28808 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 91 / Wednesday, May 11, 2022 / Notices 

6 Id. at 10–11. 

7See Final Results of Remand Redetermination, 

Power Steel Co., Ltd. v. United States, Court No. 20– 

03771, Slip. Op. 21–173, dated April 8, 2022, (Final 

Results of Remand Redetermination). 

8See Power Steel Co., Ltd. v. United States, Court 

No. 20–3771, Slip. Op. 22–39 (CIT April 28, 2022). 

9See Timken Co. v. United States, 893 F.2d 337 

(Fed. Cir. 1990) (Timken). 

10See Diamond Sawblades Manufacturers 

Coalition v. United States, 626 F.3d 1374 (Fed. Cir. 

2010) (Diamond Sawblades). 

11See 19 CFR 351.106(c)(2). 

12 Id. 

1See Oil Country Tubular Goods from Argentina, 

Mexico, and the Russian Federation: Initiation of 

Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations, 86 FR 60205 

(November 1, 2021) (Initiation Notice). 

2See Oil Country Tubular Goods from Argentina, 

Mexico, and the Russian Federation: Postponement 

of Preliminary Determinations in the Less-ThanFair-Value Investigations, 87 FR 9034 (February 17, 

2022). 

3See Memorandum, ‘‘Oil Country Tubular Goods 

from Mexico: Decision Memorandum for 

Preliminary Affirmative Determinations of Sales at 

Less Than Fair Value and Critical Circumstances,’’ 

dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, 

this notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum). 

{s}ection 232 duties for the disputed 

transactions and that therefore they 

were not part of the sales price used to 

establish base {export price}.’’ 6

In its final remand redetermination, 

issued on April 8, 2022, Commerce 

found that the record supported Power 

Steel’s claim that it did not pay section 

232 duties on two of its U.S. sales, and 

thus, that section 232 duties were not 

included in the gross unit price that was 

used as the basis for export price. 

Commerce recalculated the weightedaverage dumping margin for Power 

Steel, which changed from 3.27 percent 

in the Final Results to 0.01 percent.7

Thus, Commerce found that Power Steel 

did not make sales at less than normal 

value during the period of review. The 

CIT sustained Commerce’s final 

redetermination.8

Timken Notice 

In its decision in Timken,9 as clarified 

by Diamond Sawblades,10 the Court of 

Appeals for the Federal Circuit held 

that, pursuant to sections 516A(c) and 

(e) of the Act, Commerce must publish 

a notice of court decision that is not ‘‘in 

harmony’’ with a Commerce 

determination and must suspend 

liquidation of entries pending a 

‘‘conclusive’’ court decision. The CIT’s 

April 28, 2022, judgment constitutes a 

final decision of the CIT that is not in 

harmony with Commerce’s Final 

Results. Thus, this notice is published 

in fulfillment of the publication 

requirements of Timken. 

Amended Final Results 

Because there is now a final court 

judgment, Commerce is amending its 

Final Results with respect to Power 

Steel as follows: 

Company Final results 

(percent) 

Final results of remand 

redetermination 

(percent) 

Power Steel Co., Ltd ............................................................................................................... 3.27 * 0.01 

* (de minimis). 

Cash Deposit Requirements 

Commerce will issue revised cash 

deposit instructions to U.S. Customs 

and Border Protection (CBP). 

Liquidation of Suspended Entries 

At this time, Commerce remains 

enjoined by CIT order from liquidating 

entries that: Were produced and/or 

exported by Power Steel, and were 

entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, 

for consumption during the period 

March 7, 2017, through September 30, 

2018, excluding the period September 3, 

2017, through September 14, 2017. 

These entries will remain enjoined 

pursuant to the terms of the injunction 

during the pendency of any appeals 

process. 

In the event the CIT’s ruling is not 

appealed, or, if appealed, upheld by a 

final and conclusive court decision, 

Commerce intends to instruct CBP to 

assess antidumping duties on 

unliquidated entries of subject 

merchandise produced and/or exported 

by Power Steel in accordance with 19 

CFR 351.212(b). We will instruct CBP to 

assess antidumping duties on all 

appropriate entries covered by this 

review when the importer-specific ad 

valorem assessment rate is not zero or 

de minimis.11 Where an import-specific 

ad valorem assessment rate is zero or de 

minimis,12 we will instruct CBP to 

liquidate the appropriate entries 

without regard to antidumping duties. 

