Determination of Observer Programs as Qualified and Authorized by the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries

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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 134 / Monday, July 14, 2014 / Notices

Mr.
Steven Atran, Senior Fishery Biologist,
Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management
Council; telephone: (813) 348–1630; fax:
(813) 348–1711; email: steven.atran@
gulfcouncil.org.

ADDRESSES), at least 5 working days
prior to the meeting.

The items
of discussion on the agenda are as
follows:

Dated: July 9, 2014.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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1. Adoption of Agenda
2. Action Guide
3. Election of Chair and Vice-chair
4. Approval of January 13, 2012 minutes
5. Recreational Red Snapper Management
Feedback
a. Mississippi Recreational Summit
Meeting
b. Louisiana Recreational Fishing Survey
6. Red Snapper Recreational Accountability
Measures
7. Amendment 40—Recreational Red
Snapper Sector Separation Public
Hearing Draft
8. Review of New State Data Collection
Programs
9. Update on Headboat Collaborative Program
10. Other Business

For meeting materials see folder ‘‘Red
Snapper AP meeting—2014–07’’ on Gulf
Council file server. To access the file
server, the URL is https://
public.gulfcouncil.org:5001/webman/
index.cgi, or go to the Council’s Web
site and click on the FTP link in the
lower left of the Council Web site
(http://www.gulfcouncil.org). The
username and password are both
‘‘gulfguest’’. The name of the folder on
the FTP server is ‘‘Red Snapper AP
meeting—2014–07’’.
The Agenda is subject to change. The
latest version will be posted in the ‘‘Red
Snapper AP meeting—2014–07’’ folder
on the Council’s file server. The meeting
will be Web cast over the Internet. A
link to the Web cast will be available on
the Council’s Web site, http://
www.gulfcouncil.org.
Although non-emergency issues not
contained in this agenda may come
before this group for discussion, those
issues may not be the subject of formal
action during this meeting. Action will
be restricted to those issues specifically
identified in this notice and any issues
arising after publication of this notice
that require emergency action under
section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management
Act, provided the public has been
notified of the Council’s intent to take
final action to address the emergency.
Special Accommodations
The meeting is physically accessible
to people with disabilities. Requests for
sign language interpretation or other
auxiliary aids should be directed to
Kathy Pereira at the Council Office (see

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Note: The times and sequence specified in
this agenda are subject to change.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

[FR Doc. 2014–16402 Filed 7–11–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
New England Fishery Management
Council; Public Meeting
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; public meeting.
AGENCY:

The New England Fishery
Management Council (Council) is
scheduling a public meeting of its
Ecosystem Based Fishery Management
(EBFM) Committee to consider actions
affecting New England fisheries in the
exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
Recommendations from this group will
be brought to the full Council for formal
consideration and action, if appropriate.
DATES: This meeting will be held on
Thursday, July 31, 2014 at 9:30 a.m.
ADDRESSES:
Meeting address: The meeting will be
held at the DoubleTree by Hilton, 50
Ferncroft Road, Danvers, MA 01923;
telephone: (978) 777–2500; fax: (978)
750–7959.
Council address: New England
Fishery Management Council, 50 Water
Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director,
New England Fishery Management
Council; telephone: (978) 465–0492.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The EBFM Committee will hear
presentations on a study about EBFM
perspectives on climate change
vulnerability, science, and governance
for fisheries, and on ecosystem status
indicators. They will also discuss the
potential roles, responsibilities, and
composition of a future EBFM advisory
panel.
Although non-emergency issues not
contained in this agenda may come
before this group for discussion, those
issues may not be the subject of formal
action during this meeting. Action will
SUMMARY:

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be restricted to those issues specifically
listed in this notice and any issues
arising after publication of this notice
that require emergency action under
section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management
Act, provided the public has been
notified of the Council’s intent to take
final action to address the emergency.
Special Accommodations
This meeting is physically accessible
to people with disabilities. Requests for
sign language interpretation or other
auxiliary aids should be directed to
Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director, at
(978) 465–0492, at least 5 days prior to
the meeting date.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: July 9, 2014.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2014–16423 Filed 7–11–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
RIN 0648–XD338

Determination of Observer Programs
as Qualified and Authorized by the
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of Adoption of Observer
Criteria, Decision on Qualified and
Authorized Programs.
AGENCY:

The NMFS Assistant
Administrator (AA) has determined that
observers participating in observer
programs, in the seven domestic
fisheries in which tuna is regularly
harvested, are qualified to issue
observer statements for purposes of the
dolphin-safe labeling program under the
Dolphin Protection Consumer
Information Act (DPCIA). These seven
domestic fisheries are: The American
Samoa Pelagic Longline Fishery, the
Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Purse Seine
Fishery, the Atlantic Highly Migratory
Species Pelagic Longline Fishery, the
California Deep-set Pelagic Longline
Fishery, the California Large-mesh Drift
Gillnet Fishery, the Hawaii Deep-set
Longline Fishery, and the Hawaii
Shallow-set Longline Fishery. Observer
statements will certify that no dolphins
were killed or seriously injured in the
sets or other gear deployments in which

