AGENCY:

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce.

ACTION:

Final rule.

SUMMARY:

This final rule revises measures that govern interactions between the Hawaii shallow-set pelagic longline fishery and sea turtles. This rule lowers the annual fleet interaction limit (“hard cap”) for leatherback sea turtles from 26 to 16, and removes the annual fleet hard cap for North Pacific loggerhead turtles. This rule also creates individual trip interaction limits of two leatherback and five North Pacific loggerhead turtle interactions, with accountability measures for reaching a limit. This rule provides managers and fishermen with the necessary tools to respond to and mitigate changes in North Pacific loggerhead and leatherback turtle interactions to ensure a continued supply of fresh domestic swordfish to U.S. markets, consistent with the conservation needs of these sea turtles. This action also ensures that the Hawaii shallow-set longline fishery operates in compliance with the conditions of a recent biological opinion (BiOp).

DATES:

This rule is effective September 17, 2020.

ADDRESSES:

Copies of Amendment 10 to the Fishery Ecosystem Plan for Pelagic Fisheries of the Western Pacific (FEP) and supporting documents are available at www.regulations.gov, or from the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council, 1164 Bishop St., Suite 1400, Honolulu, HI 96813, tel 808-522-8220, fax 808-522-8226, www.wpcouncil.org.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Joshua Lee, NMFS PIR Sustainable Fisheries, 808-725-5177.

Click here for complete FR Notice.