932 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 4 / Thursday, January 7, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

showing that the property owner agrees 

that the falconry facilities and raptors 

may be inspected by State, tribal (if 

applicable), or territorial authorities at 

any reasonable time of day in the 

presence of the property owner; except 

that the authorities may not enter the 

facilities or disturb the raptors unless 

you are present. 

* * * * * 

(9) Falconry equipment and records 

may be inspected in the presence of the 

permittee during business hours on any 

day of the week by State, tribal, or 

territorial officials. 

* * * * * 

(e) * * * 

(1) * * * 

(v) If you are a Master Falconer and 

your State, tribe, or territory allows you 

to possess golden eagles, in any year 

you may take up to two golden eagles 

from the wild and only in a livestock 

depredation area during the time the 

depredation area and associated 

depredation permit or depredation 

control order are in effect. A livestock 

depredation area is declared by USDA 

Wildlife Services and permitted under 

§ 22.23, or upon the request of a State 

governor and authorized by the Service 

Director pursuant to §§ 22.31 and 22.32. 

* * * * * 

(3) * * * 

(i) If you are an Apprentice Falconer, 

you may take raptors less than 1 year 

old, except nestlings, from the wild 

during any period or periods specified 

by the State, tribe, or territory. You may 

take any raptor species from the wild 

except a federally listed threatened or 

endangered species or the following 

species: Bald eagle (Haliaeetus 

leucocephalus), white-tailed eagle 

(Haliaeetus albicilla), Steller’s sea-eagle 

(Haliaeetus pelagicus), golden eagle 

(Aquila chrysaetos), American swallowtailed kite (Elanoides forficatus), 

Swainson’s hawk (Buteo swainsoni), 

peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), 

flammulated owl (Otus flammeolus), elf 

owl (Micrathene whitneyi), and shorteared owl (Asio flammeus). 

* * * * * 

(iii) If you are a Master Falconer 

authorized to possess golden eagles for 

use in falconry, you may capture a 

golden eagle in a livestock or wildlife 

depredation area during the time the 

depredation area and associated 

depredation permit or depredation 

control order are in effect. 

(A) You may capture an immature or 

subadult golden eagle. 

(B) You may take a nestling from its 

nest in a livestock depredation area if a 

biologist representing the agency 

responsible for declaring the 

depredation area has determined that 

the adult eagle is preying on livestock 

or wildlife. 

(C) You may take a nesting adult 

golden eagle only if a biologist 

representing the agency responsible for 

declaring the depredation area has 

determined that the adult eagle is 

preying on livestock or wildlife and that 

any nestling of the adult will be taken 

by a falconer authorized to possess it or 

by the biologist and transferred to an 

individual authorized to possess it. 

(D) You must determine the locations 

of the livestock or wildlife depredation 

areas declared by USDA Wildlife 

Services, or published in the Federal 

Register by the Service in response to a 

State governor’s request. We will not 

notify you about them. 

* * * * * 

(f) * * * 

(9) * * * 

(ii) You may not use falconry raptors 

for commercial entertainment; for 

advertisements; as a representation of 

any business, company, corporation, or 

other organization; or for promotion or 

endorsement of any products, 

merchandise, goods, services, meetings, 

or fairs, with the following exceptions: 

(A) You may use a falconry raptor to 

promote or endorse a nonprofit falconry 

organization or association. 

(B) You may use a falconry raptor to 

promote or endorse products or 

endeavors related to falconry, including, 

but not limited to items such as hoods, 

telemetry equipment, giant hoods, 

perches, materials for raptor facilities, 

falconry training and education 

materials, and scientific research and 

publication. 

* * * * * 

PART 22—EAGLE PERMITS 

4. The authority citation for part 22 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 668–668d; 16 U.S.C. 

703–712; 16 U.S.C. 1531–1544. 

5. Revise § 22.24(b) as follows: 

§ 22.24 Permits for falconry purposes. 

* * * * * 

(b) Transfer of golden eagles trapped 

by government employees to other 

permittees. If you have the necessary 

permit(s) from your State, tribe, or 

territory, a government employee who 

has trapped a golden eagle under a 

Federal depredation permit or under a 

depredation control order may transfer 

the bird to you if he or she cannot 

release the eagle in an appropriate 

location. A golden eagle may only be 

taken from a livestock or wildlife 

depredation area declared by USDA 

Wildlife Services and permitted under 

§ 22.23, or from a livestock depredation 

area authorized in accordance with 

Subpart D, Depredation Control Orders 

on Golden Eagles. 

Thomas L. Strickland, 

Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and 

Parks. 

[FR Doc. 2010–12 Filed 1–6–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 660 

[Docket No.0909111273–91431–02] 

RIN 0648–XR09 

Fisheries Off West Coast States; 

Coastal Pelagic Species Fisheries; 

Annual Specifications 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: NMFS issues this final rule to 

implement the annual harvest guideline 

(HG) for Pacific mackerel in the U.S. 

exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the 

Pacific coast for the fishing season of 

July 1, 2009, through June 30, 2010. 

This HG has been determined according 

to the regulations implementing the 

Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) Fishery 

Management Plan (FMP) and establishes 

allowable harvest levels for Pacific 

mackerel off the Pacific coast. The total 

HG for the 2009–2010 fishing year is 

10,000 metric tons (mt) and is divided 

into a directed fishery HG of 8,000 mt 

and an incidental fishery of 2,000 mt. 

DATES: Effective February 8, 2010 

through June 30, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of the report Pacific 

Mackerel (Scomber japonicus) Stock 

Assessment for U.S. Management in the 

2009–2010 Fishing Year may be 

obtained from the Southwest Regional 

Office by contacting Rodney R. McInnis, 

Regional Administrator, Southwest 

Region, NMFS, 501 West Ocean Blvd., 

Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802– 

4213. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Joshua Lindsay, Southwest Region, 

NMFS, (562) 980–4034. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The CPS 

FMP, which is implemented by 

regulations at 50 CFR part 660, subpart 

I, divides management unit species into 

two categories: actively managed and 


cprice-sewell on DSK8KYBLC1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 4 / Thursday, January 7, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 933 

monitored. The HGs for actively 

managed species (Pacific sardine and 

Pacific mackerel) are based on formulas 

applied to current biomass estimates. 

During public meetings each year, the 

biomass for each actively managed 

species within the CPS FMP is 

presented to the Pacific Fishery 

Management Council’s (Pacific Council) 

Coastal Pelagic Species Management 

Team (Team), the Council’s Coastal 

Pelagic Species Advisory Subpanel 

(Subpanel) and the Council’s Scientific 

and Statistical Committee (SSC). At that 

time, the biomass, maximum HG and 

the status of the fisheries are reviewed 

and discussed. This information is then 

presented to the Council along with 

annual HG recommendations and 

comments from the Team and Subpanel. 

Following review by the Council and 

after hearing public comments, the 

Council makes its HG recommendation 

to NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS). The annual HG is 

published in the Federal Register as 

close as practicable to the start of the 

fishing season. 

For the 2009–2010 Pacific mackerel 

management season a full assessment 

for Pacific mackerel was conducted and 

then reviewed by a Stock Assessment 

Review (STAR) Panel in May 2009. This 

most recent full assessment for Pacific 

mackerel estimates the current biomass 

to be 282,049 mt. Applying this biomass 

estimate to the harvest control rule 

(established in the CPS FMP) a 

maximum HG of 55,408 mt is produced. 

At the June 2009 Pacific Council 

Meeting, the Council reviewed the 

current Pacific mackerel stock 

assessment, biomass numbers, ABC and 

STAR Panel Report, as well as heard 

statements/reports from the SSC, Team 

and Subpanel. Although the assessment 

for Pacific mackerel was reviewed by a 

STAR Panel and was approved by the 

SSC as the best available science for use 

in management, concerns were 

expressed by all the advisory groups 

regarding the data sources that informed 

the assessment and the uncertainty in 

the assessment results. Taking into 

consideration these reports and 

statements, the Council adopted and 

NMFS approved the most recent 

assessment for Pacific mackerel along 

with the calculated ABC, but 

recommended setting an overall HG for 

the July 1, 2009, through June 30, 2010, 

fishing season at 10,000 mt. The Council 

also recommended and NMFS approved 

that 8,000 mt of this total HG be 

allocated for a directed fishery and 

2,000 mt be set aside for incidental 

Pacific mackerel landings in other 

fisheries should the 8,000 mt directed 

fishery HG be attained. Should the 

directed Pacific mackerel fishery attain 

landings of 8,000 mt NMFS will close 

the directed fishery and establish a 45 

percent incidental catch allowance 

when Pacific mackerel are landed with 

other CPS (no more than 45% by weight 

of the CPS landed per trip may be 

Pacific mackerel), except that up to 1 mt 

of Pacific mackerel can be landed 

without landing any other CPS. 

On September 29, 2009, a proposed 

rule was published for this action that 

solicited public comments (74 FR 4845). 

One comment was received, which was 

in support of the proposed action. 

Information on the fishery and the 

stock assessment can be found in the 

report Pacific mackerel (Scomber 

japonicus) Stock Assessment for U.S. 

Management in the 2009–10 Fishing 

Season (see ADDRESSES). 

Classification 

The Administrator, Southwest Region, 

NMFS, determined that this final rule is 

necessary for the conservation and 

management of the CPS fishery and that 

it is consistent with the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act and other applicable 

laws. 

This final rule is exempt from Office 

of Management and Budget review 

under Executive Order 12866. 

The Chief Counsel for Regulation of 

the Department of Commerce certified 

to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the 

Small Business Administration during 

the proposed rule stage that this action 

would not have a significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities. The factual basis for the 

certification was published in the 

proposed rule (74 FR 4845) and is not 

repeated here. 

No comments were received regarding 

this certification. As a result, a 

regulatory flexibility analysis was not 

required and none was prepared. 

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

Dated: December 31, 2009. 

James W. Balsiger, 

Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–21 Filed 1–6–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 


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