NOAA NEPA Document Database

Pursuant to the ESA, NMFS would review the Mad River Hatchery’s winter-run steelhead Hatchery and Genetic Management Plan (HGMP) to determine if the HGMP meets the requirements of limit 5 of the 4(d) Rule and whether limitation of the ESA section 9 take prohibitions would afford adequate protections for threatened Northern California (NC) steelhead. Therefore, this EA would evaluate how approval of the HGMP would affect the human environment. The Mad River contains winter-run and summer-run steelhead, which belong to the NC Distinct Population Segment (50 C.F.R. § 223.102(c)(18)). NC steelhead were listed as threatened under the ESA (65 Fed. Reg. 36,074 (June 7, 2000); 62 Fed. Reg. 834 (February 6, 2006)).

This action will revise the retention limit of 10 swordfish per trip in the American Samoa deep-set longline fishery. NMFS and the Council originally established the limit as part of a suite of gear and operational requirements intended to discourage fishermen shallow-set fishing, thus reducing interactions with green sea turtles. However, the retention limit is not needed as fishery landings do not indicate that fishermen target swordfish through shallow-set fishing. This action would remove the unnecessary restriction that results in the discard of small amounts of marketable swordfish that could otherwise be supplied as seafood. The action is intended to promote efficiency in the fishery.

This document looks to modify the recreational and commercial fishing year along with the recreational fixed closed season. The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council expected to accept this document during their meeting in October

This EA analyzes the potential environmental impacts of a range of possible annual catch limits (ACLs) for Hawaii Kona crab and accountability measures (AMs) that would address any overages of catch limits. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposes to specify an ACL of 30,802 lb and an annual catch target (ACT) of 25,491 lb for the Hawaii Kona crab fishery in fishing years 2020 through 2023. NMFS based the proposed specifications on a 2018 benchmark stock assessment, in consideration of the best available scientific, commercial, and other information about the fishery. The proposed action includes in-season and post-season AMs but would not require a change to monitoring or fishery data collection. NMFS does not anticipate that the fishery would reach the proposed limit in any fishing year, or that fishing for MHI Kona crab would be constrained during the fishing year, and this proposed action is not likely to be controversial. The ACL and AMs support the long-term sustainability of fishery resources of the U.S. Pacific Islands.

The action involves 10 hatchery and genetic management plans (HGMPs) for salmon and steelhead hatchery programs in the Duwamish-Green River watershed in Puget Sound. The HGMPs have been jointly submitted by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, and Suquamish Tribe, to NMFS for review and approval under Limit 6 of the ESA 4(d) Rule. NMFS approval of the HGMPs is the Federal action requiring NEPA compliance. Potentially significant impacts may occur to Puget Sound Chinook salmon and Puget Sound steelhead that are listed as threatened under the ESA, and Southern Resident Killer Whales that are listed as endangered.

This document considers maximum sustainable yield, minimum stock size thresholds, maximum fishing mortality thresholds, and optimum yields for reef fish stocks and red drum.

Rebuilding plan for Queets River coho salmon, determined overfished, June 2018

Rebuilding plan for Juan de Fuca coho salmon, determined overfished, June 2018

Rebuilding plan for Snohomish River coho salmon, determined overfished, June 2018

Summary: The federal action to be analyzed under this draft SPEA is the proposed continuation of SWFSC fisheries research activities. The intent of this SPEA is to evaluate potential direct, indirect and cumulative effects of unforeseen changes in research that were not analyzed in the 2015 PEA, or new research activities. Where necessary, updates to certain information on species, stock status or other components of the affected environment that may result in different conclusions from the 2015 PEA are presented in this analysis.

The purpose of Regulatory Amendment 29 is to reduce discard mortality of snapper-grouper species and to decrease the burden of compliance with differing regulations for the dive component of the snapper-grouper fishery while minimizing, to the extent practicable, adverse social and economic effects. The proposed action would require descending devices be on board commercial, for-hire, and private recreational vessels while fishing for or possessing snapper-grouper species, require the use of non-offset, non-stainless-steel circle hooks when fishing for snapper-grouper species with hook-and-line gear and natural baits north of 28º north latitude, require all hooks be non-stainless-steel when fishing for snapper-grouper species, and allow the use of powerheads in federal waters off South Carolina.

The purpose of Regulatory Amendment 33 is to increase recreational access to South Atlantic red snapper. The proposed action would remove the requirement that if projections indicate the South Atlantic red snapper season (commercial or recreational) would be three days or fewer, the commercial and/or recreational seasons would not open for that fishing year. If this requirement is removed, red snapper harvest could be open for either recreational or commercial harvest for fewer than four days.

January 12, 2021. NMFS specifies a 2021 limit of 2,000 metric tons (t) of longline caught bigeye tuna for each U.S. Pacific territory (American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), the territories). NMFS will allow each territory to allocate up to 1,500 t in 2021 to U.S. longline fishing vessels through specified fishing agreements that meet established criteria. The overall allocation limit among all territories, however, may not exceed 3,000 t. As an accountability measure, NMFS will monitor, attribute, and restrict (if necessary) catches of longline-caught bigeye tuna, including catches made under a specified fishing agreement. These catch limits and accountability measures support the long-term sustainability of fishery resources of the U.S. Pacific Islands. The final specifications are effective January 12, 2021, through December 31, 2021. The deadline to submit a specified fishing agreement pursuant to 50 CFR 665.819(b)(3) for review is July 12, 2021.

This temporary rule implements an interim catch limit (ICL) of 13,000 lb of American Samoa bottomfish for fishing years 2020 and 2021 during the effective period of the rule. NMFS will monitor catches, and if the fishery reaches the ICL within a fishing year, we will close the fishery in Federal waters through the end of the fishing year, or through the end of the effective period of this rule, whichever comes first. These interim management measures are necessary to reduce overfishing of American Samoa bottomfish while minimizing socioeconomic impacts to fishing communities. This temporary rule supports the long-terms sustainability of American Samoa bottomfish.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposes to implement annual catch limits (ACL) and accountability measures (AM) for bottomfish in Guam in fishing years (calendar years) 2020-2022, and in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) in 2020-2023. The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) recommended the proposed measures for the bottomfish MUS (BMUS) in the Mariana Archipelago FEP in accordance with the ACL and AM process approved by NMFS, and based on the best available scientific, commercial, and other information including the most recent stock assessment for those BMUS. The Council recommended a 27,000 lb ACL for Guam, which corresponds to a 31% probability of overfishing. The Council recommended an 84,000 lb ACL and a 78,000 lb Annual Catch Target (ACT) for the CNMI, which correspond to a 39% and a 34% probability of overfishing, respectively. NMFS would count bottomfish catches from territorial waters (generally from the shoreline to 3 nm offshore) and Federal waters (i.e., the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone, EEZ) toward the Guam ACL and the CNMI ACL and ACT. Because real-time catch data are not currently available for this fishery, the Council and NMFS consider post-season AMs only. Specifically, after the end of each fishing year, if NMFS and the Council determine that the average catch of a territory from the most recent three-year period exceeds the ACL, then NMFS would reduce the ACL for that territory in the subsequent fishing years by the amount of the overage. For the CNMI, the ACT would also be subject to the same adjustment as the ACL. If the average catch exceeds the ACT but remains below the ACL, then an overage adjustment would not be applied.

NMFS will issue Enhancement of Survival Permits on Private and state lands consisting of fourteen properties in in the Upper Shasta River, Big Springs Creek, Parks Creek and their tributary streams in Siskiyou County, California The Permits will allow Routine, ongoing agricultural activities, beneficial management activities, habitat improvement projects, and monitoring intended to maintain and track Elevated Baseline habitat Conditions for SONCC coho salmon, and the potential future return of the enrolled properties to Baseline Conditions at the end of the Safe Harbor Agreement.

The purpose of the Proposed Action is to allow the property owners to voluntarily conduct beneficial activities that support or attract Covered Species without new restrictions on the future use of their property, as long as the terms of the Agreement, Site Plan Agreements, and ESPs are met. The Agreements and ESPs would allow the Applicants to implement habitat enhancement projects for SONCC coho salmon as well as ongoing routine ranch activities. SONCC coho salmon is listed as threatened under the ESA. The Proposed Action is needed to facilitate implementation of the Agreement, which is expected to promote the recovery of SONCC coho salmon on non-federal property within the Shasta River Valley in Siskiyou County, California. The action would authorize incidental take of SONCC coho salmon caused by beneficial management activities and normal, otherwise lawful routine ranch and water management activities. In addition, the Proposed Action is needed to provide a net conservation benefit to Covered Species and provides the property owner with the safe harbor assurances.

1) Harvest specifications (overfishing limits [OFL], acceptable biological catches [ABC], annual catch limits [ACL], and allocations) for all Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (PCGFMP) groundfish stocks and stock complexes “in the fishery” (except Pacific whiting); 2) Shortbelly rockfish as ecosystem component species; and 3) Management measures to achieve, but not exceed, annual harvest specifications.

The Trustees propose to tier from the "Final Restoration Plan and Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Restoration Resulting from the Kalamazoo River Natural Resource Damage Assessment" (2016), and use the criteria established in the Programmatic Restoration Plan to evaluate and select specific restoration projects, and evaluate potential environmental impacts from those projects. The Trustees are ready to evaluate and propose specific projects for an initial round of restoration implementation, with approximately $12.4 million of available funds.

The Port of Alaska (POA) is modernizing its marine terminals through the Port of Alaska Modernization Program (PAMP). One of the first priorities of the PAMP is to replace the existing Petroleum Oil Lubricants Terminal with a new Petroleum Cement Terminal (PCT). Phase 1 of the PCT project is complete, but for Phase 2 of the project to advance, the existing South Floating Dock (SFD), a small multipurpose floating dock constructed in 2004, must be relocated south of the PCT near the southern portion of the South Backlands Stabilization project. The existing location of SFD will not allow docking operations at SFD once the PCT is constructed due to the close proximity of one of the PCT mooring dolphins. Therefore, it must be relocated.

Relocation of the SFD will include the removal of the existing structure, including the access trestle and gangway, and installation of twelve permanent 36-inch steel pipe piles: ten vertical and two battered. Construction of the SFD will also require the installation and vibratory removal of up to six 24- or 36-inch template piles. In total, the POA estimates this work will take approximately 21 hours over nine to 24 non-consecutive days.

The POA’s request is for take of a small number of six species of marine mammals by Level B harassment and Level A harassment. Neither the POA nor NMFS expects serious injury or mortality to result from this activity.

Replace pier and trestle, and provide upgrades and replacement facilities necessary to reestablish homeport operations and maintenance functions for NOAA ship Fairweather and other vessels.