Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 5 / Friday, January 8, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 1023 

§ 648.12 Experimental fishing. 

* * * * * 

(d) Temporary possession letter of 

authorization (LOA): The Regional 

Administrator (RA), or the RA’s 

designee, may issue an LOA to eligible 

researchers on board federally permitted 

fishing vessels on which species of fish 

that otherwise could not be legally 

retained would be possessed 

temporarily for the purpose of collecting 

catch data. Under this authorization, 

such species of fish could be retained 

temporarily for data collection 

purposes, but shall be discarded as soon 

as practicable following data collection. 

(1) Eligible activities. An LOA may be 

issued by the RA, or the RA’s designee, 

to temporarily exempt a vessel, on 

which a qualified fishery research 

technician is collecting catch data, from 

the following types of fishery 

regulations: Minimum fish size 

restrictions; fish possession limits; 

species quota closures; prohibited fish 

species, not including species protected 

under the Endangered Species Act; and 

gear-specific fish possession 

restrictions. 

(2) Eligibility criteria. Only personnel 

from the following bodies are eligible 

for a temporary possession LOA: 

Foreign government agency; U.S. 

Government agency; U.S. state or 

territorial agency; university (or other 

educational institution accredited by a 

recognized national or international 

accreditation body); international treaty 

organization; or scientific institution. 

(3) Application requirements. To 

obtain a temporary possession LOA, an 

eligible applicant, as defined under 

paragraph (d)(2) of this section, is 

required to submit a complete 

application, which must contain the 

following information: The date of the 

application; the applicant’s name, 

mailing address, and telephone number; 

a statement of the purposes and goals 

for which the LOA is needed; the 

name(s) and affiliation of the fishery 

research technicians will collect the 

data; a statement demonstrating the 

qualifications of the research technician 

that will collect the data; the species 

(target and incidental) expected to be 

harvested under the LOA; the proposed 

disposition of all regulated species 

harvested under the LOA; the 

approximate time(s) and place(s) fishing 

will take place; the type, size, and 

amount of gear to be used; and the 

signature of the applicant. In addition, 

for each vessel to be covered by the 

LOA, as soon as the information is 

available and before operations begin, 

the applicant is required to supply to 

NMFS the vessel operator name, the 

vessel’s Federal fishing permit number, 

and the vessel registration or 

documentation number. 

[FR Doc. 2010–142 Filed 1–7–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 665 

[Docket No. 080225267–91393–03] 

RIN 0648–AW49 

International Fisheries Regulations; 

Fisheries in the Western Pacific; 

Pelagic Fisheries; Hawaii-based 

Shallow-set Longline Fishery; 

Correction 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule; correction. 

SUMMARY: This document contains a 

correction to the final regulations that 

were published in the Federal Register 

on December 10, 2009, and are effective 

January 11, 2010. This change ensures 

that the process is preserved for closing 

the Hawaii-based shallow-set longline 

fishery as a result of the fishery reaching 

interaction limits for sea turtles. 

DATES: Effective January 11, 2010. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Adam Bailey, NMFS Pacific Islands 

Region, 808–944–2248. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The final 

rule published on December 10, 2009, 

and effective January 11, 2010 (74 FR 

65480), revised annual interaction limits 

for sea turtles, among other actions. 

The amendatory instructions that are 

the subject of this correction refer to 

§ 665.33 in Title 50 of the CFR. In the 

amendatory instructions in the 

published final rule (74 FR 65480), 

instruction 7 revised 50 CFR 665.33(b), 

relating to the annual limits on sea 

turtle interactions. The instruction 

inadvertently omitted paragraph 

designation ‘‘(b)(1)’’ relating specifically 

to the interaction limits. Because of the 

error, paragraph (b)(2), relating to the 

process for closing the fishery if a sea 

turtle interaction limit is reached, 

would be inadvertently deleted when 

this rule is made effective on January 

11, 2010, if not corrected. 

This correction makes one change to 

the amendatory instructions to 

accurately reflect effective CFR parts as 

of January 11, 2010. In the amendatory 

instruction for § 665.33, the phrase, 

’’...and revise paragraphs (b) and (f) to 

read as follows:’’, is revised to read 

’’...and revise paragraphs (b)(1) and (f) to 

read as follows:’’. 

Correction 

Accordingly, in the final rule (FR Doc. 

No. E9-29444) published on December 

10, 2009 (74 FR 65480), on page 65480, 

column 1, amendatory instruction 

number 7 is revised to read as follows: 

§ 665.33 [Amended] 

7. In § 665.33, remove and reserve 

paragraphs (a), (c), and (e), and revise 

paragraphs (b)(1) and (f) to read as 

follows: 

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

Dated: January 5, 2010. 

James W. Balsiger, 

Acting Assistant Administrator For Fisheries, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–138 Filed 1–7–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 


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