51446 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 171 / Wednesday, September 3, 2008 / Notices 

Washington, DC 20230 (or via the 

Internet at dHynek@doc.gov). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Requests for additional information or 

copies of the information collection 

instrument and instructions should be 

directed to Walter Ikehara, (808) 944– 

2275 or Walter.Ikehara@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract 

The National Marine Fisheries Service 

(NMFS) requires U.S. fishing vessels 

registered for use with, or any U.S. 

citizen issued with, a Special Coral Reef 

Ecosystem Fishing Permit (authorized 

under the Fishery Management Plan for 

Coral Reef Ecosystems of the Western 

Pacific Region) to complete logbooks 

and submit them to NMFS. The 

information in the logbooks is used to 

obtain fish catch/fishing effort data on 

coral reef taxa (level of classification 

such as family, genus, or species, 

depending on level applicable for 

management) harvested in designated 

low-use marine protected areas and on 

potentially-harvested coral reef taxa in 

waters of the U.S. exclusive economic 

zone in the western Pacific region. 

These data are needed to determine the 

condition of the stocks and whether the 

current management measures are 

having the intended effects, to evaluate 

the benefits and costs of changes in 

management measures, and to monitor 

and respond to incidental takes of 

endangered and threatened marine 

animals. 

II. Method of Collection 

Information is submitted to NMFS in 

the form of paper logbook sheets and 

paper transshipment forms within 30 

days of each landing of coral reef 

harvest. 

III. Data 

OMB Number: 0648–0462. 

Form Number: None. 

Type of Review: Regular submission. 

Affected Public: Business or other forprofit organizations; individuals or 

households. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 5. 

Estimated Time Per Response: Pre-trip 

and pre-landing notifications, 3 

minutes; logbook reports, 30 minutes; 

and transshipment reports, 15 minutes. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden 

Hours: 382. 

Estimated Total Annual Cost to 

Public: $0. 

IV. Request for Comments 

Comments are invited on: (a) Whether 

the proposed collection of information 

is necessary for the proper performance 

of the functions of the agency, including 

whether the information shall have 

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden 

(including hours and cost) of the 

proposed collection of information; (c) 

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and (d) ways to minimize the 

burden of the collection of information 

on respondents, including through the 

use of automated collection techniques 

or other forms of information 

technology. 

Comments submitted in response to 

this notice will be summarized and/or 

included in the request for OMB 

approval of this information collection; 

they also will become a matter of public 

record. 

Dated: August 28, 2008. 

Gwellnar Banks, 

Management Analyst, Office of the Chief 

Information Officer. 

[FR Doc. E8–20416 Filed 9–2–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XK17 

Endangered Species; File No. 13573 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; receipt of application. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

Michael Salmon, Florida Atlantic 

University, 777 Glades Road, Boca 

Raton, Florida 33431–0991, has applied 

in due form for a permit to take green 

(Chelonia mydas) sea turtles for 

purposes of scientific research. 

DATES: Written, telefaxed, or e-mail 

comments must be received on or before 

October 3, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: The application and related 

documents are available for review 

upon written request or by appointment 

in the following offices: 

Permits, Conservation and Education 

Division, Office of Protected Resources, 

NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 

13705, Silver Spring, MD 20910; phone 

(301)713–2289; fax (301)427–2521; and 

Southeast Region, NMFS, 263 13th 

Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701; 

phone (727)824–5312; fax (727)824– 

5309. 

Written comments or requests for a 

public hearing on this application 

should be mailed to the Chief, Permits, 

Conservation and Education Division, 

F/PR1, Office of Protected Resources, 

NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 

13705, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Those 

individuals requesting a hearing should 

set forth the specific reasons why a 

hearing on this particular request would 

be appropriate. 

Comments may also be submitted by 

facsimile at (301)427–2521, provided 

the facsimile is confirmed by hard copy 

submitted by mail and postmarked no 

later than the closing date of the 

comment period. 

