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DOC/NOAA RIN: 0648-BD59 Publication ID: Spring 2015 
Title: Implementation of a Program for Transshipments by Large Scale Fishing Vessels in the Eastern Pacific Ocean 
Abstract: This rule would implement the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission program to monitor transshipments by large-scale tuna fishing vessels, and would govern transshipments by U.S. large-scale tuna fishing vessels and carrier, or receiving, vessels. The rule would establish: criteria for transshipping in port; criteria for transshipping at sea by longline vessels to an authorized carrier vessel with an Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission observer onboard and an operational vessel monitoring system; and require the Pacific Transshipment Declaration Form, which must be used to report transshipments in the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission Convention Area. The rule is neither applicable to troll and pole-and-line vessels, nor to vessels that transship fresh fish at sea.The frequency of transshipments in the Eastern Pacific Ocean is uncertain, but only a few transshipments are expected annually. A similar rule was adopted in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean and the National Marine Fisheries Service calculated that an average of twenty-four at-sea transshipments of fish caught by longline gear there have occurred annually from 1993 through 2009. Transshipments in the Eastern Pacific Ocean are likely to be much less than twenty-four per year.This rule is necessary for the United States to satisfy its international obligations under the 1949 Convention for the Establishment of an Inter-American Tropical Tuna, to which it is a Contracting Party. 
Agency: Department of Commerce(DOC)  Priority: Substantive, Nonsignificant 
RIN Status: Previously published in the Unified Agenda Agenda Stage of Rulemaking: Proposed Rule Stage 
Major: No  Unfunded Mandates: No 
CFR Citation: 50 CFR 300   
Legal Authority: 16 U.S.C. 951 et seq.    16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.   
Legal Deadline:  None
Timetable:
Action Date FR Cite
NPRM  10/00/2015 
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Required: Yes  Government Levels Affected: None 
Small Entities Affected: Businesses  Federalism: No 
Included in the Regulatory Plan: No 
International Impacts: This regulatory action will be likely to have international trade and investment effects, or otherwise be of international interest.
RIN Data Printed in the FR: Yes 
Agency Contact:
William Stelle Jr.
Regional Administrator, West Coast Region
Department of Commerce
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
7600 Sand Point Way Northeast, Building 1,
Seattle, WA 98115
Phone:206 526-6150
Email: will.stelle@noaa.gov