30d FRN

Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 227 / Monday, November 26, 2018 / Notices
conduct these new activities in order to
achieve the goals of the broodstock
program, which are to: (1) Prevent
extirpation of CCC coho in the Russian
River; (2) preserve genetic, ecological,
and behavioral attributes of CCC coho in
the Russian River; and (3) build selfsustaining CCC coho populations in the
Russian River and throughout the CCC
coho ESU.
CDFW and the Corps’ proposed
HGMP for the broodstock program
includes provisions for a monitoring
program. The proposed monitoring
program is designed to determine the
success of the broodstock program and
has been in existence since the first
release of program CCC coho in 2004.
The proposed monitoring program is
composed of two elements, hatchery
and field monitoring.
Hatchery monitoring is associated
with hatchery rearing and spawning
activities and is conducted by Corps’
hatchery staff. During spawning,
hatchery staff record data on individual
spawner performance (i.e. fecundity and
fertility rates). During hatchery rearing,
which is after spawning through release,
hatchery staff collects data on life stagespecific survival. The hatchery staff
retain two randomly chosen juvenile
CCC coho from each family group (up to
1,500 fish) for potential use as
broodstock in the event sufficient
natural-origin fish from the same brood
year are not available. All CCC coho
collected and intended for use as
broodstock at DCFH (including Scott
Creek fish) are physically segregated at
all times. Mortalities that occur during
the routine operation of the program are
removed from their respective rearing
containers on a daily basis, and
hatchery staff records and evaluates
these daily mortalities to ensure that the
number of mortalities among fry and
more advanced life stages does not
exceed 0.2 percent of any program
production over any 24-hour period.
Compliance with all applicable hatchery
operations and health guidelines, as
well as required specific effluent testing,
is monitored and recorded by hatchery
staff year-round. In addition, hatchery
staff performs, monitors, and records all
marking and tagging of CCC coho
including: Passive integrated
transponder (PIT) tagging of all fish
collected from the natural environment;
disk-tagging of all adults used for
artificial spawning; coded-wire tagging
of all broodstock program progeny to
facilitate distinguishing between
hatchery-origin and natural-origin fish;
PIT tagging of ≥15 percent (minimum
30,000) of broodstock program progeny
released to allow smolt-to-adult-return
(SAR) calculations; and floy tagging of

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all adults that are released to allow
identification of hatchery-reared adult
CCC coho during spawner surveys.
Field monitoring is associated with
the post-release performance of the
broodstock program and has been
conducted annually in a minimum of
four index streams in the Russian River
basin since 2004. This ongoing field
monitoring, conducted by California Sea
Grant under contract to the Corps, is a
substantial complimentary monitoring
element that is described in the HGMP,
and helps to inform management of the
broodstock program, but is operating
independently under separate permits.
The HGMP describes future monitoring
efforts in out-of-basin streams to include
at a minimum presence/absence surveys
following release of fish of an
appropriate life stage (e.g., summer
juvenile surveys following YOY spring
release, redd surveys following adult
release), appropriate genetic analysis, or
other evaluation of success as funding is
available.
Under the application for Permit
21501, proposed take activities for CCC
coho include monitoring; collecting
broodstock and non-broodstock CCC
coho; conducting routine hatchery
activities including artificial
propagation, rearing, tissue sampling,
and marking; transporting and releasing
of early life stage progeny (eyed eggs
and/or unfed fry), juveniles (broodstock
surplus), and adult (captive rearing and
broodstock surplus) CCC coho into
Russian River tributaries and other
target streams.
Public Comments Solicited
NMFS invites the public to comment,
including any written data, views, or
arguments, on the permit application
and associated HGMP during a 30-day
public comment period beginning on
the date of this notice. This notice is
provided pursuant to Section 10(c) of
the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1539(c)), 50 CFR
222.303. All comments and materials
received, including names and
addresses, will become part of the
administrative record and may be
released to the public. We provide this
notice in order to allow the public,
agencies, or other organizations to
review and comment on these
documents.
Next Steps
NMFS will evaluate the applications,
associated documents, and comments
submitted to determine whether the
applications meet the requirements of
Section 10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA and
Federal regulations. The final permit
decisions will not be made until after
the end of the 30-day public comment

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period and after NMFS has fully
considered all relevant comments
received. NMFS will also meet other
legal requirements prior to taking final
action, including preparation of a
biological opinion. NMFS will publish
notice of its final action in the Federal
Register.
Dated: November 20, 2018.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office
of Protected Resources, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2018–25693 Filed 11–23–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Submission for OMB Review;
Comment Request
The Department of Commerce will
submit to the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) for clearance the
following proposal for collection of
information under the provisions of the
Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.
Chapter 35).
Agency: National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Title: International Fisheries Trade to
Include Shrimp and Abalone.
OMB Control Number: 0648–xxxx.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Request: Regular (request for
a temporary new information
collection).
Number of Respondents: 651.
Average Hours Per Response:
International Fisheries Trade Permit, 5
minutes; data entry, 1 hour.
Burden Hours: 70,054.
Needs and Uses: The Seafood
Traceability Program (see 50 CFR
300.320–300.325) is the first phase of a
risk-based traceability program, which
establishes permit, reporting and
recordkeeping requirements needed to
prevent illegally harvested and
misrepresented seafood from entering
into U.S. Commerce. In the
development of the Seafood Traceability
Program rule, 13 ‘‘priority’’ species were
identified as being most at risk for
Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated
(IUU) fishing and misrepresentation,
and are the only species currently
subject to this program. For two of those
species (abalone and shrimp), NMFS
stayed program requirements
indefinitely (50 CFR 300.324(a)(3)). See
81 FR 88975 (December 9, 2016). A final
rule was published on April 24, 2018
(83 FR 17762) which lifted the stay and
established a compliance date of

