Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 37 / Wednesday, February 25, 2015 / Notices 10059 

the following Amendments to the 2006 

Consolidated HMS FMP: Draft 

Amendment 6 on the future of shark 

fishery, providing updates on 

Amendment 5b on dusky shark 

management and Amendment 9 on 

smoothhound shark management and 

ongoing stock assessment, reviewing 

Final Amendment 7 on bluefin tuna 

management measures, as well as 

discussing the HMS Essential Fish 

Habitat 5-Year Review. The meeting will 

also include discussion of the Electronic 

Technologies Implementation Plan for 

Atlantic HMS, implementation of 2014 

ICCAT recommendations, and updates 

on the Atlantic HMS ManagementBased Research Priorities document and 

other research activities, among other 

updates. 

Additional information on the 

meeting and a copy of the draft agenda 

will be posted prior to the meeting at: 

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/

advisory_panels/hms_ap/meetings/ap_

meetings.html. 

Special Accommodations 

This meeting is physically accessible 

to people with disabilities. Requests for 

sign language interpretation or other 

auxiliary aids should be directed to 

Peter Cooper at (301) 427–8503 at least 

7 days prior to the meeting. 

Dated: February 20, 2015. 

Alan D. Risenhoover, 

Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2015–03894 Filed 2–24–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XD791 

Caribbean Fishery Management 

Council: Scoping Meetings 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of scoping meetings on 

Caribbean Federal permits. 

SUMMARY: The harvest activities of all 

fishing sectors must be understood to 

the greatest degree possible to assure 

that societal goals encompassed in the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act are 

met. Thus, the need for timely, effective, 

and efficient means to monitor harvest 

from all sectors is fundamental. The 

goal of this Scoping Hearing is to allow 

the public to comment on the scoping 

document and to provide alternative 

options and ideas not yet considered by 

the Council and NMFS. 

Dates and Addresses: 

Written comments can be sent to the 

Council not later than April 10th, 2015, 

by regular mail to the address below, or 

via email to graciela_cfmc@yahoo.com 

or Miguel.lugo@noaa.gov. 

In Puerto Rico 

March 11, 2015—7 p.m.–10 p.m.— 

Verdanza Hotel, Tartak St. Isla 

Verde Puerto Rico 

March 25, 2015—7 p.m.–10 p.m.— 

Mayaguez Holiday Inn, 2701 Hostos 

Avenue, Mayagu ̈ ez, Puerto Rico 

In the U.S. Virgin Islands 

March 16, 2015—7 p.m.–10 p.m.—The 

Buccaneer Hotel, Estate Shoys, 

Christiansted, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin 

Islands 

March 18, 2015—7 p.m.–10 p.m.— 

Windward Passage Hotel, Charlotte 

Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin 

Islands. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Caribbean Fishery Management Council, 

270 Mun ̃oz Rivera Avenue, Suite 401, 

San Juan, Puerto Rico 00918–1903, 

telephone: (787) 766–5926. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Caribbean Fishery Management Council 

is considering establishing federal 

permits for fishing in the U.S. Caribbean 

exclusive economic zone (EEZ), and is 

conducting scoping meetings to obtain 

public comments regarding this matter. 

Background 

A permitting system provides a 

comprehensive method to achieve this 

goal. Permitting supports 

professionalization of individual 

fisheries, identifying and 

acknowledging those fishers dedicated 

to and reliant upon a specific 

component of the commercial fishery. 

Permits also allow for direct 

communication with fishing entities, 

enabling focused outreach and 

education opportunities. 

A permitting system allows fishery 

scientists and managers to gather more 

accurate data, decreasing both scientific 

and management uncertainty. Scientific 

uncertainty can be mitigated to some 

degree by increasing knowledge of the 

fishery and the health of the fish 

populations that support that fishery. A 

permit system that identifies the 

universe of fishers operating within a 

fishing sector and allows tracking of the 

disposition and characteristics of 

harvested resources would substantially 

enhance knowledge of the fishery. Data 

derived from a comprehensive permit 

system would also contribute to 

reducing management uncertainty by 

providing better estimates of harvesting 

effort and the timing of harvest, thereby 

improving management design and 

responsiveness. More accurate and 

reliable catch data allows for more 

informed management. 

