69282 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 219 / Tuesday, November 15, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 

(3) The operator of any vessel within 

this security zone must: 

(i) Stop the vessel immediately upon 

being directed to do so by the Captain 

of the Port or his or her designated 

representative. 

(ii) Proceed as directed by the Captain 

of the Port or his or her designated 

representative. 

(d) Effective period. This section is 

effective from October 1, 2005, until 

December 31, 2005. 

Dated: September 30, 2005. 

Byron L. Black, 

Commander, U.S. Coast Guard, Captain of 

the Port, Commanding Officer Marine Safety 

Unit Wilmington, North Carolina. 

[FR Doc. 05–22576 Filed 11–14–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 660 

[Docket No. 050801214–5283–02; I.D. 

072105D] 

RIN 0648–AQ91 

Fisheries Off West Coast States and in 

the Western Pacific; Western Pacific 

Pelagic Fisheries; Sea Turtle Mitigation 

Measures 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: NMFS issues a final rule to 

reduce and mitigate interactions 

between sea turtles and fisheries 

managed under the Fishery 

Management Plan for the Pelagic 

Fisheries of the Western Pacific Region 

(Pelagics FMP). This rule includes 

requirements for attending protected 

species workshops, for handling, 

resuscitating, and releasing sea turtles 

that are hooked or entangled in fishing 

gear, and for fishing gear configuration. 

This action is being taken in part to 

comply with the terms and conditions 

of a 2004 Biological Opinion on impacts 

on sea turtles by fisheries managed 

under the Pelagics FMP. 

DATES: Effective December 15, 2005. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of the following 

documents are available from William 

L. Robinson, Administrator, NMFS, 

Pacific Islands Region (PIR), 1601 

Kapiolani Boulevard, Suite 1110, 

Honolulu, HI 96814: 

• Regulatory amendment document 

entitled ‘‘Sea Turtle Mitigation 

Measures Gear and Handling 

Requirements, Protected Species 

Workshop Attendance, and ShallowSetting Restrictions A Regulatory 

Amendment to the Western Pacific 

Pelagics Fishery Management Plan,’’

which contains an Environmental 

Assessment (EA), Regulatory Impact 

Review and a Final Regulatory 

Flexibility Assessment; 

• The Final Regulatory Flexibility 

Assessment; and 

• The Finding of No Significant 

Impact (FONSI) for the EA. 

Requests for these documents should 

indicate whether paper copies or 

electronic copies on CD–ROM are 

preferred. The documents are also 

available at the following web site: 

http://swr.nmfs.noaa.gov/pir. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Robert Harman, Sustainable Fisheries 

Division, PIR, NMFS, 808–944–2271. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Electronic Access 

This Federal Register document is 

also accessible via the Internet at: http:// 

www.archives.gov/federal-register/ 

publications. 

On August 15, 2005, NMFS published 

in the Federal Register a proposed rule 

(70 FR 47777) that would require vessel 

owners and operators to attend 

protected species workshops, to handle, 

resuscitate, and release sea turtles that 

are hooked or entangled in fishing gear, 

and to modify fishing gear 

configuration. This action is being taken 

in part to comply with the terms and 

conditions of a 2004 Biological Opinion 

resulting from a section 7 consultation 

under the Endangered Species Act 

(ESA) that analyzed the impacts on sea 

turtles caused by fisheries managed 

under the Pelagics FMP. 

In a Biological Opinion issued on 

February 23, 2004, NMFS concluded 

that the fisheries managed under the 

Pelagics FMP were not likely to 

jeopardize the continued existence of 

sea turtles or other species listed as 

threatened or endangered under the 

ESA.. Among other things, the terms 

and conditions of the 2004 Biological 

Opinion require the following: (1) 

owners and operators of vessels 

registered for use under longline general 

permits to attend protected species 

workshops annually, (2) owners and 

operators of vessels registered for use 

under longline general permits to carry 

and use dip nets, line clippers, and bolt 

cutters, and follow handling, 

resuscitation, and release requirements 

for incidentally hooked or entangled sea 

turtles, and (3) operators of non-longline 

vessels using hooks to target pelagic 

management unit species to follow sea 

turtle handling, resuscitation, and 

release requirements, as well as to 

remove the maximum amount of the 

gear possible from incidentally hooked 

or entangled sea turtles. 

