[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 189 (Tuesday, September 29, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60963-60964]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-21468]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XA417]


2021 Annual Determination To Implement the Sea Turtle Observer 
Requirement

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is providing 
notification that the agency will not identify additional fisheries to 
observe on the 2021 Annual Determination (AD), pursuant to its 
authority under the Endangered Species Act (ESA or Act). Through the 
AD, NMFS identifies U.S. fisheries operating in the Atlantic Ocean, 
Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific Ocean that will be required to take 
observers upon NMFS' request. The purpose of observing identified 
fisheries is to learn more about sea turtle bycatch in a given fishery, 
evaluate measures to prevent or reduce sea turtle bycatch, and 
implement the prohibition against sea turtle takes. Fisheries 
identified on the 2018 and 2020 ADs (see Table 1) remain on the AD for 
a 5-year period and are required to carry observers upon NMFS' request 
until December 31, 2022, and September 29, 2025 respectively.

ADDRESSES: Chief, Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Conservation Division, 
Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver 
Spring, MD 20910.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jaclyn Taylor, Office of Protected 
Resources, 301-427-8402; Ellen Keane, Greater Atlantic Region, 978-282-
8476; Dennis Klemm, Southeast Region, 727-824-5312; Dan Lawson, West 
Coast Region, 206-526-4740; Irene Kelly, Pacific Islands Region, 808-
725-5141. Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the 
hearing impaired may call the Federal Information Relay Service at 800-
877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday, 
excluding Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Purpose of the Sea Turtle Observer Requirement

    Under the ESA, 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq., NMFS has the responsibility 
to implement programs to conserve marine life listed as endangered or 
threatened. All sea turtles found in U.S. waters are listed as either 
endangered or threatened under the ESA. Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys 
kempii), loggerhead (Caretta caretta; North Pacific distinct population 
segment), leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), green (Chelonia mydas; 
Central West Pacific and Central South Pacific distinct population 
segments), and hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) sea turtles are 
listed as endangered. Loggerhead (Caretta caretta; Northwest Atlantic 
Ocean distinct population segment), green (Chelonia mydas; North 
Atlantic, South Atlantic, Central North Pacific, and East Pacific 
distinct population segments), and olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) 
sea turtles are listed as threatened, except for breeding colony 
populations of olive ridleys on the Pacific coast of Mexico, which are 
listed as endangered. Due to the inability to distinguish between 
populations of olive ridley turtles away from the nesting beach, NMFS 
considers these turtles endangered wherever they occur in U.S. waters. 
While some sea turtle populations have shown signs of recovery, many 
populations continue to decline.
    Bycatch in fishing gear is the primary anthropogenic source of sea 
turtle injury and mortality in U.S. waters. Section 9 of the ESA 
prohibits the take (defined to include harassing, harming, pursuing, 
hunting, shooting, wounding, killing, trapping, capturing, or 
collecting or attempting to engage in any such conduct), including 
incidental take, of endangered sea turtles. Pursuant to section 4(d) of 
the ESA, NMFS has issued regulations extending the prohibition of take, 
with exceptions, to threatened sea turtles (50 CFR 223.205 and 
223.206). Section 11 of the ESA provides for civil and criminal 
penalties for anyone who violates the Act or a regulation issued to 
implement the Act. NMFS may grant exceptions to the take prohibitions 
with an incidental take statement or an incidental take permit issued 
pursuant to ESA section 7 or 10, respectively. To do so, NMFS must 
determine that the activity that will result in incidental take is not 
likely to jeopardize the continued existence of the affected listed 
species. For some Federal fisheries and most state fisheries, NMFS has 
not granted an exception for incidental takes of sea turtles primarily 
because we lack information about fishery-sea turtle interactions.
    The most effective way for NMFS to learn more about bycatch in 
order to implement the take prohibitions and prevent or minimize take 
is to place observers aboard fishing vessels. In 2007, NMFS issued a 
regulation (50 CFR 222.402) establishing procedures to annually 
identify, pursuant to specified criteria and after notice and 
opportunity for comment, those fisheries in which the agency intends to 
place observers (72 FR 43176; August 3, 2007). These regulations 
specify that NMFS may place observers on U.S. fishing vessels, 
commercial or recreational, operating in U.S. territorial waters, the 
U.S. exclusive economic zone, or on the high seas, or on vessels that 
are otherwise subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Failure 
to comply with the requirements under this regulation may result in 
civil or criminal penalties under the ESA.
    NMFS will pay the direct costs for vessels to carry the required 
observers. These include observer salary and insurance costs. NMFS may 
also evaluate other potential direct costs, should they arise. Once 
selected, a fishery will be required to carry observers, if requested, 
for a period of 5 years without further action by NMFS. This will 
enable NMFS to develop appropriate observer coverage and sampling 
protocol to investigate whether, how, when, where, and under what 
conditions sea turtle bycatch is occurring; to evaluate whether 
existing measures are minimizing or preventing bycatch; and to 
implement ESA take prohibitions and conserve and recover turtles.

2021 Annual Determination

    Pursuant to 50 CFR 222.402(a), NOAA's Assistant Administrator for 
Fisheries, in consultation with Regional Administrators and Fisheries 
Science Center Directors, annually identifies fisheries for inclusion 
on the AD based on the extent to which:
    (1) The fishery operates in the same waters and at the same time as 
sea turtles are present;
    (2) The fishery operates at the same time or prior to elevated sea 
turtle strandings; or
    (3) The fishery uses a gear or technique that is known or likely to 
result in incidental take of sea turtles based on documented or 
reported takes in the same or similar fisheries; and
    (4) NMFS intends to monitor the fishery and anticipates that it 
will have the funds to do so.

[[Page 60964]]

    NMFS is providing notification that the agency is not identifying 
additional fisheries to observe on the 2021 AD, pursuant to its 
authority under the ESA. NMFS is not identifying additional fisheries 
at this time given lack of dedicated resources to implement new 
observer programs or expand existing observer programs to focus on sea 
turtles. The two fisheries identified on the 2018 AD (see Table 1) will 
remain on the AD for a 5-year period and are therefore required to 
carry observers upon NMFS' request until December 31, 2022. The four 
fisheries identified on the 2020 AD (see Table 1) will remain on the AD 
for a 5-year period and are therefore required to carry observers upon 
NMFS' request until September 29, 2025.

Table 1--State and Federal Commercial Fisheries Included on the 2018 and
                       2020 Annual Determinations
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                                                          Years eligible
                         Fishery                             to carry
                                                             observers
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                             Trawl Fisheries
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Southeastern U.S. Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico shrimp trawl.       2020-2025
Gulf of Mexico mixed species fish trawl.................       2020-2025
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                            Gillnet Fisheries
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Mid-Atlantic gillnet....................................       2018-2022
Chesapeake Bay inshore gillnet..........................       2020-2025
Long Island inshore gillnet.............................       2020-2025
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                     Pound Net/Weir/Seine Fisheries
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Gulf of Mexico menhaden purse seine.....................       2018-2022
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    Dated: September 23, 2020.
Donna S. Wieting,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-21468 Filed 9-28-20; 8:45 am]
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