The absence of a federal permit 

system, or mandatory federal reporting 

requirements, has been identified as a 

major contributor to the lack of fishing 

effort information in the U.S. Caribbean 

EEZ. A permitting system would allow 

better estimates for measuring fishing 

effort for the Council-managed fisheries 

while shedding light on the 

effectiveness of regulations 

implemented to manage that effort. 

Some of the needs and Issues that a 

permitting system could address in the 

EEZ: 

1. Provide accurate and timely data on 

landings. 

2. Allow estimation of catch per unit 

of fishing effort. 

3. Identify spatial and temporal trends 

in effort, including the relative 

importance of fishing to individual 

communities. 

4. Manage competing interests for the 

resource. 

5. Identify trends in the health of 

targeted fish stocks. 

6. Quantify the socioeconomic 

importance of permitted fishing sectors 

and mitigate negative impacts of 

management to fishing communities. 

7. Provide permitted fishers with a 

better understanding of their fishery and 

the opportunities and implications of 

management to that fishery. 

There are many aspects to 

implementing fishing permits in the 

U.S. Caribbean exclusive economic zone 

(EEZ) and many options regarding the 

design of a permit system. Options for 

developing and designing a permit 

system include, but are not limited to: 

1. Require commercial fishers to 

obtain a federal permit to fish in the 

U.S. Caribbean EEZ; 

2. Require commercial fishers to 

obtain a commercial fishing license 

from either Puerto Rico or the U.S. 

Virgin Islands (USVI) to fish in the U.S. 

Caribbean EEZ; 

3. Require commercial fishers to 

obtain a federal permit or a commercial 

fishing license from either Puerto Rico 

or the USVI to fish in the U.S. Caribbean 

EEZ 

4. Require a species/species group/

fishery-specific permit in the U.S. 

Caribbean EEZ; 

5. Require a gear-specific permit in 

the U.S. Caribbean EEZ; 

6. Require a dealer permit to purchase 

fish harvested from the U.S. Caribbean 

EEZ; 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
10060 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 37 / Wednesday, February 25, 2015 / Notices 

7. Conduct a pilot study with some or 

all fishers from some or all island 

groups to evaluate the practicality of 

permits in the U.S. Caribbean EEZ. 

The goal of these scoping meetings is 

to allow the public to comment on the 

options listed above and to provide 

alternative options not yet considered 

by the Council and NMFS. 

Copy of the Scoping Document to 

address the Development of Federal 

Permits in the U.S. Caribbean Exclusive 

Economic Zone can be found at http:// 

sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_

fisheries/caribbean/index.html under 

Current Rule Making or and the 

Caribbean Council Web site at 

caribbeanfmc.com. 

Special Accommodations 

These meetings are physically 

accessible to people with disabilities. 

For more information or request for sign 

language interpretation and other 

auxiliary aids, please contact Mr. 

Miguel A. Rolo ́n, Executive Director, 

Caribbean Fishery Management Council, 

270 Mun ̃ oz Rivera Avenue, Suite 401, 

San Juan, Puerto Rico, 00918–1903, 

telephone (787) 766–5926, at least 5 

days prior to the meeting date. 

Dated: February 20, 2015. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2015–03892 Filed 2–24–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XD444 

Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to 

Specified Activities; Taking Marine 

Mammals Incidental to San Francisco 

Bay Area Water Emergency 

Transportation Authority Central Bay 

Operations and Maintenance Facility 

Project in Alameda, California 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; issuance of an incidental 

take authorization. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Marine Mammal Protection Act 

(MMPA) regulations, notification is 

hereby given that NMFS has issued an 

Incidental Harassment Authorization 

(IHA) to the San Francisco Bay Area 

Water Emergency Transportation 

Authority (WETA) to take, by 

harassment, small numbers of two 

species of marine mammals incidental 

to pile driving and removal associated 

with the Central Bay Operations and 

Maintenance Facility Project in the City 

of Alameda, California, between 

December 1, 2015, through November 

30, 2016. 

