Comment Period Reopened for 2005 MMPA List of Fisheries On December 2, 2004, the proposed List of Fisheries for 2005 under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) was published in the Federal Register. NOAA Fisheries Service must categorize each commercial fishery on the List of Fisheries into one of three categories under the MMPA, based on the level of serious injury and mortality of marine mammals that occurs incidental to the fishery. A draft environmental assessment was subsequently prepared. NOAA Fisheries Service has reopened the comment period on the proposed 2005 List of Fisheries for an additional 60 days to allow the public to concurrently review and comment on both the draft environmental assessment and proposed 2005 List of Fisheries.
In the proposed List of Fisheries for 2005, the agency proposed several fishery classification, fishery name, and organizational changes. In particular, this proposal would reclassify the California/Oregon thresher shark/swordfish drift gillnet from Category II (occasional incidental mortality and serious injury) to Category I (frequent incidental mortality and serious injury) and reclassify the Northeast bottom trawl, Mid-Atlantic bottom trawl, and five Alaska fisheries from Category III (remote likelihood of or no known incidental mortality and serious injury) to Category II. The five Alaska fisheries include the following: Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) flatfish trawl, BSAI Greenland turbot longline, BSAI pollock trawl, Bering Sea sablefish pot, and Gulf of Alaska Pacific cod longline.
Public comments must be received by October 24, 2005. Please visit http://www.regulations.gov.
For more information, contact Kr*********@no**.gov.
Comment Period Reopened for 2005 MMPA List of Fisheries
On December 2, 2004, the proposed List of Fisheries for 2005 under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) was published in the Federal Register. NOAA Fisheries Service must categorize each commercial fishery on the List of Fisheries into one of three categories under the MMPA, based on the level of serious injury and mortality of marine mammals that occurs incidental to the fishery. A draft environmental assessment was subsequently prepared. NOAA Fisheries Service has reopened the comment period on the proposed 2005 List of Fisheries for an additional 60 days to allow the public to concurrently review and comment on both the draft environmental assessment and proposed 2005 List of Fisheries.
Click here to view these documents.In the proposed List of Fisheries for 2005, the agency proposed several fishery classification, fishery name, and organizational changes. In particular, this proposal would reclassify the California/Oregon thresher shark/swordfish drift gillnet from Category II (occasional incidental mortality and serious injury) to Category I (frequent incidental mortality and serious injury) and reclassify the Northeast bottom trawl, Mid-Atlantic bottom trawl, and five Alaska fisheries from Category III (remote likelihood of or no known incidental mortality and serious injury) to Category II. The five Alaska fisheries include the following: Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) flatfish trawl, BSAI Greenland turbot longline, BSAI pollock trawl, Bering Sea sablefish pot, and Gulf of Alaska Pacific cod longline.
Public comments must be received by October 24, 2005. Please visit http://www.regulations.gov.
For more information, contact
Kr*********@no**.gov.