In addition to recommending the 

above three measures, the Western 

Pacific Fishery Management Council 

(WPFMC) also recommended that 

NMFS include a fourth measure in this 

rule to extend to all longline vessels 

managed under the Pelagics FMP that 

may shallow-set north of the Equator the 

conservation benefits derived from the 

use of circle hooks, mackerel-type bait, 

and dehookers. The fourth measure also 

removes incentives for owners of 

Hawaii-based longline vessels to shed 

their permits in favor of general permits 

for the purpose of avoiding the 

requirement to use circle hooks, 

mackerel bait, etc., when shallowsetting north of the Equator. 

Additional background on this final 

rule is found in the preamble to the 

proposed rule (70 FR 47777, published 

August 15, 2005) and is not repeated 

here. 

Comments and Responses 

NMFS received comments on the 

proposed rule (70 FR 47777, published 

August 15, 2005) from one interested 

person. NMFS responds to the 

comment, as follows: 

Comment: The commenter supported 

the requirement for vessel owners and 

operators to attend protected species 

workshops, and the requirement for the 

owners and operators to be recertified 

regularly so that their knowledge of 

protected species stays current. 

Response: NMFS appreciates the 

support for the protected species 

workshop requirement, and notes that 

owners and operators must attend the 

workshop annually to obtain updated 

information about protected resources. 

Changes to the Proposed Rule 

In § 660.32, the regulatory text in 

paragraph (a)(3) is corrected to clarify 

that vessels affected by this paragraph 

are those with freeboards of 3 ft (0.91 m) 

or less. The proposed rule had 

accurately referred in the preamble and 

in the title of the regulatory text to 

vessels with freeboards of 3 ft (0.91 m) 

or less, but had inadvertently referred in 

the regulatory text described the 

paragraph as applying to vessels with 

freeboards ‘‘greater than’’ 3 ft (0.91 m). 

NMFS received no public comment on 

this inadvertency. 

Classification 

The Administrator, Pacific Islands 

Region, NMFS, determined that this rule 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 219 / Tuesday, November 15, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 69283 

is necessary for the conservation and 

management of the pelagic fisheries on 

the western Pacific region, and that it is 

consistent with the Magnuson–Stevens 

Act and other applicable laws. 

This final rule has been determined to 

be not significant for purposes of 

Executive Order 12866. 

The potential economic impacts of 

this final rule on small entities were 

identified in an Initial Regulatory 

Flexibility Analysis (IRFA) and 

summarized in a Federal Register notice 

published August 15, 2005 (70 FR 

47777).. NMFS subsequently prepared a 

Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

(FRFA).. A description of why the 

action is being considered, the 

objectives and legal basis for the action, 

and a description of the action, may be 

found at the beginning of this section. 

There are no recordkeeping or reporting 

requirements in this rule. No public 

comment was made on the IRFA. 

Section 212 of the Small Business 

Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 

1996 states that for each rule or group 

of related rules for which an agency is 

required to prepare a FRFA, the agency 

shall publish one or more guides to 

assist small entities in complying with 

the rule, and shall designate such 

publications as ‘‘small entity 

compliance guides’’. The agency shall 

explain the actions a small entity is 

required to take to comply with a rule 

or group of rules. As part of this rule 

making process, a small entity 

compliance guide (compliance guide) 

was prepared.. Copies of this final rule 

and the compliance guide will be sent 

to all holders of permits issued for the 

western Pacific pelagic fisheries. The 

compliance guide will be available at 

the following web site http:// 

swr.nmfs.noaa.gov/pir. Copies can also 

be obtained from the PIR (see 

ADDRESSES). 

This rule does not duplicate, overlap, 

or conflict with any relevant Federal 

rules. All affected vessels are considered 

to be small entities. Therefore, there are 

no economic impacts resulting from 

disproportionality between large and 

small vessels. A summary of the 

analysis follows. 

Most fishing vessels operating in the 

western Pacific region under the 

Pelagics FMP are owner-operated, with 

few individuals holding permits for 

more than one vessel. There are 

estimated to be between 9,000 and 

16,000 of these fishing operations (these 

estimated totals may include vessels 

that do not operate in EEZ waters), all 

of which are believed to be small 

businesses, i.e., according to Small 

Business Administration guidelines, 

they have gross revenues of less than 

$3.5 million annually. 

Previously, all operators of longline 

vessels managed under the Pelagics 

FMP were required to attend protected 

species workshops. This requirement 

was removed by a U.S. District Court on 

April 1, 2004 (D.D.C., Civ. No. 01–0765). 