Comments may also be submitted by 

e-mail. The mailbox address for 

providing e-mail comments is 

NMFS.Pr1Comments@noaa.gov. Include 

in the subject line of the e-mail 

comment the following document 

identifier: File No. 13573. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Patrick Opay or Kate Swails, (301)713– 

2289. 

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 222–226). 

The applicant proposes to study when 

green sea turtle navigation is guided by 

magnetic versus solar cues. Animals 

would be captured by hand, handled, 

weighed, measured, flipper tagged, 

passive integrated transponder tagged, 

transported, temporarily held for 

experiments in an outdoor tank arena, 

and released. Researchers would 

annually capture and conduct research 

on up to 28 animals on near shore reefs 

of Palm Beach County, Florida. The 

permit would be issued for 3 years. 

Dated: August 28, 2008. 

P. Michael Payne, 

Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education 

Division, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E8–20428 Filed 9–2–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XK12 

Atlantic Pelagic Longline Take 

Reduction Team Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 171 / Wednesday, September 3, 2008 / Notices 51447 

SUMMARY: NMFS is convening a meeting 

of the Atlantic Pelagic Longline Take 

Reduction Team (PLTRT). The PLTRT 

will discuss the proposed Atlantic 

Pelagic Longline Take Reduction Plan 

(RIN 0648–AV65) and provide updates 

to team members on recent research and 

actions. 

DATES: The meeting will be held on 

September 8, 2008, from 1 p.m. to 6 

p.m., and on September 9, 2008, from 

8:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: The PLTRT meeting will be 

held at the Pier 5 Hotel, 711 Eastern 

Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21202. Phone: 

(410) 539–2000, Fax: (410) 783–1469. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erin 

Fougeres: (727) 824–5312 or Kristy 

Long: (301) 713–2322. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Bycatch Reduction Requirements in the 

MMPA 

Section 118(f)(1) of the Marine 

Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) 

requires NMFS to develop and 

implement take reduction plans to assist 

in the recovery or prevent the depletion 

of each strategic marine mammal stock 

that interacts with Category I and II 

fisheries. It also provides NMFS 

discretion to develop and implement a 

take reduction plan for any other marine 

mammal stocks that interact with a 

Category I fishery, which the agency 

determines, after notice and opportunity 

for public comment, has a high level of 

mortality and serious injury across a 

number of such marine mammal stocks. 

The MMPA defines a strategic stock 

as a marine mammal stock: (1) for which 

the level of direct human-caused 

mortality exceeds the potential 

biological removal (PBR) level; (2) 

which is declining and is likely to be 

listed under the Endangered Species Act 

(ESA) in the foreseeable future; or (3) 

which is listed as threatened or 

endangered under the ESA or as a 

depleted species under the MMPA (16 

U.S.C. 1362(2)). PBR is the maximum 

number of animals, not including 

natural mortalities, that can be removed 

annually from a stock, while allowing 

that stock to reach or maintain its 

optimum sustainable population level. 

Category I or II fisheries are fisheries 

that, respectively, have frequent or 

occasional incidental mortality and 

serious injury of marine mammals. The 

immediate goal of a take reduction plan 

for a strategic stock is to reduce, within 

six months of its implementation, the 

incidental serious injury or mortality of 

marine mammals from commercial 

fishing to levels less than PBR. The 

long-term goal is to reduce, within five 

years of its implementation, the 

incidental serious injury and mortality 

of marine mammals from commercial 

fishing operations to insignificant levels 

approaching a zero serious injury and 

mortality rate, taking into account the 

economics of the fishery, the availability 

of existing technology, and existing state 

or regional fishery management plans. 

The insignificance threshold, or upper 

limit of annual incidental mortality and 

serious injury of marine mammal stocks 

by commercial fisheries, has been 

defined at 50 CFR 229.2 as 10 percent 

of the PBR for a stock of marine 

mammals. 

