[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 164 (Thursday, August 25, 2005)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 49902]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-16939]



[[Page 49902]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 229

[Docket No. 041108310-5222-03; I.D. 100104H]
RIN 0648-AS78


List of Fisheries for 2005

AGENCY:  National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability; proposed rule; reopening of public 
comment period.

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SUMMARY: On December 2, 2004, the proposed List of Fisheries (LOF) for 
2005 under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) was published in the 
Federal Register. NMFS subsequently prepared a draft Environmental 
Assessment (EA) on the process for classifying U.S. commercial 
fisheries on the LOF. NMFS is reopening the comment period on the 
proposed 2005 LOF for an additional 60 days to allow the public to 
concurrently review and comment on both the draft EA and proposed 2005 
LOF.

DATES: Comments must be received by October 24, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Send comments on the proposed 2005 LOF and draft EA to 
Chief, Marine Mammal Conservation Division, Attn: List of Fisheries, 
Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver 
Spring, MD 20910. Comments may also be sent via email to 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c0f2f0f0f58c8f86eea3afadada5aeb4b380aeafa1a1eea7afb6"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="57656767621b18117934383a3a32392324173938363679303821">[email protected]</span></a> or the Federal eRulemaking portal: http://www.regulations.gov (Follow instructions for submitting comments).
    Comments regarding the burden-hour estimates, or any other aspect 
of the collection of information requirements contained in the proposed 
rule, should be submitted in writing to the Chief, Marine Mammal 
Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-
West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910 and to David Rostker, OMB, by e-
mail at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#3e7a5f48575a616c514d4a555b4c7e51535c105b514e10595148"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="aaeecbdcc3cef5f8c5d9dec1cfd8eac5c7c884cfc5da84cdc5dc">[email protected]</span></a> or by fax to 202-395-7285.
    Copies of the draft EA for this action are available on the NMFS 
Office of Protected Resources website, which is listed under the 
Electronic Access portion of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kristy Long, Office of Protected 
Resources, 301-713-2322; David Gouveia, Northeast Region, 978-281-9300; 
Juan Levesque, Southeast Region, 727-551-5779; Cathy Campbell, 
Southwest Region, 562-980-4060; Brent Norberg, Northwest Region, 206-
526-6733; Bridget Mansfield, Alaska Region, 907-586-7642; Chris Yates, 
Pacific Islands Region, 808-944-2235. Individuals who use a 
telecommunications device for the hearing impaired may call the Federal 
Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. 
Eastern time, Monday through Friday, excluding Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Electronic Access

    The proposed 2005 LOF Federal Register notice and draft EA for this 
action can be downloaded from the NMFS Office of Protected Resources 
website at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/interactions/lof/.

Background

    On December 2, 2004, the proposed List of Fisheries for 2005 under 
the Marine Mammal Protection Act was published in the Federal Register 
(69 FR 70094). NMFS must categorize each commercial fishery on the LOF 
into one of three categories under the MMPA based on the level of 
serious injury and mortality of marine mammals that occurs incidental 
to the fishery. NMFS must publish in the Federal Register any necessary 
changes to the LOF after notice and opportunity for public comment. In 
the proposed LOF for 2005, NMFS proposed several fishery 
classification, fishery name, and organizational changes. In 
particular, NMFS proposed to reclassify the California/Oregon thresher 
shark/swordfish drift gillnet ([gteqt]14 in. mesh) from Category II 
(occasional incidental mortality and serious injury) to Category I 
(frequent incidental mortality and serious injury) and to reclassify 
the Northeast bottom trawl, Mid-Atlantic bottom trawl, and five Alaska 
fisheries from Category III (remote likelihood of or no known 
incidental mortality and serious injury) to Category II. The five 
Alaska fisheries include the following: Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 
(BSAI) flatfish trawl, BSAI Greenland turbot longline, BSAI pollock 
trawl, Bering Sea sablefish pot, and Gulf of Alaska Pacific cod 
longline.
    NMFS extended the comment period on the proposed 2005 LOF for an 
additional 30 days (70 FR 776, January 5, 2005). In that Federal 
Register notice, NMFS also announced its intent to prepare an EA on the 
process for classifying fisheries on the LOF. NMFS is reopening the 
comment period on this proposed action to allow the public an 
opportunity to review and comment on the draft EA and supplement any 
previous comments on the proposed 2005 LOF. Therefore, NMFS is 
reopening the public comment period on the proposed LOF for 2005 for an 
additional 60 days.

    Dated: August 22, 2005.
William T. Hogarth,
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 05-16939 Filed 8-24-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S


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