Requiring both the owners and 

operators of vessels registered for use 

under longline general permits to 

annually attend protected species 

workshops will have a minimal cost for 

those who reside in Hawaii or American 

Samoa, where the training workshops 

are conducted. Some 15 percent of the 

vessels that fish in American Samoa and 

Hawaii under longline permits, 

however, have owners that reside 

outside of those two areas. A substantial 

travel cost to attend the workshops 

would be incurred by those people. 

NMFS is currently accommodating the 

owners and operators of Hawaii-based 

vessels that live outside Hawaii by 

providing interim protected species 

training via computer disk, mailed to 

the owner or operator.. This type of 

remote training and certification 

relieves potential travel costs, and may 

be further developed and implemented 

for other owners and operators who are 

not able to attend the workshops in 

person. 

Owners and operators of the vessels 

that are registered for use under longline 

general permits were previously 

required to carry and use dipnets, longhandled line clippers, and bolt cutters, 

so most vessels with longline general 

permits already have this gear.. 

However, these measures were also 

removed by the Federal Court in the 

case cited above. If the owners need to 

re-equip their vessels, the costs are not 

expected to exceed $100 per vessel. The 

WPFMC recommended that small 

longline vessels such as alias, i.e., 

American Samoa-based catamaran 

longline vessels generally less than 40 ft 

(12.2 m) in length, not be required to 

carry a dip net or long-handled line 

clippers because, due to the low 

freeboards on these boats, operators can 

simply retrieve and release the turtle 

from the side of the vessel without risk 

of additional injury to the animal. 

The WPFMC’s recommendation to 

require vessels registered under a 

longline general permit to use size 18/ 

0 or larger circle hooks with a 10° offset, 

mackerel-type bait, and dehookers when 

shallow-setting north of the Equator 

would incur the following costs: Reequipping longlines with 18/0 circle 

hooks plus swivels would cost 

approximately $1.50/hook, and a large 

(longer than 75 ft or 22.8 m) longline 

vessel generally deploys 2,000–2,500 

hooks/set, so the cost per vessel of that 

size would be $3,000 to $3,750. 

American Samoa-based longline vessels 

already use mackerel-type bait, i.e., 

sardine or saury (sanma), so there would 

be no additional cost for the bait 

requirement for these vessels. Obtaining 

approved dehookers and associated 

equipment would cost about $500 per 

vessel. The WPFMC recommended that 

small longline vessels with freeboards of 

less than or equal to three feet not be 

required to carry long-handled 

dehookers because operators can more 

effectively and safely use short-handled 

dehookers to release sea turtles without 

risk of additional injury to the animal. 

Under this rule, the total cost to equip 

a vessel registered for use with a 

longline general permit to shallow-set 

north of the Equator is estimated to be 

between $3,500 and $4,250. An ongoing 

additional annual replacement cost of 

$0.20 per hook would also be required 

as circle hooks are slightly more 

expensive than typical ‘‘J’’ hooks. 

The requirement for operators of all 

vessels that use hooks to target PMUS to 

follow sea turtle handling, resuscitation, 

and release requirements, including 

removing trailing gear, is not expected 

to exact any economic burden on these 

fishery participants because no gear 

requirements are being proposed for 

non-longline vessels, and interactions 

are rare. 

For each of the four measures 

recommended by the WPFMC, three 

alternatives were developed, so 

altogether, 12 alternatives were 

considered. The alternatives considered 

for the measure regarding protected 

species workshop attendance by owners 

and operators of vessels registered for 

use under longline general permits 

were: (1) no action maintaining the 

status quo; (2) requiring annual 

attendance by only vessel operators; and 

(3) requiring annual attendance by both 

vessel owners and operators. 

The alternatives considered for the 

measure regarding sea turtle mitigation 

gear (i.e., dip nets, line clippers, and 

bolt cutters) and handling, resuscitation, 

and release requirements were: (1) no 

action maintaining the status quo; (2) 

requiring owners and operators of 

vessels registered under a longline 

general permit to carry and use dip nets, 

line clippers, and bolt cutters, as well as 

follow handling, resuscitation, and 

release requirements for hooked or 

entangled sea turtles (vessels with 3 ft 

(0.91 m) of freeboard or less would be 

exempt from carrying dip nets or longhandled line clippers); and (3) requiring 

owners and operators of vessels 

registered under a longline general 

permit to carry and use dip nets, line 

69284 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 219 / Tuesday, November 15, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 

clippers, and bolt cutters, as well as 

follow handling, resuscitation, and 

release requirements for hooked or 

entangled sea turtles, with no 

exemptions for longline vessels with 

freeboards less than three ft (0.91 m). 

The alternatives for the measure 

regarding vessels that use hooks to 

target pelagic management unit species 

were: (1) no action maintaining the 

status quo; (2) requiring vessel owners 

and operators to follow sea turtle 

handling, resuscitation, and release 

requirements, including the removal of 

trailing gear from a hooked or entangled 

sea turtle when fishing in the EEZ of the 

western Pacific region; and (3) requiring 

vessel owners and operators to follow 

sea turtle handling, resuscitation, and 

release requirements, including the 

removal of trailing gear, wherever they 

fish. 

The alternatives for the measure 

regarding gear and bait requirements for 

owners and operators of vessels 

registered for use under a longline 

general permit that may shallow-set 

north of the Equator were: (1) no action 

maintaining the status quo; (2) requiring 

owners and operators to use 18/0 or 

larger circle hooks with 10° offset, 

mackerel–type bait, and dehookers 

when shallow-setting north of the 

Equator; and (3) prohibiting shallowsetting north of the Equator by vessels 

registered under longline general 

permits. 

The following alternative was 

preferred because it best complied with 

the terms and conditions of the 2004 

Biological Opinion: (1) requiring annual 

workshop attendance by both owners 

and operators; (2) requiring owners and 

operators of vessels registered for use 

under a longline general permit to carry 

and use dip nets, line clippers, and bolt 

cutters, as well as to follow handling, 

resuscitation, and release requirements 

for hooked or entangled sea turtles 

(vessels with 3 ft (0.91 m) of freeboard 

or less would be exempted from 

carrying dip nets or long-handled line 

clippers); (3) requiring longline vessel 

owners and operators to follow sea 

turtle handling, resuscitation, and 

release requirements, including the 

removal of trailing gear wherever they 

fish; and (4) requiring longline vessels 

owners and operators to use 18/0 or 

larger circle hooks with 10F° offset, 

mackerel-type bait, and dehookers when 

shallow-setting north of the Equator 

(vessels with 3 ft (0.91 m) of freeboard 

or less would not be required to carry 

long handled dehookers). 

The inclusion of turtle handling 

requirements contained in 50 CFR 

660.32 (c) and (d) (which largely reflects 

those in 50 CFR 223.206) is necessary 

because 50 CFR 223.206 only applies to 

threatened species of sea turtles. This 

rule extends those handling 

requirements to interactions between 

Pelagics FMP fishing vessels and all 

species of sea turtles. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 660 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, American Samoa, Fisheries, 

Fishing, Guam, Hawaiian Natives, 

Indians, Northern Mariana Islands, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

Dated: November 7, 2005. 

James W. Balsiger, 

Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

■ For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, 50 CFR part 660 is amended 

as follows: 

PART 660—FISHERIES OFF WEST 

COAST STATES AND IN THE 

WESTERN PACIFIC 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 660 

continues to read as follows: 

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

■ 2. In § 660.22, paragraphs (ff), (gg), (ii), 

(ll), (nn), and (oo) are revised to read as 

follows: 

§ 660.22 Prohibitions. 

* * * * * 

(ff) Own or operate a vessel registered 

for use under any longline permit issued 

under § 660.21 while engaged in 

longline fishing for Pelagic Management 

Unit Species and fail to be certified for 

completion of a NMFS protected species 

workshop, in violation of § 660.34(a). 

(gg) Own or operate a vessel registered 

for use under any longline permit issued 

under § 660.21 while engaged in 

longline fishing for Pelagic Management 

Unit Species without having on board a 

valid protected species workshop 

certificate issued by NMFS or a legible 

copy thereof, in violation of § 660.34(d). 

* * * * * 

(ii) Fail to carry, or fail to use, a line 

clipper, dip net, or dehooker on a vessel 

registered for use under any longline 

permit issued under § 660.21, in 

violation of § 660.32. 

* * * * * 

(ll) When operating a vessel registered 

for use under any longline permit issued 

under § 660.21 or operating a vessel 

using hooks to target Pelagic 

Management Unit Species while fishing 

under the Pelagics FMP, fail to comply 

with the sea turtle handling 

requirements, in violation of § 660.32(b). 

