[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 83 (Thursday, April 30, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24246-24247]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-10125]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XD922


Presidential Task Force on Combating Illegal Unreported and 
Unregulated (IUU) Fishing and Seafood Fraud Action Plan Recommendations 
14/15 Identifying Species ``At Risk'' of IUU Fishing and Seafood Fraud

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

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The National Ocean Council Committee on IUU Fishing and 
Seafood

[[Page 24247]]

Fraud (NOC Committee) is seeking public input on principles to be used 
in determining seafood species ``at risk'' for IUU fishing and seafood 
fraud.

DATES: Comments must be received by June 8, 2015.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by 
NOAA-NMFS-2014-0090, by any 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-2014-0090, click the 
``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or 
attach your comments.
     Mail: Submit written comments to Danielle Rioux, 1315 
East-West Highway; Silver Spring, Maryland 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 by the NOC Committee. 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. The NOC Committee will 
accept anonymous comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you 
wish to remain anonymous).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Danielle Rioux, 301-427-8516.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: According to NOAA, in 2013, U.S. fishers 
landed 9.9 billion pounds of fish and shellfish worth $5.5 billion. 
Globally, illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and 
seafood fraud undermine the sustainability of U.S. and global seafood 
stocks and negatively impact general ecosystem health. At the same 
time, IUU fishing and fraudulent seafood products distort legal markets 
and unfairly compete with the products of law-abiding fishers and 
seafood industries.
    On March 15, 2015, the Presidential Task Force on Combating IUU 
Fishing and Seafood Fraud (Task Force), co-chaired by the Departments 
of Commerce and State, took an historic step to address these issues 
and published its action plan to implement Task Force recommendations 
(http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/ia/iuu/taskforce.html).
    This plan articulates the aggressive steps that Federal agencies 
will take to implement the recommendations the Task Force made to the 
President in December 2014 on a comprehensive framework of integrated 
programs to combat IUU fishing and seafood fraud. The plan identifies 
actions that will strengthen enforcement, create and expand 
partnerships with state and local governments, industry, and non-
governmental organizations, and create a risk-based traceability 
program to track seafood from harvest to entry into U.S. commerce, 
including the use of existing traceability mechanisms. The work the 
Task Force began will continue under the oversight of the NOC 
Committee.
    This notice is the first step in implementing Task Force 
Recommendations 14 and 15, ``Identifying current at risk species 
threatened by IUU fishing and seafood fraud.'' Once ``at-risk'' species 
have been determined, the NOC Committee will transmit the list to 
agencies for appropriate action. This list will form the basis for the 
species addressed in the first phase of the risk-based seafood 
traceability program, as described in the Task Force Action Plan.
    With this notice, the NOC Committee is soliciting comment on what 
principles should be used to determine the seafood species ``at risk'' 
for IUU fishing and seafood fraud. Recommended principles should be 
measurable (i.e., there should be a reasonable amount of existing data 
to assess), and be applicable to domestic and/or international 
fisheries.
    For example, possible principles could include assessing the extent 
to which species are known to have:
     significant domestic or international enforcement-related 
concerns, such as substantial numbers of violations of relevant 
regulations or conservation and management measures, significant 
challenges or limitations in existing enforcement regimes, or repeated 
reports of IUU activity;
     catches that are mis-reported or not reported according to 
the reporting procedures of the relevant international regional 
fisheries management organizations or national authorities, 
particularly when they are of high economic value;
     a human health risk when substituted for other species; 
and
     instances of being substituted for other species in order 
to avoid tariffs or to sell a lower value fish at a higher price.
    Following the public comment period, the NOC Committee will take 
the input received into consideration as it develops a draft list of 
principles to be used in determining species ``at risk'' for IUU 
fishing and seafood fraud. The draft list of principles will then be 
used to create a draft list of ``at-risk'' species. Both the draft list 
of principles and the draft list of ``at-risk'' species will be 
published in the Federal Register for public comment in July 2015.

    Dated: April 27, 2015.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-10125 Filed 4-29-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P