SUMMARY:

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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 134 / Monday, July 14, 2014 / Notices
the tuna were caught and, in purse seine
fisheries, that the net was not
intentionally deployed on or used to
encircle dolphins during the fishing trip
in which the tuna were caught. The AA
makes the determinations pursuant to
new observer criteria, which are
published in this notice, and were
developed after consideration of public
comment. This notice announces that
these NMFS observer programs are
authorized by the AA to issue observer
statements for dolphin-safe labeling
purposes for fishing trips that begin on
or after the effective date of this notice.
DATES: Tuna product labeled ‘‘dolphin
safe’’ derived from any of the seven
fisheries identified in this notice must
be accompanied by observer statements
for observed trips beginning on or after
August 13, 2014.
ADDRESSES: Copies of this notice are
available from the Regional
Administrator, West Coast Region
(WCR), William W. Stelle, Jr., 7600 Sand
Point Way NE., Bldg 1, Seattle, WA
98115–0070, or by email at Regional
Administrator.WCRHMS@noaa.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
William Jacobson, NMFS WCR, 562–
980–4035.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Presently,
only tuna product prepared from tuna
harvested by purse seine vessels of more
than 400 short tons carrying capacity in
the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean and
labeled ‘‘dolphin safe’’ is required to be
accompanied by an observer’s statement
that the tuna meets the ‘‘dolphin safe’’
criteria under the DPCIA (16 U.S.C.
1385). Tuna product means any food
product processed for retail sale and
intended for human or animal
consumption that contains an item
under one of the harmonized tariff
schedule numbers set forth at 50 CFR
216.24(f)(2)(i) or (ii), but does not
include perishable items with a shelf
life of less than 3 days (50 CFR 216.3).
Under this definition, tuna product does
not include fresh tuna nor does it
include frozen tuna that has never been
processed.
On July 9, 2013, NMFS published a
final rule under the DPCIA titled
‘‘Enhanced Document Requirements to
Support Use of the Dolphin Safe Label
on Tuna Products’’ (78 FR 40997) that
amended regulations at 50 CFR part 216,
Subpart H. Specifically, under
§ 216.91(a)(2)(iii)(B) and (a)(4)(ii), the
AA is authorized to determine if
observers participating in observer
programs using any fishing gear type in
any ocean are qualified and authorized
to make statements pertaining to the
following written certifications. The
first certification is that no dolphins

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were killed or seriously injured in the
sets or other gear deployments in which
the tuna were caught. The second
certification, if applicable, is that no
purse seine net was intentionally
deployed on or used to encircle
dolphins during the fishing trip in
which the tuna were caught. A NMFS
AA determination of an observer
program as ‘‘qualified and authorized’’
triggers a requirement that when an
observer from the program is on board
a vessel harvesting tuna destined to be
labeled ‘‘dolphin safe’’ such tuna will
require an observer statement. The
observer statement would be executed
by the observer or by an authorized
representative of the nation
participating in the observer program
based on information provided by the
observer. The observer statement would
be in addition to the requirement that
tuna labeled ‘‘dolphin safe’’ be
accompanied by a written statement
executed by the captain of the
harvesting vessel (codified in
§ 216.91(a)(2)(ii), (a)(2)(iii)(A) and
(a)(4)(i)).
On February 24, 2014, NMFS
published a Federal Register notice
soliciting public comment on
development of observer criteria to
assist the AA when making a
determination of whether an observer
program is qualified and authorized for
purposes of the dolphin-safe labeling
program under the DPCIA. In the only
comment received, the American
Tunaboat Association (ATA) stated that
no observers aboard purse seine vessels,
except those serving under the program
organized under the joint auspices of
the Inter-American Tropical Tuna
Commission (IATTC) and the
Agreement on the International Dolphin
Conservation Program are qualified or
authorized to make the certifications
noted in the Federal Register notice.
ATA strongly recommended that NMFS
adopt criteria similar to the criteria used
by the IATTC for training observers.
NMFS agrees in part, but believes that
observers participating in NMFS
observer programs already undergo
rigorous training programs, appropriate
for the applicable fishery, and that
training, where applicable, is similar to
or exceeds the training given by the
IATTC. NMFS training programs
include such topics as dolphin species
identification, dolphin mortality
recognition, data collection
requirements for use in making a serious
injury determination, and recognition of
an intentional purse seine set. After
consideration of this comment, the AA
adopted the final observer criteria on
June 13, 2014, to be used in making

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40719

qualified and authorized
determinations. Satisfaction of all
criteria is necessary before the AA will
determine that an observer program is
qualified and authorized. The final
observer criteria are as follows:
• Observers are trained and able to
identify dolphins endemic to the area of
the fishery. ‘‘Dolphins’’ mean the
species of the family Delphinidae.
• Observers, or an authorized
representative participating in the
observer program, as applicable, are
trained and able to determine dolphin
mortality and serious injury. ‘‘Serious
injury’’ means any injury likely to cause
mortality.
• Observers are trained and able to
collect written or photographic
documentation, sufficient for an
authorized representative participating
in the observer program, to verify or
make a determination about the
disposition of any dolphin, if statements
certifying that no dolphins were killed
or seriously injured in the sets or other
gear deployments in which the tuna
were caught are to be made.
• For purse seine fisheries only:
Observers are trained and able to
determine whether a purse seine net
was intentionally deployed on or used
to encircle dolphins.
• For purse seine fisheries only:
Observers are trained and able to collect
written or photographic documentation,
sufficient for an authorized
representative participating in the
observer program, to verify or make a
determination that no purse seine net
was intentionally deployed on or used
to encircle dolphins during a fishing
trip, if statements certifying that no
purse seine net was intentionally
deployed on or used to encircle
dolphins during the fishing trip in
which the tuna was harvested are to be
made.
• Observers, or an authorized
representative of a nation participating
in the observer program based on
information from the observer, as
applicable, are authorized by the
applicable observer authority to certify
that no dolphins were killed or
seriously injured in the sets or other
gear deployments in which the tuna
were harvested, and in the case of purse
seine vessels, that no purse seine net
was intentionally deployed on or used
to encircle dolphins during the fishing
trip in which the tuna were caught.
NMFS compared the observer criteria
with all U.S. observer programs
operating in fisheries where tuna is
regularly harvested, and concluded that
observers in all seven observer programs
are capable of providing the
documentation necessary to complete

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an observer statement for dolphin-safe
labeling purposes. Under the authority
at § 216.91(a)(2)(iii)(B) and (a)(4)(ii), the
AA has determined that observers, or an
authorized representative of the
observer program, operating in the
following fisheries are qualified to issue
observer statements and are authorized
by this notice to issue such statements
on or after the effective date of this
notice:
• The American Samoa Pelagic
Longline Fishery
• the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Purse
Seine Fishery
• the Atlantic Highly Migratory
Species Pelagic Longline Fishery
• the California Deep-set Pelagic
Longline Fishery
• the California Large-mesh Drift
Gillnet Fishery
• the Hawaii Deep-set Longline
Fishery
• the Hawaii Shallow-set Longline
Fishery
The observer statements are intended
to be used for the documentation of
dolphin-safe status only. Mortality and
serious injury determinations under
Marine Mammal Protection Act
(MMPA) Section 117 will continue to be
made in accordance with current NMFS
policy and protocols.
The determinations are also
publicized on the NMFS WCR Web site
at http://www.westcoast.fisheries.
noaa.gov. In order for tuna product
made from tuna harvested in one of the
fisheries listed above to be labeled
‘‘dolphin safe,’’ it must be accompanied
by an observer statement, provided an
observer was on board the vessel and

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the fishing trip began on or after the
effective date of this notice. The
observer statement must certify that no
dolphins were killed or seriously
injured in the sets or other gear
deployments in which the tuna were
caught and, if applicable, that no purse
seine net was intentionally deployed on
or used to encircle dolphins during the
fishing trip.

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Dated: July 8, 2014.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for
Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

[FR Doc. 2014–16455 Filed 7–11–14; 8:45 am]

36(b)(1) Arms Sales Notification

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P

AGENCY:

Sunshine Act Meetings
10:00 a.m., Friday, July

18, 2014.
1155 21st St. NW., Washington,
DC, 9th Floor Commission Conference
Room.

PLACE:

STATUS:

Closed.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED:
Surveillance, Enforcement Matters, and
Examinations. In the event that the
times, dates, or locations of this or any
future meetings change, an
announcement of the change, along with
the new time and place of the meeting
will be posted on the Commission’s
Web site at http://www.cftc.gov.

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Natise Allen,
Executive Assistant.
[FR Doc. 2014–16483 Filed 7–10–14; 11:15 am]
BILLING CODE 6351–01–P

Office of the Secretary
[Transmittal Nos. 14–18]

Defense Security Cooperation
Agency, Department of Defense.
ACTION: Notice.

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING
COMMISSION

TIME AND DATE:

Christopher J. Kirkpatrick, 202–418–
5964.

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The Department of Defense is
publishing the unclassified text of a
section 36(b)(1) arms sales notification.
This is published to fulfill the
requirements of section 155 of Public
Law 104–164 dated July 21, 1996.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.
B. English, DSCA/DBO/CFM, (703) 601–
3740.
The following is a copy of a letter to
the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Transmittals 14–18
with attached transmittal, policy
justification, and Sensitivity of
Technology.
SUMMARY:

Dated: July 8, 2014.
Aaron Siegel,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison
Officer, Department of Defense.
BILLING CODE 5001–06–P

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