Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 166 / Tuesday, August 29, 2017 / Notices 40999 

species or stock through effects on 

annual rates of recruitment or survival.’’ 

Regulations governing the taking of 

individuals of 16 species of marine 

mammals, representing 16 stocks, by 

Level B harassment, and 4 of those same 

species by Level A harassment, 

incidental to 86 FWS LRS WSEP 

training activities are valid from August 

21, 2017, through August 20, 2022 and 

are codified at 50 CFR part 218, subpart 

F. The regulations include mitigation, 

monitoring, and reporting requirements. 

Pursuant to those regulations, NMFS 

issued a five-year LOA for the incidental 

take of marine mammals during training 

activities on BSURE area of the PMRF 

on April 21, 2017. For detailed 

information on this action, please refer 

to the August 22, 2017 Federal Register 

notice (82 FR 39684) and 50 CFR part 

218, subpart F. 

Summary of Request 

On December 21, 2016, NMFS 

received an adequate and complete 

application from the 86 FWS for 

regulations governing the taking of 16 

species of marine mammals 

representing 16 stocks incidental to LRS 

WSEP activities in the BSURE of the 

PMRF off Kauai, Hawaii. On January 6, 

2017, we published a notice of receipt 

of the 86 FWS’s application in the 

Federal Register (82 FR 1702) 

requesting public comment on the 

application and subsequently published 

a notice of proposed rulemaking in the 

Federal Register on May 5, 2017 (82 FR 

21156) requesting public comment on 

the proposed rule. Since publishing the 

proposed rule, the 86 FWS clarified 

training would only occur four days per 

year, not five as presented in the 

application and proposed rule. 

Moreover, the 86 FWS decreased the 

number of munitions it would deploy 

annually, by 40 to 92 percent depending 

on year. This decreases the number of 

anticipated and authorized takes for this 

activity compared to what was 

presented in the proposed rule. In 

addition, NMFS worked with the 86 

FWS to develop a comprehensive 

marine mammal mitigation and 

monitoring plan designed to decrease 

potential impacts to marine mammals. 

To support issuance of the LOA, NMFS 

adopted the 86 FWS’ Final 

Environmental Assessment/Overseas 

Environmental Assessment (EA/OEA) 

for the Long Range Strike Weapon 

Systems Evaluation Program at Kauai, 

Hawaii, and issued a Finding of No 

Significant Impact (FONSI) on August 

11, 2017. 

The final rule (82 FR 39684, August 

22, 2017) and 86 FWS EA/OEA include 

a complete description of the 86 FWS’s 

specified training activities incidental to 

which NMFS is authorizing take of 

marine mammals. Air-to-surface 

exercises involving surface and slightly 

subsurface live munition detonations 

are the stressors most likely to result in 

impacts on marine mammals that could 

rise to the level of harassment. 

Authorization 

We have issued a LOA to the 86 FWS 

authorizing the take of marine 

mammals, by harassment, incidental to 

LRS WSEP training activities on the 

BSURE area of the PMRF as described 

above. The level and type of take 

authorized by the LOA is the same as 

the level and type of take analyzed in 

the final rule (82 FR 39864, August 22, 

2017). Take by mortality or serious 

injury is not anticipated or authorized. 

Take of marine mammals will be 

minimized through implementation of 

mitigation and monitoring measures, 

including: Aerial surveys using sensor 

pods and range camera monitoring 

before, during, and after training; 

delaying exercises if a marine mammal 

is observed within an exclusion zone to 

avoid exposing marine mammals to 

levels of explosives likely to result in 

injury or death; delaying exercises if 

marine mammals are observed within a 

designated harassment zone if take is 

exceeded or not authorized, and shifting 

target coordinates as far from an 

observed marine mammal as possible. 

The 86 FWS is required to also comply 

with monitoring and reporting measures 

under 50 CFR 218.55 which includes 

collecting data from the PMRF 

hydrophones to better understand 

impacts, if any, of LRS WSEP training 

activities on marine mammals. 

Additionally, the rule and LOA include 

an adaptive management component 

that allows for timely modification of 

mitigation or monitoring measures 

based on new information, when 

appropriate. For full details on the 

mitigation, monitoring, and reporting 

requirements, please refer to the final 

rule (82 FR 39684; August 22 2017). 

Issuance of the LOA is based on 

findings, described in the preamble to 

the final rule, that the total taking of 

marine mammals incidental to the 86 

FWS’s training activities on the PMRF 

will have a negligible impact on the 

affected marine mammal species or 

stocks and will not have an unmitigable 

adverse impact on the availability of 

such species or stocks for taking for 

subsistence purposes. 

The LOA will remain valid through 

August 20, 2022, provided the 86 FWS 

remains in conformance with the 

conditions of the regulations and the 

LOA, including the mitigation, 

monitoring, and reporting requirements 

described in 50 CFR part 218, subpart F 

and the LOA. 

Dated: August 24, 2017. 

Donna S. Wieting, 

Director, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2017–18260 Filed 8–28–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XF644 

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 will hold a 3-day 

meeting of its Standing, Reef Fish, and 

Socioeconomics Scientific and 

Statistical Committees (SSC). 

DATES: The meeting will convene on 

Tuesday, September 12, 2017, from 9 

a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday, September 

13, 2017, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 

Thursday, September 14, 2017, from 

8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. EDT. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held in 

the Gulf Council’s Conference Room. 

Council address: Gulf of Mexico 

Fishery Management Council, 2203 N. 

Lois Avenue, Suite 1100, Tampa, FL 

33607; telephone: (813) 348–1630. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Steven Atran, Senior Fishery Biologist, 

Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management 

Council; steven.atran@gulfcouncil.org, 

telephone: (813) 348–1630. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Day 1—Tuesday, September 12, 2017; 9 

a.m.–5 p.m. 

I. Introductions and Adoption of 

Agenda 

II. Approval of Minutes 

a. March 27–29, 2017 SSC meeting 

b. May 10, 2017 SSC webinar 

III. Selection of SSC representative at 

October 2–5, 2017 Council meeting 

in Biloxi, MS 

Standing and Socioeconomic SSC 

Session 

IV. Grouper and Tilefish 5-year IFQ 

Review 

a. Safety at sea 

b. Stakeholders survey 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
41000 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 166 / Tuesday, August 29, 2017 / Notices 

Standing, Socioeconomic and Reef Fish 

SSC Session 

V. Alternative Approaches to 

Recreational Red Snapper 

Management 

a. Review of relevant legislative 

approaches 

b. Other alternative approaches to 

recreational red snapper 

management 

Standing and Reef Fish SSC Session 

VI. Further Development of a Stock 

Assessment Prioritization 

Spreadsheet 

Day 2—Wednesday, September 13, 

2017: 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m. 

VII. Review of Draft Status 

Determination Criteria Options 

Paper 

VIII. A Comparison of Recent Stock 

Assessment Results Using SS3 vs. 

DLMToolkit 

a. Greater amberjack 

b. Gray triggerfish 

IX. SEDAR Activities 

a. Status of SEDAR 48—black grouper 

benchmark assessment 

b. FWC Gulf hogfish update 

assessment—Terms of Reference 

c. SEDAR 61 Gulf red grouper 

standard assessment 

i. Terms of reference 

ii. Project schedule 

iii. Assessment workshop 

appointments 

X. Review of Draft Generic 

Amendment—Carry-over Provision 

and Framework Modifications 

a. Simulation of the Effect of Carrying 

Over Unused ACL 

Day 3—Thursday, September 14, 2017: 

8:30 a.m.–2 p.m. 

