Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 130 / Friday, July 8, 2022 / Proposed Rules 40763 

action will not have potential 

disproportionately high and adverse 

human health or environmental effects 

on minority, low-income or indigenous 

populations. This action merely 

proposes to disapprove a SIP 

submission as not meeting the CAA. 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control, Incorporation by 

reference, Intergovernmental relations, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Sulfur oxides. 

Dated: June 30, 2022. 

Meghan A. McCollister, 

Regional Administrator, Region 7. 

[FR Doc. 2022–14469 Filed 7–7–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Parts 216 and 300 

[Docket No. 220603–0130] 

RIN 0648–BG11 

Implementation of Provisions of the 

Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated 

Fishing Enforcement Act of 2015 and 

the Ensuring Access to Pacific 

Fisheries Act 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS proposes a rule to 

implement certain provisions of the 

Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated 

Fishing Enforcement Act of 2015 and 

the Ensuring Access to Pacific Fisheries 

Act, and to amend the definition of 

illegal, unreported, or unregulated (IUU) 

fishing in the regulations that 

implement the High Seas Driftnet 

Fishing Moratorium Protection Act. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received on or before September 6, 

2022. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on this document, identified by NOAA– 

NMFS–2016–0164, by any of the 

following methods: 

Electronic Submission: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to 

https://www.regulations.gov and enter 

NOAA–NMFS–2016–0164 in the Search 

box. Click on the ‘‘Comment’’ icon, 

complete the required fields, and enter 

or attach your comments. 

Mail: Submit written comments to 

Christopher Rogers, Office of 

International Affairs, Trade, and 

Commerce, National Marine Fisheries 

Service, 1315 East-West Highway (F/ 

IS5), Silver Spring, MD 20910. 

Instructions: Comments sent by any 

other method, to any other address or 

individual, or received after the end of 

the comment period, may not be 

considered by NMFS. All comments 

received are a part of the public record 

and will generally be posted for public 

viewing on https://www.regulations.gov 

without change. All personal identifying 

information (e.g., name, address, etc.), 

confidential business information, or 

otherwise sensitive information 

submitted voluntarily by the sender will 

be publicly accessible. NMFS will 

accept anonymous comments (enter 

‘‘N/A’’ in the required fields if you wish 

to remain anonymous). 

Written comments regarding the 

burden-hour estimates or other aspects 

of the collection-of-information 

requirements contained in this proposed 

rule may be submitted to the Office of 

International Affairs, Trade, and 

Commerce and by submission to 

Information Collection Review (https:// 

www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Christopher Rogers, Office of 

International Affairs, Trade, and 

Commerce, National Marine Fisheries 

Service (phone: 301–427–8350; or 

email: christopher.rogers@noaa.gov). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

This proposed rule would implement 

the Port State Measures Agreement Act 

of 2015 and certain other provisions of 

the Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated 

Fishing Enforcement Act of 2015 (IUU 

Fishing Act), Public Law 114–81 

(November 15, 2015), and would 

implement certain provisions of the 

Ensuring Access to Pacific Fisheries Act 

(Pacific Fisheries Act), Public Law 114– 

327 (December 16, 2016). As explained 

below, these two Acts amended several 

existing statutes. Thus, authority for this 

rulemaking comes from those existing 

statutes, as amended. 

This proposed rule would also amend 

the definition of IUU fishing in 

regulations that implement the High 

Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium 

Protection Act (Moratorium Protection 

Act) (16 U.S.C. 1826d et seq.). Title IV 

of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management 

Reauthorization Act of 2006 (Pub. L. 

109–479) amended the Moratorium 

Protection Act to direct the Secretary of 

Commerce to promulgate a regulatory 

definition of IUU fishing. See 16 U.S.C. 

1826j(e). 

Statutory Background 

On November 15, 2015, President 

Obama signed into law the IUU Fishing 

Act, which can be found at: https://

www.congress.gov/114/plaws/publ81/ 

PLAW-114publ81.pdf, and consists of 

three Titles. Title I amends several 

regional fishery management 

agreements’ implementing statutes to 

harmonize their enforcement provisions 

with those found in the MagnusonStevens Fisheries Conservation and 

Management Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq., 

and addresses other administrative 

matters. Title II provides authority to 

implement the Antigua Convention, 

which was negotiated to strengthen and 

replace the 1949 Convention for the 

Establishment of an Inter-American 

Tropical Tuna Commission. Title III 

provides the authority to implement the 

provisions of the Agreement on Port 

State Measures to Prevent, Deter and 

Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and 

Unregulated Fishing (Port State 

Measures Agreement or PSMA) of the 

Food and Agriculture Organization of 

the United Nations. The Port State 

Measures Agreement has been signed 

and ratified by the United States and, as 

of February 2022, joined by 69 other 

Parties, including the European Union 

on behalf of its Member States. 

On December 16, 2016, President 

Obama signed into law the Pacific 

Fisheries Act. This Act provides 

authority to implement the Convention 

on the Conservation and Management of 

High Seas Fisheries Resources in the 

North Pacific Ocean, the Convention on 

the Conservation and Management of 

High Seas Fishery Resources in the 

South Pacific Ocean, and the 

amendments to the Convention on 

Future Multilateral Cooperation in the 

Northwest Atlantic Fisheries. The 

Pacific Fisheries Act also addresses 

other matters, including harmonizing 

amendments to the Moratorium 

Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1826d–k), 

which are detailed below. 

This proposed rule would implement 

only certain provisions of the IUU 

Fishing Act and the Pacific Fisheries 

Act, by: revising the regulatory penalty 

provisions under the Pacific Salmon 

Treaty Act (1985) (16 U.S.C. 3631) and 

the Dolphin Protection Consumer 

Information Act (16 U.S.C. 1385); 

amending the procedures for identifying 

and certifying nations under the 

Moratorium Protection Act; reducing 

the period of validity for vessel permits 

issued under the High Seas Fishing 

Compliance Act (16 U.S.C. 5501 et seq.); 

and expanding the set of information 


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required to be submitted by foreign 

fishing vessels requesting entry into 

U.S. ports as required by the Port State 

Measures Agreement. The proposed rule 

also updates a reference to subsequent 

subparts in the general definitions 

section of 50 CFR part 300, subpart A 

(50 CFR 300.2). 

Title II of the IUU Fishing Act 

(implementing the Antigua Convention) 

has already been addressed through a 

separate final rule published on August 

1, 2016 (81 FR 50401). Additionally, 

Titles I, II, III, V, and VI of the Pacific 

Fisheries Act will be implemented, as 

needed, through separate rulemakings. 

Strengthening Fisheries Enforcement 

Mechanisms 

This proposed rule would implement 

several amendments made by the IUU 

Fishing Act to the fisheries enforcement 

mechanisms of a number of existing 

statutes implementing U.S. obligations 

to regional fisheries management 

organizations and other international 

conservation organizations, as described 

below. Rulemaking is needed to 

implement these amended enforcement 

provisions and to ensure their 

consistent application nationally. 

Specifically, the penalties section of the 

regulations implementing the Pacific 

Salmon Treaty Act (1985) (16 U.S.C. 

3631) would be revised to reference the 

updated enforcement provisions of the 

High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium 

Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1826g), 

described above. 

In addition, this proposed rule would 

revise the Dolphin Protection Consumer 

Information Act (DPCIA) (16 U.S.C. 

1385) regulations to remove the existing 

paragraph describing penalties. Given 

that the IUU Fishing Act makes the 

updated enforcement and penalties 

provisions of the High Seas Driftnet 

Fishing Moratorium Protection Act 

(codified at 16 U.S.C. 1826g) applicable 

to the DPCIA, a separate penalties 

section for the DPCIA regulations is no 

longer needed. 

Amendments to Procedures To Identify 

and Certify Nations 

The Moratorium Protection Act 

requires the Secretary of Commerce to 

identify and certify nations whose 

fishing vessels are engaged in illegal, 

unreported, or unregulated fishing, 

bycatch of protected living marine 

resources, or shark catch on the high 

seas without a regulatory program 

comparable to that of the U.S. See 16 

U.S.C. 1826j(a), (d) and 1826k(a), (c) 

(setting forth identification and 

certification requirements) and 50 CFR 

300.201–300.204 (definitions and 

identification, notification, and 

certification procedures). Such 

identifications and certifications are 

notified to Congress through a biennial 

report, available at https://

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/foreign/ 

international-affairs/identification-iuufishing-activities#magnuson-stevensreauthorization-act-biennial-reports-tocongress. Nations identified in the 

Biennial Report receive notification as 

provided in 50 CFR 300.202–300.204. 

To facilitate analysis and report 

preparation, the Pacific Fisheries Act 

changes the due date of the biennial 

report to June 1 of a reporting year. 

While adjustment of the reporting date 

is a statutory provision that does not 

require a regulatory change, we are 

providing notice of this change in the 

preamble to this rule. 

Consistent with the Pacific Fisheries 

Act, this proposed rule would amend 

the Moratorium Protection Act’s 

implementing regulations for 

identifying nations (50 CFR part 300, 

subpart N). Specifically, the proposed 

regulatory change would expand to 

three years the time period for which a 

nation’s fishing activities will be 

considered for identification for IUU 

fishing (originally 2 years), for bycatch 

of protected living marine resources 

(originally 1 year), or for fishing 

activities that target or incidentally 

catch sharks in waters beyond any 

national jurisdiction without having 

adopted a regulatory program 

comparable to that of the United States 

(originally 1 year). 

The proposed rule also would amend 

the existing procedures for certifying 

nations to clarify the effect of negative 

certification of a nation, including the 

duration of a negative certification, 

denial of port privileges, and import 

restrictions on fish or fish products from 

negatively certified nations. In addition, 

consistent with a statutory amendment, 

the proposed rule would limit the 

applicability of provisions for denial of 

port privileges and prohibition of 

imports only to identified nations that 

receive a negative certification under 

the Moratorium Protection Act. 

Currently, 50 CFR 300.205 addresses 

situations where a nation ‘‘does not 

receive a positive certification,’’ because 

the Act originally provided for the 

assessment of sanctions on a nation if 

that nation received a negative 

certification or if a nation has not been 

certified either positively or negatively 

in the subsequent biennial report. The 

Pacific Fisheries Act eliminated the 

option of not certifying a nation, thus 

existing regulations would be revised to 

reflect this change. 

IUU Fishing Definition Amendments 

This proposed rule would also amend 

the definition of ‘‘Illegal, unreported, or 

unregulated (IUU) fishing’’ in the 

regulations implementing the 

Moratorium Protection Act (50 CFR 

300.201). Congress authorized the 

Secretary of Commerce to establish a 

definition of IUU fishing for the 

purposes of the Act and required the 

definition to include, among other 

elements, fishing activities that violate 

conservation and management measures 

required under international fishery 

management agreements to which the 

United States is a party. 16 U.S.C. 

1826j(e). 

This proposed rule would add two 

new elements to the regulatory 

definition of IUU fishing for 

identifications and certifications under 

the Act. The first proposed element 

would be new paragraph (6) in the 

definition of IUU fishing in 50 CFR 

300.201, which would add fishing in 

waters under the jurisdiction of a 

nation, without the permission of that 

nation, or in contravention of its laws 

and regulations. The United States is a 

contracting party to a number of 

regional fishery management 

organizations (RFMOs) that have 

adopted IUU fishing vessel-listing 

procedures that presume unauthorized 

fishing within waters under the 

jurisdiction of another nation to be IUU 

fishing. For example, see 

Recommendation 2018–08 of the 

International Commission for the 

Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (https:// 

www.iccat.int) and Conservation and 

Management Measure 2019–07 of the 

Western and Central Pacific Fisheries 

Commission (https://www.wcpfc.int). 

In addition, paragraph 3.1.1 of the 

United Nations Food and Agriculture 

Organization (FAO) International Plan 

of Action to Prevent, Deter and 

Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and 

Unregulated Fishing (IPOA IUU) 

includes fishing in the waters under the 

jurisdiction of a state without 

permission or in contravention of the 

laws of that state in its description of 

activities constituting IUU fishing 

(https://www.fao.org/3/y1224e/ 

Y1224E.pdf). Consistent with the IPOA 

IUU, this proposed change to the IUU 

fishing definition could lead to 

identification of nations by the United 

States even when the unauthorized 

incursion is not a violation of any 

specific RFMO conservation measure or 

an RFMO has not posted any involved 

vessels of the identified flag state to its 

IUU fishing vessel list. 

