[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 189 (Tuesday, September 29, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 60946-60947]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-21526]



[[Page 60946]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 216

RIN 0648-XG809


Notification of Receipt of a Supplemental Petition To Ban Imports 
of All Fish and Fish Products From New Zealand That Do Not Satisfy the 
Marine Mammal Protection Act

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

ACTION: Receipt of supplemental petition to ban imports through 
emergency rulemaking; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces receipt of a supplemental petition for 
emergency rulemaking under the Administrative Procedure Act. Sea 
Shepherd Legal, Sea Shepherd New Zealand Ltd., and Sea Shepherd 
Conservation Society 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 Maui dolphin in excess of United States standards.

DATES: Written comments must be received by 5 p.m. Eastern Time on 
October 9, 2020.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by 
NOAA-NMFS-2019-0013, by the following method:
    1. Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic comments via the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2019-0013, click the ``Comment Now!'' icon, 
complete the required fields and enter or attach your comments.
    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).
    Anyone who is unable to comment through http://www.regulations.gov 
may contact the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT below to discuss 
potential alternatives for submitting comments.
    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/IASI 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's preamble, 
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 on the Petition

    On February 6, 2019, NMFS received a petition from Sea Shepherd 
Legal, Sea Shepherd New Zealand Ltd, and Sea Shepherd Conservation 
Society to the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of the 
Treasury, and the Department of Commerce to carry out non-discretionary 
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 Maui dolphins in excess of United States standards. The 
petition requested that the relevant Secretary immediately ban all fish 
and fish products originating from fisheries in the Maui dolphin's 
range that employ either gillnets or trawls, unless affirmatively 
identified as having been caught with a gear type other than set nets 
or trawls or affirmatively identified as caught outside the Maui 
dolphin's range.
    NMFS reviewed the petition, supporting documents, New Zealand's 
previous risk assessments and Threat Management Plans (TMP). On June 
18, 2019, NMFS denied the petition, stating that: (1) New Zealand is 
implementing a regulatory program comparable in effectiveness to the 
United States; (2) New Zealand has in place an existing regulatory 
program to reduce Maui dolphin bycatch; and (3) New Zealand was in the 
process of proposing additional regulatory measures that would further 
reduce the risk to Maui dolphins. (See 84 FR 32853, July 10, 2019.)
    Petitioners filed a lawsuit against the relevant Departments in the 
United States Court of International Trade (CIT) on May 21, 2020. On 
August 13, 2020, the CIT remanded Sea Shepherd's February 2019 petition 
at NMFS' request, because New Zealand had announced its final 
regulatory program. NMFS proposed, and the court agreed, that the 
petitioners should have the opportunity to supplement their petition.
    On August 27, 2020, NMFS received the supplemental petition, which 
both maintains the grounds for action outlined in the original petition 
and includes facts that arose after submission of the original 
petition. The supplemental petition directs attention to the following 
new information: (1) The receipt of data from the New Zealand 
government noting sightings of Maui dolphins on the east coast of the 
North Island; (2) the issuance of the 2019 Draft TMP; (3) the final TMP 
announced on June 24, 2020; and (4) the 2020 draft List of Foreign 
Fisheries.
    NMFS will consider public comments received in its evaluation of 
the supplemental information received from the petitioners.


[[Page 60947]]


    Dated: September 24, 2020.
Paul N. Doremus,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Operations, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-21526 Filed 9-28-20; 8:45 am]
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