History of the PLTRT 

The PLTRT was first convened on 

June 29, 2005 (70 FR 36120, June 22, 

2005) to address the incidental serious 

injury and mortality of short- and longfinned pilot whales (Globicephala 

macrorhynchus and Globicephala 

melas) in the Atlantic region of the 

Pelagic Longline Fishery. Because the 

two species of pilot whales are difficult 

to differentiate at sea, abundance and 

total fishery-related mortality and 

serious injury cannot be estimated 

separately for each species. Therefore, 

in the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, 

these estimates are combined for both 

Globicephala species (i.e., Globicephala 

spp.). Globicephala spp. is then split 

into the western North Atlantic and Gulf 

of Mexico stocks. The western North 

Atlantic stocks of Globicephala spp. 

were identified as strategic in the 2003 

Marine Mammal Stock Assessments 

report (SAR). However, NMFS revised 

the abundance estimates for pilot 

whales in the 2005 SAR and, just prior 

to convening the PLTRT, these stocks 

were no longer classified as strategic. 

More recently, the 2007 SAR also 

reports that the estimated average 

annual human-related mortality and 

serious injury for the last five years does 

not exceed PBR and the stocks remain 

non-strategic. 

The Atlantic Pelagic Longline Fishery 

also incidentally seriously injures and 

kills Risso’s dolphins (Grampus 

griseus). For Risso’s dolphins and longfinned and short-finned pilot whales, 

estimated serious injury and mortality 

levels in the pelagic longline fishery 

exceed the insignificance threshold but 

do not exceed the PBR level for each 

stock. Because these species are below 

PBR and considered non-strategic stocks 

but interact with a Category I fishery, 

NMFS directed the PLTRT to develop 

and submit a draft Take Reduction Plan 

to the agency within 11 months. In 

accordance with the long-term goal of 

MMPA section 118, this draft Take 

Reduction Plan would focus on 

reducing incidental mortalities and 

serious injuries of pilot whales and 

Risso’s dolphins to a level approaching 

a zero mortality and serious injury rate 

within five years of implementation of 

the plan. 

As required under section 118 (f)(8) of 

the MMPA, the PLTRT developed a 

draft Take Reduction Plan (TRP) by 

consensus, and submitted this draft to 

NMFS. NMFS then published the TRP 

and implementing regulations proposed 

by the team in the Federal Register on 

June 24, 2008 (73 FR 35623) for a public 

comment period of 90 days, ending on 

September 22, 2008. NMFS is convening 

a meeting of the PLTRT during the 

public comment period, which will be 

facilitated by Scott McCreary and 

Bennett Brooks, CONCUR, Inc., 

Berkeley, California. This meeting will 

occur September 8–9, 2008 in 

Baltimore, MD (see DATES and 

ADDRESSES). Take Reduction Teams are 

not subject to the Federal Advisory 

Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.). 

Meetings are open to the public. 

Dated: August 27, 2008. 

Helen Golde, 

Deputy Director, Office of Protected 

Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E8–20419 Filed 9–2–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XJ92 

Permanent Advisory Committee to the 

U.S. National Section to the Western 

and Central Pacific Fisheries 

Commission (WCPFC); Meeting 

Announcement 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces a meeting 

of the Permanent Advisory Committee 

to the U.S. National Section to the 

WCPFC from 17–19 September, 2008, in 

Honolulu, Hawaii. Meeting topics are 

provided under the SUPPLEMENTARY 

INFORMATION section of this notice. 

DATES: The meeting of the Permanent 

Advisory Committee will be held on 

September 17–19, 2008, from 8:30 a.m. 

to 4:30 p.m. (or until business is 

concluded), Hawaii Standard Time. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at 

the Hilton Hawaiian Village in the Sea 

Pearl Meeting Room, 2005 Kalia Road, 

Honolulu, HI 96814. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES