Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 58 / Thursday, March 26, 2015 / Notices 15991 

This information collection request 

may be viewed at www.reginfo.gov. 

Follow the instructions to view 

Department of Commerce collections 

currently under review by OMB. 

IV. Request for Comments 

Comments are invited on: (a) Whether 

the proposed collection of information 

is necessary for the proper performance 

of the functions of the agency, including 

whether the information shall have 

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden 

(including hours and cost) of the 

proposed collection of information; (c) 

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and (d) ways to minimize the 

burden of the collection of information 

on respondents, including through the 

use of automated collection techniques 

or other forms of information 

technology. 

Comments submitted in response to 

this notice will be summarized and/or 

included in the request for OMB 

approval of this information collection; 

they also will become a matter of public 

record. 

Dated: March 20, 2015. 

Glenna Mickelson, 

Management Analyst, Office of the Chief 

Information Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2015–06883 Filed 3–25–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–07–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XD855 

Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management 

Council (MAFMC); Fisheries of the 

Northeastern United States; Scoping 

Process 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement (EIS); 

notice of initiation of scoping process; 

notice of public scoping meetings; 

request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council announces its 

intent to prepare, in cooperation with 

NMFS, an amendment to the Fishery 

Management Plan for Atlantic Mackerel, 

Squid, and Butterfish, and to potentially 

prepare an EIS in accordance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act to 

analyze the impacts of any proposed 

management measures. The current 

focus of the amendment is to consider 

alternatives to reduce the capacities of 

the longfin squid and Illex squid fleets 

as defined by vessels with limited 

access permits. This notice announces a 

public process for determining the 

scope of issues to be addressed, for 

identifying concerns and potential 

alternatives related to capacity in the 

squid fisheries, and for determining the 

appropriate level of environmental 

analysis. This notice alerts the 

interested public of the scoping process, 

the potential development of a Draft 

EIS, and provides for public 

participation in that process. The MidAtlantic Fishery Management Council 

will hold six scoping hearings in April 

2015 for this amendment. At the 

scoping hearings the Council will also 

take any general comments on mackerel, 

squid, and butterfish fisheries 

management, which could inform future 

Council actions not including this 

amendment. 

DATES: The meetings will be held over 

several weeks between April 6, 2015 

and April 21, 2015. Written comments 

must be received on or before 11:59 

p.m., EST, on May 11, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: There will be six scoping 

meetings listed under the heading Dates, 

Times, and Locations. 

Council address: Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council, 800 N. State St., 

Suite 201, Dover, DE 19901; telephone: 

(302) 674–2331. 

Comment addresses: Written 

comments may be sent by any of the 

following methods: 

• Email to the following address: 

jdidden@mafmc.org; Include ‘‘Squid 

Amendment Scoping Comments’’ in the 

subject line (recommended); 

• Mail or hand deliver to Dr. 

Christopher M. Moore, Executive 

Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council, 800 North State 

Street, Suite 201, Dover, Delaware 

19901. Mark the outside of the envelope 

‘‘Squid Amendment Scoping 

Comments’’; or 

• Fax to (302) 674–5399. 

• Comments may also be provided 

verbally at any of the public scoping 

meetings. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Christopher M. Moore, Ph.D. Executive 

Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council; telephone: (302) 

526–5255. The Council’s Web site, 

www.mafmc.org also has details on the 

meeting locations, webinar access, and 

background materials. Please contact 

Jason Didden by April 19, 2015 at 

jdidden@mafmc.org or (302) 526–5254 if 

you would like to confirm that your 

computer is set up to access the 

webinar. 

A scoping document will be posted to 

the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management 

Council Web site. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Dates, Times and Locations 

1. Monday April 6, 2015, 4 p.m. 

Superior Trawl, 55 State Street, 

Narragansett, RI 02882. Telephone: 

(401) 782–1171. 

2. Tuesday April 7, 2015, 5 p.m. 

Montauk Library, 871 Montauk 

Highway, Montauk, NY 11954. 

Telephone: (631) 668–3377. 

3. Wednesday April 8, 2015, 5 p.m. 

Fairfield Inn, 185 MacArthur Dr, New 

Bedford, MA 02740. Telephone: (774) 

634–2000. 

4. Monday April 13, 2015, 6 p.m. 

Congress Hall Hotel, 251 Beach Ave, 

Cape May, NJ 08204. Telephone: (888) 

944–1816. 

5. Wednesday April 15, 2015, 5 p.m. 

Ocean Place Resort. 1 Ocean Blvd., Long 

Branch, NJ, 07740. Telephone: 732– 

571–4000. 

6. Tuesday April 21, 2015, 6 p.m. This 

April 21, 2015 meeting will be 

conducted via webinar accessible via 

the internet from the Council’s Web site, 

www.mafmc.org. The Virginia Marine 

Resources Commission will also provide 

in-person access to the webinar at its 

office at: 2600 Washington Avenue, 4th 

Floor, Newport News, VA 23607; (757) 

247–2200. Members of the public may 

also attend in-person at the Council 

office address (see below) for this 

webinar meeting, if they contact the 

Council by April 19, 2015. 

Background 

In the Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council’s (Council) 2015 

Implementation Plan (available at 

http://www.mafmc.org/strategic-plan/), 

the Council decided to initiate an action 

on a ‘‘Squid Capacity Amendment.’’ 

There is considerable latent capacity in 

both the longfin squid and Illex squid 

fisheries; a small portion of vessels with 

limited access squid permits account for 

most landings in most years. The 

Council is concerned that activation of 

this latent capacity could cause 

problems in the fishery such as racing 

to fish and increased incidental catch of 

non-target species. Accordingly, the 

Amendment is likely to consider a 

variety of approaches for reducing 

capacity in the squid fisheries. Such 

approaches could include, but would 

not be limited to: A requalification of 

limited access permits; a tiered limited 

access system; and/or a limited access 

privilege program (LAPP), which is 

more commonly referred to as an 

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15992 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 58 / Thursday, March 26, 2015 / Notices 

‘‘individual quota’’ or ‘‘catch share 

system.’’ The Council has recently 

updated control dates for both squid 

fisheries—May 16, 2013 for longfin 

squid: (http://www.greateratlantic.

fisheries.noaa.gov/nr/2013/May/

13smblongfinbutterfishcontroldate

phl.pdf) and August 2, 2013 for Illex 

squid: (http://www.greateratlantic.

fisheries.noaa.gov/nr/2013/August/

13smbillexcontroldatephl.pdf). 

The Council may (or may not) use the 

current or previous control dates as 

reference points as it considers whether, 

and/or how, to further limit the number 

of participants in the squid fisheries (see 

preceding links for additional details on 

the control dates). The Council will first 

gather information during the scoping 

period. This is the first and best 

opportunity for members of the public 

to raise concerns related to the scope of 

issues that will be considered in the 

Amendment. The Council needs your 

input both to identify management 

issues and develop effective 

alternatives. Your comments early in the 

amendment development process will 

help us address issues of public concern 

in a thorough and appropriate manner. 

Comment topics could include the 

scope of issues in the amendment, 

concerns and potential alternatives 

related to capacity in the squid fisheries, 

and the appropriate level of 

environmental analysis. Comments can 

be made during the scoping hearings as 

detailed above or in writing. If the 

Council decides to move forward with 

the Amendment, the Council will 

develop a range of management 

alternatives to be considered and 

prepare a draft EIS and/or other 

appropriate environmental analyses. 

These analyses will consider the 

impacts of the management alternatives 

being considered, as required by the 

National Environmental Policy Act. 

Following a review of any comments on 

the draft analyses, the Council will then 

choose preferred management measures 

for submission with a Final EIS or 

Environmental Assessment to the 

Secretary of Commerce for publishing of 

a proposed and then final rule, both of 

which have additional comment 

periods. 

While the Council is conducting these 

scoping hearings, the Council will also 

accept general comments on the MSB 

fisheries. These general comments could 

inform Council decision making for 

upcoming annual specifications or other 

actions. 