DATES: Effective December 1, 2015, 

through November 30, 2016. 

ADDRESSES: A copy of the application 

containing a list of the references used 

in this document, NMFS’s 

Environmental Assessment (EA), 

Finding of No Significant Impact 

(FONSI), and the IHA may be obtained 

visiting the Internet at: http://

www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/

incidental.htm#applications. 

Documents cited in this notice may be 

viewed, by appointment, during regular 

business hours, at 1315 East West 

Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Shane Guan, Office of Protected 

Resources, NMFS, (301) 427–8401. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Sections 101(a)(5)(A) and (D) of the 

MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) direct 

the Secretary of Commerce to allow, 

upon request, the incidental, but not 

intentional, taking of small numbers of 

marine mammals by U.S. citizens who 

engage in a specified activity (other than 

commercial fishing) within a specified 

geographical region if certain findings 

are made and either regulations are 

issued or, if the taking is limited to 

harassment, a notice of a proposed 

authorization is provided to the public 

for review. 

An authorization for incidental 

takings shall be granted if NMFS finds 

that the taking will have a negligible 

impact on the species or stock(s), will 

not have an unmitigable adverse impact 

on the availability of the species or 

stock(s) for subsistence uses (where 

relevant), and if the permissible 

methods of taking and requirements 

pertaining to the mitigation, monitoring 

and reporting of such takings are set 

forth. NMFS has defined ‘‘negligible 

impact’’ in 50 CFR 216.103 as ‘‘an 

impact resulting from the specified 

activity that cannot be reasonably 

expected to, and is not reasonably likely 

to, adversely affect the species or stock 

through effects on annual rates of 

recruitment or survival.’’ 

Except with respect to certain 

activities not pertinent here, the MMPA 

defines ‘‘harassment’’ as: Any act of 

pursuit, torment, or annoyance which (i) 

has the potential to injure a marine 

mammal or marine mammal stock in the 

wild [Level A harassment]; or (ii) has 

the potential to disturb a marine 

mammal or marine mammal stock in the 

wild by causing disruption of behavioral 

patterns, including, but not limited to, 

migration, breathing, nursing, breeding, 

feeding, or sheltering [Level B 

harassment]. 

Summary of Request 

On April 9, 2014, NMFS received an 

application from WETA for the taking of 

marine mammals incidental to the 

construction of a Central Bay Operations 

and Maintenance Facility (Project). The 

purpose of the Project is to serve as the 

central San Francisco Bay (Bay) base for 

WETA’s ferry fleet. After NMFS 

provided comments on the draft IHA 

application, WETA submitted a revised 

IHA application on May 15, 2014. 

NMFS determined that the application 

was adequate and complete on July 31, 

2014. No changes was made for the 

proposed WETA’s construction Project 

as described in the proposed IHA except 

the Project duration was changed to 

December 1, 2015, through November 

30, 2016, from the original June 15 

through October 15, 2014, due to 

funding and other constraints. Please 

refer to Federal Register notice for the 

proposed IHA for a detailed description 

of the project activities. 

Comments and Responses 

A notice of NMFS’ proposal to issue 

an IHA to WETA was published in the 

Federal Register on September 17, 2014 

(79 FR 55479). That notice described, in 

detail, WETA’s activity, the marine 

mammal species that may be affected by 

the activity, and the anticipated effects 

on marine mammals. During the 30-day 

public comment period, NMFS received 

comments from the Marine Mammal 

Commission (Commission), the Sierra 

Club, the San Francisco Bay 

Conservation and Development 

Commission (BCDC), and 40 private 

citizens. 

All comments specific to WETA’s 

application that address the statutory 

and regulatory requirements or findings 

NMFS must make to issue an IHA are 

addressed in this section of the Federal 

Register notice. 

Comment 1: The Commission 

recommends NMFS issue the IHA to 

WETA, subject to inclusion of the 

proposed mitigation and monitoring 

measures described in the proposed 

IHA. In addition, the Commission 

recommends that NMFS only authorize 

in-season adjustments in the sizes of the 

exclusion and/or disturbance zones 

(zones of influence) if the size(s) of the 

estimated zones are determined to be 

too small. 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES