Commerce Department, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NMFS issues this final rule to amend the regulations implementing the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (ALWTRP). This final rule revises the management measures for reducing the incidental mortality and serious injury to the Northern right whale (Eubalaena glacialis), humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), and fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) in commercial fisheries to meet the goals of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The measures identified in the ALWTRP are also intended to benefit minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), which are not strategic, but are known to be taken incidentally in commercial fisheries. This final rule implements additional regulations for the fisheries currently covered by the ALWTRP (the Northeast sink gillnet, Northeast/Mid-Atlantic American lobster trap/pot, Mid-Atlantic gillnet, Southeast Atlantic gillnet, and Southeastern U.S. Atlantic shark gillnet fisheries) and regulates several fisheries from the MMPA List of Fisheries for the first time under the ALWTRP, including the following: Northeast anchored float gillnet, Northeast drift gillnet, Atlantic blue crab, and Atlantic mixed species trap/pot fisheries targeting crab (red, Jonah, and rock), hagfish, finfish (black sea bass, scup, tautog, cod, haddock, pollock, redfish (ocean perch), and white hake), conch/whelk, and shrimp.
Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 50 CFR Parts 229, 635, and 648 [Docket No. 0612242977-7216-01; I.D. 120304D] RIN 0648-AS01 AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: NMFS issues this final rule to amend the regulations implementing the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (ALWTRP). This final rule revises the management measures for reducing the incidental mortality and serious injury to the Northern right whale ( Eubalaena glacialis ), humpback whale ( Megaptera novaeangliae ), and fin whale ( Balaenoptera physalus ) in commercial fisheries to meet the goals of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The measures identified in the ALWTRP are also intended to benefit minke whales ( Balaenoptera acutorostrata ), which are not strategic, but are known to be taken incidentally in commercial fisheries. This final rule implements additional regulations for the fisheries currently covered by the ALWTRP (the Northeast sink gillnet, Northeast/Mid-Atlantic American lobster trap/pot, Mid-Atlantic gillnet, Southeast Atlantic gillnet, and Southeastern U.S. Atlantic shark gillnet fisheries) and regulates several fisheries from the MMPA List of Fisheries for the first time under the ALWTRP, including the following: Northeast anchored float gillnet, Northeast drift gillnet, Atlantic blue crab, and Atlantic mixe…
Citation: 72 FR 57104
