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DOC/NOAA

RIN: 0648-BG96

Publication ID: Spring 2018

Title: Nontrawl Lead Level 2 Observers
Abstract: This action would modify regulations pertaining to the nontrawl lead level 2 observer deployment endorsement and require vessels to participate in a pre-cruise meeting when necessary. An observer deployed on a catcher/processor that participates in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands hook-and-line Pacific cod fishery or on a catcher/processor using pot gear to harvest groundfish in the Western Alaska Community Development Quota fisheries is required to have a nontrawl lead level 2 deployment endorsement. Since 2014, vessel owners and observer provider firms have reported an ongoing shortage of nontrawl lead level 2 endorsed observers that has delayed fishing trips and increased operational costs. This action would increase the pool of observers that could obtain the nontrawl lead level 2 endorsement by allowing sampling experience on trawl catcher/processors to count toward the minimum experience necessary to obtain a nontrawl lead level 2 deployment endorsement. The action would benefit the owners and operators of catcher/processor vessels required to carry an observer with a nontrawl lead level 2 endorsement, observer provider firms, and individuals serving as certified observers. This action also includes a revision to the observer coverage requirement for motherships receiving unsorted codends from catcher vessels groundfish Community Development Quota fishing and numerous housekeeping measures and technical corrections. These additional updates and corrections are necessary to improve terminology consistency throughout the regulations and, for operational consistency, to align mothership observer coverage requirements with Amendment 80 vessels consistent with the regulation of harvest provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
Agency: Department of Commerce(DOC)	Priority: Substantive, Nonsignificant
RIN Status: Previously published in the Unified Agenda	Agenda Stage of Rulemaking: Final Rule Stage
Major: No	Unfunded Mandates: No
EO 13771 Designation: Not subject to, not significant
CFR Citation: 50 CFR 679
Legal Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

Legal Deadline: None

Timetable:

Action	Date	FR Cite
NPRM	12/27/2017	82 FR 61243
NPRM Comment Period End	01/26/2018
Final Action	05/00/2018

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Required: Yes	Government Levels Affected: None
Small Entities Affected: Businesses	Federalism: No
Included in the Regulatory Plan: No
RIN Data Printed in the FR: Yes
Agency Contact: James Balsiger Regional Administrator, Alaska Region Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 709 West Ninth Street, Juneau, AK 99801 Phone:907 586-7221 Email: jim.balsiger@noaa.gov