The proposed change to the definition 

of IUU fishing would allow 


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identification of a nation under the 

Moratorium Protection Act for a failure 

to exercise effective flag state control, as 

evidenced by persistent and pervasive 

fishing activities by the nation’s vessels 

in waters recognized by the United 

States as being under the jurisdiction of 

another nation without the 

authorization of that nation or otherwise 

in contravention of that nation’s laws. 

The flag nation would be considered for 

identification unless there has been 

effective resolution of such illegal 

fishing by the flag State, on a bilateral 

basis, or through a relevant international 

fishery management organization. 

As with identifications for other 

aspects of IUU fishing, the process and 

procedures of 50 CFR 300.202(a) would 

be applied to consider the history, 

nature, circumstances, extent, duration 

and gravity of any unauthorized fishing 

in waters under the jurisdiction of a 

coastal nation. NMFS will also take into 

account any actions already taken or ongoing proceedings by the United States 

and/or flag State to address the IUU 

fishing activity of concern as well as the 

effectiveness of such actions. 

NMFS notes that the Joint 

Explanatory Statement to Division B of 

the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2021 (Pub. L. 116–260) directs NOAA to 

revise existing regulations defining IUU 

fishing in 50 CFR 300.201 (Moratorium 

Protection Act regulations) to be 

consistent with the definition codified 

in section 3532(6) of Public Law 116–92 

(Maritime Security and Fisheries 

Enforcement (SAFE) Act). Under section 

3532(6), IUU fishing ‘‘means illegal 

fishing, unreported fishing, or 

unregulated fishing (as such terms are 

defined in paragraph 3 of the 

International Plan of Action to Prevent, 

Deter, and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported 

and Unregulated Fishing [IPOA IUU], 

adopted at the 24th Session of the 

Committee on Fisheries in Rome on 

March 2, 2001).’’ 

The Joint Explanatory Statement does 

not amend the Moratorium Protection 

Act, which prescribes specific, 

minimum elements for the regulatory 

definition of IUU fishing. While the 

IPOA IUU generally describes activities 

considered illegal fishing, unreported 

fishing, or unregulated fishing, an 

operational definition of IUU fishing is 

needed in order to implement the 

identification and certification 

procedures of the Moratorium 

Protection Act. NMFS believes that the 

IUU fishing definition, as amended by 

proposed paragraph (6) in the definition 

in § 300.201, is consistent with the 

IPOA IUU and Moratorium Protection 

Act, and can be used to implement the 

Act’s procedures. 

The second proposed element would 

add paragraph (7) to the definition of 

IUU fishing in 50 CFR 300.201, which 

would amend the definition to include 

fishing activities in waters beyond any 

national jurisdiction that involve the 

use of forced labor. Because the 

Moratorium Protection Act sets forth 

‘‘minimum’’ elements for the IUU 

fishing definition, NMFS has discretion 

to consider whether other elements 

should be added. Significant concerns 

have been raised about the use of forced 

labor in the course of fishing activity on 

fishing vessels in international waters. 

As stated by NMFS on page 77 of its 

2019 report to Congress, Improving 

International Fisheries Management 

(available at https://

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/foreign/ 

international-affairs/identification-iuufishing-activities), there is a growing 

body of evidence documenting severe 

abuses and exploitation on board fishing 

vessels. Workers on fishing vessels may 

be particularly vulnerable due to 

isolated workplaces and length of time 

at sea, which physically restricts 

workers’ abilities to leave or escape 

abusive situations. Fisheries also 

frequently recruit migrant workers, who 

may not be protected by the flag state’s 

domestic laws, and are therefore more 

vulnerable to exploitation. Further, such 

abuses and exploitation are known to 

occur in conjunction with other IUU 

fishing activities. These practices may 

include charging workers recruitment 

fees, confiscating and withholding 

workers’ passports or identity 

documents, threats or physical violence, 

and using fraudulent recruitment tactics 

such as contract switching. 

To facilitate implementation, 

paragraph (7) in the definition of IUU 

fishing in § 300.201 is focused on 

fishing activities ‘‘in waters beyond any 

national jurisdiction.’’ This is consistent 

with the Moratorium Protection Act’s 

bycatch and shark identification 

provisions, 16 U.S.C. 1826k(a)(1)(A), 

(2)(A). The proposed rule uses the 

definition of ‘‘forced labor’’ in Section 

307 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 

amended (19 U.S.C. 1307) with a few 

edits: ‘‘all work or service which is 

exacted from any person under the 

menace of any penalty for its 

nonperformance and for which the 

worker does not offer [themself] 

voluntarily. For purposes of this 

subpart, forced labor includes forced 

child labor.’’ As forced labor can 

include ‘‘indentured labor’’ and the 

latter term is not separately defined, the 

proposed rule does not include 

‘‘indentured labor.’’ In addition, one 

grammatical edit is noted in brackets. 

As previously discussed, the Joint 

Explanatory Statement directs that the 

definition of IUU fishing be consistent 

with the definition codified in section 

3532(6) of Public Law 116–92 (Maritime 

Security and Fisheries Enforcement 

(SAFE) Act). Under section 3532(6), IUU 

fishing ‘‘means illegal fishing, 

unreported fishing, or unregulated 

fishing (as such terms are defined in 

paragraph 3 of the International Plan of 

Action to Prevent, Deter, and Eliminate 

Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated 

Fishing [IPOA IUU], adopted at the 24th 

Session of the Committee on Fisheries 

in Rome on March 2, 2001).’’ Under the 

IPOA IUU paragraph 3, 

Illegal fishing refers to activities: 3.1.1 

conducted by national or foreign vessels in 

waters under the jurisdiction of a State . . . 

in contravention of its laws and regulations; 

. . . 3.1.3 in violation of national laws or 

international obligations, including those 

undertaken by cooperating States to a 

relevant regional fisheries management 

organization. 

The IPOA IUU does not specifically 

mention forced labor. However, the 

Maritime SAFE Act refers to ‘‘IUU 

fishing, including its links to forced 

labor and transnational organized illegal 

activity.’’ 16 U.S.C. 8003(1). It also 

indicates that trafficking and forced 

labor are ‘‘other’’ crimes ‘‘associated’’ 

with IUU fishing. 16 U.S.C. 8013(d)(9). 

The Maritime SAFE Act also references 

the ties of IUU fishing to human 

trafficking, poor working conditions, 

and labor abuses. See, e.g., 16 U.S.C. 

8003 (11), (12). 

While the Maritime SAFE Act does 

not require that forced labor be included 

as an element of IUU fishing, the 

addition of paragraph (7) to the 

definition in § 300.21 is not inconsistent 

with the Maritime SAFE Act and the 

IPOA IUU. Specifically, the proposed 

addition of ‘‘forced labor’’ uses the 

established definition embodied in U.S. 

law and widely adopted international 

obligations. The definition, which 

comes from Section 307 of the Tariff Act 

of 1930, is consistent with Article 2 of 

the Forced Labor Convention of 1930. 

The 1998 ILO Declaration on 

Fundamental Principles and Rights at 

Work confirms that all ILO Members 

have an obligation, arising from the very 

fact of membership in the organization, 

to respect, promote and realize, in good 

faith, the principles concerning 

fundamental labor rights. One of those 

principles is the elimination of forced or 

compulsory labor. In addition, the 

primary international instrument 


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1The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish 

Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and 

Children, supplementing the United Nations 

Convention against Transnational Organized Crime 

(Protocol), defines trafficking in persons as the 

recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or 

receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of 

force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of 

fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a 

position of vulnerability or of the giving or 

receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the 

consent of a person having control over another 

person, for the purpose of exploitation. The 

Protocol provides that exploitation includes forced 

labor or services. See also the Trafficking Victims 

Protection Act of 2000, 22 U.S.C. 7102 (defining 

‘‘severe forms of trafficking in persons’’ to include 

‘‘the recruitment, harboring, transportation, 

provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or 

services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion 

for the purpose of subjection to involuntary 

servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery’’); see 

also 18 U.S.C. 1589 (Forced Labor) (punishing 

whoever ‘‘knowingly provides or obtains the labor 

or services of a person’’ by means of force, threats 

of force, threats of serious harm, or other means set 

forth in section 1589). 

concerning human trafficking,1 which 

has been widely ratified, provides a 

framework for countries to criminalize 

trafficking in persons in all its forms, 

including for the purpose of forced 

labor; to prevent the crime; to protect 

the victims; and to facilitate 

international cooperation. If finalized, 

the inclusion of forced labor in the 

definition of IUU fishing would apply 

only in the Moratorium Protection Act 

context and would not modify other 

legal authorities. 

Revisions to the IUU Fishing 

Identification Procedures 

With regard to the triggers for 

identification, the Moratorium 

Protection Act provides that, for actions 

of its fishing vessels, a nation is 

identified for IUU fishing if it violates 

measures required under an 

international fishery management 

organization and the violations 

undermine the effectiveness of such 

measures, or the nation fails to 

effectively address or regulate IUU 

fishing in areas where no international 

fishery management organization exists 

with a mandate to regulate the fishing 

activity in question. 16 U.S.C. 1826j(a). 

NOAA is committed to engaging with 

such organizations to take any 

appropriate actions on forced labor 

issues. But given that no such 

organization has adopted a binding 

forced labor measure yet, proposed 

§ 300.202(a)(1)(iii) adds a new basis for 

identifying a nation for its fishing 

vessels’ IUU fishing actions ‘‘[a]s 

defined under paragraph (7) of the 

definition of IUU fishing in § 300.201.’’ 

As with identifications for other 

aspects of IUU fishing, NMFS would 

apply the process and considerations 

under 50 CFR 300.202(a). Given the 

expertise of other Departments and 

agencies on labor issues, the proposed 

rule adds that NMFS may consider 

relevant documentation, information, 

and advice from other Departments and 

agencies during the identification and 

certification process and may engage 

with other Departments and agencies 

during the consultation process with 

identified nations ((50 CFR 

300.202(a)(3), (c), and (d)(2)). 

NMFS seeks comment on the 

proposed addition of paragraph (7) to 

the definition of IUU fishing in 

§ 300.201, the related, new basis for 

identification of nations, and other 

conforming provisions; on whether 

other alternatives would be more 

appropriate or preferable; on which 

factors should be considered when 

identifying and certifying nations that 

are engaged in fishing activities that 

involve the use of forced labor; and on 

any other considerations concerning the 

implementation of the proposed 

measures to address forced labor under 

the Moratorium Protection Act. 

NMFS also proposes a revision to the 

identification criteria for IUU fishing (50 

CFR 300.202) to conform with a 

statutory amendment to the Moratorium 

Protection Act. Under the revised 

identification criteria, NMFS could also 

identify a nation for actions or inactions 

that undermine a conservation measure 

of an RFMO to which the United States 

is a party even in situations where there 

is no direct evidence of activities by 

specific vessels. For example, 

identification could occur when a 

nation does not report catch and effort 

data as required by the RFMO to assess 

stocks or monitor catch allocations. 

NMFS could also identify a nation if its 

vessels are engaged in activities defined 

as IUU fishing in areas where no RFMO 

has been established and therefore no 

specific conservation measures would 

pertain. 

New § 300.202(a)(3) contains existing 

regulatory text that is proposed to be 

reordered and, as explained above, adds 

a reference to possible consultation with 

other relevant Departments and agencies 

regarding information on forced labor in 

specific fisheries including, but not 

limited to, information provided under 

section 131 of the Trafficking Victims 

Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) 

and Withhold Release Orders and 

Findings issued pursuant to section 307 

of the Tariff Act of 1930. This paragraph 

(a)(3) provides discretion to examine the 

full context of the IUU fishing activity 

and relevant mitigating circumstances 

when deciding to identify a nation. 

These discretionary provisions would 

apply to both paragraph (a)(1) as 

proposed to be revised and paragraph 

(a)(2) as proposed to be added. Under 

new paragraph (a)(2), a nation could be 

identified on the basis of certain 

actions/inactions as a flag state. NMFS 

would not need to have detailed 

information about the actions of specific 

vessels when applying the provisions of 

proposed paragraph (a)(2). For example, 

failure to implement required 

monitoring, control and surveillance 

measures for its fleet or report annual 

catch data to the relevant RFMO could 

lead to an identification under 

paragraph (a)(2). 

Definition of ‘‘Nation’’ 

This proposed rule would also add a 

regulatory definition for ‘‘nation’’ to 

address a corresponding provision of 

the IUU Fishing Act. Consistent with 

the amended statutory text, this 

provision specifies that in addition to 

nations, an entity having the 

competency to enter into international 

fisheries management agreements could 

be identified as a nation under the 

Moratorium Protection Act process. 

Consolidation of Alternative Procedures 

Provisions 

Proposed revisions to § 300.207 

consolidate text in existing §§ 300.207 

(IUU fishing), 300.208 (bycatch) and 

300.209 (shark catch) on alternative 

procedures for products not subject to 

trade restrictions under circumstances 

of a negative certification of a nation. 

Under the Moratorium Protection Act 

and current procedures, the Secretary of 

Commerce may make a determination 

that a vessel has not engaged in IUU 

fishing under an international fishery 

management agreement to which the 

United States is a party. The proposed 

rule would delete the reference to an 

agreement, given the proposed edits 

related to forced labor and interest in 

ensuring that trade restrictions are 

applied fairly and consistently. 

Reformatting Revisions 

Finally, this proposed rule would also 

renumber several provisions of the 

Moratorium Protection Act’s 

implementing regulations to fix 

erroneous formatting in the existing 

regulatory text. 

Validity Period for High Seas Fishing 

Compliance Act Permits 

This proposed rule would revise the 

High Seas Fishing Compliance Act 

(HSFCA) (16 U.S.C. 5501 et seq.) 

regulations to indicate that a high seas 

permit becomes void upon the 

expiration, revocation, or suspension of 

any other permit or authorization also 

required for the conduct of the 

particular high seas fishing activity (see 


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e.g., 50 CFR 635.4, requiring permits for 

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species 

Fisheries; 50 CFR 660.707 requiring 

permits for West Coast Fisheries for 

Highly Migratory Species; 50 CFR 

665.13 requiring permits to fish for 

Western Pacific Pelagic Fisheries). 

In addition, this proposed rule would 

clarify that a high seas permit will no 

longer be issued for a period of validity 

of 5 years as the IUU Fishing Act 

eliminated this requirement in 

amending the HSFCA. NMFS instead 

proposes to set the length of validity of 

these high seas permits to 1 year to 

ensure that vessels are compliant with 

monitoring, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements through an annual 

review upon receipt of a renewal 

application. Additionally, the annual 

review will ensure that any underlying 

permits necessary to obtain an HSFCA 

permit for a specific fishery, many of 

which require annual renewal, are 

concurrently valid. NMFS notes that the 

proposed regulatory text does not 

specify a 1 year period, but states that 

HSFCA permits are valid from their 

dates of issuance to dates of expiration. 

This approach provides NMFS with 

flexibility to consider changing a 

HSFCA permit’s validity period, in light 

of changes to the validity periods of the 

underlying permits, if any, needed to 

authorize the high seas fishing activity. 

The HSFCA applies, and requires a 

permit, for a vessel of the United States 

(or subject to the jurisdiction of the 

United States) used or intended for use 

on the high seas; for the purpose of the 

commercial exploitation of living 

marine resources; and as a harvesting 

vessel, as a mother ship, or as any other 

support vessel directly engaged in a 

fishing operation. 16 U.S.C. 5502(4). 

Under the US implementing regulations 

for several RFMO conventions, permits 

are required throughout the convention 

area whether fishing in the U.S. 

Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) or 

beyond. The statutory requirements 

overlap, thus it is appropriate to 

coordinate permits for consistent 

periods of validity. The overlapping 

fisheries are identified in the regulations 

at 50 CFR 300.334(a). 

Because annual renewal would 

reduce the period of validity for high 

seas permits from the existing five years, 

the proposed rule requires 

modifications to an existing information 

collection subject to approval by the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction 

Act (OMB Control Number 0648–0304). 

As explained below, NMFS has revised 

the reporting burden associated with 

renewal of these permits. In addition, 

NMFS has implemented an automated 

permitting system for initial permits and 

renewal permits, so no additional staff 

would be needed to accomplish annual 

renewals. 

NMFS requests comment on the 

proposal to renew HSFCA vessel 

permits on an annual basis. In addition, 

should the proposed action be 

implemented, NMFS requests comment 

on the appropriate transition to annual 

permits. Options could include 

converting HSFCA permits as they 

expire over the next few years, recalling 

all current permits and reissuing them 

for a one-year period of validity, or reissuing HSFCA vessel permits together 

with any underlying permits held by the 

vessel according to the same period of 

validity for those other permits. NMFS 

will also consider other transition 

options submitted during the comment 

period on this proposed rule. 

Transshipment and Catch on the High 

Seas 

Sections 300.339 and 300.341 of 50 

CFR part 300, subpart R, concerning 

transshipment and catch by U.S-flagged 

vessels on the high seas, are proposed 

to be revised for formatting purposes 

only. The procedures for notification 

and reporting of high seas 

transshipment, and for reporting catch, 

that are currently in effect would not be 

altered by these formatting changes. 

Implementation of the Port State 

Measures Agreement 

This proposed rule would implement 

the Port State Measures Agreement, as 

authorized by Title III of the IUU 

Fishing Act. The main purpose of the 

Port State Measures Agreement, which 

can be found at https://www.fao.org/3/ai5469t.pdf, is to prevent, deter, and 

eliminate IUU fishing through the 

implementation of minimum standards 

for effective port state measures. The 

Port State Measures Agreement is 

intended to enhance regional and 

international cooperation and the ability 

of nations to detect and intercept 

products of IUU fishing before they 

enter into national and international 

markets. NOAA proposes to incorporate 

the PSMA by reference. 

The regulations authorizing actions 

against IUU fishing vessels (50 CFR part 

300, subpart P) would be amended to 

incorporate certain definitions included 

in the IUU Fishing Act. In particular, a 

definition of ‘‘IUU fishing’’ would be 

added to reflect the description of IUU 

fishing included in the International 

Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and 

Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and 

Unregulated Fishing of the FAO, which 

was incorporated by reference into the 

Port State Measures Agreement. This 

definition would establish the criteria 

for denial of port access or port 

privileges to a vessel known to be 

engaged in IUU fishing or for which 

there are reasonable grounds to believe 

it to be engaged in IUU fishing. It is not 

inconsistent with, and is distinct from, 

the definition of IUU fishing as laid out 

in 50 CFR part 300, subpart N, which 

serves as the basis to identify nations for 

engaging in IUU fishing under the 

Moratorium Protection Act. 

NOAA likewise proposes to 

incorporate by reference FAO’s 2001 

International Plan of Action to Prevent, 

Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported 

and Unregulated Fishing, which can 

found at https://www.fao.org/3/y1224e/ 

Y1224E.pdf. That Plan of Action 

addresses the nature and scope of IUU 

fishing and adopts objectives and 

principles to prevent, deter, and 

eliminate IUU Fishing. In particular, 

NMFS proposes to incorporate by 

reference the description of activities 

deemed to constitute IUU fishing and 

apply that description for the purposes 

of screening foreign fishing vessels 

seeking entry to U.S. ports. 

In current subpart P, the regulations 

address U.S. obligations to RFMOs that 

have included vessels on IUU fishing 

vessel lists. This proposed rule would 

add to subpart P those obligations of the 

U.S. as a party to PSMA. RFMOs decide 

how to define IUU fishing for the 

purposes of listing IUU fishing vessels. 

The addition of PSMA obligations to 

these regulations expands U.S. 

requirements to take action against 

vessels engaged in IUU fishing, or for 

which there are reasonable grounds to 

believe it has been engaged, even if the 

vessels were not previously posted to 

RFMO IUU fishing vessel lists. The 

IPOA IUU description of IUU fishing 

activities would be used as a basis to 

take action against vessels not listed by 

an RFMO. 

The respective RFMO definitions of 

IUU fishing would continue to be used 

to take obligatory action against RFMO 

listed vessels. The subpart N definition 

of IUU fishing would be used as a basis 

for action to identify and negatively 

certify a nation under the Moratorium 

Protection Act, and port access 

restrictions would pertain. The subpart 

P definition would be used as a basis for 

action under PSMA obligations. In some 

instances, there could be more than one 

statutory authority that could lead to a 

denial of port access and/or port 

privileges. The specific actions of the 

vessel and the pertinent authority for 

the situation would determine how port 

access would be denied or granted. 

Ports to which foreign vessels may 

request entry pursuant to the PSMA, 


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include those Customs Ports of Entry 

listed in 19 CFR 101.3 and those 

specified under any existing 

international fisheries agreement. NMFS 

interprets the latter as referring to any 

such agreements that are in force, not 

just those existing when the IUU 

Fishing Act was enacted in 2015. The 

regulatory provisions for vessel 

inspection under subpart P would apply 

to either a situation where an RFMO has 

placed the vessel on its IUU fishing 

vessel list (U.S. obligation to the RFMO) 

or a situation where the vessel is not 

listed by an RFMO but is suspected of 

having engaged in IUU fishing as that 

term is defined in subpart P (U.S. 

obligation under the PSMA). Vessel 

inspections will be carried out as 

necessary to meet all U.S. obligations 

that pertain to the circumstances 

applicable to the vessel. 

In addition, the proposed action 

would expand the set of information 

required to be submitted by foreign 

vessels when such vessels request entry 

into U.S. ports. The term ‘‘vessel’’ is 

defined by the Act at 16 U.S.C. 7402(8) 

as ‘‘any vessel, ship of another type, or 

boat used for, equipped to be used for, 

or intended to be used for, fishing or 

fishing related activities’’. The 

regulations would also specify the 

criteria under which port entry and 

access to port privileges is authorized or 

denied, and procedures for 

communicating the decisions regarding 

port entry and access to port privileges. 

U.S. Coast Guard regulations 

currently require foreign-flagged vessels 

to give advance notice prior to arrival at 

a U.S. port or place of destination, as 

defined in 33 CFR 160.202. In 

accordance with 33 CFR 160.206, 

vessels are currently required to report 

electronically, through the U.S. Coast 

Guard’s electronic Notice of Arrival and 

Departure (eNOAD) system. Under 

current U.S. Coast Guard regulations, 

information to be submitted includes 

the vessel name, voyage number, cargo 

on board, crewmembers, and other 

related information. This information 

must be reported to the Coast Guard’s 

National Vessel Movement Center 

(NVMC) at least 96 hours before 

entering the port or place of destination 

or, if an exemption applies, in 

accordance with the timeframe 

stipulated at 33 CFR 160.212. 

Annex A of the Port State Measures 

Agreement is titled Information to be 

Provided in Advance by Vessels 

Requesting Port Entry. The information 

specified in Annex A must be collected 

from foreign vessels when they are 

bound for a U.S. port. Annex A 

information includes: specific vessel 

information, including external and 

RFMO vessel identification numbers, 

the type of vessel and its dimensions, 

the type of Vessel Monitoring System 

aboard the vessel, details about relevant 

fishing and transshipment 

authorizations for the vessel, as well as 

a description of the total catch onboard 

the vessel and the catch to be offloaded 

at the requested port of entry. 

Therefore, the proposed rule would 

require vessel operators to submit this 

additional information through the 

eNOAD system and outlines expanded 

requirements with respect to the Notice 

of Arrival process for vessels bound for 

U.S. ports listed in 19 CFR 101.3. 

Supplemental submission may be 

needed if the PSMA Annex A 

information is incomplete. Vessel 

operators submitting a notice of arrival 

are already familiar with and using the 

eNOAD system. It is anticipated that 

only a few hundred foreign fishing 

vessels will be affected annually by the 

additional information requirement. No 

additional operators on board foreign 

fishing vessels are likely needed to 

collect and transmit this information. 

This would be a new information 

collection subject to approval by OMB 

under the Paperwork Reduction Act 

(OMB Control Number to be assigned). 

NMFS has coordinated closely with the 

U.S. Coast Guard to ensure that these 

proposed regulations would be 

compatible with existing U.S. Coast 

Guard regulations and operations. 

Once this new information collection 

is approved, compliance guidance 

documents outlining the requirements 

of the information collection, as well as 

the revised process of requesting port 

entry, will be made available through 

the NMFS Office of Law Enforcement 

and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG). 

Should the proposed action be 

implemented, NMFS will provide for a 

period of delayed effectiveness that will 

allow USCG time for software 

development, testing and deployment, 

and to allow shippers and vessel 

operators the time needed to become 

familiar with the new information 

requirements and notification 

procedures. NMFS requests comment on 

the additional time needed for operators 

of foreign fishing vessels before the new 

reporting requirement becomes 

mandatory for acceptance of a notice of 

arrival. 

Classification 

This rulemaking is published under 

the authority of the Illegal, Unreported, 

and Unregulated Fishing Enforcement 

Act of 2015, Public Law 114–81 

(November 15, 2015); the Ensuring 

Access to Pacific Fisheries Act, Public 

Law 114–327 (December 16, 2016); the 

High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium 

Protection Act, 16 U.S.C. 1826d–k; 16 

U.S.C. 1801 et seq.; 16 U.S.C. 5501 et 

seq.; Antarctic Marine Living Resource 

Conservation Act of 1984, 16 U.S.C. 

2431 et seq.; 31 U.S.C. 9701 et seq.; the 

High Seas Driftnet Fishing Enforcement 

Act, 16 U.S.C. 1826a–1826c; the Marine 

Mammal Protection Act, 16 U.S.C. 1361 

et seq.; the Atlantic Tunas Convention 

Act, 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.; the Northwest 

Atlantic Fisheries Convention Act, 16 

U.S.C. 5601 et seq.; and the Pacific 

Salmon Treaty Act, 16 U.S.C. 3631 et 

seq.; the Tunas Convention Act, 16 

U.S.C. 951 et seq., the MagnusonStevens Fishery Management and 

Conservation Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801 et 

seq.; and the High Seas Fishing 

Compliance Act, 16 U.S.C. 5501 et seq. 

The NMFS Assistant Administrator has 

determined that this proposed rule is 

consistent with the above referenced 

statutes and other applicable law, 

subject to further consideration after 

public comment. 

This rulemaking has been determined 

to be significant for the purposes of 

Executive Order (E.O.) 12866. Details on 

the estimated costs and potential 

benefits of this proposed rule can be 

found in the associated Regulatory 

Impact Review. NMFS requests 

comments on the benefit-cost analysis, 

including whether the most likely net 

impacts are reasonable, and solicits 

additional information to better 

characterize the indirect effects of this 

rulemaking on curtailing IUU fishing 

activity. 

As described in the Background 

section above, certain provisions of two 

different Acts would be implemented 

through this rulemaking: the IUU 

Fishing Act (Pub. L. 114–81), 

implementation of which includes a 

proposed new information-collection; 

and the Pacific Fisheries Act (Pub. L. 

114–327), implementation of which 

includes a proposed revision to an 

existing information-collection. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

NMFS prepared an Initial Regulatory 

Flexibility Analysis (IRFA) to describe 

the economic impact that this proposed 

rule would have on small entities in 

accordance with section 603 of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), 5 

U.S.C. 603. A description of the 

proposed rule, why it is being 

considered, and the objectives of, and 

legal basis for, this proposed rule are 

contained in the SUMMARY section of the 

preamble. A copy of the full analysis is 

available on the Federal e-Rulemaking 

Portal (see ADDRESSES). A summary of 

the IRFA follows. 


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The proposed action and new 

information collection under the IUU 

Fishing Act would directly affect 

approximately 300 foreign fishing 

vessels and foreign vessels engaged in 

fishing-related activities that seek access 

to U.S. ports. The foreign fishing 

vessel’s notice of arrival, including the 

PSMA Annex A information, would 

identify the vessel’s flag State and the 

fishing activities authorized by the flag 

State. If NMFS has concerns about 

fraudulent representations, the reported 

information can be verified by the flag 

State. If NMFS has concerns about the 

RFMO compliance status of flag States, 

a vessel allowed in port could be subject 

to inspection. The existing notice of 

arrival process would not provide 

sufficient information regarding fishing 

authorizations by the flag State. If the 

PSMA Annex A information is not 

collected via eNOAD, NMFS would 

have to obtain that information via other 

sources. 

The requirement for PSMA Annex A 

information would indirectly affect 

some U.S. suppliers of port services 

should vessels be denied entry. 

However, these suppliers of port 

services would not be subject to any of 

the requirements of this rulemaking and 

the number of vessels denied entry or 

denied port services under this 

proposed rule is estimated to be small. 

While there may be some minor indirect 

impacts on suppliers due to port 

denials, such impacts on small entities 

to which the rulemaking would not 

apply are not analyzed under the IRFA. 

For the potentially affected foreign 

vessels, only a small percentage would 

likely receive a Denial of Entry Notice. 

Because foreign vessels engaged in 

fishing-related activities outside of U.S. 

waters are not regulated by NMFS or 

any other U.S. Federal or State agency, 

information is not available to enable an 

estimate of the number of those vessels 

that might be expected to receive a 

Denial of Entry Notice. However, 

otherwise admissible foreign fishing 

vessels that are unable to meet the 

notice of arrival information 

requirements are unlikely to seek entry 

into U.S. ports. Those eligible foreign 

fishing vessels that can meet the notice 

of arrival requirements, including 

PSMA Annex A information, are 

unlikely to be denied port access unless 

they submit obviously fraudulent or 

suspicious information. 

With respect to the Pacific Fisheries 

Act, this proposed rule includes 

regulatory provisions to implement Title 

IV of the Act, which would make 

conforming amendments to regulations 

implementing the statutes amended by 

the Act, specifically amendments to the 

High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium 

Protection Act. Titles I, II, III, V, and VI 

of the Pacific Fisheries Act have been or 

will be implemented, as needed, 

through separate rulemakings. 

As discussed above, the Pacific 

Fisheries Act removed the requirement 

that a high seas fishing permit be issued 

for a period of validity of five years. 

Instead, NMFS proposes that the 

validity of the high seas permit be 

limited to one year. 

A 1 year period is more appropriate 

than the current 5 year period in order 

to ensure that high seas fishing vessels 

are compliant with all other relevant 

requirements and that underlying 

permits necessary to participate in the 

fisheries authorized by an HSFCA 

permit are concurrently valid. The 

objective of the change is to coordinate 

issuance and renewal of the HSFCA 

permit with other required permits for 

the particular fishery. NMFS examined 

the permit programs for those other 

fisheries and determined that annual 

renewal of HSFCA permits would 

coincide with renewal of other permits 

required to participate in the fisheries 

when those vessels operate on the high 

seas. 

The HSFCA permit is required of, and 

issued to, U.S. flag vessels fishing on the 

high seas, not to foreign fishing vessels. 

U.S. vessels are not subject to the PSMA 

requirements for entry into U.S. ports, 

only foreign fishing vessels. There 

would be no supply chain impacts to 

the proposed annual renewal of HSFCA 

permits, because the number of permits 

is either not limited for some fisheries 

or limited by other pre-existing 

regulations for those fisheries. 

This change to annual permit renewal 

would have potential impacts to small 

entities. Therefore, the analysis focuses 

primarily on the effects of the change of 

the permit frequency to permit holders. 

Small entities include ‘‘small 

businesses,’’ ‘‘small organizations,’’ and 

‘‘small governmental jurisdictions.’’ The 

Small Business Administration (SBA) 

has established size standards for all 

major industry sectors in the U.S. 

including commercial seafood 

processors (North American Industry 

Classification System (NAICS) code 

311710). A business primarily involved 

in seafood processing is classified as a 

small business if it is independently 

owned and operated, is not dominant in 

its field of operation (including its 

affiliates), and has combined annual 

employment not in excess of 750 

employees for all its affiliated 

operations worldwide. A small 

organization is any not-for-profit 

enterprise that is independently owned 

and operated and is not dominant in its 

field. Small governmental jurisdictions 

are governments of cities, counties, 

towns, townships, villages, school 

districts, or special districts, with 

populations of less than 50,000. 

On December 29, 2015, NMFS issued 

a final rule establishing a small business 

size standard of $11 million in annual 

gross receipts for all businesses 

primarily engaged in the commercial 

fishing industry (NAICS 11411) for RFA 

compliance purposes only (80 FR 

81194). The $11 million standard 

became effective on July 1, 2016, and is 

to be used in place of the U.S. SBA 

current standards of $20.5 million, $5.5 

million, and $7.5 million for the finfish 

(NAICS 114111), shellfish (NAICS 

114112), and other marine fishing 

(NAICS 114119) sectors of the U.S. 

commercial fishing industry in all 

NMFS rules subject to the RFA after July 

1, 2016. Id. at 81194. 

The proposed 1 year permit renewal 

would apply to owners and operators of 

U.S. permitted fishing vessels operating 

on the high seas, including harvesting 

vessels operating on the high seas, 

refrigerated cargo vessels, or other 

vessels used to support fishing. As of 

March 2022, there are 347 registered 

U.S. vessels permitted to fish on the 

high seas. The majority of these 

permitted vessels are longliners, trollers, 

purse seiners, and pole and line vessels. 

There is also a small percentage of 

gillnetting, squid jigging, line fishing, 

multipurpose, and trawl vessels. A 

small number of the affected entities are 

freezer vessels involved in seafood 

processing. 

In the IRFA, an individual permitted 

vessel was used as the proxy for each 

business entity. Although a single 

business entity may own multiple 

vessels, NMFS does not have a reliable 

means at this time to track ownership of 

multiple vessels to a single business 

entity. For this reason, an assumption 

that each vessel is owned by a unique 

business entity may overestimate the 

number of small businesses affected by 

the proposed rule. 

The NMFS annual report, Fisheries of 

the United States, for 2019 provides an 

aggregate total revenue for the active 

vessels (permit holders reporting catch) 

listed as fishing on ‘‘High Seas or off 

Foreign Shores’’ of $394 million in 2018 

and and $347 million in 2019. Using 

these revenue figures and the current 

number of permitted vessels, average 

annual revenues for an individual U.S. 

high seas vessel over the 2 year period 

is estimated at $1.1 million. Based on 

the best available financial information 

about the affected fishing vessels (i.e., 

permit holders), NMFS believes that all 

the affected fish harvesting businesses 


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would be small entities as defined by 

the RFA; that is, they are independently 

owned and operated and not dominant 

in their fields of operation, and have 

annual receipts of no more than $11 

million. Also, this sector has an 

employee-based size standard different 

from other sectors. A size standard of 

less than 750 employees would classify 

these business as small. Based on 

available information on freezer vessels, 

NMFS believes the entities would have 

fewer than 750 employees and therefore, 

would be considered small entities as 

well. 

If promulgated, the proposed action 

would require entities to renew the 

permit annually, increasing the cost 

over the current requirement of a 

renewal only every 5 years. NMFS 

reevaluated the cost of the application 

process under the annual renewal cycle 

and due to automated renewal 

procedures recently implemented for 

this program. As a result of automation, 

NMFS lowered the permit fee from 

$129.00 to $56.00 for each application/ 

renewal. While the automation 

represents a decrease for each 

application, the proposed change from 

5-year renewal to annual renewals 

would result in an increase in 

permitting fees from an average of 

$11.20 per year to $56.00 per year. The 

HSFCA authorizes the Secretary of 

Commerce to retain permit fees for the 

administration of the program and such 

funds remain available until expended. 

Collected fees have been used for 

development, operations and 

maintenance of the National Permits 

System including enhancements to 

automate issuance of HSFCA vessel 

permits. 

NMFS has estimated the burden and 

cost associated with the information 

collection that would be imposed on the 

entities. NMFS estimates that the total 

public burden for the proposed 

information collection and fee will 

apply to all permitted entities that 

would have to comply with the changes 

in permit validity as part of the 

proposed regulation. These estimates 

include the time required to review the 

instructions and update any information 

from the previous year that may have 

changed (e.g., upload a new picture of 

vessel) and pay the associated permit 

fee via the U.S. Treasury financial 

management system (www.pay.gov). The 

detailed analysis is provided in the 

request to OMB for approval of revisions 

to the information collection under 

Control Number 0648–0304. 

The labor burden estimates of the 

proposed action were based on a permit 

holder’s hours of activity required to 

comply with the proposed regulation to 

require an annual permit renewal 

application and fee, rather than the 

current five-year renewal. Over 5 years, 

this equates to completion of four 

additional permit applications and 

payment of the application processing 

fee each year. NMFS previously 

estimated one-half hour to complete the 

paper application form based on the 

number of required data elements and 

the need to mail the form. With the 

ability to apply for new permits and 

renew permits online, previously 

recorded data elements are prepopulated in the system, thus reducing 

data entry time. Because the annual 

renewal process is automated and 

available online, NMFS has reduced its 

estimate of the average time burden by 

50 percent from 0.5 hours per 

application to 0.25 hours. For the 

purpose of burden analysis, NMFS 

assumed that an upper bound of 400 

vessels would apply for or maintain 

HSFCA permits. Given the reduced time 

per application in the automated 

environment (15 minutes), NMFS 

estimates that the total burden to all 400 

permit holders for the information 

collection would require an additional 

80 labor hours annually to comply with 

the proposed regulation compared to 

current regulation (i.e., each vessel 

owner completing four additional 

permit applications over a 5 year 

period). 

NMFS assumes the administrative 

burden to complete the permit is the 

same for all entities (i.e., permit 

holders), regardless of whether the 

entity harvests or processes seafood. 

NMFS estimated the labor cost of $5.28 

per application using the Bureau of 

Labor and Statistics 2021 mean hourly 

wage for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and 

Auditing Clerks of $21.10 and a mean 

time of 15 minutes per application/ 

renewal. There is no additional 

recordkeeping or reporting requirements 

associated with the proposed annual 

permit renewal. There is no additional 

capital or operational and maintenance 

cost associated with the proposed 

regulation. If promulgated, the total cost 

(processing fee plus application process 

labor) per entity is estimated to be 

$61.28 per year ($24,512 for an 

estimated 400 permit holders). This 

represents an insignifcant fraction of the 

average revenue for the high seas fishing 

permit holders who actively engaged in 

fishing in 2018 and 2019. 

The proposed action in this rule does 

not limit an entity’s ability to harvest or 

process fish and, therefore, would not 

impose a significant adverse impact on 

an entity’s profitability. All entities are 

expected to be able to absorb the cost 

associated with the proposed action as 

part of their normal cost of operations. 

Therefore, based on the results of the 

analysis and all available information, if 

promulgated, NMFS does not anticipate 

that this proposed action would impose 

significant adverse or long-term 

economic impacts on a substantial 

number of small entities. 

Relative to this proposed regulation, 

no duplicative, overlapping, or 

conflicting Federal rules have been 

identified. The annual renewal of 

HSFCA permits would not require 

changes to observer deployment under 

the other applicable authorities for 

regulating high seas fisheries (e.g., 

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species, 

Western Pacific Pelagic Fisheries, and 

Pacific Highly Migratory Species). 

Therefore, annual renewal under 

HSFCA would not affect the schedule 

for dockside safety exams necessary for 

observer deployment. 

In addition to analyzing the proposed 

action, NMFS considered and rejected a 

no-action alternative, whereby NMFS 

would leave the length of validity of the 

permit at 5 years. The no-action 

alternative to the proposed rule would 

impose the least burden or economic 

impact on small entities, but it does not 

allow NMFS the ability to best fulfill its 

obligations to monitor and control its 

fishing vessels operating in areas 

beyond any national jurisdiction. 

Although NMFS did consider other 

lengths of validity for this permit (i.e., 

2 or 3 years), the proposed annual 

permit renewal is the preferred 

alternative because it will synchronize 

renewals with the underlying fisheries 

permits that each high seas permit 

holder must also carry. These 

underlying permits are required to 

operate the vessel on the high seas for 

the specifically authorized fisheries and 

these other permits must be renewed 

annually. Issuing a vessel permit under 

HSFCA authority for a time period 

inconsistent with another required 

permit can lead to confusion about the 

actual fishing authorization. In addition, 

as discussed above, it will also provide 

the United States with a better ability to 

monitor and control its high seas fishing 

fleet by ensuring that any delinquent 

reports are submitted at the time of 

initial permit application or annual 

renewal. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

There are two collection-ofinformation requirements in this 

proposed rule that are subject to OMB 

review and approval under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act. The first is a 

new collection-of-information that 

would be established to comply with 

the United States’ obligations under the 


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Port State Measures Agreement. This 

collection-of-information was submitted 

to OMB for approval. The proposed 

collection-of-information would apply 

to foreign vessels engaged in fishing 

activities that are also seeking access to 

U.S. ports. The reporting burden would 

apply only to the personnel aboard the 

foreign vessel who file the eNOAD 

report. USCG will process the 

information for its purposes (e.g., Ports 

and Waterways Safety Act) while NMFS 

will process the Annex A information to 

determine if the vessel is listed by 

RFMOs or is otherwise believed to have 

engaged in IUU fishing. 

The new collection-of-information 

burden, as proposed under this rule, is 

estimated to be an increase of 0.17 hours 

per submission over the normal eNOAD 

filing already required of foreign vessels 

calling on U.S. ports. In 2017, the U.S. 

Coast Guard received a total of 183,582 

vessel Notice of Arrival submissions, 

675 of which were classified as fishing 

vessels (defined under the Port State 

Measures Agreement as ‘‘any vessel, 

ship of another type or boat used for, 

equipped to be used for, or intended to 

be used for, fishing or fishing-related 

activities.’’) Of these fishing vessel 

submissions, 217 were from foreignflagged vessels. For the purpose of 

estimating reporting burden, NMFS is 

assuming that each submission is made 

by an individual vessel, but this would 

be an overestimate if some submissions 

were made by the same vessel. 

NMFS anticipates that neither U.S. 

entities nor foreign entities would be 

significantly affected by this action 

because it does not pose entirely new 

burdens with regard to the collection 

and submission of information 

necessary to approve port access and/or 

port services. Further, many of the data 

elements to be submitted electronically 

through this collection-of-information to 

grant port access are, to some extent, 

either already collected under the 

existing U.S. Coast Guard Notice of 

Arrival procedures, collected pursuant 

to national or international trade 

tracking or catch documentation 

requirements, or collected in support of 

third-party certification schemes 

voluntarily adopted by the trade. 

The second collection-of-information 

proposed in this rulemaking revises the 

existing collection-of-information for 

High Seas Fishing Compliance Act 

permitting (OMB Control Number 0648– 

0304). 

This information collection is revised 

to reduce the period of validity for high 

seas permits from 5 years to 1 year. The 

collection-of-information burden for the 

permit requirement proposed by NMFS 

under the discretionary authority 

afforded by the Pacific Fisheries Act 

was estimated with respect to the 

annual renewal of high seas permits. 

The revised burden to all permit 

applicants is estimated to be an increase 

of 80 hours per year. This estimation is 

based on 400 permits renewed annually 

rather than once every 5 years. 

However, as of March 2022, there are 

only 347 active HSFCA permits that 

have been issued. Thus, the use of 400 

vessels in estimating the reporting 

burden represents an upper bound. 

The information collection 

requirement under this proposed rule 

does not duplicate or conflict with such 

requirements under any other Federal 

rules. Potential overlap with other 

reporting requirements has been taken 

into account to avoid collecting data 

more than once. 

Send comments on the burden 

estimates or any other aspects of the 

new and revised collections of 

information to the Office of 

International Affairs, Trade, and 

Commerce at the ADDRESSES above, and 

by submission to Information Collection 

Review (https://www.reginfo.gov/ 

public/do/PRAMain). 

Notwithstanding any other provision 

of the law, no person is required to 

respond to, and no person shall be 

subject to penalty for failure to comply 

with, a collection of information subject 

to the requirements of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act, unless that collection of 

information displays a currently valid 

OMB control number. 

List of Subjects 

50 CFR Part 216 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Exports, Fish, Imports, 

Indians, Labeling, Marine mammals. 

50 CFR Part 300 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Antarctica, Canada, Exports, 

Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Imports, 

Incorporation by reference, Indians, 

Labeling, Marine resources, Reporting 

and recordkeeping requirements, 

Russian Federation, Transportation, 

Treaties, Wildlife. 

Dated: June 27, 2022. 

Samuel D. Rauch, III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, NMFS proposes to amend 50 

CFR parts 216 and 300 as follows: 

PART 216—REGULATIONS 

GOVERNING THE TAKING AND 

IMPORTING OF MARINE MAMMALS 

■ 1. The authority for part 216 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq., unless 

otherwise noted. 

§ 216.24 [Amended] 

■ 2. In § 216.24, remove and reserve 

paragraph (g). 

PART 300—INTERNATIONAL 

FISHERIES REGULATIONS 

■ 3. The authority for part 300 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 951 et seq., 16 U.S.C. 

1801 et seq., 16 U.S.C. 5501 et seq., 16 U.S.C. 

2431 et seq., 31 U.S.C. 9701 et seq. 

Subpart A—General 

■ 4. The authority for part 300, subpart 

A, continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 2431 et seq., 31 

U.S.C. 9701 et seq. 

■ 5. In § 300.2, revise the introductory 

text to read as follows: 

§ 300.2 Definitions. 

In addition to the definitions in each 

act, agreement, convention, or treaty 

specified in subparts B through R of this 

part, the terms used in this part have the 

following meanings, unless defined 

otherwise in the respective subpart: 

* * * * * 

■ 6. Add § 300.9 to read as follows: 

§ 300.9 Incorporation by reference. 

Certain material is incorporated by 

reference into this part with the 

approval of the Director of the Federal 

Register in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 

552(a) and 1 CFR part 51. All approved 

incorporation by reference (IBR) 

material is available for inspection at 

the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration (NOAA) and at the 

National Archives and Records 

Administration (NARA). Contact NOAA 

at: the National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), Office of International 

Affairs, Trade, and Commerce, 1315 

East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 

20910; phone (301) 427 8350; website: 

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

office-international-affairs-trade-andcommerce. For information on the 

availability of this material at NARA, 

email: fr.inspection@nara.gov, or go to: 

www.archives.gov/federal-register/cfr/ 

ibr-locations.html. The material may be 

obtained from the following source: 

(a) Food and Agriculture Organization 

of the United Nations (FAO). Viale delle 

Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy; 


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phone: (+39) 06 57051; email: FAOHQ@fao.org; website: www.fao.org/ 

publications/. 

(1) Agreement on Port State Measures 

to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, 

Unreported and Unregulated Fishing 

(Port State Measures Agreement), 

Revised edition, copyright 2016; IBR 

approved for §§ 300.300(c); 300.304(a) 

and (b); 300.306(e). 

(2) International Plan of Action to 

Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, 

Unreported and Unregulated Fishing 

(International Plan of Action), published 

2001; IBR approved for § 300.301. 

(b) [Reserved] 

Subpart F—Fraser River Sockeye and 

Pink Salmon Fisheries 

■ 7. The authority for part 300, subpart 

F, continues to read as follows: 

Authority: Pacific Salmon Treaty Act, 16 

U.S.C. 3636(b). 

■ 8. Revise § 300.96 to read as follows: 

§ 300.96 Penalties. 

Any treaty Indian who commits any 

act that is unlawful under this subpart 

normally will be referred to the 

applicable tribe for prosecution and 

punishment. If such tribe fails to 

prosecute such persons in a diligent 

manner for the offense(s) referred to the 

tribe, or if other good cause exists, such 

treaty Indian may be subject to the 

penalties and procedures set forth in 

section 606 of the High Seas Driftnet 

Fishing Moratorium Protection Act (16 

U.S.C. 1826g). 

Subpart N—Identification and 

Certification of Nations 

■ 9. The authority for part 300, subpart 

N, continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1826d et seq. 

■ 10. In § 300.201, add paragraphs (6) 

and (7) to the definition of ‘‘Illegal, 

unreported, or unregulated (IUU) 

fishing’’ and the definition of ‘‘Nation’’, 

in alphabetical order, to read as follows: 

§ 300.201 Definitions. 

* * * * * 

Illegal, unreported, or unregulated 

(IUU) fishing * * * 

(6) Failure to exercise effective flag 

State control as evidenced by persistent 

and pervasive fishing activities by the 

nation’s vessels in waters recognized by 

the United States as being under the 

jurisdiction of another nation without 

the authorization of that nation or 

otherwise in contravention of that 

nation’s laws, unless there has been 

effective resolution of such illegal 

fishing by the flag State, on a bilateral 

basis, or through a relevant international 

fishery management organization. 

(7) Fishing activities in waters beyond 

any national jurisdiction that involve 

the use of forced labor, which shall 

mean all work or service which is 

exacted from any person under the 

menace of any penalty for its 

nonperformance and for which the 

person does not offer themself 

voluntarily. For purposes of this 

subpart, forced labor includes forced 

child labor. 

* * * * * 

Nation means a country other than 

the United States, or other entity that 

has competency to enter into 

international fisheries management 

agreements. 

* * * * * 

■ 11. In § 300.202, revise paragraphs (a), 

(c), and (d) to read as follows: 

§ 300.202 Identification and certification of 

nations engaged in illegal, unreported, or 

unregulated fishing activities. 

(a) Procedures to identify nations for 

IUU fishing—(1) Identification for 

actions of fishing vessels. Based on a 

cumulative compilation and analysis of 

data collected and provided by 

international fishery management 

organizations, other nations, nongovernmental and intergovernmental 

organizations, and Federal, State, and 

other governmental agencies, NMFS 

will identify, and list in the biennial 

report to Congress, a nation if any 

fishing vessel of that nation is engaged, 

or has been engaged at any point during 

the preceding three years, in illegal, 

unreported, or unregulated fishing— 

(i) That undermines the effectiveness 

of measures required by an international 

fishery management organization, taking 

into account whether the relevant 

international fishery management 

organization has failed to implement 

effective measures to end the illegal, 

unreported, or unregulated fishing 

activity by that nation or the nation is 

not a party to, or does not maintain 

cooperating status with, such 

organization; or 

(ii) Where no international fishery 

management organization exists with a 

mandate to regulate the fishing activity 

in question; or 

(iii) As defined under paragraph (7) of 

the definition of IUU fishing in 

§ 300.201. 

(2) Identification for actions of a 

nation. Taking into account the factors 

described under paragraph (a)(1) of this 

section when making a report to 

Congress, NMFS will also identify, and 

list in such report, a nation— 

(i) If it is violating, or has violated at 

any point during the preceding three 

years, conservation and management 

measures required under an 

international fishery management 

organization to which the United States 

is a party and the violations undermine 

the effectiveness of such measures; or 

(ii) If it is failing, or has failed in the 

preceding three-year period, to 

effectively address or regulate illegal, 

unreported, or unregulated fishing in 

areas where no international fishery 

management organization exists with a 

mandate to regulate the fishing activity 

in question. 

(3) Considerations when making 

identifications. When determining 

whether to identify a nation for IUU 

fishing, NMFS will take into account all 

relevant matters, including but not 

limited to the history, nature, 

circumstances, extent, duration, and 

gravity of the IUU fishing in question, 

and any measures that the nation has 

implemented to address the IUU fishing. 

NMFS will also take into account 

whether an international fishery 

management organization exists with a 

mandate to regulate the fishery in which 

the IUU fishing in question takes place. 

If such an organization exists, NMFS 

will consider whether the relevant 

international fishery management 

organization has adopted measures that 

are effective at addressing the IUU 

fishing in question and, if the nation 

whose fishing vessel(s) are engaged, or 

have been engaged, in IUU fishing is a 

party to, or maintains cooperating status 

with, the organization. NMFS will also 

take into account any actions taken or 

on-going proceedings by the United 

States and/or flag State to address the 

IUU fishing of concern as well as the 

effectiveness of such actions. With 

regard to making identifications under 

paragraph (7) of the defintion of IUU 

fishing in § 300.201, NMFS may 

additionally consider any pertinent 

documentation provided by other 

relevant Departments and agencies, 

including, but not limited to, 

information provided under section 131 

of the Trafficking Victims Protection 

Reauthorization Act (TVPRA); Withhold 

Release Orders and Findings issued 

pursuant to section 307 of the Tariff Act 

of 1930; and other information on the 

history, nature, circumstances, extent, 

duration, and gravity of the activity in 

question, and any measures that the 

nation has implemented to address that 

activity. 

* * * * * 

(c) Consultation with nations 

identified under paragraph (a) of this 

section. Within 60 days after submission 

of the biennial report to Congress, the 

Secretary of Commerce, acting through 


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or in cooperation with the Secretary of 

State, will initiate consultations with 

nations that have been identified in the 

biennial report for the purpose of 

encouraging such nations to take 

appropriate corrective action with 

respect to the IUU fishing activities 

described in the biennial report. The 

Secretary of Commerce may engage with 

other Departments and agencies when 

initiating consultations with nations 

identified under paragraph (7) of the 

definition of IUU fishing in § 300.201 

and as appropriate throughout the 

consultation process. 

(d) Procedures to certify nations 

identified under paragraph (a) of this 

section. Each nation that is identified 

under paragraph (a) of this section shall 

receive either a positive or a negative 

certification from the Secretary of 

Commerce, and this certification will be 

published in the biennial report to 

Congress. A positive certification 

indicates that a nation has taken 

appropriate corrective action to address 

the activity described in the biennial 

report. A negative certification indicates 

that a nation has not taken appropriate 

corrective action. 

(1) The Secretary of Commerce shall 

issue a positive certification to an 

identified nation upon making a 

determination that such nation has 

taken appropriate corrective action to 

address the activities for which such 

nation has been identified in the 

biennial report to Congress. When 

making such determination, the 

Secretary shall take into account the 

following: 

(i) Whether the government of the 

nation identified pursuant to paragraph 

(a) of this section has provided evidence 

documenting that it has taken corrective 

action to address the IUU fishing 

activity described in the biennial report; 

(ii) Whether the relevant international 

fishery management organization has 

adopted and, if applicable, the 

identified member nation has 

implemented and is enforcing, measures 

to effectively address the IUU fishing 

activity of the identified nation’s fishing 

vessels described in the biennial report; 

(iii) Whether the United States has 

taken enforcement action to effectively 

address the IUU fishing activity of the 

identified nation described in the 

biennial report; and 

(iv) Whether the identified nation has 

cooperated in any action taken by the 

United States to address the IUU fishing 

activity described in the biennial report. 

(2) Prior to a formal certification 

determination, nations will be provided 

with preliminary certification 

determinations and an opportunity to 

support and/or refute the preliminary 

determinations and communicate any 

corrective actions taken to address the 

activities for which such nations were 

identified. The Secretary of Commerce 

shall consider any information received 

during the course of these consultations 

when making the subsequent 

certification determinations. The 

Secretary may consider advice or 

information provided by other relevant 

Departments and agencies in making its 

preliminary and formal certification 

determinations for identifications made 

under paragraph (7) of the definition of 

IUU fishing in § 300.201. 

■ 12. Revise § 300.203 to read as 

follows: 

§ 300.203 Identification and certification of 

nations engaged in bycatch of protected 

living marine resources. 

(a) Criteria for identification. NMFS 

will identify and list, in the biennial 

report to Congress, nations— 

(1) Whose fishing vessel(s) are 

engaged, or have been engaged during 

the preceding three years prior to 

publication of the biennial report to 

Congress, in fishing activities or 

practices either in waters beyond any 

national jurisdiction that result in 

bycatch of a PLMR, or in waters beyond 

the U.S. EEZ that result in bycatch of a 

PLMR that is shared by the United 

States; 

(2) If the nation is a party to or 

maintains cooperating status with the 

relevant international organization with 

jurisdiction over the conservation and 

protection of the relevant PLMRs, or a 

relevant international or regional fishery 

organization, and the organization has 

not adopted measures to effectively end 

or reduce bycatch of such species; and 

(3) The nation has not implemented 

measures designed to end or reduce 

such bycatch that are comparable in 

effectiveness to U.S. regulatory 

requirements, taking into account 

different conditions that could bear on 

the feasibility and efficacy of 

comparable measures. 

(b) Considerations when making 

identifications. When determining 

whether to identify a nation as having 

any fishing vessel(s) engaged in PLMR 

bycatch, NMFS will take into account 

all relevant matters, including but not 

limited to, the history, nature, 

circumstances, extent, duration, and 

gravity of the bycatch activity in 

question. 

(c) Effectiveness of comparable 

measures. NMFS will also examine 

whether the nation has implemented 

measures designed to end or reduce 

such bycatch that are comparable in 

effectiveness to U.S. regulatory 

requirements. In considering whether a 

nation has implemented measures that 

are comparable in effectiveness to those 

of the United States, NMFS will 

evaluate if different conditions exist that 

could bear on the feasibility and efficacy 

of such measures to end or reduce 

bycatch of the pertinent PLMRs. 

(d) Notification of nations identified 

as having fishing vessels engaged in 

PLMR bycatch. Upon identifying a 

nation whose vessels have been engaged 

in bycatch of PLMRs in the biennial 

report to Congress, the Secretary of 

Commerce will notify the President of 

such identification. Within 60 days after 

submission of the biennial report to 

Congress, the Secretary of Commerce, 

acting through or in consultation with 

the Secretary of State, will notify 

identified nations about the 

requirements under the High Seas 

Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection 

Act and this subpart. 

(e) Consultations and negotiations. 

Upon submission of the biennial report 

to Congress, the Secretary of Commerce, 

acting through or in consultation with 

the Secretary of State, will: 

(1) Initiate consultations within 60 

days after submission of the biennial 

report to Congress with the governments 

of identified nations for the purposes of 

encouraging adoption of a regulatory 

program for protected living marine 

resources that is comparable in 

effectiveness to that of the United 

States, taking into account different 

conditions, and establishment of a 

management plan that assists in the 

collection of species-specific data; 

(2) Seek to enter into bilateral and 

multilateral treaties with such nations to 

protect the PLMRs from bycatch 

activities described in the biennial 

report; and 

(3) Seek agreements through the 

appropriate international organizations 

calling for international restrictions on 

the fishing activities or practices 

described in the biennial report that 

result in bycatch of PLMRs and, as 

necessary, request the Secretary of State 

to initiate the amendment of any 

existing international treaty to which 

the United States is a party for the 

protection and conservation of the 

PLMRs in question to make such 

agreements consistent with this subpart. 

(f) International cooperation and 

assistance. To the greatest extent 

possible, consistent with existing 

authority and the availability of funds, 

the Secretary shall: 

(1) Provide appropriate assistance to 

nations identified by the Secretary 

under paragraph (a) of this section and 

international organizations of which 

those nations are members to assist 

those nations in qualifying for a positive 


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certification under paragraph (e) of this 

section; 

(2) Undertake, where appropriate, 

cooperative research activities on 

species assessments and improved 

bycatch mitigation techniques, with 

those nations or organizations; 

(3) Encourage and facilitate the 

transfer of appropriate technology to 

those nations or organizations to assist 

those nations in qualifying for positive 

certification under paragraph (e) of this 

section; and 

(4) Provide assistance to those nations 

or organizations in designing and 

implementing appropriate fish 

harvesting plans. 

