Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 81 / Friday, April 25, 2008 / Rules and Regulations 22287 

reports under part 92 of this title and in 

accordance with section 2745(f) of the 

Public Health Service Act, requiring the 

Secretary to make an annual report to 

Congress that includes information on 

the use of these grant funds by States. 

* * * * * 

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

Program No. 93.778, Medical Assistance 

Program) 

Dated: January 17, 2008. 

Kerry Weems, 

Acting Administrator, Centers for Medicare 

& Medicaid Services. 

Approved: January 17, 2008. 

Michael O. Leavitt, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E8–9066 Filed 4–24–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4120–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 230 

[Docket No. 080414564–8565–01] 

RIN 0648–AW71 

Whaling Provisions; Aboriginal 

Subsistence Whaling Quotas 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notification. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces the 

aboriginal subsistence whaling quota it 

has assigned to the Alaska Eskimo 

Whaling Commission (AEWC) for 

bowhead whales, and other limitations 

deriving from regulations adopted at the 

59th Annual Meeting of the International 

Whaling Commission (IWC). For 2008, 

the quota is 75 bowhead whales struck. 

This quota and other limitations govern 

the harvest of bowhead whales by 

members of the AEWC. 

DATES: Effective April 25, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: Office of International 

Affairs, National Marine Fisheries 

Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver 

Spring, MD 20910. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Cheri McCarty, (301) 713–9090. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Aboriginal 

subsistence whaling in the United States 

is governed by the Whaling Convention 

Act (16 U.S.C. 916 et seq.). Regulations 

that implement the Act, found at 50 CFR 

230.6, require the Secretary of 

Commerce (Secretary) to publish, at 

least annually, aboriginal subsistence 

whaling quotas and any other 

limitations on aboriginal subsistence 

whaling deriving from regulations of the 

IWC. 

At the 59th Annual Meeting of the 

IWC, the Commission set quotas for 

aboriginal subsistence use of bowhead 

whales from the Bering-ChukchiBeaufort Seas stock. The bowhead quota 

was based on a joint request by the 

United States and the Russian 

Federation, accompanied by 

documentation concerning the needs of 

two Native groups: Alaska Eskimos and 

Chukotka Natives in the Russian Far 

East. 

This action by the IWC thus 

authorized aboriginal subsistence 

whaling by the AEWC for bowhead 

whales. This aboriginal subsistence 

harvest is conducted in accordance with 

a cooperative agreement between NOAA 

and the AEWC. 

The IWC set a 5-year block quota of 

280 bowhead whales landed. For each 

of the years 2008 through 2012, the 

number of bowhead whales struck may 

not exceed 67, except that any unused 

portion of a strike quota from any year, 

including 15 unused strikes from the 

2003 through 2007 quota, may be 

carried forward. No more than 15 strikes 

may be added to the strike quota for any 

one year. At the end of the 2007 harvest, 

there were 15 unused strikes available 

for carry-forward, so the combined 

strike quota for 2008 is 82 (67 + 15). 

This arrangement ensures that the 

total quota of bowhead whales landed 

and struck in 2008 will not exceed the 

quotas set by the IWC. Under an 

arrangement between the United States 

and the Russian Federation, the Russian 

natives may use no more than seven 

strikes, and the Alaska Eskimos may use 

no more than 75 strikes. 

Through its cooperative agreement 

with the AEWC, NOAA has assigned 75 

strikes to the Alaska Eskimos. The 

AEWC will allocate these strikes among 

the 11 villages whose cultural and 

subsistence needs have been 

documented in past requests for 

bowhead quotas from the IWC, and will 

ensure that its hunters use no more than 

75 strikes. 

Other Limitations 

The IWC regulations, as well as the 

NOAA regulation at 50 CFR 230.4(c), 

forbid the taking of calves or any whale 

accompanied by a calf. 

NOAA regulations (at 50 CFR 230.4) 

contain a number of other prohibitions 

relating to aboriginal subsistence 

whaling, some of which are summarized 

here. Only licensed whaling captains or 

crew under the control of those captains 

may engage in whaling. They must 

follow the provisions of the relevant 

cooperative agreement between NOAA 

and a Native American whaling 

organization. The aboriginal hunters 

must have adequate crew, supplies, and 

equipment. They may not receive 

money for participating in the hunt. No 

person may sell or offer for sale whale 

products from whales taken in the hunt, 

except for authentic articles of Native 

handicrafts. Captains may not continue 

to whale after the relevant quota is 

taken, after the season has been closed, 

or if their licenses have been suspended. 

They may not engage in whaling in a 

wasteful manner. 

Dated: April 21, 2008. 

James W. Balsiger, 

Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E8–9111 Filed 4–24–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 010319075–1217–02] 

RIN 0648–XF92 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Tilefish Fishery; Quota 

Harvested for Part-time Category 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; tilefish Parttime permit category closure. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the 

percentage of the tilefish annual total 

allowable landings (TAL) available to 

the tilefish Part-time permit category for 

the 2008 fishing year has been 

harvested. Therefore, commercial 

vessels fishing under the Part-time 

tilefish category may not harvest tilefish 

from within the Golden Tilefish 

Management Unit for the remainder of 

the 2008 fishing year (through October 

31, 2008) as of April 25, 2008. 

Regulations governing the tilefish 

fishery require publication of this 

notification to advise the public of this 

closure. 

DATES: Effective 0001 hrs local time, 

April 25, 2008, through 2400 hrs local 

time, October 31, 2008. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Timothy A. Cardiasmenos, Fishery 

Policy Analyst, at (978) 281–9204. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Regulations governing the tilefish 


ebenthall on PRODPC60 with RULES
22288 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 81 / Friday, April 25, 2008 / Rules and Regulations 

fishery are found at 50 CFR part 648. 

The regulations require annual 

specification of a TAL for federally 

permitted tilefish vessels harvesting 

tilefish from within the Golden Tilefish 

Management Unit. The Golden Tilefish 

Management Unit is defined as an area 

of the Atlantic Ocean from the latitude 

of the VA and NC border (36°33.36′ N. 

lat.), extending eastward from the shore 

to the outer boundary of the exclusive 

economic zone, and northward to the 

U.S.-Canada border. After 5 percent of 

the TAL is deducted to reflect landings 

by vessels issued an open-access 

Incidental permit category, and after up 

to 3 percent of the TAL is set aside for 

research purposes, should research TAL 

be set aside, the remaining TAL is 

distributed among three tilefish limited 

access permit categories: Full-time tier 1 

category (66 percent), Full-time tier 2 

category (15 percent), and the Part-time 

category (19 percent). 

The TAL for tilefish for the 2008 

fishing year was set at 1.995 million lb 

(905,172 kg) and then adjusted 

downward by 5 percent to 1,895,250 lb 

(859,671 kg) to account for incidental 

catch. There was no research set-aside 

for the 2008 fishing year. Thus, the Parttime permit category quota for the 2008 

fishing year, which is equal to 19 

percent of the TAL, was specified at 

360,098 lb (163,338 kg). Notification of 

the 2008 Part-time permit category 

quota for the 2008 fishing year was sent 

in a Permit Holder Letter to all tilefish 

limited access permit holders on 

October 18, 2007. 

The Administrator, Northeast Region, 

NMFS (Regional Administrator) 

monitors the commercial tilefish quota 

for each fishing year using dealer 

reports, vessel catch reports, and other 

available information to determine 

when the quota for each limited access 

permit category is projected to have 

been harvested. NMFS is required to 

publish notification in the Federal 

Register notifying commercial vessels 

and dealer permit holders that, effective 

upon a specific date, the tilefish TAL for 

the specific limited access category has 

been harvested and no commercial 

quota is available for harvesting tilefish 

by that category for the remainder of the 

fishing year, from within the Golden 

Tilefish Management Unit. 

The Regional Administrator has 

determined, based upon dealer reports 

and other available information, that the 

2008 tilefish TAL for the Part-time 

category has been harvested. Therefore, 

effective 0001 hr local time, April 25, 

2008, further landings of tilefish 

harvested from within the Golden 

Tilefish Management Unit by tilefish 

vessels holding Part-time category 

Federal fisheries permits are prohibited 

through October 31, 2008. The 2009 

fishing year for commercial tilefish 

harvest will open on November 1, 2008. 

Federally permitted dealers are also 

advised that, effective April 25, 2008, 

they may not purchase tilefish from 

Part-time category federally permitted 

tilefish vessels who land tilefish 

harvested from within the Golden 

Tilefish Management Unit for the 

remainder of the 2008 fishing year 

(through October 31, 2008). 

Classification 

The Assistant Administrator for 

Fisheries, NOAA (AA), finds good cause 

pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) to waive 

prior notice and the opportunity for 

public comment because it would be 

contrary to the public interest. If 

implementation of this closure were 

delayed to solicit prior public comment, 

the quota for this category would be 

exceeded, given the rate of harvest of 

tilefish for vessels in this category. This 

would conflict with the agency’s legal 

obligation under section 304(e) of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act to prevent 

overfishing and to rebuild this fishery as 

soon as possible. Overage of the Parttime category quota that occurs in a 

given fishing year is subtracted from the 

quota for this category in the following 

fishing year. Thus, allowing an overage 

would have a negative economic impact 

on owners of vessels permitted in the 

Part-time category, who did not 

contribute to the overage this year, and 

who would fish during the next fishing 

year. The AA further finds, pursuant to 

5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), good cause to waive 

the 30-day delayed effectiveness period 

for the reasons stated above. 

This action is required by 50 CFR part 

648 and is exempt from review under 

Executive Order 12866. 

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

Dated: April 22, 2008. 

Emily H. Menashes 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 08–1184 Filed 4–22–08; 1:51 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 


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