[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 161 (Tuesday, August 22, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 39732-39733]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-17717]


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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.

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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 e-Rulemaking 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 
[email protected] 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

[[Page 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 Comit[eacute] Internacional para la Recuperaci[oacute]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