39732 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 161 / Tuesday, August 22, 2017 / Proposed Rules 

not consider hand-delivered comments 

that we do not receive, or mailed 

comments that are not postmarked, by 

the date specified in DATES. 

We will post all comments in their 

entirety—including your personal 

identifying information—on http://

www.regulations.gov. Before including 

your address, phone number, email 

address, or other personal identifying 

information in your comment, you 

should be aware that your entire 

comment—including your personal 

identifying information—may be made 

publicly available at any time. While 

you can ask us in your comment to 

withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

Comments and materials we receive, 

as well as supporting documentation we 

used in preparing this proposed rule, 

will be available for public inspection 

on http://www.regulations.gov, or by 

appointment, during normal business 

hours, at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, Division of Migratory Bird 

Management, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls 

Church, VA 22041–3803. 

We will consider, but possibly may 

not respond in detail to, each comment. 

As in the past, we will summarize all 

comments we receive during the 

comment period and respond to them 

after the closing date in the preamble of 

a final rule. 

Required Determinations 

Based on our most current data, we 

are affirming our required 

determinations made in the May 30 

rule; for descriptions of our actions to 

ensure compliance with the following 

statutes and Executive Orders, see our 

May 30, 2017, final rule (82 FR 24786): 

• National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) Consideration; 

• Endangered Species Act 

Consideration; 

• Regulatory Flexibility Act; 

• Small Business Regulatory 

Enforcement Fairness Act; 

• Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 

• Unfunded Mandates Reform Act; 

• Executive Orders 12630, 12866, 

12988, 13132, 13175, 13211, 13563, and 

13771. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 20 

Exports, Hunting, Imports, Reporting 

and recordkeeping requirements, 

Transportation, Wildlife. 

The rules that eventually will be 

promulgated for the 2017–18 hunting 

season are authorized under 16 U.S.C. 

703–712 and 16 U.S.C. 742 a–j. 

Dated: August 9, 2017. 

Todd D. Willens, 

Acting Assistant Secretary for Fish and 

Wildlife and Parks. 

[FR Doc. 2017–17722 Filed 8–21–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4333–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 216 

RIN 0648–XF599 

Notification of Receipt of a Petition To 

Ban Imports of All Fish and Fish 

Products From Mexico That Do Not 

Satisfy the Marine Mammal Protection 

Act Provisions 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Receipt of petition to ban 

imports through emergency rulemaking; 

request for information and comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces receipt of a 

petition for emergency rulemaking 

under the Administrative Procedure 

Act. Natural Resources Defense Council, 

the Center for Biological Diversity, and 

Animal Welfare Institute petitioned the 

U.S. Department of Commerce and other 

relevant Departments to initiate 

emergency rulemaking under the 

Marine Mammal Protection Act 

(‘‘MMPA’’), to ban importation of 

commercial fish or products from fish 

that have been caught with commercial 

fishing technology that results in 

incidental mortality or serious injury of 

vaquita in excess of United States 

standards. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received by 5 p.m. Eastern Time on 

September 21, 2017. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on this document, identified by NOAA– 

NMFS–2017–0097, by either of the 

following methods: 

1. Electronic Submissions: Submit all 

electronic comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to 

www.regulations.gov/ 

#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2017- 

0097, click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon, 

complete the required fields and enter 

or attach your comments. 

2. Mail: Submit written comments to: 

Director, Office of International Affairs 

and Seafood Inspection, Attn: MMPA 

Petition, NMFS, F/IS, 1315 East-West 

Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. 

Instructions: Comments sent by any 

other method, to any other address or 

individual, 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 http://www.regulations.gov without 

change. All personal identifying 

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

confidential business information, or 

otherwise sensitive information 

submitted voluntarily by the sender will 

be publicly accessible. NMFS will 

accept anonymous comments (enter 

‘‘N/A’’ in the required fields if you wish 

to remain anonymous). 

Attachments to electronic comments 

will be accepted in Microsoft Word, 

Excel, or Adobe portable document file 

(PDF) formats only. The complete text of 

the petition is available via the internet 

at the following web address: http://

www.nmfs.noaa.gov/ia/. In addition, 

copies of this petition may be obtained 

by contacting NMFS at the above 

address. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Nina Young, NMFS F/IS at 

Nina.Young@noaa.gov or 301–427– 

8383. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Section 101(a)(2) of the Marine 

Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), 16 

U.S.C. 1371(a)(2), states that: ‘‘The 

Secretary of the Treasury shall ban the 

importation of commercial fish or 

products from fish which have been 

caught with commercial fishing 

technology which results in the 

incidental kill or incidental serious 

injury of ocean mammals in excess of 

United States standards.’’ In August 

2016, NMFS published a final rule (81 

FR 54390; August 15, 2016) 

implementing the fish and fish product 

import provisions in section 101(a)(2) of 

the MMPA. This rule established 

conditions for evaluating a harvesting 

nation’s regulatory programs to address 

incidental and intentional mortality and 

serious injury of marine mammals in 

fisheries operated by nations that export 

fish and fish products to the United 

States. In that rule, NMFS stated that it 

may consider emergency rulemaking to 

ban imports of fish and fish products 

from an export or exempt fishery having 

or likely to have an immediate and 

significant adverse impact on a marine 

mammal stock. 

Information in the Petition 

NMFS received the petition on May 

18, 2017. The petition alleges that the 

Secretaries of Commerce and other 

relevant Federal Departments are 

required to carry out non-discretionary 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 161 / Tuesday, August 22, 2017 / Proposed Rules 39733 

duties under section 101(a)(2) of the 

MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1371(a)(2)), to ‘‘ban 

the importation of commercial fish or 

products from fish’’ sourced in a 

manner that ‘‘results in the incidental 

kill or incidental serious injury’’ of 

vaquita ‘‘in excess of United States 

standards.’’ The petition requested that 

the relevant Secretary ban all fish and 

fish products originating from the 

vaquita’s range in the northern Gulf of 

California that were obtained using any 

kind of gillnet—the fishing gear solely 

responsible for the current decline of 

the vaquita. 

As support for the need for this 

action, the petition cites reports from 

the Comite ́ Internacional para la 

Recuperacio ́n de la Vaquita (CIRVA) 

documenting a 95 percent decline in the 

vaquita population over the last two 

decades. The petitioners also assert that 

for the vaquita, gillnet bycatch has 

driven the species from a population of 

more than 700 in 1990 to currently 

fewer than 30 vaquita. 

The petitioners maintain that any 

fishery using gillnets in the Upper Gulf 

of California violates U.S. standards 

under the MMPA. The petitioners 

provide a list of more than 30 fish 

species potentially harvested by gillnets 

including corvina and Pacific sierra, 

which are currently exempt from the 

Mexican regulations banning the use of 

gillnets. 

On June 30, 2017, Mexico adopted a 

permanent ban on the use of gillnets 

throughout the range of vaquita, with 

the exception of gillnet fisheries for 

corvina and Pacific sierra. The 

regulations also prohibit night fishing, 

establish sites for disembarkation, and 

require the use of vessel monitoring 

systems http://diariooficial.gob.mx/ 

DOFmobile/nota_detalle.php?codigo=

5488674&fecha=30/06/2017. 

NMFS will consider public comments 

in evaluating the request by the 

petitioners for an import ban. In 

addition to general comments on the 

petition, NMFS specifically requests 

comments on: 

• The adequacy of existing measures 

regulating commercial fishing 

throughout the range of the vaquita; 

• Whether such measures can be 

considered comparable in effectiveness 

to the U.S. regulatory program; 

• Whether the apparent decline in the 

vaquita population attributed to 

interaction with commercial fishing 

meets the standard of ‘‘immediate and 

significant adverse impact on a marine 

mammal stock’’ within the MMPA; and 

• Which specific fisheries are, or may 

be, directly associated with potential 

mortality of vaquita and therefore fall 

within the scope of the petition for 

emergency action. 

Dated: August 16, 2017. 

John Henderschedt, 

Director, Office of International Affairs and 

Seafood Inspection, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2017–17717 Filed 8–21–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 622 

RIN 0648–BG82 

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of 

Mexico, and South Atlantic; Shrimp 

Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico; 

Amendment 17B 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of availability; request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: The Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) 

Fishery Management Council (Council) 

has submitted Amendment 17B to the 

Fishery Management Plan for the 

Shrimp Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico 

U.S. Waters (FMP), for review, approval, 

and implementation by NMFS. 

Amendment 17B includes actions to 

define the aggregate maximum 

sustainable yield (MSY) and aggregate 

optimum yield (OY) for the Gulf shrimp 

fishery, determine a minimum number 

of Federal commercial vessel 

moratorium permits in the fishery, 

would allow for the creation of a 

Federal Gulf shrimp reserve pool permit 

when certain conditions are met, and 

would allow for non-federally permitted 

shrimping vessels to transit through the 

Gulf exclusive economic zone (EEZ) 

with shrimp on board the vessel. The 

purpose of Amendment 17B is to protect 

federally managed Gulf shrimp stocks 

while maintaining catch efficiency, 

economic efficiency, and stability in the 

fishery. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received on or before October 23, 2017. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on Amendment 17B, identified by 

‘‘NOAA–NMFS–2017-0040’’ by either of 

the following methods: 

• Electronic Submission: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to 

www.regulations.gov/ 

#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2017- 

0040, click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon, 

complete the required fields, and enter 

or attach your comments. 

• Mail: Submit written comments to 

Frank Helies, Southeast Regional Office, 

NMFS, 263 13th Avenue South, St. 

Petersburg, FL 33701. 

Instructions: Comments sent by any 

other method, to any other address or 

individual, or received after the end of 

the comment period, may not be 

considered by NMFS. 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.), 

confidential business information, or 

otherwise sensitive information 

submitted voluntarily by the sender will 

be publicly accessible. NMFS will 

accept anonymous comments (enter ‘‘N/ 

A’’ in the required fields if you wish to 

remain anonymous). 

Electronic copies of Amendment 17B, 

which includes an environmental 

assessment, a Regulatory Flexibility Act 

analysis, and a regulatory impact 

review, may be obtained from the 

Southeast Regional Office Web site at 

http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_

fisheries/gulf_fisheries/shrimp/2017/ 

am17b/index.html. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Frank Helies, telephone: 727–824–5305, 

or email: Frank.Helies@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires each 

regional fishery management council to 

submit any FMP or amendment to 

NMFS for review and approval, partial 

approval, or disapproval. The 

Magnuson-Stevens Act also requires 

that NMFS, upon receiving a plan or 

amendment, publish an announcement 

in the Federal Register notifying the 

public that the plan or amendment is 

available for review and comment. 

The FMP being revised by 

Amendment 17B was prepared by the 

Council and implemented through 

regulations at 50 CFR part 622 under the 

authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. 

Background 

From 2003 to 2006, the Gulf shrimp 

fishery experienced significant 

economic losses, primarily as a result of 

high fuel costs and reduced prices 

caused by competition with imports. 

These economic losses contributed to a 

reduction in the number of vessels in 

the fishery, and consequently, a 

reduction of commercial effort. During 

that time, commercial vessels in the 

Gulf shrimp fishery were required to 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with PROPOSALS