Notice2023-27014
Pacific Island Fisheries; Marine Conservation Plan for the Pacific Insular Area for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; Western Pacific Sustainable Fisheries Fund
Primary source
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Published
December 8, 2023
Effective
August 3, 2026
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS announces approval of a Marine Conservation Plan (MCP) for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 235 (Friday, December 8, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 235 (Friday, December 8, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 85605-85606]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-27014]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XD497]
Pacific Island Fisheries; Marine Conservation Plan for the
Pacific Insular Area for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands; Western Pacific Sustainable Fisheries Fund
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of agency decision.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces approval of a Marine Conservation Plan (MCP)
for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).
DATES: This agency decision is effective from the publication of this
notice through August 3, 2026.
ADDRESSES: You may obtain a copy of the MCP, identified by NOAA-NMFS-
2023-0150, from the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal, <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> and type NOAA-NMFS-2023-0150 in the Search box
(note: copying and pasting the FDMS Docket Number directly from this
document may not yield search results), or from the Western Pacific
Fishery Management Council (Council), 1164 Bishop St., Suite 1400,
Honolulu, HI 96813, telephone 808-522-8220, <a href="https://www.wpcouncil.org">https://www.wpcouncil.org</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Keith Kamikawa, Sustainable Fisheries,
NMFS Pacific Islands Regional Office, 808-725-5177.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 204(e) of the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act)
authorizes the Secretary of State, with the concurrence of the
Secretary of Commerce (Secretary), and in consultation with the
Council, to negotiate and enter into a Pacific Insular Area fishery
agreement (PIAFA). A PIAFA would allow foreign fishing within the U.S.
Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) adjacent to American Samoa, Guam, or the
CNMI. The Governor of the Pacific Insular Area to which the PIAFA
applies must request the PIAFA. The Secretary of State may negotiate
and enter the PIAFA after consultation with, and concurrence of, the
applicable Governor.
Before entering into a PIAFA, the applicable Governor, with
concurrence of the Council, must develop and submit to the Secretary a
3-year MCP providing details on uses for any funds collected by the
Secretary under the PIAFA. NMFS is the designee of the Secretary for
MCP review and approval. The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires payments
received under a PIAFA to be deposited into the United States Treasury
and then conveyed to the Treasury of the Pacific Insular Area for which
funds were collected.
In the case of violations by foreign fishing vessels in the EEZ
around any Pacific Insular Area, amounts received by the Secretary
attributable to fines and penalties imposed under the Magnuson-Stevens
Act, including sums collected from the forfeiture and disposition or
sale of property seized subject to its authority, shall be deposited
into the Treasury of the Pacific Insular Area adjacent to the EEZ in
which the violation occurred, after direct costs of the enforcement
action are subtracted. The Pacific Insular Area government may use
funds deposited into the Treasury of the Pacific Insular Area for
fisheries enforcement and for implementation of an MCP.
Federal regulations at 50 CFR 665.819 authorize NMFS to specify
catch limits for longline-caught bigeye tuna for U.S. territories. NMFS
may also authorize each territory to allocate a portion of that limit
to U.S. longline fishing vessels that are permitted to fish under the
Fishery Ecosystem Plan for Pelagic Fisheries of the Western Pacific
(FEP). Payments collected under specified fishing agreements are
deposited into the Western Pacific Sustainable Fisheries Fund (SFF),
and any funds attributable to a particular territory may be used only
for implementation of that territory's MCP. An MCP must be consistent
with the Council's FEPs, must identify conservation and management
objectives (including criteria for determining when such objectives
have been met), and must prioritize planned marine conservation
projects.
At its 194th meeting held in March 2023, the Council reviewed and
concurred with the MCP prepared by the Governor of the CNMI. This MCP
was approved on June 20, 2023 and became effective on August 4, 2023
and is currently in effect (88 FR 39831). However, after the MCP was
approved by NMFS in June 2023, the CNMI Department of Land and Natural
Resources (DLNR) submitted an application to PIRO to use funds from the
Western Pacific SFF to implement the MCP. NMFS staff determined that
the projects described in the CNMI's application were not within the
scope of the MCP currently in effect. This prompted the CNMI to develop
a revised MCP that better addresses the needs of the CNMI and DLNR. The
Council reviewed and concurred with the updated MCP at its 196th
meeting in September 2023. Then on October 2, 2023, the Governor of the
CNMI submitted the new MCP to NMFS for review and approval. The revised
MCP contains the following seven conservation and management
objectives:
1. Improve fisheries data collection and reporting;
2. Conduct resource assessment, monitoring, and research to gain a
better understanding of marine resources and fisheries;
[[Page 85606]]
3. Conduct enforcement training and monitoring activities to
promote compliance with federal and local mandates;
4. Promote responsible domestic fisheries development to provide
long-term economic growth, stability, and local food production;
5. Conduct education and outreach, enhance public participation,
and build local capacity;
6. Promote an ecosystem approach to fisheries management, climate
change adaptation and mitigation, and regional cooperation; and
7. Recognize the importance of island cultures and traditional
fishing practices in managing fishery resources, and foster
opportunities for participation.
The conservation and management objectives of this revised MCP are
identical to those included in the MCP currently in effect. Two of the
projects identified to fulfill Objectives 3 and 5 have been revised.
Please refer to the revised MCP for further detail. The evaluative
criteria have also not been revised.
This notice announces that NMFS has reviewed the revised MCP
submitted in October 2023, and has determined that it satisfies the
requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and is consistent with the
Council's FEPs. Accordingly, NMFS has approved the MCP for the time
period from the publication of this notice through August 3, 2026. This
MCP supersedes the one approved previously for August 4, 2023, through
August 3, 2026 (88 FR 39831, June 20, 2023).
Dated: December 5, 2023.
Everett Wayne Baxter,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-27014 Filed 12-7-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on December 8, 2023.
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