[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 213 (Monday, November 4, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 87566-87567]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-25541]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XE443]
2025 Annual Determination To Implement the Sea Turtle Observer
Requirement
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notification of annual determination of fisheries.
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SUMMARY: NMFS is providing notification that the agency will not
identify additional fisheries to observe on the 2025 Annual
Determination (AD), pursuant to its authority under the Endangered
Species Act (ESA). 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 2020 and 2023 ADs (see table 1) remain on
the AD for a 5-year period and are required to carry observers upon
NMFS' request until September 29, 2025, and December 31, 2027,
respectively.
DATES: Published on November 4, 2024.
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: Wendy Piniak, 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 [DPS]), leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), green (Chelonia
mydas; Central West Pacific and Central South Pacific DPSs), and
hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) sea turtles are listed as
endangered. Loggerhead (Northwest Atlantic Ocean DPS), green (North
Atlantic, South Atlantic, Central North Pacific, and East Pacific
DPSs), 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. Pacific 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 ESA or a regulation issued to
implement the ESA. 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.
For most fisheries, 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 U.S. 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
[[Page 87567]]
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 protocols to investigate whether, how, when, where, and
under what conditions sea turtle bycatch is occurring and to evaluate
whether existing measures are minimizing or preventing bycatch.
2025 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.
NMFS is providing notification that the agency is not identifying
additional fisheries to observe on the 2025 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 four fisheries identified on the 2020 AD (see table 1)
will remain on the AD for a 5-year period and are required to carry
observers upon NMFS' request until September 29, 2025. The two
fisheries identified on the 2023 AD (see table 1) will remain on the AD
for a 5-year period and are required to carry observers upon NMFS'
request until December 31, 2027.
Table 1--State and Federal Commercial Fisheries Included on the 2020 and
2023 Annual Determinations
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Years eligible
Fishery to carry
observers
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Trawl Fisheries:
Southeastern U.S. Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico shrimp 2020-2025
trawl..............................................
Gulf of Mexico mixed species fish trawl............. 2020-2025
Gillnet Fisheries:
Chesapeake Bay inshore gillnet...................... 2020-2025
Long Island inshore gillnet......................... 2020-2025
Mid-Atlantic gillnet................................ 2023-2027
Pound Net/Weir/Seine Fisheries:
Gulf of Mexico menhaden purse seine................. 2023-2027
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Dated: October 29, 2024.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-25541 Filed 11-1-24; 8:45 am]
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