Voglio sapere a riguardo di…

khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 127 / Wednesday, July 7, 2021 / Rules and Regulations that in the event of serious illness, the owner and operator of the fishing vessel must: 1 Immediately cease fishing operations, 2 take all reasonable action to care for the observer and provide any medical treatment available and possible aboard the vessel; 3 where directed by the observer provider, if not already directed by the appropriate U.S.
Government contact, facilitate the disembarkation and transport of the observer to a medical facility equipped to provide the required care, as soon as practicable, and 4 cooperate fully in any official investigation as to the cause of the illness. Additionally, in the event that an observer has been assaulted, intimidated, threatened or harassed, the owner and operator of the fishing vessel must: 1 Immediately take action to preserve the safety of the observer and mitigate and resolve the situation on board; 2 if the observer or the observer provider indicate that they wish to be removed from the vessel, facilitate the safe disembarkation of the observer in a manner and place, as agreed by the observer provider and a U.S.
Government contact, that facilitates access to any needed medical treatment;
and 3 cooperate fully in any official investigations into the incident.
Comment 3: One commenter requested that NMFS clarify that the observer safety protocols applicable to where an observer has been assaulted, intimidated, threatened, or harassed are triggered only where the vessel owner or operator either: 1 Has firsthand knowledge that the observer was assaulted, intimidated, threatened, or harassed i.e., saw or overhead the problem; or 2 where the vessel owner or operator has been presented with objective evidence from the observer or others clearly showing that the observer has been assaulted, intimidated, threatened, or harassed. The commenter stated that a response to mere allegations of harassment could result in costly ramifications if they are unjustified. The commenter noted that the proposed rule calculated the potential foregone opportunity for purse seine vessels as high as the revenue from a trip at $1.4 million dollars, and asserted that the costs were disproportionate compared to other fisheries being regulated under the same rule. The commenter stated that these clarifications are necessary to ensure that vessel owners and operators are afforded appropriate due process protections and that compliance costs and penalties are fairly applied. The commenter stated that without amendment or clarification by NMFS, the proposed rule could subject vessel
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owners or operators to penalties for not immediately knowing that one of the conditions triggering a set of duties has occurred. Although the commenter stated that NMFS would likely not impose penalties for not taking quick enough action where delay primarily was attributable to neither the vessel owner nor operator knowing about the observers illness or other issues, the commenter requested that NMFS clarify that the respective duties to act are triggered when either the vessel owner or operator knows of the observers condition triggering the duties.
Response: CMM 201703 does not qualify that these protocols are only triggered if vessel owners and operators have firsthand knowledge or have an evidentiary standard. Moreover, as discussed in the RIR, NMFS projects that these incidents will occur infrequently. Thus, NMFS does not believe it appropriate to limit the protocols accordingly.
Under the regulations at 50 CFR
300.43a3, purse seine vessels operating under the SPTT, which includes most purse seine vessels fishing within the Convention Area, are required to disembark observers at the point and time notified by the FFA to the U.S. Government. This requirement is already in place and is not limited to observer safety-related events. NMFS
also notes that similar observer safety protocol requirements to this rule are also already in place for vessels operating in the EPO under regulations at 50 CFR 300.29 so vessels operating in the EPO are already subject to them.
The intent of this rulemaking is protect observer safety and not necessarily to pre-judge the outcome of any investigation. NMFS disagrees with the statement that the proposed text does not afford due process protections.
The rule will encourage owners and operators of U.S. purse seine vessels to take affirmative steps to train their crews and to prevent acts of harassment against observers. Under CMM 201703, the United States has the responsibility under the CMM to investigate any alleged incidents.
Moreover, NMFS believes the rule would not have disproportionate effects on purse seine vessels, but rather would affect all vessels equally in proportion to their individual trip costs.
Comment 4: One commenter stated that they opposed the proposed change to require purse seine vessels to provide pre-trip notifications and requests for observers because the scope of the requirement is not clear. The commenter stated that the preamble described reasons for the need for pretrip notification for trips departing from
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American Samoa, but did not feel that the preamble identified specific shortcomings or deficiencies to the current process that justified the new requirement. The commenter noted that purse seine vessels cannot depart unless an observer is onboard, and did not feel there was sufficient explanation as to why the pre-trip notification requirement applies to when requesting a cross-endorsed observer and when departing from ports other than American Samoa. The commenter stated that they believed that the pre-trip notification requirement of five business days prior to trip departure would restrict operational flexibility and would result in larger costs to purse seine vessels than what are described in the proposed rule. The commenter requested that the pre-trip notification period be shortened to 48 hours if NMFS believes there is a real need for the requirement. Finally, the commenter requested confirmation that the pre-trip notification requirement does not apply to owners and operators of purse seine vessels picking up observers at ports other than American Samoa if they are not seeking a cross-endorsed observer.
Response: NMFS confirms that the pre-trip notification requirements apply to purse seine vessels requesting a WCPFC observer and departing from American Samoa and the requirements do not apply to vessels picking up observers at ports other than American Samoa. As discussed above, NMFS has also re-evaluated the need for pre-trip notification for vessels requesting placement of a cross-endorsed observer regardless of port of departure, and decided not to implement this requirement in this final rule because a similar requirement for cross-endorsed observer requests has already been implemented at 50 CFR 216.24a8iv.
NMFS continues to believe that the notification prior to a trip is necessary for purse seine trips departing from American Samoa and requesting a WCPFC observer.
NMFS facilitates entry into American Samoa for WCPFC observers being placed on purse seine vessels. If adequate pre-trip notification is not given, entry into American Samoa may be delayed and this could delay placement of the observer and therefore vessel departure. As the placement of WCPFC observers on purse seine vessels is provided currently by FFA, vessel owners and operators have an incentive to ensure that adequate notice is given to ensure that observers can travel to the port of departure. Given that these observers are nationals from other countries, NMFS assists with obtaining the necessary entry permits into
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