[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 200 (Wednesday, October 15, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61020-61021]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-24485]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XL06


Fisheries in the Western Pacific; Marine Conservation Plan for 
Pacific Insular Areas; Northern Mariana Islands

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of agency decision.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the approval of a three-year marine 
conservation plan (MCP) for the Northern Mariana Islands.

[[Page 61021]]


DATES: This agency decision is effective October 6, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the MCP are available from the Western Pacific 
Fishery Management Council (Council), 1164 Bishop St., Suite 1400, 
Honolulu, HI 96813, tel 808-522-8220, fax 808-522-8226.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alvin Katekaru, NMFS Pacific Islands 
Regional Office, at (808)944-2207.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under Section 204(e)(1)(A)of the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), 
the Secretary of State, with the concurrence of the Secretary of 
Commerce (Secretary) and in consultation with the Council, may 
negotiate and enter into a Pacific Insular Area fishery agreement 
(PIAFA) to allow foreign fishing within waters of the U.S. Exclusive 
Economic Zone (EEZ) adjacent to American Samoa, Guam, or the Northern 
Mariana Islands, and at the request and with the concurrence of, and in 
consultation with, the Governor of the Pacific Insular Area to which 
the PIAFA applies. Section 204(e)(4) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act 
requires that prior to entering into a PIAFA, the appropriate Governor 
and the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) shall 
develop a three-year MCP containing detailing the uses for funds to be 
collected by the Secretary under the PIAFA. Any payments received under 
a PIAFA shall be deposited into the United States Treasury and then 
covered over to the Treasury of the Pacific Insular Area for which 
funds were collected. In the case of violations by foreign fishing 
vessels occurring within the EEZ off any Pacific Insular Area, any 
amount received by the Secretary which is attributable to fines and 
penalties imposed under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, including such sums 
collected from the forfeiture and disposition or sale of property 
seized subject to its authority, after payment of direct costs of the 
enforcement action to all entities involved in such action, shall be 
deposited into the Treasury of the Pacific Insular Area adjacent to the 
EEZ in which the violation occurred, to be used for fisheries 
enforcement and for implementation of a MCP.
    The MCP to be approved by the Secretary must be consistent with the 
Council's fishery management plans, identify conservation and 
management objectives (including criteria for determining when such 
objectives have been met), and prioritize planned marine conservation 
projects.
    At its 138th meeting held in June 2007, the Council approved the 
MCP for the Northern Mariana Islands and recommended its submission to 
the Secretary for approval. NMFS, designee of the Secretary, received 
the MCP on March 10, 2008. Following a review of the MCP, NMFS informed 
the Council and Government of the Commonwealth of the Mariana Islands 
(CNMI) that the MCP was incomplete. On September 23, 2008, the 
Department of Lands and Natural Resources, CNMI, submitted an amended 
MCP to NMFS.
    The MCP contains 12 objectives, listed below, which are consistent 
with the Council's five existing fishery management plans:
    1. Data collection and reporting;
    2. Resource assessment and monitoring;
    3. Incidental catch, bycatch, and protected species interaction;
    4. Habitat assessment and monitoring;
    5. Management procedures;
    6. Surveillance and enforcement;
    7. Domestic fisheries development;
    8. Marine conservation education;
    9. Public participation;
    10. Regional cooperation;
    11. Performance evaluation; and
    12. Western Pacific demonstration projects.
    The MCP identifies 19 programs or projects associated with the MCP 
objectives for potential funding under a PIAFA. The top ten projects in 
order of priority are:
    1. EEZ enforcement program;
    2. Subsistence and recreational harvest monitoring system;
    3. Commercial harvest monitoring system;
    4. Charter fishing economic impact study;
    5. Analysis of data on pelagic fishery resources;
    6. CNMI commercial fisheries baseline assessment;
    7. Regional fisheries meeting and conferences funding assistance;
    8. Recreational and subsistence fishing economic impact and use 
study;
    9. Fisheries technology program; and
    10. Local auction marketplace feasibility study.
    This notice announces that NMFS has determined that the MCP for the 
Northern Mariana Islands satisfies the requirements of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act and has approved the MCP for a three-year period: October 
6, 2008, through October 6, 2011.

    Dated: October 9, 2008.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. E8-24485 Filed 10-14-08; 8:45 am]
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