28766 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 102 / Friday, May 28, 2021 / Notices 

Dated: May 25, 2021. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–11327 Filed 5–27–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XB133] 

Endangered Species; File No. 25694 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; receipt of application. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

Carlos Diez, Department of Natural and 

Environmental Resources of Puerto 

Rico, P.O. Box 9020708, Viejo San Juan, 

PR 00901, has applied in due form for 

a permit to take green (Chelonia mydas) 

and hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) 

sea turtles for purposes of scientific 

research. 

DATES: Written, telefaxed, or email 

comments must be received on or before 

June 28, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: The application and related 

documents are available for review by 

selecting ‘‘Records Open for Public 

Comment’’ from the ‘‘Features’’ box on 

the Applications and Permits for 

Protected Species (APPS) home page, 

https://apps.nmfs.noaa.gov, and then 

selecting File No. 25694 from the list of 

available applications. These documents 

are also available upon written request 

via email to NMFS.Pr1Comments@

noaa.gov. 

Written comments on this application 

should be submitted via email to 

NMFS.Pr1Comments@noaa.gov. Please 

include File No. 25694 in the subject 

line of the email comment. 

Those individuals requesting a public 

hearing should submit a written request 

via email to NMFS.Pr1Comments@

noaa.gov. The request should set forth 

the specific reasons why a hearing on 

this application would be appropriate. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Amy Hapeman or Jordan Rutland, (301) 

427–8401. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

subject permit is requested under the 

authority of the Endangered Species Act 

of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 

1531 et seq.) and the regulations 

governing the taking, importing, and 

exporting of endangered and threatened 

species (50 CFR parts 222–226). 

The applicant proposes to continue 

studies of the population structure, 

trends in relative abundance, 

distribution, genetics, zoogeography, 

and epidemiology of green and 

hawksbill sea turtles in the coastal 

waters of Puerto Rico. Up to 140 sea 

turtles of each species would be 

captured annually by hand or tangle net 

for photographs, temporary marking, 

measurements, weights, blood and 

tissue sampling, and flipper and passive 

integrated transponder tagging. A subset 

of 10 turtles of each species would 

receive a satellite tag (epoxy attachment) 

prior to release. Another 140 hawksbill 

turtles and 50 green turtles annually 

would be harassed during unsuccessful 

hand captures. The permit would be 

valid for up to 10 years from the date 

of issuance. 

Dated: May 25, 2021. 

Julia Marie Harrison, 

Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, 

Office of Protected Resources, National 

Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–11349 Filed 5–27–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XB040] 

Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; 

General Provisions for Domestic 

Fisheries; Coastal Pelagic Species 

Fishery; Applications for Exempted 

Fishing Permits; 2021–2022 Fishing 

Year 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of receipt of application; 

request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The Regional Administrator, 

West Coast Region, NMFS, has made a 

preliminary determination that three 

Exempted Fishing Permit applications 

warrant further consideration. All three 

applications, two from the California 

Wetfish Producers Association and one 

from the West Coast Pelagic 

Conservation Group, request an 

exemption from the expected 

prohibition on primary directed fishing 

for Pacific sardine during the 2021–2022 

fishing year to collect Pacific sardine as 

part of industry-based scientific surveys. 

NMFS requests public comment on the 

applications. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

June 14, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on this document, identified by NOAA– 

NMFS–2021–0042, by the following 

method: 

• Electronic Submissions: Submit all 

public comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to 

www.regulations.gov and enter NOAA– 

NMFS–2021–0042 in the Search box. 

Click the ‘‘Comment’’ icon, complete 

the required fields, and enter or attach 

your comments. The EFP applications 

will be available under Supporting and 

Related Materials through the same link. 

Instructions: Comments must be 

submitted by the above method to 

ensure that the comments are received, 

documented, and considered by NMFS. 

Comments sent by any other method or 

received after the end of the comment 

period, may not be considered. All 

comments received are a part of the 

public record and will generally be 

posted for public viewing on 

www.regulations.gov without change. 

All personal identifying information 

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

voluntarily by the sender will be 

publicly accessible. Do not submit 

confidential business information, or 

otherwise sensitive or protected 

information. NMFS will accept 

anonymous comments (enter ‘‘N/A’’ in 

the required fields if you wish to remain 

anonymous). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Lynn Massey, West Coast Region, 

NMFS, (562) 436–2462, lynn.massey@

noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

action is authorized by the Coastal 

Pelagic Species (CPS) Fishery 

Management Plan (FMP) and 

regulations at 50 CFR 600.745, which 

allow NMFS Regional Administrators to 

authorize exempted fishing permits 

(EFPs) to test fishing activities that 

would otherwise be prohibited. 

At its April 2021 meeting, the Pacific 

Fishery Management Council (Council) 

recommended that NMFS approve three 

EFP applications for the 2021–2022 

Pacific sardine fishing year. All three 

applications, two from the California 

Wetfish Producers Association (CWPA) 

and one from the West Coast Pelagic 

Conservation Group (WCPCG), are 

renewal requests for an exemption from 

the expected prohibition on primary 

directed fishing for Pacific sardine 

during the 2021–2022 fishing year; the 

purpose of the requests are to collect 

Pacific sardine as part of industry-based 

scientific surveys. The Council 

considered these EFP applications 

concurrently with the 2021–2022 

annual harvest specifications for Pacific 

sardine because expected Pacific 

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 102 / Friday, May 28, 2021 / Notices 28767 

sardine catch under each EFP would be 

accounted for under the proposed 2021– 

2022 annual catch limit (ACL), which is 

3,329 metric tons (mt). A summary of 

each EFP application is provided below: 

(1) Proposal for Renewal of Exempted 

Fishery Permit (EFP) To Allow Take of 

Pacific Sardine (for Point Sets) in 2021 

Nearshore Research Program: The 

CWPA submitted a renewal application 

for their CPS Nearshore Cooperative 

Survey (NCS) program. The purpose of 

this EFP project is to continue to 

develop a sampling methodology for 

estimating CPS biomass in shallow 

waters that are not accessible to NOAA 

survey ships. Since 2012 the California 

Department of Fish and Wildlife, in 

partnership with the CWPA, has been 

conducting aerial surveys to estimate 

the biomass and distribution of Pacific 

sardine and certain other CPS in 

nearshore waters in the Southern 

California Bight, and in the MontereySan Francisco area since the summer of 

2017. Currently, there is uncertainty in 

the biomass estimates from aerial 

spotter pilots. The CPS–NCS survey 

aims to quantify that level of 

uncertainty by capturing CPS schools 

identified by aerial spotter pilots and 

validating the biomass and species 

composition of the schools. If approved, 

this EFP would allow up to six 

participating vessels to directly harvest 

a total of 300 mt of Pacific sardine 

during the 2021–2022 fishing year. A 

portion of each point set (i.e., an 

individual haul of fish captured with a 

purse seine net) would be retained for 

biological sampling, and the remainder 

will be sold by the participating 

fishermen and processors to offset 

research costs and avoid unnecessary 

discard. 

(2) Request for Renewal of Exempted 

Fishery Permit (EFP) To Allow Fishing 

of Pacific Sardine For Biological 

Samples in 2021 Nearshore Research 

Program: The CWPA submitted a 

renewal application for their biological 

sampling EFP project. The primary 

directed fishery for Pacific sardine has 

been closed since 2015, and 

consequently, scientists at the 

Southwest Fisheries Science Center 

(SWFSC) have a limited amount of 

fishery-dependent data to use in their 

annual stock assessment. The goal of 

this EFP project is to provide additional 

biological data (i.e., age and length data 

from directed harvest) for potential use 

in Pacific sardine stock assessments. If 

approved, this EFP would allow up to 

six participating vessels to directly 

harvest up to 520 mt of Pacific sardine 

during the 2021–2022 fishing year. A 

portion of each landing would be 

retained for biological sampling by the 

California Department of Fish and 

Wildlife, and the remainder would be 

sold by the participating fishermen and 

processors to offset research costs and 

avoid unnecessary discard. 

