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Statement of Need: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposes regulations to set forth identification and certification procedures for nations whose vessels engage in illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing activities or bycatch of protected living marine resources pursuant to the High Seas Fishing Moratorium Protection Act (Moratorium Protection Act). Specifically, the Moratorium Protection Act requires the Secretary of Commerce to identify in a biennial report to Congress those foreign nations whose vessels are engaged in IUU fishing or fishing that results in bycatch of protected living marine resources. The Moratorium Protection Act also requires the establishment of procedures to certify whether nations identified in the biennial report are taking appropriate corrective actions to address IUU fishing or bycatch of protected living marine resources by fishing vessels of that nation. Based upon the outcome of the certification procedures developed in this rulemaking, nations could be subject to import prohibitions on certain fisheries products and other measures under the authority provided in the High Seas Driftnet Fisheries Enforcement Act if they are not positively certified by the Secretary of Commerce.

Summary of the Legal Basis: NOAA is proposing these regulations pursuant to its rulemaking authority under sections 609 and 610 of the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1826j to 1826k), as amended by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act.

Alternatives: NMFS is currently in the process of developing alternatives, and will provide this information at a later date.

Anticipated Costs and Benefits: Because this rule is under development, NMFS does not currently have estimates of the amount of product that is imported into the United States from other nations whose vessels are engaged in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing or bycatch of protected living marine resources. Therefore, quantification of the economic impacts of this rulemaking is not possible at this time. This rulemaking does not meet the $100 million annual economic impact threshold and thus has not been determined to be economically significant under EO 12866.

Risks: The risks associated with not pursuing the proposed rulemaking include allowing IUU fishing activities and/or bycatch of protected living marine resources by foreign vessels to continue without an effective tool to aid in combating such activities.