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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 227 / Monday, November 26, 2018 / Notices

December 31, 2018 for shrimp and
abalone.
NMFS had stayed requirements for
abalone and shrimp because gaps
existed in the collection of traceability
information for domestic aquacultureraised shrimp and abalone, which is
currently largely regulated at the state
level. During development of the
Seafood Traceability Program, NMFS
explored the possibility of working with
its state partners to establish reporting
and recordkeeping requirements for
aquaculture traceability information that
could be shared with NMFS. However,
this did not prove to be a viable
approach. See 81 FR at 88977–78. In the
Seafood Import Monitoring Program
final rule, NMFS explained that ‘‘[A]t
such time that the domestic reporting
and recordkeeping gaps have been
closed, NMFS will then publish an
action in the Federal Register to lift the
stay of the effective date for
§ 300.324(a)(3) of the rule pertaining to
shrimp and abalone. Adequate advance
notice to the trade community would be
provided’’ to ensure all affected parties
have sufficient time to come into
compliance.
On March 23, 2018, the Consolidated
Appropriations Act of 2018 (Pub. L.
115–141) was signed by the President
and became law. Section 539 of Division
B of the Act directed the Secretary of
Commerce to, within 30 days, ‘‘lift the
stay on the effective date of the final
rule for the Seafood Traceability
Program published by the Secretary on
December 9, 2016, (81 FR 88975 et seq.)
for the species described in
§ 300.324(a)(3) of title 50, Code of
Federal Regulations: provided that the
compliance date for the species
described in § 300.324(a)(3) of title 50,
Code of Federal Regulations, shall occur
not later than December 31, 2018.’’ A
final rule was issued to implement the
Act (83 FR 17762, April 24, 2018) and
provides that shrimp and abalone will
be subject to the requirements of the
Seafood Traceability Program under 50
CFR 300.324(a)(3), with a compliance
date December 31, 2018.
The Program consists of two
components: (1) Reporting of harvest
events at the time of entry; and (2)
permitting and recordkeeping
requirements with respect to both
harvest events and chain of custody
information. See 50 CFR 300.324 and id.
§§ 300.320–300.323 and 300.325.
Application of the program’s reporting
and recordkeeping requirements to
shrimp and abalone will enable audits
of imports to be conducted to determine
the origin of the products and confirm
that they were lawfully acquired.

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The final rule to lift the stay on
shrimp and abalone contains a
collection-of-information requirement
subject to review and approval by OMB
under the Paperwork Reduction Act
(PRA). OMB had previously approved
the information collection requirements
for the Seafood Traceability Program
under Control Number 0648–0739, but
the burden estimates did not include the
requirements for shrimp and abalone
given the stay. The requirements for
permitting, reporting and recordkeeping
for imports of shrimp and abalone will
be submitted to OMB for approval.
Affected Public: Business or other forprofit organizations.
Frequency: One time and on occasion.
Respondent’s Obligation: Mandatory.
This information collection request
may be viewed at reginfo.gov. Follow
the instructions to view Department of
Commerce collections currently under
review by OMB.
Written comments and
recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent
within 30 days of publication of this
notice to OIRA_Submission@
omb.eop.gov or fax to (202) 395–5806.
Dated: November 19, 2018.
Sarah Brabson,
NOAA PRA Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2018–25613 Filed 11–23–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
RIN 0648–XG557

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic
Zone Off Alaska; Application for an
Exempted Fishing Permit
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for
exempted fishing permit.
AGENCY:

This notice announces receipt
of an exempted fishing permit (EFP)
application from Mr. Cory Lescher and
Dr. Bradley Harris, Alaska Pacific
University. If granted, this EFP would
allow up to five Amendment 80 vessels
in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands
(BSAI) management area yellowfin and
rock sole fisheries to retain red king crab
(RKC; Paralithodes camtschaticus)
bycatch on board for periods of no more
than 72 hours during the 2019 BSAI
flatfish fisheries’ ‘‘A’’ season. Two
concurrent studies would be conducted

SUMMARY:

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under this EFP. A whole-haul RKC
census study would provide a
comparison of whole-haul census of
RKC to haul-level estimates of RKC
generated from NMFS-certified observer
(observer) sampling to determine the
ability of current prohibited species
catch (PSC) rate estimations to
accurately account for RKC PSC in these
fisheries. Then, an at-sea viability study
would examine factors that influence
RKC PSC mortality and survival. The
objective of the EFP application is to
provide improved understanding of
RKC PSC mortality, such as shell
crushing, and variables that affect it.
This proposed project has the potential
to promote the objectives of the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act.
DATES: Comments on this EFP
application must be submitted to NMFS
on or before December 11, 2018. The
North Pacific Fishery Management
Council (Council) will consider the
application at its meeting from
December 3, 2018, through December
11, 2018, in Anchorage, AK.
ADDRESSES: The Council meeting will be
held at the Anchorage Hilton Hotel, 500
W 3rd Ave., Anchorage, AK 99501. The
agenda for the Council meeting is
available at http://www.npfmc.org. In
addition to submitting comments at the
Council meeting, you may submit
comments on this document, identified
by NOAA–NMFS–2018–0120, by any of
the following methods:
• Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to
www.regulations.gov/
#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-20180120, click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon,
complete the required fields, and enter
or attach your comments.
• Mail: Submit written comments to
Glenn Merrill, Assistant Regional
Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries
Division, Alaska Region NMFS, Attn:
Ellen Sebastian. Mail comments to P.O.
Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802–1668.
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. 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) 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).
Electronic copies of the EFP
application and the basis for a
categorical exclusion under the National

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