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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 150 / Monday, August 9, 2021 / Proposed Rules DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 50 CFR Part 229
Docket No. 2107300153
RIN 0648BK40

List of Fisheries for 2022
National Marine Fisheries Service NMFS, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA, Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule, request for comment.
AGENCY:

The National Marine Fisheries Service NMFS publishes its proposed List of Fisheries LOF for 2022, as required by the Marine Mammal Protection Act MMPA. The LOF for 2022 reflects new information on interactions between commercial fisheries and marine mammals. NMFS
must classify each commercial fishery on the LOF into one of three categories under the MMPA based upon the level of mortality and serious injury of marine mammals that occurs incidental to each fishery. The classification of a fishery on the LOF determines whether participants in that fishery are subject to certain provisions of the MMPA, such as registration, observer coverage, and take reduction plan TRP requirements.
DATES: Comments must be received by September 8, 2021.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by NOAA
NMFS20210020, by either of the following methods:
Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to https www.regulations.gov and enter NOAANMFS20210020 in the Search box. Click on the Comment icon, complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.
Mail: Submit written comments to Chief, Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 EastWest Highway, Silver Spring, MD
20910.
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 by NMFS. All comments received are a part of the public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying information e.g., name, address, etc., confidential business information, or
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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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jaclyn Taylor, Office of Protected Resources, 3014278402; Allison Rosner, Greater Atlantic Region, 978
2819328; Jessica Powell, Southeast Region, 7278245312; Dan Lawson, West Coast Region, 2065264740;
Suzie Teerlink, Alaska Region, 907
5867240; Diana Kramer, Pacific Islands Region, 8087255167. Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the hearing impaired may call the Federal Information Relay Service at 1800
8778339 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Eastern time, Monday through Friday, excluding Federal holidays.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
What is the List of Fisheries?
Section 118 of the MMPA requires NMFS to place all U.S. commercial fisheries into one of three categories based on the level of incidental mortality and serious injury of marine mammals occurring in each fishery 16
U.S.C. 1387c1. The classification of a fishery on the LOF determines whether participants in that fishery may be required to comply with certain provisions of the MMPA, such as registration, observer coverage, and take reduction plan requirements. NMFS
must reexamine the LOF annually, considering new information in the Marine Mammal Stock Assessment Reports SARs and other relevant sources, and publish in the Federal Register any necessary changes to the LOF after notice and opportunity for public comment 16 U.S.C. 1387
c1C.
How does NMFS determine in which category a fishery is placed?
The definitions for the fishery classification criteria can be found in the implementing regulations for section 118 of the MMPA 50 CFR 229.2. The criteria are also summarized here.
Fishery Classification Criteria The fishery classification criteria consist of a two-tiered, stock-specific approach that first addresses the total impact of all fisheries on each marine mammal stock and then addresses the impact of individual fisheries on each stock. This approach is based on consideration of the rate, in numbers of animals per year, of incidental mortalities and serious injuries of marine mammals due to commercial fishing operations relative to the
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potential biological removal PBR level for each marine mammal stock. The MMPA 16 U.S.C. 1362 20 defines the PBR level as the maximum number of animals, not including natural mortalities, that may be removed from a marine mammal stock while allowing that stock to reach or maintain its optimum sustainable population. This definition can also be found in the implementing regulations for section 118 of the MMPA 50 CFR 229.2.
Tier 1: Tier 1 considers the cumulative fishery mortality and serious injury for a particular stock. If the total annual mortality and serious injury of a marine mammal stock, across all fisheries, is less than or equal to 10
percent of the PBR level of the stock, all fisheries interacting with the stock will be placed in Category III unless those fisheries interact with other stocks for which total annual mortality and serious injury is greater than 10 percent of PBR. Otherwise, these fisheries are subject to the next tier Tier 2 of analysis to determine their classification.
Tier 2: Tier 2 considers fisheryspecific mortality and serious injury for a particular stock.
Category I: Annual mortality and serious injury of a stock in a given fishery is greater than or equal to 50
percent of the PBR level i.e., frequent incidental mortality and serious injury of marine mammals.
Category II: Annual mortality and serious injury of a stock in a given fishery is greater than 1 percent and less than 50 percent of the PBR level i.e., occasional incidental mortality and serious injury of marine mammals.
Category III: Annual mortality and serious injury of a stock in a given fishery is less than or equal to 1 percent of the PBR level i.e., a remote likelihood of or no known incidental mortality and serious injury of marine mammals.
Additional details regarding how the categories were determined are provided in the preamble to the final rule implementing section 118 of the MMPA 60 FR 45086; August 30, 1995.
Because fisheries are classified on a per-stock basis, a fishery may qualify as one category for one marine mammal stock and another category for a different marine mammal stock. A
fishery is typically classified on the LOF
at its highest level of classification e.g., a fishery qualifying for Category III for one marine mammal stock and for Category II for another marine mammal stock will be listed under Category II.
Stocks driving a fisherys classification are denoted with a superscript 1 in Tables 1 and 2.

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