Special Accommodations 

These meetings are physically 

accessible to people with disabilities. 

Requests for sign language 

interpretation or other auxiliary aid 

should be directed to M. Jan Saunders, 

(302) 526–5251, at least 5 days prior to 

the meeting date. 

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

Dated: March 23, 2015. 

Emily H. Menashes, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2015–06944 Filed 3–25–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XD824 

Marine Mammals; File No. 18890 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; receipt of application. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

the Alaska Department of Fish and 

Game (ADFG) [Responsible Party: 

Robert Small, Ph.D., 1255 West 8th 

Street, Juneau, Alaska 99811–5526] has 

applied in due form for a permit to 

conduct research on bowhead (Balaena 

mysticetus), gray (Eschrichtius 

robustus), humpback (Megaptera 

novaeangliae) and beluga 

(Delphinapterus leucas) whales. 

DATES: Written, telefaxed, or email 

comments must be received on or before 

April 27, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: The application and related 

documents are available for review by 

selecting ‘‘Records Open for Public 

Comment’’ from the ‘‘Features’’ box on 

the Applications and Permits for 

Protected Species (APPS) home page, 

https://apps.nmfs.noaa.gov, and then 

selecting File No. 18890 from the list of 

available applications. 

These documents are also available 

upon written request or by appointment 

in the Permits and Conservation 

Division, Office of Protected Resources, 

NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 

13705, Silver Spring, MD 20910; phone 

(301) 427–8401; fax (301) 713–0376. 

Written comments on this application 

should be submitted to the Chief, 

Permits and Conservation Division, at 

the address listed above. Comments may 

also be submitted by facsimile to (301) 

713–0376, or by email to 

NMFS.Pr1Comments@noaa.gov. Please 

include the File No. in the subject line 

of the email comment. 

Those individuals requesting a public 

hearing should submit a written request 

to the Chief, Permits and Conservation 

Division at the address listed above. The 

request should set forth the specific 

reasons why a hearing on this 

application would be appropriate. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Courtney Smith or Brendan Hurley, 

(301) 427–8401. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

subject permit is requested under the 

authority of the Marine Mammal 

Protection Act of 1972, as amended 

(MMPA; 16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.), the 

regulations governing the taking and 

importing of marine mammals (50 CFR 

part 216), and the Endangered Species 

Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 

U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), the regulations 

governing the taking, importing, and 

exporting of endangered and threatened 

species (50 CFR 222–226). 

The applicant proposes to take the 

above listed species by research 

activities within the coastal areas and 

open waters of the Bering, Chukchi, and 

Beaufort seas adjacent to Alaska and the 

eastern Beaufort Sea in Canada over a 

five year period. Research topics 

include population abundance (beluga), 

stock structure (bowhead, gray, 

humpback, and beluga), feeding areas 

and other important habitats (all 

species), migration routes (all species), 

behavior relative to human disturbance 

(all species), and to genetically identify 

individuals in order to determine 

survival and calving intervals (belugas). 

Takes per year, including incidental 

harassment, are as follows. For bowhead 

whales, take includes tagging with 

biopsy (up to 320), and biopsy only (up 

to 150). For gray whales take includes 

tagging with biopsy and photo-id (up to 

90 per year) and biopsy with photo-id 

(up to 160), and photo-id only (up to 

350). For humpback whales, take 

includes tagging with biopsy and photoid (up to 35), biopsy with photo-id (up 

to 40), and photo-id (up to 50). For 

beluga whales the type of take includes 

aerial survey (up to 4,000), capture for 

tagging and sample collection (up to 200 

takes per stock per year), boat approach 

for remote biopsy (up to 450 per stock 

per year). For all species, import and 

export activities will include biological 

samples for genetic, health, and dietary 

studies. Non-target species listed under 

the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that 

may be taken incidentally include up to 

10 ringed seals. Other non-target species 

include annual incidental takes of up to 

10 bearded, harbor and spotted seals 

and up to 10 beluga whales potentially 

taken during large whale (bowhead, gray 

and humpback) research. 

In compliance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

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