, on or after the date of publication 

of this notice. We invite the general 

public and other Federal agencies to 

comment on proposed, and continuing 

information collections, which helps us 

assess the impact of our information 

collection requirements and minimize 

the public’s reporting burden. Public 

comments were previously requested 

via the Federal Register on August 30, 

2024 during a 60-day comment period. 

This notice allows for an additional 30 

days for public comments. 

Agency: National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration, 

Commerce. 

Title: NOAA Social, Behavioral, and 

Economic Science Studies for Weather, 

Water, and Climate. 

OMB Control Number: 0648–XXXX. 

Form Number(s): None. 

Type of Request: New information 

collection. 

Number of Respondents: 

Approximately 6,000 per year. 

Average Hours Per Response: 0.5 

hours per person. 

Total Annual Burden Hours: 

Annualized 3,000 hours overall. 

Needs and Uses: This is a request for 

a new collection of information. 

The National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 

products and services ‘‘support 

economic vitality and affect more than 

one-third of America’s gross domestic 

product.’’ The National Weather Service 

(NWS) is a critical component of this 

service and operates under the mission 

to ‘‘provide weather, water and climate 

data, forecasts, warnings, and impactbased decision support services for the 

protection of life and property and 

enhancement of the national economy.’’ 

Leveraging and integrating Social, 

Behavioral, and Economic Sciences 

(SBES) methodologies and knowledge is 

crucial to meeting our mission. 

If we are to effectively support public 

and partner decision making, build 

actionable tools and information, and 

evaluate our performance, then it’s 

imperative that the NOAA/NWS collect 

key SBES data and fully engage with our 

audiences. Additionally, the NOAA/ 

NWS has articulated a priority to 

enhance services for historically 

underinvested and underserved 

communities and improve service 

equity across the board. These 

communities typically experience 

higher rates of poverty, homelessness, 

disabilities, and language barriers, 

which increase their vulnerability to 

hazard impacts. 

The generic clearance is an important 

planning and engagement tool for 

NOAA/NWS. The procedures expected 

to be used include but are not limited 

to social network analysis, open, semistructured and structured interviews, 

focus groups, surveys, and participant 

observation. 

Affected Public: Members of the 

public, emergency managers, broadcast 

meteorologists, state/local/tribal 

decision makers, and non-profit 

organizations. 

Frequency: On Occasion. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary. 

This information collection request 

may be viewed at www.reginfo.gov. 

Follow the instructions to view the 

Department of Commerce collections 

currently under review by OMB. 

Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be 

submitted within 30 days of the 

publication of this notice on the 

following website www.reginfo.gov/ 

public/do/PRAMain. Find this 

particular information collection by 

selecting ‘‘Currently under 30-day 


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