* * * * * 

(nn) Engage in shallow-setting from a 

vessel registered for use under any 

longline permit issued under § 660.21 

north of the Equator (0° lat.) with hooks 

other than offset circle hooks sized 18/ 

0 or larger, with a 10° offset, in violation 

of § 660.33(f). 

(oo) Engage in shallow-setting from a 

vessel registered for use under any 

longline permit issued under § 660.21 

north of the Equator (0° lat.) with bait 

other than mackerel-type bait, in 

violation of § 660.33(g). 

* * * * * 

■ 3. In § 660.32, paragraphs (c) and (d) 

are removed; paragraphs (a)(2) through 

(a)(4) are redesignated as paragraphs 

(a)(4) through (a)(6); paragraphs (a)(1), 

(b), and newly redesignated paragraph 

(a)(4) are revised; and paragraphs (a) 

introductory text, (a)(2), and (a)(3) are 

added to read as follows: 

§ 660.32 Sea turtle mitigation measures. 

(a) Possession and use of required 

mitigation gear. The gear required in 

paragraph (a) of this section must be 

used according to the sea turtle 

handling requirements set forth in 

paragraph (b) of this section. 

(1) Hawaii longline limited access 

permits. Any owner or operator of a 

vessel registered for use under a Hawaii 

longline limited access permit must 

carry aboard the vessel line clippers 

meeting the minimum design standards 

specified in paragraph (a)(5) of this 

section, dip nets meeting the minimum 

design standards specified in paragraph 

(a)(6) of this section, and dehookers 

meeting the minimum design and 

performance standards specified in 

paragraph (a)(4) of this section. 

(2) Other longline vessels with 

freeboards of more than 3 ft (0.91m). 

Any owner or operator of a longline 

vessel with a permit issued under 

§ 660.21 other than a Hawaii limited 

access longline permit and that has a 

freeboard of more than 3 ft (0.91 m) 

must carry aboard the vessel line 

clippers meeting the minimum design 

standards specified in paragraph (a)(5) 

of this section, dip nets meeting the 

minimum design standards specified in 

paragraph (a)(6) of this section, and 

dehookers meeting ths minimum design 

and performance standards specified in 

paragraph (a)(7) of this section. 

(3) Other longline vessels with 

freeboards of 3 ft (0.91 m) or less. Any 

owner or operator of a longline vessel 

with a permit issued under § 660.21 

other than a Hawaii limited access 

longline permit and that has a freeboard 

of 3 ft (0.91 m) or less must carry aboard 

their vessels line clippers capable of 

cutting the vessels fishing line or leader 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 219 / Tuesday, November 15, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 69285 

within approximately 1 ft (0.3 m) of the 

eye of an embedded hook, as well as 

wire or bolt cutters capable of cutting 

through the vessel’s hooks. 

(4) Handline, troll, pole-and-line, and 

other vessels using hooks other than 

longline vessels. Any owner or operator 

of a vessel fishing under the Pelagics 

FMP with hooks other than longline 

gear are not required to carry specific 

mitigation gear, but must comply with 

the handling requirements set forth in 

paragraph (b) of this section. 

* * * * * 

(b) Handling requirements. If a sea 

turtle is observed to be hooked or 

entangled in fishing gear from any 

vessel fishing under the Pelagics FMP, 

vessel owners and operators must use 

the required mitigation gear set forth in 

paragraph (a) of this section to comply 

with these handling requirements. Any 

hooked or entangled sea turtle must be 

handled in a manner to minimize injury 

and promote survival. 

(1) Sea turtles that cannot be brought 

aboard. In instances where a sea turtle 

is too large to be brought aboard or the 

sea turtle cannot be brought aboard 

without causing further injury to the sea 

turtle, the vessel owner or operator must 

disentangle and remove the gear, or cut 

the line as close as possible to the hook 

or entanglement, to remove the 

maximum amount of the gear from the 

sea turtle. 

(2) Sea turtles that can be brought 

aboard. In instances where a sea turtle 

is not too large to be brought aboard, or 

the sea turtle can be brought aboard 

without causing further injury to the 

turtle, the vessel owner or operator must 

take the following actions: 

(i) Immediately bring the sea turtle 

aboard; 

(ii) Handle the sea turtle in 

accordance with the procedures in 

paragraphs (b)(3) and (b)(4) of this 

section; and 

(iii) Disentangle and remove the gear, 

or cut the line as close as possible to the 

hook or entanglement, to remove the 

maximum amount of the gear from the 

sea turtle. 

(3) Sea turtle resuscitation. If a sea 

turtle appears dead or comatose, the 

following actions must be taken: 

(i) Place the sea turtle on its belly (on 

the bottom shell or plastron) so that the 

sea turtle is right side up and its 

hindquarters elevated at least 6 inches 

(15.24 cm) for a period of no less than 

4 hours and no more than 24 hours. The 

amount of the elevation varies with the 

size of the sea turtle; greater elevations 

are needed for larger sea turtles; 

(ii) Administer a reflex test at least 

once every 3 hours. The test is to be 

performed by gently touching the eye 

and pinching the tail of a sea turtle to 

determine if the sea turtle is responsive; 

(iii) Keep the sea turtle shaded and 

damp or moist (but under no 

circumstances place the sea turtle into 

a container holding water). A watersoaked towel placed over the eyes, 

carapace and flippers is the most 

effective method of keeping a sea turtle 

moist; and 

(iv) Return to the sea any sea turtle 

that revives and becomes active in the 

manner described in paragraph (b)(4) of 

this section. Sea turtles that fail to 

revive within the 24–hour period must 

also be returned to the sea in the 

manner described in paragraph (b)(4) of 

this section. 

(4) Sea turtle release. After handling 

a sea turtle in accordance with the 

requirements of paragraphs (b)(2) and 

(b)(3) of this section, the sea turtle must 

be returned to the ocean after 

identification unless NMFS requests the 

retention of a dead sea turtle for 

research. In releasing a sea turtle the 

vessel owner or operator must: 

(i) Place the vessel engine in neutral 

gear so that the propeller is disengaged 

and the vessel is stopped, and release 

the sea turtle away from deployed gear; 

and 

(ii) Observe that the turtle is safely 

away from the vessel before engaging 

the propeller and continuing operations. 

(5) Other sea turtle requirements. No 

sea turtle, including a dead turtle, may 

be consumed or sold. A sea turtle may 

be landed, offloaded, transhipped or 

kept below deck only if NMFS requests 

the retention of a dead sea turtle for 

research. 

■ 4. In § 660.33, paragraphs (f) and (g) 

are revised to read as follows: 

§ 660.33 Western Pacific longline fishing 

restrictions. 

* * * * * 

(f) Any owner or operator of a vessel 

registered for use under any longline 

permit issued under § 660.21 must use 

only offset circle hooks sized 18/0 or 

larger, with a 10° offset, when shallowsetting north of the Equator (0° lat.). As 

used in this paragraph, an offset circle 

hook sized 18/0 or larger is one with an 

outer diameter at its widest point is no 

smaller than 1.97 inches (50 mm) when 

measured with the eye of the hook on 

the vertical axis (y-axis) and 

perpendicular to the horizontal axis (xaxis). As used in this paragraph, a 10° 

offset is measured from the barbed end 

of the hook and is relative to the parallel 

plane of the eyed-end, or shank, of the 

hook when laid on its side. 

(g) Any owner or operator of a vessel 

registered for use under any longline 

permit issued under § 660.21 must use 

only mackerel-type bait when shallowsetting north of the Equator (0° lat.). As 

used in this paragraph, mackerel-type 

bait means a whole fusiform fish with 

a predominantly blue, green or gray 

back and predominantly gray, silver or 

white lower sides and belly. 

* * * * * 

■ 5. In § 660.34, paragraphs (a), (c), and 

(d) are revised to read as follows: 

§ 660.34 Protected species workshops. 

(a) Each year, both the owner and the 

operator of a vessel registered for use 

under any longline permit issued under 

§ 660.21 must attend and be certified for 

completion of a workshop conducted by 

NMFS on interaction mitigation 

techniques for sea turtles, seabirds and 

other protected species. 

* * * * * 

(c) An owner of a vessel registered for 

use under any longline permit issued 

under § 660.21 must have a valid 

protected species workshop certificate 

issued by NMFS to the owner of the 

vessel, in order to maintain or renew 

their vessel registration. 

(d) An owner and an operator of a 

vessel registered for use under any 

longline permit issued under § 660.21 

must have on board the vessel a valid 

protected species workshop certificate 

issued by NMFS to the operator of the 

vessel, or a legible copy thereof. 

[FR Doc. 05–22633 Filed 11–14–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S