(3) Exempted Fishery Permit to 

continue an industry-federal-state 

collaborative acoustic survey for CPS in 

nearshore waters: The WCPCG 

submitted a renewal application for 

their Nearshore Surveillance Acoustic 

Trawl Methodology Survey of North 

West Coastal Waters EFP project. Since 

2017, the WCPCG has been working 

with NMFS’ SWFSC and the 

Washington Department of Fish and 

Wildlife to survey CPS in nearshore 

Oregon/Washington coastal waters. The 

purpose of the EFP is to collect 

biological samples in areas inshore of 

the SWFSC acoustic trawl survey to 

better assess species composition and 

CPS distribution and abundance. If 

approved, this EFP would allow one 

research vessel to harvest up to 10 mt 

of Pacific sardine during the 2021–2022 

fishing year. A portion of each set (i.e., 

an individual haul of fish captured with 

a purse seine net) would be retained by 

the Washington Department of Fish and 

Wildlife for biological sampling, and the 

remainder of the set would be released 

from the purse seine net immediately 

after collecting the biological samples. 

Altogether, these EFP projects total 

830 mt. If NMFS does not issue these 

EFPs, then this 830-mt portion of the 

ACL would be available for harvest by 

other permissible fishing activities 

during the 2021–2022 fishing year (e.g., 

live bait or minor directed harvest). 

After publication of this document in 

the Federal Register, NMFS may 

approve and issue permits to 

participating vessels after the close of 

the public comment period. NMFS will 

consider comments submitted in 

deciding whether to approve the 

applications as requested. NMFS may 

approve the applications in their 

entirety or may make any alterations 

needed to achieve the goals of the EFP 

projects. NMFS may also approve 

different amounts of Pacific sardine 

allocation for each EFP project if any 

changes are made to the 2021–2022 

proposed sardine harvest specifications 

before final implementation. 

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

Dated: May 25, 2021. 

Jennifer M. Wallace, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–11331 Filed 5–27–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XB109] 

Caribbean Fishery Management 

Council; Public Meetings 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of public virtual 

meetings. 

SUMMARY: The Caribbean Fishery 

Management Council’s (Council) 

District Advisory Panels (DAPs) will 

hold public virtual meetings to address 

the items contained in the tentative 

agenda included in the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION. 

DATES: The DAPs public virtual 

meetings will be held as follows: St. 

Croix DAP, June 15, 2021, from 10 a.m. 

to 12 p.m.; Puerto Rico DAP, June 15, 

2021, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.; St. Thomas/ 

St. John DAP, June 16, 2021, from 10 

a.m. to 12 p.m. All meetings will be at 

Eastern Day Time. 

ADDRESSES: You may join the DAPs 

public virtual meetings (via Zoom) from 

a computer, tablet or smartphone by 

entering the following addresses: 

DAP–STT/STJ 

Join Zoom Meeting 

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/ 

86262657165?pwd=

aGQ4U25rME92d1p1TWo4d3Y3RGF

rdz09 

Meeting ID: 862 6265 7165 

Passcode: 901759 

One tap mobile 

+17879451488,,86262657165#,,,,

*901759# Puerto Rico 

+17879667727,,86262657165#,,,,

*901759# Puerto Rico 

Dial by your location 

+1 787 945 1488 Puerto Rico 

+1 787 966 7727 Puerto Rico 

+1 939 945 0244 Puerto Rico 

Meeting ID: 862 6265 7165 

Passcode: 901759 

DAP–PR 

Join Zoom Meeting 

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/ 

86222659918?pwd=

UitRcnBJRXQyMUpWaEtISEZ6

elVvQT09 

Meeting ID: 862 2265 9918 

Passcode: 623876 

One tap mobile 

+19399450244,,86222659918#,,,,

*623876# Puerto Rico 

+17879451488,,86222659918#,,,,

*623876# Puerto Rico