Notification to Interested Parties 

This notice is issued and published in 

accordance with sections 516A(c) and 

(e), and 777(i)(1) of the Act. 

Dated: May 5, 2022. 

Lisa W. Wang, 

Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and 

Compliance. 

[FR Doc. 2022–10077 Filed 5–10–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

International Trade Administration 

[A–201–856] 

Oil Country Tubular Goods From 

Mexico: Preliminary Affirmative 

Determinations of Sales at Less Than 

Fair Value and Critical Circumstances, 

Postponement of Final Determination, 

and Extension of Provisional Measures 

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, 

International Trade Administration, 

Department of Commerce. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce 

(Commerce) preliminarily determines 

that oil country tubular goods (OCTG) 

from Mexico are being, or are likely to 

be, sold in the United States at less than 

fair value (LTFV). The period of 

investigation (POI) is October 1, 2020, 

through September 30, 2021. Interested 

parties are invited to comment on this 

preliminary determination. 

DATES: Applicable May 11, 2022. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Emily Bradshaw or Yang Jin Chun, AD/ 

CVD Operations, Office VI, Enforcement 

and Compliance, International Trade 

Administration, U.S. Department of 

Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 

NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: 

(202) 482–3896 or (202) 482–5760, 

respectively. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

This preliminary determination is 

made in accordance with section 733(b) 

of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 

(the Act). Commerce published the 

notice of initiation of this LTFV 

investigation on November 1, 2021.1 On 

February 17, 2022, Commerce 

postponed the preliminary 

determination of this investigation until 

May 4, 2022.2 For a complete 

description of the events that followed 

the initiation of this investigation, see 

the Preliminary Decision 

Memorandum.3 A list of sections in the 

Preliminary Decision Memorandum is 


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4See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, 

Final Rule, 62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997). 

5See Initiation Notice. 

6See Memorandum, ‘‘Antidumping Duty 

Investigations of Oil Country Tubular Goods from 

Argentina, Mexico, and the Russian Federation and 

Countervailing Duty Investigations of Oil Country 

Tubular Goods from the Republic of Korea, and the 

Russian Federation: Preliminary Scope Decision 

Memorandum,’’ dated March 7, 2022 (Preliminary 

Scope Decision Memorandum). 

7Case briefs, other written comments, and 

rebuttal briefs submitted by parties in response to 

this preliminary LTFV determination should not 

include scope-related issues. See Preliminary Scope 

Decision Memorandum and ‘‘Public Comment’’ 

section of this notice. 

8See Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum 

at 4. 

9See Preliminary Decision Memorandum at 12– 

16. 

included as Appendix II to this notice. 

The Preliminary Decision Memorandum 

is a public document and is on file 

electronically via Enforcement and 

Compliance’s Antidumping and 

Countervailing Duty Centralized 

Electronic Service System (ACCESS). 

ACCESS is available to registered users 

at https://access.trade.gov. In addition, a 

complete version of the Preliminary 

Decision Memorandum can be accessed 

directly at https://access.trade.gov/ 

public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx. 

Scope of the Investigation 

The products covered by this 

investigation are OCTG from Mexico. 

For a complete description of the scope 

of this investigation, see Appendix I. 

Scope Comments 

In accordance with the preamble to 

Commerce’s regulations,4 in the 

Initiation Notice, Commerce set aside a 

period of time for parties to raise issues 

regarding product coverage (i.e., scope).5

Certain interested parties commented on 

the scope of the investigation as it 

appeared in the Initiation Notice. For a 

summary of the product coverage 

comments and rebuttal responses 

submitted to the record for this 

investigation and accompanying 

discussion and analysis of all comments 

timely received, see the Preliminary 

Scope Decision Memorandum.6 As 

discussed in the Preliminary Scope 

Decision Memorandum, Commerce 

preliminarily modified the scope 

language that appeared in the Initiation 

Notice. 

In the Preliminary Scope Decision 

Memorandum, Commerce established 

the deadline for parties to submit scope 

case briefs.7 Commerce did not receive 

any comments from interested parties 

regarding the scope as stated in the 

Preliminary Scope Decision 

Memorandum prior to the deadline. As 

explained in the Preliminary Scope 

Decision Memorandum, there will be no 

further opportunity for comments on 

scope-related issues.8

Methodology 

Commerce is conducting this 

investigation in accordance with section 

731 of the Act. Commerce calculated 

constructed export prices in accordance 

with section 772(b) of the Act. 

Commerce calculated normal value in 

accordance with section 773 of the Act. 

For a full description of the 

methodology underlying the 

preliminary determination, see the 

Preliminary Decision Memorandum. 

All-Others Rate 

Sections 733(d)(1)(A)(ii) and 

735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provide that in 

the preliminary determination, 

Commerce shall determine an estimated 

all-others rate for all exporters and 

producers not individually examined. 

This rate shall be equal to the weighted 

average of the estimated weightedaverage dumping margins established 

for exporters and producers 

individually investigated, excluding any 

zero and de minimis dumping margins, 

and any dumping margins determined 

entirely under section 776 of the Act. 

In this investigation, Commerce 

calculated an estimated weightedaverage dumping margin above de 

minimis for the sole mandatory 

respondent, Tubos de Acero de Mexico, 

S.A. (TAMSA). Because TAMSA is the 

sole mandatory respondent for which 

Commerce calculated a weightedaverage dumping margin, Commerce 

assigned TAMSA’s preliminary margin 

to all other producers and exporters of 

the merchandise under consideration. 

Preliminary Affirmative Determination 

of Critical Circumstances 

In accordance with section 733(e) of 

the Act and 19 CFR 351.206, Commerce 

preliminarily finds that critical 

circumstances exist for all companies in 

Mexico. For a full description of the 

methodology and results of Commerce’s 

critical circumstances analysis, see the 

Preliminary Decision Memorandum.9

Preliminary Determination 

Commerce preliminarily determines 

that the following estimated weightedaverage dumping margins exist in this 

investigation: 

Exporter/producer 

Estimated 

weightedaverage 

dumping 

margin 

(percent) 

Tubos de Acero de Mexico, S.A 69.56 

All Others .................................... 69.56 

Suspension of Liquidation 

In accordance with section 733(d)(2) 

of the Act, Commerce will direct U.S. 

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to 

suspend liquidation of all entries of 

OCTG from Mexico, as described in 

Appendix I, entered, or withdrawn from 

warehouse, for consumption on or after 

the date of publication of this notice in 

the Federal Register. 

Further, pursuant to section 

733(d)(1)(B) of the Act and 19 CFR 

351.205(d), Commerce will instruct CBP 

to require a cash deposit equal to the 

estimated weighted-average dumping 

margin or the estimated all-others rate, 

as follows: (1) The cash deposit rate for 

the respondent listed in the table above 

is the company-specific estimated 

weighted-average dumping margin 

calculated in this preliminary 

determination; (2) if the exporter is not 

the respondent identified in the table 

above, but the producer is, then the cash 

deposit rate is the company-specific 

estimated weighted-average dumping 

margin established for that producer of 

the subject merchandise in the table 

above; and (3) the cash deposit rate for 

all other producers and exporters is the 

all-others estimated weighted-average 

dumping margin listed in the table 

above. 

Further, section 733(e)(2) of the Act 

provides that, in the event of an 

affirmative determination of critical 

circumstances, any suspension of 

liquidation shall apply to unliquidated 

entries of merchandise entered, or 

withdrawn from warehouse, for 

consumption on or after the later of: (a) 

The date which is 90 days before the 

date on which the suspension of 

liquidation was first ordered; or (b) the 

date on which notice of initiation of the 

investigation was published. As noted 

above, Commerce preliminarily finds 

that critical circumstances exist for 

imports of OCTG from Mexico produced 

and exported by all companies. In 

accordance with 733(e)(2)(A) of the Act, 

suspension of liquidation shall apply to 

unliquidated entries of subject 

merchandise for shipments that are 

entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, 

for consumption on or after the date 

which is 90 days before the publication 

of this notice, the date suspension of 

liquidation is first ordered. 


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10See Commerce’s Letter, ‘‘Antidumping Duty 

Investigation of Oil Country Tubular Goods from 

Mexico: Notification of Intent to Conduct Virtual 

Verification,’’ dated March 16, 2022. 

11Case briefs, other written comments, and 

rebuttal briefs submitted by parties in response to 

this preliminary LTFV determination should not 

include scope-related issues. The scope case briefs 

deadline expired on April 13, 2022. See Preliminary 

Scope Decision Memorandum at 3–4; see also Oil 

Country Tubular Goods from the Republic of Korea: 

Preliminary Negative Countervailing Duty 

Determination and Alignment of Final 

Determination With Final Antidumping Duty 

Determination, 87 FR 14248 (March 14, 2022), and 

Oil Country Tubular Goods from the Russian 

Federation: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing 

Duty Determination, Preliminary Negative Critical 

Circumstances Determination, and Alignment of 

Final Determination With Final Antidumping Duty 

Determination, 87 FR 14249 (March 14, 2022). 

12See 19 CFR 351.309; see also 19 CFR 351.303 

(for general filing requirements). 

13See Temporary Rule Modifying AD/CVD 

Service Requirements Due to COVID–19, 85 FR 

17006 (March 26, 2020); and Temporary Rule 

Modifying AD/CVD Service Requirements Due to 

COVID–19; Extension of Effective Period, 85 FR 

41363 (July 10, 2020). 

14See TAMSA’s Letter, ‘‘Request for 

Postponement of Final Determination and 

Extension of Provisional Measures Period,’’ dated 

April 27, 2022. 

15See Memorandum, ‘‘Less-Than-Fair-Value 

Investigation of Oil Country Tubular Goods from 

Mexico: Respondent Selection,’’ dated November 

12, 2021, at Attachment. 

16See also 19 CFR 351.210(e). 

These suspension of liquidation 

instructions will remain in effect until 

further notice. 

Disclosure 

Commerce intends to disclose its 

preliminary calculations and related 

analysis to interested parties within five 

days of any public announcement of the 

preliminary determination or, if there is 

no public announcement, within five 

days of the date of publication of this 

notice in the Federal Register, in 

accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b). 

Verification 

As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the 

Act, Commerce intends to verify 

information relied upon in making its 

final determination.10

Public Comment 

Case briefs or other written comments 

on non-scope issues may be submitted 

to the Assistant Secretary for 

Enforcement and Compliance.11

Interested parties will be notified of the 

timeline for the submission of such case 

briefs and written comments at a later 

date. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues 

raised in case briefs, may be submitted 

no later than seven days after the 

deadline date for case briefs.12 Pursuant 

to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), 

parties who submit case briefs or 

rebuttal briefs in this investigation are 

encouraged to submit with each 

argument: (1) A statement of the issue; 

(2) a brief summary of the argument; 

and (3) a table of authorities. Commerce 

has temporarily modified certain of its 

requirements for serving documents 

containing business proprietary 

information, until further notice.13

Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), 

interested parties who wish to request a 

hearing, limited to issues raised in the 

case and rebuttal briefs, must submit a 

written request to the Assistant 

Secretary for Enforcement and 

Compliance within 30 days after the 

date of publication of this notice in the 

Federal Register. Requests for a hearing 

should contain: (1) The requesting 

party’s name, address, and telephone 

number; (2) the number of individuals 

from the requesting party that will 

attend the hearing, including, whether 

any individuals are foreign nationals; 

and (3) a list of the issues the party 

intends to discuss at the hearing. If a 

request for a hearing is made, Commerce 

intends to hold the hearing at a time and 

date to be determined. Parties should 

confirm by telephone the date and time 

of the hearing two days before the 

scheduled hearing date. 

Postponement of Final Determination 

and Extension of Provisional Measures 

Section 735(a)(2) of the Act provides 

that a final determination may be 

postponed until not later than 135 days 

after the date of the publication of the 

preliminary determination in the 

Federal Register if, in the event of an 

affirmative preliminary determination, a 

request for such postponement is made 

by exporters who account for a 

significant proportion of exports of the 

subject merchandise, or in the event of 

a negative preliminary determination, a 

request for such postponement is made 

by the petitioner. Section 351.210(e)(2) 

of Commerce’s regulations requires that 

a request by exporters for postponement 

of the final determination be 

accompanied by a request for extension 

of provisional measures from a fourmonth period to a period not more than 

six months in duration. 

On April 27, 2022, pursuant to 19 

CFR 351.210(e), TAMSA requested that, 

contingent upon an affirmative 

preliminary determination of sales at 

LTFV, Commerce postpone the final 

determination in this investigation up to 

135 days after publication of this notice 

and that the provisional measures be 

extended to a period not to exceed six 

months.14

In accordance with section 

735(a)(2)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 

351.210(b)(2)(ii), because: (1) The 

preliminary determination is 

affirmative; (2) the requesting exporter 

accounts for a significant proportion of 

exports of the subject merchandise; 15

and (3) no compelling reasons for denial 

exist, Commerce is postponing the final 

determination in this investigation and 

extending the provisional measures 

from a four-month period to a period 

not greater than six months. 

Accordingly, Commerce will make its 

final determination in this investigation 

no later than 135 days after the date of 

publication of this preliminary 

determination in the Federal Register 

pursuant to section 735(a)(2) of the 

Act.16. 

International Trade Commission 

Notification 

In accordance with section 733(f) of 

the Act, Commerce will notify the 

International Trade Commission (ITC) of 

its preliminary determination. If 

Commerce’s final determination is 

affirmative, then the ITC will determine 

before the later of 120 days after the date 

of this preliminary determination, or 45 

days after the final determination, 

whether imports of OCTG from Mexico 

into the United States are materially 

injuring, or threaten material injury to, 

the U.S. industry. 

Notification to Interested Parties 

This preliminary determination is 

issued and published in accordance 

with sections 733(f) and 777(i)(1) of the 

Act, and 19 CFR 351.205(c). 

Dated: May 4, 2022. 

Lisa W. Wang, 

Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and 

Compliance. 

Appendix I—Scope of the Investigation 

The merchandise covered by this 

investigation is certain OCTG, which are 

hollow steel products of circular crosssection, including oil well casing and tubing, 

of iron (other than case iron) or steel (both 

carbon and alloy), whether seamless or 

welded, regardless of end finish (e.g., 

whether or not plain end, threaded, or 

threaded and coupled) whether or not 

conforming to American Petroleum Institute 

(API) or non-API specifications, whether 

finished (including limited service OCTG 

products) or unfinished (including green 

tubes and limited service OCTG products), 

whether or not thread protectors are attached. 

The scope of this investigation also covers 

OCTG coupling stock. 

Subject merchandise includes material 

matching the above description that has been 

finished, packaged, or otherwise processed in 

a third country, including by performing any 

heat treatment, cutting, upsetting, threading, 

coupling, or any other finishing, packaging, 

or processing that would not otherwise 


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remove the merchandise from the scope of 

the investigation if performed in the country 

of manufacture of the OCTG. 

Excluded from the scope of this 

investigation are: Casing, tubing, or coupling 

stock containing 10.5 percent or more by 

weight of chromium; drill pipe; unattached 

couplings; and unattached thread protectors. 

The merchandise subject to this 

investigation is currently classified in the 

Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 

States (HTSUS) under item numbers: 

7304.29.1010, 7304.29.1020, 7304.29.1030, 

7304.29.1040, 7304.29.1050, 7304.29.1060, 

7304.29.1080, 7304.29.2010, 7304.29.2020, 

7304.29.2030, 7304.29.2040, 7304.29.2050, 

7304.29.2060, 7304.29.2080, 7304.29.3110, 

7304.29.3120, 7304.29.3130, 7304.29.3140, 

7304.29.3150, 7304.29.3160, 7304.29.3180, 

7304.29.4110, 7304.29.4120, 7304.29.4130, 

7304.29.4140, 7304.29.4150, 7304.29.4160, 

7304.29.4180, 7304.29.5015, 7304.29.5030, 

7304.29.5045, 7304.29.5060, 7304.29.5075, 

7304.29.6115, 7304.29.6130, 7304.29.6145, 

7304.29.6160, 7304.29.6175, 7305.20.2000, 

7305.20.4000, 7305.20.6000, 7305.20.8000, 

7306.29.1030, 7306.29.1090, 7306.29.2000, 

7306.29.3100, 7306.29.4100, 7306.29.6010, 

7306.29.6050, 7306.29.8110, and 

7306.29.8150. 

The merchandise subject to this 

investigation may also enter under the 

following HTSUS item numbers: 

7304.39.0024, 7304.39.0028, 7304.39.0032, 

7304.39.0036, 7304.39.0040, 7304.39.0044, 

7304.39.0048, 7304.39.0052, 7304.39.0056, 

7304.39.0062, 7304.39.0068, 7304.39.0072, 

7304.39.0076, 7304.39.0080, 7304.59.6000, 

7304.59.8015, 7304.59.8020, 7304.59.8025, 

7304.59.8030, 7304.59.8035, 7304.59.8040, 

7304.59.8045, 7304.59.8050, 7304.59.8055, 

7304.59.8060, 7304.59.8065, 7304.59.8070, 

7304.59.8080, 7305.31.4000, 7305.31.6090, 

7306.30.5055, 7306.30.5090, 7306.50.5050, 

and 7306.50.5070. 

The HTSUS subheadings and 

specifications above are provided for 

convenience and customs purposes only. The 

written description of the scope of this 

investigation is dispositive. 

Appendix II—List of Sections in the 

Preliminary Decision Memorandum 

I. Summary 

II. Background 

III. Period of Investigation 

IV. Scope of the Investigation 

V. Discussion of the Methodology 

VI. Preliminary Affirmative Determination of 

Critical Circumstances 

VII. Currency Conversion 

VIII. Recommendation 

[FR Doc. 2022–10050 Filed 5–10–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XB850] 

Taking of Threatened or Endangered 

Marine Mammals Incidental to 

Commercial Fishing Operations; 

Issuance of Permit 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The National Marine 

Fisheries Service (NMFS) is issuing a 

permit to authorize the incidental, but 

not intentional, take of specific 

Endangered Species Act (ESA)-listed 

marine mammal species or stocks under 

the Marine Mammal Protection Act 

(MMPA), in the California (CA) thresher 

shark/swordfish drift gillnet fishery and 

the corresponding high seas component 

of the fishery as defined on the MMPA 

List of Fisheries as the Pacific highly 

migratory species drift gillnet fishery. 

DATES: The permit is effective for a 

three-year period beginning May 11, 

2022. 

ADDRESSES: Reference materials for the 

permit including the final negligible 

impact determination are available on 

the internet at: https://

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/ 

negligible-impact-determination-andmmpa-section-101a5e-authorization-cathresher-shark or https://

www.regulations.gov/docket/NOAANMFS-2021-0105. Other supporting 

information is available on the internet 

including: Recovery plans for the ESAlisted marine mammal species, https:// 

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/ 

endangered-species-conservation/ 

recovery-species-under-endangeredspecies-act; 2021 MMPA List of 

Fisheries (LOF), https://

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/ 

marine-mammal-protection/listfisheries-summary-tables; the most 

recent Marine Mammal Stock 

Assessment Reports (SAR) by region, 

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/ 

national/marine-mammal-protection/ 

marine-mammal-stock-assessmentreports-region, and stock, https://

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/ 

marine-mammal-protection/marinemammal-stock-assessment-reportsspecies-stock; and Take Reduction 

Teams and Plans, https://

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/ 

marine-mammal-protection/marinemammal-take-reduction-plans-andteams. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tina 

Fahy, NMFS West Coast Region, (562) 

980–4023, Christina.Fahy@noaa.gov; or 

Jaclyn Taylor, NMFS Office of Protected 

Resources, (301) 427–8402, 

Jaclyn.Taylor@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

MMPA requires NMFS to authorize the 

incidental take of ESA-listed marine 

mammals in commercial fisheries 

provided it can make the following 

determinations: (1) The incidental 

mortality and serious injury (M/SI) from 

commercial fisheries will have a 

negligible impact on the affected species 

or stocks; (2) a recovery plan for all 

affected species or stocks of threatened 

or endangered marine mammals has 

been developed or is being developed; 

and (3) where required under MMPA 

section 118, a take reduction plan has 

been developed or is being developed, 

a monitoring program is implemented, 

and vessels participating in the fishery 

are registered. NMFS has determined 

that the CA thresher shark/swordfish 

drift gillnet/Pacific highly migratory 

species drift gillnet fishery meets these 

three requirements and is issuing a 

permit to the fishery to authorize the 

incidental take of ESA-listed marine 

mammal species or stocks (CA/OR/WA 

stock of humpback whale and CA/OR/ 

WA stock of sperm whale) under the 

MMPA for a period of three years. 

Background 

The MMPA List of Fisheries (LOF) 

classifies each commercial fishery as a 

Category I, II, or III fishery based on the 

level of mortality and injury of marine 

mammals occurring incidental to each 

fishery as defined in 50 CFR 229.2. 

Category I and II fisheries must register 

with NMFS and are subsequently 

authorized to incidentally take marine 

mammals during commercial fishing 

operations. However, that authorization 

is limited to those marine mammals that 

are not listed as threatened or 

endangered under the ESA. Section 

101(a)(5)(E) of the MMPA, 16 U.S.C. 

1371, states that NMFS, as delegated by 

the Secretary of Commerce, for a period 

of up to three years shall allow the 

incidental, but not intentional, taking of 

marine mammal stocks designated as 

depleted because of their listing as an 

endangered species or threatened 

species under the ESA, 16 U.S.C. 1531 

et seq., by persons using vessels of the 

United States and those vessels which 

have valid fishing permits issued by the 

Secretary in accordance with section 

204(b) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act, 16 


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