[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 60 (Wednesday, March 27, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21241-21242]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-06495]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XC937]


Pacific Island Fisheries; Marine Conservation Plan for Guam; 
Western Pacific Sustainable Fisheries Fund

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

ACTION: Notice of agency decision.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces approval of a Marine Conservation Plan (MCP) 
for Guam.

DATES: This agency decision is effective from March 27, 2024 through 
August 3, 2026.

ADDRESSES: You may obtain a copy of the MCP, identified by NOAA-NMFS-
2023-0059, from the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal, https://www.regulations.gov/docket/NOAA-NMFS-2023-0059, or from the Western 
Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council), 1164 Bishop St., Suite 
1400, Honolulu, HI 96813, 808-522-8220, https://www.wpcouncil.org.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Keith Kamikawa, Sustainable Fisheries, 
NMFS Pacific Islands Regional Office, 808-725-5177.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 204(e) of the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) 
authorizes the Secretary of State, with the concurrence of the 
Secretary of Commerce (Secretary), and in consultation with the 
Council, to negotiate and enter into a Pacific Insular Area fishery 
agreement (PIAFA). A PIAFA would allow foreign fishing within the U.S. 
Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) adjacent to American Samoa, Guam, or the 
Northern Mariana Islands. The Governor of the Pacific Insular Area to 
which the PIAFA applies must request the PIAFA. The Secretary of State 
may negotiate and enter the PIAFA after consultation with, and 
concurrence of, the applicable Governor.
    Before entering into a PIAFA, the applicable Governor, with 
concurrence of the Council, must develop and submit to the Secretary a 
3-year MCP providing details on uses for any funds collected by the 
Secretary under the PIAFA. NMFS is the designee of the Secretary for 
MCP review and approval. The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires payments 
received under a PIAFA to be deposited into the United States Treasury 
and then conveyed to the Treasury of the Pacific Insular Area for which 
funds were collected.
    In the case of violations by foreign fishing vessels in the EEZ 
around any Pacific Insular Area, amounts received by the Secretary 
attributable to fines and penalties imposed under the Magnuson-Stevens 
Act, including sums collected from the forfeiture and disposition or 
sale of property seized subject to its authority, are deposited into 
the Treasury of the Pacific Insular Area adjacent to the EEZ in which 
the violation occurred, after direct costs of the enforcement action 
are subtracted. The Pacific Insular Area government may use funds 
deposited into the Treasury of the Pacific Insular Area for fisheries 
enforcement and for implementation of an MCP.
    Federal regulations at 50 CFR 665.819 authorize NMFS to specify 
catch limits for longline-caught bigeye tuna for U.S. territories. NMFS 
may also authorize each territory to allocate a portion of that limit 
to U.S. longline fishing vessels that are permitted to fish under the 
Fishery Ecosystem Plan for Pelagic Fisheries of the Western Pacific 
(FEP). Payments collected under specified fishing agreements are 
deposited into the Western Pacific Sustainable Fisheries Fund, and any 
funds attributable to a particular territory may be used only for 
implementation of that territory's MCP. An MCP must be consistent with 
the Council's FEPs, must identify conservation and management 
objectives (including criteria for determining when such objectives 
have been met), and must prioritize planned marine conservation 
projects.
    At its September 2023 meeting, the Council reviewed and concurred 
with the MCP. On November 27, 2023, the Governor of Guam submitted the 
MCP to NMFS for review and approval. The MCP contains the following six 
conservation and management objectives:
    1. Fisheries resource assessment, research and monitoring;
    2. Effective surveillance and enforcement mechanisms;
    3. Promote ecosystems approach in fisheries management, climate 
change adaptation and mitigation, and regional cooperation;
    4. Public participation, research, education and outreach, and 
local capacity building;
    5. Domestic fisheries development; and
    6. Recognizing the importance of island cultures and traditional 
fishing practices and community based management.

[[Page 21242]]

    Please refer to the MCP for projects and activities designed to 
meet each objective, the evaluative criteria, and priority rankings.
    This notice announces that NMFS has reviewed the MCP and determined 
that it satisfies the requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. 
Accordingly, NMFS has approved the MCP for the time period from the 
publication of this notice through August 3, 2026. This MCP supersedes 
the one approved previously for August 4, 2020, through August 3, 2023 
(85 FR 55642, September 9, 2020).

    Dated: March 22, 2024.
Everett Wayne Baxter,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-06495 Filed 3-26-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P