XI. Evaluating Robustness of Harvest 

Control Rules to Future Red Tide 

Events 

XII. Spawning Aggregations in the Gulf 

of Mexico 

a. RESTORE Act Science Program 

project on spawning aggregations in 

the Gulf of Mexico 

b. Prediction and Verification of 

Snapper-Grouper Spawning 

Aggregation Sites on the Offshore 

Banks of the Northwestern Gulf of 

Mexico 

XIII. Review of Framework Action to 

Modify the ACT for Red Snapper 

Federal For-Hire and Private Angler 

Components 

XIV. Review of Closed Season Decision 

Tool and Analysis for Greater 

Amberjack 

XV. Tentative 2018 SSC Meeting Dates 

XVI. Other Business 

—Meeting Adjourns 

You may register for the SSC Meeting: 

Standing, Reef Fish, and Socioeconomic 

on September 12–14, 2017 at: https://

attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/ 

4690969987648505603. 

The Agenda is subject to change, and 

the latest version along with other 

meeting materials will be posted on the 

Council’s 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’’. Click on the ‘‘Library 

Folder’’, then scroll down to ‘‘SSC 

meeting—2017–09’’. 

Although other non-emergency issues 

not on the agenda may come before the 

Scientific and Statistical Committee for 

discussion, in accordance with the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act, 

those issues may not be the subject of 

formal action during this meeting. 

Actions of the Scientific and Statistical 

Committee will be restricted to those 

issues specifically identified in the 

agenda 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 action to 

address the emergency. 

Special Accommodations 

This 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 Gulf Council Office 

(see ADDRESSES), at least 5 working days 

prior to the meeting. 

Dated: August 24, 2017. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2017–18302 Filed 8–28–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XF631 

Fisheries of the Gulf of Mexico; 

Southeast Data, Assessment, and 

Review (SEDAR); Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of SEDAR 51 assessment 

webinar III for Gulf of Mexico gray 

snapper. 

SUMMARY: The SEDAR 51 assessment 

process of Gulf of Mexico gray snapper 

will consist of a Data Workshop, a series 

of assessment webinars, and a Review 

Workshop. See SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION. 

DATES: The SEDAR 51 assessment 

webinar III will be held September 19, 

2017 from 1 p.m.–3 p.m. Eastern Time. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held 

via webinar. The webinar is open to 

members of the public. Those interested 

in participating should contact Julie A. 

Neer at SEDAR (see FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT) to request an 

invitation providing webinar access 

information. Please request webinar 

invitations at least 24 hours in advance 

of each webinar. 

SEDAR address: 4055 Faber Place 

Drive, Suite 201, North Charleston, SC 

29405. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julie 

A. Neer, SEDAR Coordinator; (843) 571– 

4366; email: Julie.neer@safmc.net. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Gulf 

of Mexico, South Atlantic, and 

Caribbean Fishery Management 

Councils, in conjunction with NOAA 

Fisheries and the Atlantic and Gulf 

States Marine Fisheries Commissions 

have implemented the Southeast Data, 

Assessment and Review (SEDAR) 

process, a multi-step method for 

determining the status of fish stocks in 

the Southeast Region. SEDAR is a multistep process including: (1) Data 

Workshop, (2) a series of assessment 

webinars, and (3) A Review Workshop. 

The product of the Data Workshop is a 

report that compiles and evaluates 

potential datasets and recommends 

which datasets are appropriate for 

assessment analyses. The assessment 

webinars produce a report that describes 

the fisheries, evaluates the status of the 

stock, estimates biological benchmarks, 

projects future population conditions, 

and recommends research and 

monitoring needs. The product of the 

Review Workshop is an Assessment 

Summary documenting panel opinions 

regarding the strengths and weaknesses 

of the stock assessment and input data. 

Participants for SEDAR Workshops are 

appointed by the Gulf of Mexico, South 

Atlantic, and Caribbean Fishery 

Management Councils and NOAA 

Fisheries Southeast Regional Office, 

HMS Management Division, and 

Southeast Fisheries Science Center. 

Participants include data collectors and 

database managers; stock assessment 

scientists, biologists, and researchers; 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES