Notice2022-07944
Identification of Nations or Entities Engaged in Illegal, Unreported, or Unregulated Fishing, Bycatch of Protected Living Marine Resources, or Shark Fishing on the High Seas
Primary source
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Published
April 14, 2022
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS is seeking information regarding nations or entities whose vessels are engaged in illegal, unreported, or unregulated (IUU) fishing; fishing practices that result in the bycatch of protected living marine resources (PLMRs) without a regulatory program comparable in effectiveness to that of the United States; and/or fishing activities in waters beyond any national jurisdiction that target or incidentally catch sharks without a regulatory program comparable to that of the United States. Such information will be reviewed for the purposes of the identification of nations or entities pursuant to the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act (Moratorium Protection Act).
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 72 (Thursday, April 14, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 72 (Thursday, April 14, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22194-22195]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-07944]
[[Page 22194]]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XB934]
Identification of Nations or Entities Engaged in Illegal,
Unreported, or Unregulated Fishing, Bycatch of Protected Living Marine
Resources, or Shark Fishing on the High Seas
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; request for information.
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SUMMARY: NMFS is seeking information regarding nations or entities
whose vessels are engaged in illegal, unreported, or unregulated (IUU)
fishing; fishing practices that result in the bycatch of protected
living marine resources (PLMRs) without a regulatory program comparable
in effectiveness to that of the United States; and/or fishing
activities in waters beyond any national jurisdiction that target or
incidentally catch sharks without a regulatory program comparable to
that of the United States. Such information will be reviewed for the
purposes of the identification of nations or entities pursuant to the
High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act (Moratorium
Protection Act).
DATES: Information should be received on or before December 31, 2022.
However, we encourage submission of information as early as possible.
ADDRESSES: Information may be submitted either by mail to: NMFS Office
of International Affairs, Trade, and Commerce, Attn.: Moratorium
Protection Act Information, F/IATC 1315 East-West Highway, Silver
Spring, MD 20910, or electronically to: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#afe6fafa81ffe3e2fd81fcc7ceddc4dcefc1c0cece81c8c0d9"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="78312d2d562834352a562b10190a130b3816171919561f170e">[email protected]</span></a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellie Bors, phone (240) 429-4461, or
email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6d0801080c03021f430f021f1e2d03020c0c430a021b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="294c454c4847465b074b465b5a6947464848074e465f">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Moratorium Protection Act requires the Secretary of Commerce
(Secretary) to issue a Biennial Report to Congress that identifies
nations and entities whose vessels are engaged in IUU fishing, bycatch
of PLMRs, and/or fishing activities in waters beyond any national
jurisdiction that target or incidentally catch sharks, in specific
circumstances elaborated below. NMFS is soliciting information from the
public regarding fishing activities by foreign fishing vessels in 2020,
2021, and/or 2022 that may support identification of those nations and
entities in the Biennial Report.
The Shark Conservation Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-348) amended the
Moratorium Protection Act by requiring action by the United States to
strengthen shark conservation globally, including the potential
identification of nations and entities with vessels fishing for sharks
on the high seas (16 U.S.C. 1826k(a)(2)). In November 2015, the
Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing Enforcement Act of 2015
(Pub. L. 114-81) further amended the Moratorium Protection Act by,
among other things, expanding the scope of information that can be used
for the identification of nations and entities to three years for the
IUU fishing and bycatch provisions (see 16 U.S.C. 1826j-1826k). In
December 2016, the Ensuring Access to Pacific Fisheries Act (Pub. L.
114-327) amended the Moratorium Protection Act by also expanding the
scope of information that can be used for the identification of nations
and entities to three years for the shark provisions (see 16 U.S.C.
1826k).
The seventh biennial report to Congress was submitted in August
2021 and is available online at: <a href="https://media.fisheries.noaa.gov/2021-08/2021ReporttoCongressonImprovingInternationalFisheriesManagement.pdf">https://media.fisheries.noaa.gov/2021-08/2021ReporttoCongressonImprovingInternationalFisheriesManagement.pdf</a>.
The report identified seven nations and entities for IUU fishing and 29
nations and entities for the bycatch of PLMRs without a regulatory
program comparable in effectiveness to that of the United States.
In fulfillment of its requirements under the Moratorium Protection
Act, NMFS is preparing the eighth biennial report to Congress, and will
consider whether information exists to support the identification of
nations or entities whose vessels are engaged in IUU fishing; fishing
practices that result in bycatch of PLMRs without a regulatory program
comparable in effectiveness to that of the United States; and/or
fishing activities in waters beyond any national jurisdiction that
target or incidentally catch sharks without a regulatory program
comparable to that of the United States.
IUU Fishing
The Moratorium Protection Act requires the Secretary to identify in
a biennial report to Congress those nations and entities whose fishing
vessels are engaged, or have been engaged at any point during the
preceding three years, in IUU fishing. The definition of IUU fishing
can be found at 50 CFR 300.201 and includes:
(1) Fishing activities that violate conservation and management
measures required under an international fishery management agreement
to which the United States is a party, including catch limits or
quotas, capacity restrictions, bycatch reduction requirements, shark
conservation measures, and data reporting;
(2) In the case of non-parties to an international fishery
management agreement to which the United States is a party, fishing
activities that would undermine the conservation of the resources
managed under that agreement;
(3) Overfishing of fish stocks shared by the United States, for
which there are no applicable international conservation or management
measures or in areas with no applicable international fishery
management organization or agreement, that has adverse impacts on such
stocks;
(4) Fishing activity that has an adverse impact on vulnerable
marine ecosystems such as seamounts, hydrothermal vents, cold water
corals and other vulnerable marine ecosystems located beyond any
national jurisdiction, for which there are no applicable conservation
or management measures or in areas with no applicable international
fishery management organization or agreement; and
(5) Fishing activities by foreign-flagged vessels in U.S. waters
without authorization of the United States.
PLMR Bycatch
In addition, the Secretary must identify in the biennial report
those nations and entities whose fishing vessels are engaged, or have
been engaged at any point during the preceding three years in fishing
activities in waters beyond any national jurisdiction that result in
bycatch of a PLMR, or beyond the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ)
that result in bycatch of a PLMR shared by the United States, and that
have not implemented measures to address that bycatch that are
comparable in effectiveness to U.S. regulatory requirements. In this
context, PLMRs are defined as non-target fish (including sharks), sea
turtles, or marine mammals that are protected under U.S. law or
international agreement, including the Marine Mammal Protection Act,
the Endangered Species Act, the Shark Finning Prohibition Act, and the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora
and Fauna. PLMRs do not include species, except sharks, managed under
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the
Atlantic Tunas Convention Act, or any international fishery management
[[Page 22195]]
agreement. A list of species considered as PLMRs for the purposes of
identification under the Moratorium Protection Act is available online
at: <a href="https://media.fisheries.noaa.gov/dam-migration/plmr_list_2019.pdf">https://media.fisheries.noaa.gov/dam-migration/plmr_list_2019.pdf</a>.
Shark Catch in Waters Beyond Any National Jurisdiction
Furthermore, the Moratorium Protection Act requires that the
Secretary identify nations and entities in the biennial report to
Congress whose fishing vessels are engaged, or have been engaged during
the preceding three years in fishing activities or practices in waters
beyond any national jurisdiction that target or incidentally catch
sharks and when the nation has not adopted a regulatory program to
provide for the conservation of sharks, including measures to prohibit
removal of any of the fins of a shark (including the tail) and
discarding the carcass of the shark at sea, that is comparable to that
of the United States, taking into account different conditions. When
determining whether to identify nations or entities for these
activities, NMFS will take into account all relevant matters including,
but not limited to, the history, nature, circumstances, duration, and
gravity of the fishing activity of concern.
Information Solicited
NMFS is soliciting information from the public that could be
relevant to the identification of nations and entities engaged in
activities that meet the criteria described above for IUU fishing, PLMR
bycatch, or shark catch in waters beyond any national jurisdiction.
Some types of information that may prove relevant to the process
include:
<bullet> Documentation (photographs, verifiable catch data, etc.)
of IUU fishing activity, fishing vessels engaged in PLMR bycatch, or
catch of sharks on the high seas;
<bullet> Documentation (photographs, etc.) of fishing vessels
engaged in bycatch of shared PLMRs in any waters beyond the U.S. EEZ;
<bullet> Documentation (photos, video, witness testimony, publicly
available data, etc.) of illegal shark fishing in contravention of
shark conservation and management measures adopted by Regional
Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) to which the United States
is a Party (shark finning without full utilization of the carcass, non-
reporting of shark catch, retention of prohibited shark species, etc.);
<bullet> Reports from off-loading facilities, port-side government
officials, enforcement agents, military personnel, port inspectors,
transshipment vessel workers and fish importers;
<bullet> Sightings of vessels included on RFMO IUU vessel lists;
<bullet> RFMO catch documents and statistical document programs;
<bullet> Nations' domestic regulations for bycatch and shark
conservation and management, including any regulations that prohibit
the removal of any of the fins of a shark (including the tail) and
discarding the carcass of the shark at sea;
<bullet> Action or inaction at the national level, resulting in
non-compliance with RFMO conservation and management measures, such as
exceeding quotas or catch limits, or failing to report or misreporting
data of the nation's fishing activities; and
<bullet> Relevant reports from governments, international
organizations, or nongovernmental organizations.
NMFS will consider all available information, as appropriate, when
making a determination whether or not to identify a particular nation
or entity in the biennial report to Congress. As stated previously,
NMFS is limited in the time frame for data it may use as the basis of a
nation's identification. Appropriate information includes IUU fishing
activity, bycatch of PLMRs, and shark fishing activity in waters beyond
any national jurisdiction that occurred in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
Information should be as specific as possible as this will assist NMFS
in its review. NMFS will consider several criteria when determining
whether information is appropriate for use in making identifications,
including but not limited to:
<bullet> Corroboration of information;
<bullet> Whether multiple sources have been able to provide
information in support of an identification;
<bullet> The methodology used to collect the information;
<bullet> Specificity of the information provided;
<bullet> Susceptibility of the information to falsification and
alteration;
<bullet> Credibility of the individuals or organization providing
the information; and
<bullet> Ability to share the provided information with a nation or
entity in the event that it is identified, so that the nation can take
specific corrective actions.
More information regarding the identification process and how the
information received will be used in that process can be found at 16
U.S.C. 1826j-1826k and in the regulations codified at 50 CFR 300.200 et
seq. Note that the timeframe for activities to be considered for IUU
fishing, bycatch, and shark identifications has not yet been changed in
the implementing regulations to reflect the amendments in the Illegal,
Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing Enforcement Act of 2015 and the
Ensuring Access to Pacific Fisheries Act of 2016, which extend the
timeframe to three years in each case. Such conforming amendments to
the implementing regulations are under development.
Dated: April 8, 2022.
Alexa Cole,
Director, Office of International Affairs, Trade, and Commerce,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-07944 Filed 4-13-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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