78064 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 248 / Monday, December 29, 2014 / Notices 

Northwest Crab Industry Advisory 

Committee (PNCIAC) will meet in 

Seattle, WA. The meeting is open to the 

public. 

DATES: The meeting will be held on 

January 12, 2015, from 9 a.m. until 12 

noon. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at 

the Fishermen’s Terminal, Norby 

conference room, 3919 18th Avenue W., 

Seattle, WA 98199. 

Council address: North Pacific 

Fishery Management Council, 605 W. 

4th Avenue, Suite 306, Anchorage, AK 

99501–2252. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Diana Stram, Council Staff; telephone: 

(907) 271–2809 or Lance Farr, (206) 

669–7163. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

original notice published in the Federal 

Register on December 12, 2014 (79 FR 

73884). This notice serves a correction 

to that notice and is being re-published 

in its entirety due to a date change and 

an addition to the agenda. 

The Committee will discuss issues to 

recommend for the 10-year review of the 

Crab Rationalization Program and 

discuss extending the Western Baridi 

fishing season. 

Special Accommodations 

This meeting is physically accessible 

to people with disabilities. Requests for 

sign language interpretation or other 

auxiliary aids should be directed to Gail 

Bendixen at (907) 271–2809 at least 7 

working days prior to the meeting date. 

Dated: December 22, 2014. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–30304 Filed 12–24–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XD679 

Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management 

Council; Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of a public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Gulf of Mexico Fishery 

Management Council (Council) will 

hold a meeting of the King Mackerel 

Gillnet Working Group. 

DATES: The meeting will convene at 9 

a.m. until 5 p.m. on Monday, January 

12, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: Meeting address: The 

meeting will be held at the Marriott 

Beachside Hotel located at 3841 N. 

Roosevelt Boulevard, Key West, FL 

33040. 

Council address: Gulf of Mexico 

Fishery Management Council, 2203 

North Lois Avenue, Suite 1100, Tampa, 

FL 33607. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Ryan Rindone, Fishery Biologist, Gulf of 

Mexico Fishery Management Council; 

telephone: (813) 348–1630; fax: (813) 

348–1711; email: ryan.rindone@

gulfcouncil.org. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The items 

of discussion on the agenda are as 

follows: 

King Mackerel Gillnet Working Group 

Agenda, Monday, January 12, 2015, 9 

a.m. Until 5 p.m. 

I. Adoption of Agenda 

II. Action Guide 

III. Overview of King Mackerel Gillnet 

Issues 

(a) Gulf Council Mackerel Committee 

Summary 

IV. Suggested Gillnet Management 

Options 

(a) Trip Limit Increases 

(b) Gear Modifications 

(c) Catch Shares 

(d) Other 

V. Wrap Up 

This agenda may be modified as 

necessary to facilitate the discussion of 

pertinent materials up to and during the 

scheduled meeting. 

For meeting materials see folder 

‘‘King Mackerel Gillnet Working Group 

meeting—2015—01’’ on Gulf Council 

file server. To access the file server, the 

URL is https://

public.gulfcouncil.org:5001/webman/

index.cgi, or go to the Council’s Web 

site and click on the FTP link in the 

lower left of the Council Web site 

(http://www.gulfcouncil.org). The 

username and password are both 

‘‘gulfguest’’. 

Although non-emergency issues not 

contained in this agenda may come 

before this group for discussion, those 

issues may not be the subject of formal 

action during this meeting. Action will 

be restricted to those issues specifically 

identified in this notice and any issues 

arising after publication of this notice 

that require emergency action under 

section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act, provided the public has been 

notified of the Council’s intent to take 

final action to address the emergency. 

Special Accommodations 

The meeting is physically accessible 

to people with disabilities. Requests for 

sign language interpretation or other 

auxiliary aids should be directed to 

Kathy Pereira at the Council Office (see 

ADDRESSES), at least 5 working days 

prior to the meeting. 

Note: The times and sequence specified in 

this agenda are subject to change. 

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

Dated: December 22, 2014. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–30314 Filed 12–24–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XD677 

New England Fishery Management 

Council; Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The New England Fishery 

Management Council (Council) is 

scheduling a public meeting of its 

Herring Advisory Panel to consider 

actions affecting New England fisheries 

in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). 

Recommendations from this group will 

be brought to the full Council for formal 

consideration and action, if appropriate. 

DATES: This meeting will be held on 

Thursday, January 15, 2015 at 9:30 a.m. 

ADDRESSES: 

Meeting address: The meeting will be 

held at the Sheraton Harborside, 250 

Market Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801; 

telephone: (603) 431–2300; fax: (603) 

431–7805. 

Council address: New England 

Fishery Management Council, 50 Water 

Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director, 

New England Fishery Management 

Council; telephone: (978) 465–0492. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

The items of discussion on the agenda 

are: 

The panel will review Action Plans 

for the 2016–18 Atlantic herring fishery 

specifications and an amendment to the 

Atlantic Herring FMP to consider 

control rules for the Atlantic herring 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 248 / Monday, December 29, 2014 / Notices 78065 

fishery that account for herring’s role as 

forage in the ecosystem (Amendment 8). 

They will also discuss possible 

cooperative research priorities for any 

research set-aside that may be allocated 

in 2016–18 during the Atlantic herring 

fishery specifications process and 

develop recommendations. The Panel 

plans to review/discuss a draft scoping 

document for an amendment to the 

Herring FMP to consider control rules 

for the Atlantic herring fishery that 

account for herring’s role as forage in 

the ecosystem and develop 

recommendations; They will also 

review/discuss options under 

consideration in the NMFS-led omnibus 

Industry-Funded Monitoring 

Amendment to address observer 

coverage on Atlantic herring vessels and 

develop recommendations. The panel 

will discuss other business as necessary. 

Although non-emergency issues not 

contained in this agenda may come 

before this group for discussion, those 

issues may not be the subject of formal 

action during this meeting. Action will 

be restricted to those issues specifically 

listed in this notice and any issues 

arising after publication of this notice 

that require emergency action under 

section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act, provided the public has been 

notified of the Council’s intent to take 

final action to address the emergency. 

Special Accommodations 

The meeting is physically accessible 

to people with disabilities. Requests for 

sign language interpretation or other 

auxiliary aids should be directed to 

Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director, at 

(978) 465–0492, at least 5 days prior to 

the meeting date. 

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

Dated: December 22, 2014. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–30305 Filed 12–24–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XD663 

Taking and Importing Marine 

Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals 

Incidental to Fisheries Research 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for 

letter of authorization; request for 

comments and information. 

SUMMARY: NMFS’ Office of Protected 

Resources has received a request from 

the NMFS Northeast Fisheries Science 

Center (NEFSC) for authorization to take 

small numbers of marine mammals 

incidental to conducting fisheries 

research, over the course of five years 

from the date of issuance. Pursuant to 

regulations implementing the Marine 

Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS 

is announcing receipt of the NEFSC’s 

request under section 101(a)(5)(A) of the 

MMPA for the development and 

implementation of regulations 

governing the incidental taking of 

marine mammals. NMFS invites the 

public to provide information, 

suggestions, and comments on the 

NEFSC’s application and request. 

DATES: Comments and information must 

be received no later than January 28, 

2015. 

ADDRESSES: Comments on the 

application should be addressed to Jolie 

Harrison, Chief, Permits and 

Conservation Division, Office of 

Protected Resources, National Marine 

Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West 

Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910– 

3225. The mailbox address for providing 

email comments is ITP.Cody@noaa.gov. 

You must include 0648–XD663 in the 

subject line. NMFS is not responsible 

for email comments sent to addresses 

other than the one provided here. 

Comments sent via email, including all 

attachments, must not exceed a 25- 

megabyte file size. 

Instructions: All submitted comments 

are a part of the public record and 

NMFS will post them to http://

www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/

incidental/research.htm without 

change. All Personal Identifying 

Information (for example, name, 

address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by 

the commenter may be publicly 

accessible. Do not submit confidential 

business information or otherwise 

sensitive or protected information. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jeannine Cody, Office of Protected 

Resources, NMFS, (301) 427–8401. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Availability 

An electronic copy of the NEFSC’s 

application may be obtained by visiting 

the Internet at: http://

www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/

incidental/research.htm. The NEFSC is 

concurrently releasing a draft 

Environmental Assessment, prepared 

pursuant to requirements of the 

National Environmental Policy Act, for 

the conduct of their fisheries research. 

A copy of the draft EA, which would 

also support our proposed rulemaking 

under the MMPA, is also available at: 

http://nefsc.noaa.gov/rcb/dpea/. 

Background 

Section 101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA (16 

U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) directs the Secretary 

of Commerce (Secretary) to allow, upon 

request, the incidental, but not 

intentional, taking of small numbers of 

marine mammals by U.S. citizens who 

engage in a specified activity (other than 

commercial fishing) if certain findings 

are made and regulations are issued. 

Incidental taking shall be allowed if 

NMFS finds that the taking will have a 

negligible impact on the species or 

stock(s) affected and will not have an 

unmitigable adverse impact on the 

availability of the species or stock(s) for 

taking for subsistence uses, and if the 

permissible methods of taking and 

requirements pertaining to the 

mitigation, monitoring and reporting of 

such taking are set forth. 

NMFS has defined ‘‘negligible 

impact’’ in 50 CFR 216.103 as ‘‘an 

impact resulting from the specified 

activity that cannot be reasonably 

expected to, and is not reasonably likely 

to, adversely affect the species or stock 

through effects on annual rates of 

recruitment or survival.’’ Except with 

respect to certain activities not pertinent 

here, the MMPA defines ‘‘harassment’’ 

as: ‘‘Any act of pursuit, torment, or 

annoyance which (i) has the potential to 

injure a marine mammal or marine 

mammal stock in the wild [Level A 

harassment]; or (ii) has the potential to 

disturb a marine mammal or marine 

mammal stock in the wild by causing 

disruption of behavioral patterns, 

including, but not limited to, migration, 

breathing, nursing, breeding, feeding, or 

sheltering [Level B harassment].’’ 

Summary of Request 

On December 17, 2014, NMFS 

received an application from the NEFSC 

requesting authorization for take of 

marine mammals incidental to fisheries 

research conducted by the NEFSC. The 

requested regulations would be valid for 

five years from the date of issuance. The 

NEFSC plans to conduct fisheries 

research surveys in the Atlantic Ocean 

from the U.S.-Canada border to Florida. 

It is possible that marine mammals may 

interact with fishing gear (e.g., bottom 

and pelagic trawls, dredges, video 

cameras, long lines, and gillnets) used 

in NEFSC’s fisheries research and 

cooperative research projects, resulting 

in injury, serious injury, or mortality. In 

addition, the NEFSC operates active 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES