[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 40 (Tuesday, March 3, 2009)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 9207-9208]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-4478]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 300

RIN 0648-AX72


Identification and Certification of Nations Whose Fishing Vessels 
Are Engaged in Illegal, Unreported, or Unregulated Fishing or Bycatch 
of Protected Living Marine Resources

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

ACTION: Notice of public hearing; request for comments.

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[[Page 9208]]

SUMMARY: NMFS published a proposed rule for developing identification 
and certification procedures to address illegal, unreported, or 
unregulated (IUU) fishing activities and bycatch of protected living 
marine resources (PLMRs) pursuant to the High Seas Driftnet Fishing 
Moratorium Protection Act (Moratorium Protection Act). This notice is 
to announce five public hearings and to discuss and collect comments on 
the issues described in the proposed rule.

DATES: Written comments must be received no later than 5:00 pm Eastern 
time on May 14, 2009. Public hearings will be held in March, April, and 
May of 2009. For specific dates and times, see SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION.

ADDRESSES: Public hearings will be held in Boston, MA; Silver Spring, 
MD; La Jolla, CA; Seattle, WA; and Miami, FL. For specific locations, 
see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. Written comments on this action, 
identified by RIN 0648-AV51, may be submitted by any of the following 
methods:
     Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov.
     Mail: Laura Cimo, Trade and Marine Stewardship Division, 
Office of International Affairs, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver 
Spring, MD 20910.
    Instructions: All comments received are a part of the public record 
and will generally be posted to http://www.regulations.gov 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. 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, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file 
formats only.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura Cimo (ph. 301-713-9090, fax 301-
713-9106, e-mail [email protected]).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On January 14, 2009 (74 FR 2019), NMFS 
published a proposed rule for developing certification procedures to 
address IUU fishing activities and PLMR bycatch pursuant to the 
Moratorium Protection Act. The regulatory measures proposed in this 
rule encourage nations to cooperate with the United States towards 
ending IUU fishing and reducing the bycatch of PLMRs.
    Under the proposed rule, NMFS is required to identify foreign 
nations whose fishing vessels are engaged in IUU fishing or fishing 
activities or practices that result in bycatch of PLMRs in a biennial 
report to Congress. Once a nation has been identified in the biennial 
report, a notification and consultation process will be initiated. 
Subsequent to this process, NMFS will initiate a certification process 
regarding identified nations that considers whether the government of 
an identified nation has provided evidence that sufficient corrective 
action has been taken with respect to the activities described in the 
report or whether the relevant international fishery management 
organization has implemented measures that are effective in ending the 
IUU fishing activity by vessels of that nation. Nations will either 
receive a positive or a negative certification.
    The absence of sufficient action by an identified nation to address 
IUU fishing and/or PLMR bycatch may lead to the denial of port 
privileges for vessels of that nation, prohibitions on the importation 
of certain fish or fish products into the United States from that 
nation, or other measures.
    Identified nations that are not positively certified by the 
Secretary of Commerce could be subject to prohibitions on the 
importation of certain fisheries products into the United States and 
other measures, including limitations on port access, under the High 
Seas Driftnet Fisheries Enforcement Act (Enforcement Act)(16 U.S.C. 
1826a).

Request for Comments

    NMFS will hold five public hearings to receive oral and written 
comments on these proposed actions. Comments received on the proposed 
rule will assist NMFS in developing a final rule.

Dates, Times, and Locations

    The public hearings will be held as follows:
    1. Monday, March 16, 2009, 9:00-11:00 a.m., Boston Convention & 
Exhibition Center, 415 Summer Street, meeting room 203, Boston, MA 
02210; phone 617-954-2000.
    2. Monday, April 6, 2009, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Hilton Hotel, 8727 
Colesville Road, Lincoln Ballroom, Silver Spring, MD 20910; phone 301-
589-5200.
    3. Monday, April 13, 2009, 4:00-6:00 p.m., NMFS Southwest Fisheries 
Science Center, 3333 N. Torrey Pines Court, meeting room 370, La Jolla, 
CA 92037; phone 858-546-7000.
    4. Tuesday, April 14, 2009, 4:00-6:00 p.m., NMFS Northwest 
Fisheries Science Center, 2725 Montlake Boulevard East, Auditorium, 
Seattle, WA 98112; phone 206-860-3200. Proof of identification will be 
required for entry.
    5. Tuesday, May 12, 2009, 6:30-8:00 p.m., Miami Airport Marriott, 
1201 NW LeJeune Road, Caribbean Room, Miami, FL 33126; phone 305-649-
5000.

Special Accommodations

    The sessions are physically accessible to people with disabilities. 
Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids 
should be directed to Laura Cimo (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT) 
at least 7 days prior to the session.

    Dated: February 25, 2009.
Rebecca J. Lent,
Director, Office of International Affairs, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. E9-4478 Filed 3-2-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S