(g) Procedures to certify nations 

identified as having fishing vessels 

engaged in PLMR bycatch. (1) Each 

nation that is identified as having 

fishing vessels engaged in PLMR 

bycatch shall receive either a positive or 

a negative certification from the 

Secretary of Commerce, and this 

certification will be published in the 

biennial report to Congress. The 

Secretary of Commerce shall issue a 

positive certification to an identified 

nation upon making a determination 

that: 

(i) Such nation has provided evidence 

documenting its adoption of a 

regulatory program to end or reduce 

bycatch of such PLMRs that is 

comparable in effectiveness to 

regulatory measures required under U.S. 

law to address bycatch in the relevant 

fisheries, taking into account different 

conditions that could bear on the 

feasibility and efficacy of these 

measures, and which, in the case of an 

identified nation with fishing vessels 

engaged in pelagic longline fishing, 

includes the mandatory use of circle 

hooks, careful handling and release 

equipment, training and observer 

programs; and 

(ii) Such nation has established a 

management plan that will assist in the 

collection of species-specific data on 

PLMR bycatch to support international 

stock assessments and conservation 

efforts for PLMRs. 

(2) Nations will be notified prior to a 

formal certification determination and 

will be provided with an opportunity to 

support and/or refute preliminary 

certification determinations, and 

communicate any corrective actions 

taken to address the activities for which 

such nations were identified. The 

Secretary of Commerce shall consider 

any information received during the 

course of these consultations when 

making the subsequent certification 

determinations. 

■ 13. In § 300.204, revise the heading of 

paragraph (a) and paragraph (a)(1)(i) to 

read as follows: 

§ 300.204 Identification and certification of 

nations whose vessels are engaged in 

shark catch. 

(a) Procedures to identify nations 

whose fishing vessels target or 

incidentally catch sharks in waters 

beyond any national jurisdiction. (1) 

* * * 

(i) Whose fishing vessels are engaged, 

or have been engaged during the three 

years prior to publication of the biennial 

report to Congress, in fishing activities 

or practices in waters beyond any 

national jurisdiction that target or 

incidentally catch sharks; and 

* * * * * 

■ 14. In § 300.205: 

■ a. Revise the section heading, 

introductory text of paragraph (a), and 

paragraph (b); 

■ b. Add a heading for paragraph (c); 

and 

■ c. Revise paragraphs (d) and (e). 

The revisions and addition read as 

follows: 

§ 300.205 Effect of negative certification. 

(a) Response to negative certification. 

If a nation identified under § 300.202(a), 

§ 300.203(a), or § 300.204(a) receives a 

negative certification under this subpart, 

the Secretary of the Treasury shall, in 

accordance with international law: 

* * * * * 

(b) Trade restrictions. Upon 

notification and any recommendations 

by the Secretary of Commerce to the 

President that an identified nation has 

received a negative certification, the 

President is authorized to direct the 

Secretary of the Treasury to prohibit the 

importation of certain fish and fish 

products from such nation (see 

§ 300.206). 

(c) Consistency of actions. * * * 

(d) Additional sanctions. If certain 

fish and fish products are prohibited 

from entering the United States, the 

Secretary of Commerce shall, within six 

months after the imposition of the 

prohibition, determine whether the 

prohibition is insufficient to cause that 

nation to effectively address the IUU 

fishing activity, bycatch, or shark catch 

described in the biennial report, or that 

nation has retaliated against the United 

States as a result of that prohibition. The 

Secretary of Commerce shall certify to 

the President each affirmative 

determination that an import 

prohibition is insufficient to cause a 

nation to effectively address such IUU 

fishing activity, bycatch, or shark catch 

or that a nation has taken retaliatory 

action against the United States. This 

certification is a certification under 22 

U.S.C. 1978(a), which provides that the 

President may direct the Secretary of the 

Treasury to prohibit the bringing or the 

importation into the United States of 

any products from the country so 

certified for any duration as the 

President determines appropriate and to 

the extent that such prohibition is 

sanctioned by the World Trade 

Organization (as defined in 19 U.S.C. 

3501(8)) or any relevant multilateral 

trade agreements (as defined in 19 

U.S.C. 3501(4)). 

(e) Duration of negative certification. 

Any nation identified in the biennial 

report to Congress for having vessels 

engaged in IUU fishing, PLMR bycatch, 

or shark catch that is negatively certified 

will remain negatively certified until the 

Secretary has determined that the nation 

has effectively addressed the fishing or 

regulatory activities for which the 

nation received a negative certification 

and issues a positive certification. 

* * * * * 

■ 15. In § 300.206, revise the section 

heading and paragraphs (a)(1) and (2) 

and (b)(1) and (4) to read as follows: 

§ 300.206 Denial of port privileges and 

import restrictions on fish or fish products 

from negatively certified nations. 

(a) * * * 

(1) Vessels from a nation identified in 

the biennial report under § 300.202(a), 

§ 300.203(a), or § 300.204(a) and 

subsequently negatively certified by the 

Secretary that enter any place in the 

United States or the navigable waters of 

the United States remain subject to 

inspection and may be prohibited from 

landing, processing, or transshipping 

fish and fish products, under applicable 

law. Services, including the refueling 

and re-supplying of such fishing vessels, 

may be prohibited, with the exception 

of services essential to the safety, health, 

and welfare of the crew. Fishing vessels 

will not be denied port access or 

services in cases of force majeure or 

distress. 

(2) For nations identified in the 

previous biennial report under 

§ 300.202(a) that are negatively certified 

in the subsequent biennial report, the 

Secretary shall so notify and make 

recommendations to the President, who 

is authorized to direct the Secretary of 

the Treasury to impose import 

prohibitions with respect to fish and 

fish products from those nations. Such 

a recommendation would address the 

relevant fishing activities or practices 

for which such nations were identified 

in the biennial report. Such import 

prohibitions, if implemented, would 

apply to fish and fish products managed 

under an applicable international 


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fishery agreement. If there is no 

applicable international fishery 

agreement, such prohibitions, if 

implemented, would only apply to fish 

and fish products caught by vessels 

engaged in illegal, unreported, or 

unregulated fishing for which a nation 

was identified and negatively certified. 

For nations identified under 

§ 300.203(a) or § 300.204(a) that are 

negatively certified, the Secretary of 

Commerce shall so notify and make 

recommendations to the President, who 

is authorized to direct the Secretary of 

the Treasury to impose import 

prohibitions with respect to fish and 

fish products from those nations; such 

prohibitions would only apply to fish 

and fish products caught by the vessels 

engaged in the relevant activity for 

which the nation was identified and 

negatively certified. 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(1) Notification. Where the Secretary 

of Commerce makes negative 

certifications for identified nations, and 

the President determines that certain 

fish and fish products from such nations 

are ineligible for entry into the United 

States and U.S. territories, the Secretary 

of Commerce, in cooperation with the 

Secretaries of Treasury, Homeland 

Security, and State, will publish a 

notice to that effect in the Federal 

Register. 

* * * * * 

(4) Removal of negative certifications 

and import restrictions. Upon a 

determination by the Secretary that an 

identified nation that was negatively 

certified has satisfactorily met the 

conditions in this subpart and that 

nation has been positively certified, the 

provisions of this section shall no longer 

apply. The Secretary of Commerce will 

issue a positive certification and will, in 

cooperation with the Secretaries of 

Treasury, Homeland Security, and State, 

notify such nations and publish in the 

Federal Register notification of the 

removal of the import restrictions per 

the regulations in this part effective on 

the date of publication. 

■ 16. In § 300.207, revise the section 

heading and paragraphs (a) and (b) to 

read as follows: 

§ 300.207 Alternative procedures for 

products not subject to trade restrictions. 

(a) Alternative procedures may be 

applied to fish or fish products from a 

harvesting nation that has been 

negatively certified under § 300.202, 

§ 300.203, or § 300.204 but are not 

caught by the vessel(s) engaged in the 

fishing activity for which the nation was 

negatively certified. 

(b) Consistent with paragraph (a) of 

this section, the Secretary may allow 

entry of fish or fish products on a 

shipment-by-shipment, shipper-byshipper, or other basis if the Secretary 

determines that: 

(1) The vessel concerned has not 

engaged in IUU fishing; 

(2) The vessel concerned is not 

identified by an international fishery 

management organization as 

participating in IUU fishing or fishingrelated activities in support of such 

fishing; 

(3) The fish products were harvested 

by practices that do not result in 

bycatch of a protected marine species, 

or were harvested by practices that— 

(i) Are comparable to those of the 

United States, taking into account 

different conditions, and which, in the 

case of pelagic longline fisheries, the 

regulatory program of an identified 

nation includes mandatory use of circle 

hooks, careful handling and release 

equipment, and training and observer 

programs; and 

(ii) Include the gathering of speciesspecific data that can be used to support 

international and regional assessments 

and conservation efforts for protected 

living marine resources; and 

(4) The fish products were harvested 

by fishing activities or practices that do 

not target or incidentally catch sharks, 

or were harvested by practices that— 

(i) Are comparable to those of the 

United States, taking into account 

different conditions; and 

(ii) Include the gathering of speciesspecific shark data that can be used to 

support international and regional 

assessments and conservation efforts for 

sharks. 

* * * * * 

§§ 300.208 and 300.209 [Removed] 

■ 17. Remove §§ 300.208 and 300.209. 

Subpart P—Vessels Known or 

Reasonably Believed to Have Engaged 

in Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated 

Fishing 

■ 18. The authority for part 300, subpart 

P, is added to read as follows: 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 951 et seq., 16 U.S.C. 

971 et seq., 16 U.S.C. 1413 et seq., 16 U.S.C. 

1826i, 16 U.S.C. 2341 et seq., 16 U.S.C. 5601 

et seq., 16 U.S.C. 6901 et seq., 16 U.S.C. 7401 

et seq., 16 U.S.C. 7701 et seq., 16 U.S.C. 7801 

et seq. 

■ 19. Revise subpart P heading to read 

as set forth above. 

■ 20. In § 300.300, revise paragraph (a) 

and add paragraph (c) to read as follows: 

§ 300.300 Purpose and scope. 

(a) This subpart implements 

internationally-adopted measures 

pertaining to foreign vessels determined 

to have engaged in illegal, unreported, 

and unregulated (IUU) fishing and 

placed on IUU fishing vessel lists of the: 

(1) International Commission for the 

Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT); 

(2) Commission for the Conservation 

of Antarctic Marine Living Resources 

(CCAMLR); 

(3) Northwest Atlantic Fisheries 

Organization (NAFO); 

(4) Western and Central Pacific 

Fisheries Commission (WCPFC); 

(5) Inter-American Tropical Tuna 

Commission (IATTC); 

(6) Parties to the Agreement on the 

International Dolphin Conservation 

Program (AIDCP); 

(7) North Pacific Fisheries 

Commission (NPFC); 

(8) South Pacific Regional Fishery 

Management Organization (SPRFMO); 

and 

(9) Any other regional fisheries 

management organization or 

arrangement to which the United States 

is a contracting party or member. 

* * * * * 

(c) In addition to the measures 

specified in paragraph (a) of this 

section, this subpart implements 

provisions of the Agreement on Port 

State Measures to Prevent, Deter and 

Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and 

Unregulated Fishing (incorporated by 

reference, see § 300.9), as it pertains to 

foreign vessel(s) for which there are 

reasonable grounds to believe that the 

vessel(s) has engaged in IUU fishing 

activities or fishing-related activities in 

support of such fishing. 

■ 21. In § 300.301: 

■ a. Revise the introductory text; 

■ b. Add, in alphabetical order, 

definitions for ‘‘Fish’’, ‘‘Fishing’’, and 

‘‘IUU fishing’’; 

■ c. Remove the definition of ‘‘Listed 

IUU Vessel’’ and add the definition of 

‘‘Listed IUU vessel’’ in its place; and 

■ d. Add, in alphabetical order, the 

definition of ‘‘Vessel’’. 

The revision and additions read as 

follows: 

§ 300.301 Definitions. 

In addition to the definitions in 

§ 300.2, the terms used in this subpart 

have the following meaning. If also 

defined under § 300.2, the terms as 

defined in this subpart supersede those 

as defined in § 300.2. 

Fish means finfish, mollusks, 

crustaceans, and all other forms of 

marine animal and plant life other than 

marine mammals and birds. 

Fishing means: 

(1) The catching, taking, or harvesting 

of fish; 

(2) The attempted catching, taking, or 

harvesting of fish; 


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(3) Any other activity which can 

reasonably be expected to result in the 

catching, taking, or harvesting of fish; or 

(4) Any operations at sea in support 

of, or in preparation for, any activity 

described in paragraphs (1) through (3) 

of this definition. 

(5) Fishing does not mean any 

scientific research activity that is 

conducted by a scientific research 

vessel. 

IUU fishing means any activity set out 

in paragraph 3 of the International Plan 

of Action to Prevent, Deter and 

Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and 

Unregulated Fishing (incorporated by 

reference, see § 300.9). 

* * * * * 

Listed IUU vessel means a vessel that 

is included in a list of vessels having 

engaged in IUU fishing or fishingrelated activities in support of IUU 

fishing that has been adopted by a 

regional fisheries management 

organization (RFMO) of which the 

United States is a member, or a list 

adopted by an RFMO of which the 

United States is not a member if the 

Secretary determines that the criteria 

used by that organization to create the 

IUU fishing vessel list is comparable to 

criteria for identifying IUU fishing 

vessels and activities that have been 

adopted by RFMOs to which the United 

States is a member. 

* * * * * 

Vessel means any vessel, ship of 

another type, or boat used for, equipped 

to be used for, or intended to be used 

for, fishing or fishing-related activities, 

including support vessels and container 

vessels that are carrying fish that have 

not been previously landed. 

■ 22. Revise § 300.302 to read as 

follows: 

§ 300.302 Port entry by foreign vessels. 

(a) The Secretary of Commerce may 

decide to deny entry to any port or place 

subject to the jurisdiction of the United 

States to a foreign vessel listed as an 

IUU vessel by any regional fishery 

management organization recognized by 

the United States. 

(b) The Secretary may decide to deny 

entry to any port or place subject to the 

jurisdiction of the United States to a 

foreign vessel that the Secretary has 

reasonable grounds to believe has: 

(1) Engaged in IUU fishing activities 

or fishing-related activities in support of 

such fishing; or 

(2) Violated any provisions of the Port 

State Measures Agreement Act of 2015, 

Public Law 114–81, or amendments 

thereto. 

(c) When determining whether a 

foreign vessel is or has been previously 

engaged in IUU fishing or fishingrelated activities in support of such 

fishing, the Secretary will take into 

account, among other things, the IUU 

vessel lists and compliance 

determinations of any regional fishery 

management organization recognized by 

the United States. 

(d) Notwithstanding the provisions of 

paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section, a 

foreign vessel may be allowed entry for 

the purpose of inspection or facilitation 

of enforcement. 

(e) The provisions of paragraphs (a) 

and (b) of this section to deny entry 

shall not apply in cases of force 

majeure. 

■ 23. Revise § 300.303 to read as 

follows: 

§ 300.303 Port access by foreign vessels. 

If a foreign, listed IUU vessel, or a 

foreign vessel for which there are 

reasonable grounds to believe that the 

vessel has engaged in IUU fishing or 

fishing-related activities in support of 

such fishing, is allowed to enter a port 

or place subject to the jurisdiction of the 

United States, the Secretary may, in 

accordance with the Port State Measures 

Agreement Act (Pub. L. 114–81) and 

applicable provisions of conservation 

and management measures of a regional 

fishery management organization 

recognized by the United States, take 

one or more of the following actions: 

(a) Inspect the vessel; 

(b) Request that the Secretaries of the 

Departments in which the U.S. Coast 

Guard and U.S. Customs and Border 

Protection are operating deny the vessel 

access to port services, including but 

not limited to refueling, resupplying, or 

disembarking or embarking of crew; or 

(c) Prohibit the vessel from engaging 

in commercial transactions including, 

but not limited to, entering, importing, 

exporting, transshipping, or landing 

product. 

§ 300.304 [Redesignated as § 303.306] 

■ 24. Redesignate § 300.304 as 

§ 303.306. 

■ 25. Add a new § 300.304 to read as 

follows: 

§ 300.304 Notice of Arrival requirements. 

(a) Ports to which foreign vessels may 

request entry pursuant to the on Port 

State Measures Agreement (incorporated 

by reference, see § 300.9), include those 

Customs Ports of Entry listed in 19 CFR 

101.3 as well as those specified under 

any existing international fisheries 

agreement. 

(b) In addition to complying with the 

Electronic Notice of Arrival/Departure 

(eNOAD) provisions under 33 CFR 

160.206(a), the vessel owner, agent, 

master, operator, or person in charge of 

a vessel requesting access to the ports of 

entry referenced in paragraph (a) of this 

section must supply the information 

items listed in Annex A of the Port State 

Measures Agreement to the National 

Vessel Movement Center (NVMC) 

through the eNOAD system. 

(c) Vessel owners and operators 

should protect any personal or 

otherwise confidential information they 

gather in preparing notices for 

transmittal to the NVMC to prevent 

unintended disclosure of that 

information. 

■ 26. Add § 300.305 to read as follows: 

§ 300.305 Determinations and 

notifications. 

For a foreign vessel that is requesting 

entry to, or that has already entered, a 

port authorized under § 300.304(a), the 

Secretary shall provide the following 

notifications to the vessel master and/or 

ship’s agent and the flag nation of the 

vessel, and may also provide such 

notifications as may be appropriate to 

the nation of which the vessel’s master 

is a national; relevant coastal nations; 

RFMOs; the Food and Agriculture 

Organization of the United Nations; and 

other relevant international 

organizations: 

(a) Notification of the denial or 

authorization of port entry or use of port 

services or of the withdrawal of the 

denial of port services; 

(b) The taking of enforcement action 

under this title or other applicable law; 

or 

(c) The results of any inspection 

conducted pursuant to this subpart. 

■ 27. In newly redesignated § 300.306, 

revise paragraph (d) and add paragraph 

(e) to read as follows: 

§ 300.306 Prohibitions. 

* * * * * 

(d) The prohibitions listed in 

paragraph (c) of this section shall not 

apply when the Assistant Administrator 

has authorized a listed IUU vessel to 

access such port services or engage in 

such commercial transactions, in 

accordance with applicable provisions 

of RFMO conservation and management 

measures, including in cases of force 

majeure and where the Assistant 

Administrator has determined that such 

services are essential to the safety, 

health, and welfare of the crew. 

(e) It is unlawful for any vessel of the 

United States, and for the owner or 

operator of any such vessel, to refuse to 

cooperate with, or provide requested 

information to, a port nation in 

accordance with the Port State Measures 

Agreement (incorporated by reference, 

see § 300.9) or with port inspection or 


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port State measures adopted by an 

RFMO recognized by the United States. 

For the purposes of this paragraph (e), 

‘‘vessel of the United States’’ has the 

same meaning as in 16 U.S.C. 1802(48). 

Subpart R–High Seas Fisheries 

■ 28. The authority for part 300, subpart 

R, continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 5501 et seq. 

■ 29. In § 300.333, revise paragraph 

(d)(4) to read as follows: 

§ 300.333 Vessel permits. 

* * * * * 

(d) * * * 

(4) Except as otherwise provided, 

permits issued under this subpart are 

valid from the date of issuance until the 

date of expiration as indicated on the 

permit. For a permit to remain valid to 

its expiration date, the vessel’s U.S. 

Coast Guard documentation or State 

registration must be kept current. A 

permit issued under this subpart is void 

if the vessel owner or the name of the 

vessel changes; if any other permit or 

authorization required for the vessel to 

fish expires, or is revoked or suspended; 

or, in the event the vessel is no longer 

eligible for U.S. documentation, such 

documentation is revoked or denied, or 

the vessel is removed from such 

documentation. 

* * * * * 

■ 30. In § 300.334, revise paragraphs (c) 

and (f) to read as follows: 

§ 300.334 Fisheries authorized on the high 

seas. 

* * * * * 

(c) Change in authorized fisheries. If 

a high seas fishing permit holder elects 

to change the authorized fisheries 

specified on the permit, he or she shall 

notify the Regional Administrator or 

Office Director who issued the permit of 

the change(s) and shall obtain the 

underlying permits for the authorized 

fisheries prior to engaging in the fishery 

on the high seas. Per the process under 

§ 300.333(d), the Regional Administrator 

or Office Director will then issue a 

revised high seas fishing permit which 

will expire on the date as indicated on 

the original permit. 

* * * * * 

(f) Deletion of a fishery from the 

authorized fisheries list. NMFS will 

delete (i.e., de-authorize) a fishery under 

paragraph (d) or (e) of this section 

through publication of a final rule. 

NMFS will also provide notice to 

affected permit holders by email and by 

Registered Mail at the addresses 

provided to NMFS in the high seas 

permit application. When a fishery is 

deleted from the list, any activities on 

the high seas related to that fishery are 

prohibited as of the effective date of the 

final rule. In addition, the high seas 

permit will be voided unless the permit 

holder notifies NMFS that he or she 

elects to change to another authorized 

high seas fishery or continue in any 

other authorized fisheries noted on the 

permit. Once the applicant so notifies 

NMFS and, if necessary, secures any 

underlying permits necessary for 

participation in another authorized high 

seas fishery, the Regional Administrator 

or Office Director will then issue a 

revised high seas fishing permit per the 

process under § 300.333(d). The revised 

permit will expire on the date as 

indicated on the original permit. 

■ 31. Revise § 300.339 to read as 

follows: 

§ 300.339 Transshipment on the high seas. 

In addition to any other applicable 

restrictions on transshipment, including 

those under this part and part 635 of 

this title, the following requirements 

apply to transshipments, when 

authorized, taking place on the high 

seas: 

(a) The owner or operator of a U.S. 

vessel receiving or offloading fish on the 

high seas shall provide a notice by fax 

or email to the Regional Administrator 

or the Office Director at least 36 hours 

prior to any intended transshipment on 

the high seas with the following 

information: the vessels offloading and 

receiving the transshipment (names, 

official numbers, and vessel types); the 

location (latitude and longitude to the 

nearest tenth of a degree) of 

transshipment; date and time that 

transshipment is expected to occur; and 

species, processed state, and quantities 

(in metric tons) expected to be 

transshipped. If another requirement for 

prior notice applies, the more restrictive 

requirement (i.e., a requirement for 

greater advance notice and/or more 

specific information regarding vessels, 

location, etc.) must be followed. 

(b) U.S. high seas fishing vessels shall 

report transshipments on the high seas 

to the Regional Administrator or Office 

Director within 15 calendar days after 

the vessel first enters into port, using 

the form obtained from the Regional 

Administrator or Office Director. If there 

are applicable transshipment reporting 

requirements in other parts of this title, 

the more restrictive requirement (e.g., a 

reporting requirement due in fewer than 

15 calendar days) must be followed. 

■ 32. Revise § 300.341 to read as 

follows: 

§ 300.341 Reporting. 

(a) The operator of any vessel 

permitted under this subpart must 

accurately maintain on board the vessel 

a complete record of fishing activities, 

such as catch, effort, and other data and 

report high seas catch and effort 

information to NMFS in a manner 

consistent with the reporting 

requirements of the authorized 

fishery(ies) noted on the high seas 

permit. Reports must include: 

(1) Identification information for 

vessel and operator; 

(2) Operator signature; 

(3) Crew size; 

(4) Whether an observer is aboard; 

(5) Target species; 

(6) Gear used; 

(7) Dates, times, locations, and 

conditions under which fishing was 

conducted; 

(8) Species and amounts of fish 

retained and discarded; and 

(9) Details of any interactions with sea 

turtles, marine mammals, or birds. 

(b) The vessel owner and operator are 

responsible for obtaining and 

completing the reporting forms from the 

Regional Administrator or Office 

Director who issued the permit holder’s 

high seas fishing permit. The completed 

forms must be submitted to the same 

Regional Administrator or Office 

Director or, if directed by NMFS, to a 

Science Center. 

(c) Reports must be submitted within 

the deadline provided for in the 

regulations governing the authorized 

fishery, or within 15 days following the 

end of a fishing trip, whichever is 

sooner. Contact information for the 

Regional Administrators and Science 

Center Directors can be found on the 

NMFS website. 

[FR Doc. 2022–14034 Filed 7–7–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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