• 2005, 2004, and 2002

• About five months of 2001 are here.

2003 notices

• FWS receives endangered species and marine mammal permit applications (12/31, p. 75618-9)
• NMFS adjusts the coastwide General category quota for the Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) fishery by transferring 15.0 metric tons (mt) from the Longline North subcategory quota, 12 mt from the Longline South subcategory quota and 3 mt from the Trap category to the coastwide General category for a revised quota of approximately 564.4 mt (12/31, p. 75466-7)
• Lawrence D. Wood, Marinelife Center of Juno Beach, Juno Beach, FL receives permit to take hawksbill sea turtles for purposes of scientific research (12/31, p. 75493-4)
• Sea World, Inc., Orlando, FL, receives amendment to Permit No. 116-1477-01 to take Hawaiian monk seals, Monachus schauinslandi, for scientific research and enhancement purposes (12/31, p. 75494)
• Ronald Schusterman, Ph.D., Long Marine Laboratory, UC-Santa Cruz, receives amendment to scientific research Permit No. 259-1481-01 (12/31, p. 75494)
• Texas A&M University, Department of Marine Biology, Galveston, Texas, receives amendment to scientific research Permit No. 82-1588-01 (12/31, p. 75494-5)

• NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Community Development Quota reserve amounts of shortraker/rougheye rockfish and northern rockfish in the Bering Sea subarea and ``other species'' in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (12/30, p. 75147)
• NMFS issues this proposed rule to provide information about the schedule, procedures, and eligibility requirements for participating in referendums to determine whether an individual fishing quota program for the Gulf of Mexico commercial red snapper fishery should be prepared and, if so, whether it should subsequently be submitted to the Secretary of Commerce for review (12/30, p. 75202-6)
• NMFS extends public comment period on NOI to issue Exempted Fishing Permits (EFPs) and Scientific Research Permits for the collection of Atlantic highly migratory species, previously published in the Federal Register on Dec. 9, 2003 (12/30, p. 75217)

• FWS will conduct an open meeting on Jan. 29, 2004, to identify and discuss preliminary issues concerning the 2004-05 migratory bird hunting regulations (12/29, p. 74964-5)
• NMFS announces that the New England Fishery Management Council has submitted Amendment 13, incorporating the Draft Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS) to the NE Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for secretarial review and is requesting comments from the public (12/29, p. 74939-40)

• NMFS issues final rule "to ensure that shark regulations are based on the results of the 2002 stock assessments for large coastal sharks (LCS) and small coastal sharks." (12/24, p. 74745-89)
• Under the framework provisions of the Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Tunas, Swordfish, and Sharks (HMS FMP) governing the Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) fishery, NMFS amends the regulations regarding the opening date of the Purse seine category, closure dates of the Harpoon and General categories, and size tolerances of large medium BFT for the Purse seine and Harpoon categories (12/24, p. 74504-12)
• NMFS announces that the State of North Carolina is transferring 357,867 lb (162,326 kg) of commercial summer flounder quota to the Commonwealth of Virginia from its 2003 quota (12/24, p. 74512)
• NMFS makes positive preliminary determination re: EFP applications that would allow up to 17 vessels to fish for haddock using longline gear or jig gear in NE multispecies year-round Georges Bank (GB) Closed Area I (CA I) during the months of January, February, and May through September 2004 (12/24, p. 74542-4)
• NOAA Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management plans to evaluate the performance of the Texas Coastal Management Program; the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve; the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Mississippi; and the Guana/Tolomato/Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve, Florida (12/24, p. 74553-4)
• NMFS amends marine mammal permits (12/24, p. 74554)

• NMFS announces that the summer flounder commercial quota available to New Jersey has been harvested. (12/23, p. 74198)
• NMFS announces the approval and certification of the Boatracs FMCT/G (Fisheries Mobile Communications Transceiver/Global Positioning System (GPS) based) VMS unit for use in all fisheries in the northeastern U.S. in which VMS units are required (12/23, p. 74217)
• NMFS disapproves request for an exempted fishing permit (EFP) from Florida Offshore Aquaculture of Madeira Beach, FL. The EFP would have authorized a 24-month feasibility study for net cage culture of cobia, mahi-mahi, greater amberjack, Florida pompano, red snapper and cubera snapper at a site approximately 33 statute miles (53 km) WSW. of Johns Pass, FL (12/23, p. 74217-8)

• FWS releases final CCP and Summary for the Alamosa-Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuges Complex, Alamosa, CO (12/22, p. 71126-8)
• FWS releases draft Revised RP for the 'Alala (Corvus hawaiiensis) (12/22, p. 71128-9) (Plans are here)
• FWS releases EA, receives application for an ITP for a proposed commercial development in Palm Beach County, FL (Fla. scrub-jay) (12/22, p. 71129-31)
• NMFS publishes IFQ standard prices and notification of adjustment of the IFQ fee percentage for the IFQ Cost Recovery Program in the halibut and sablefish fisheries of the North Pacific (12/22, p. 71036-8)
• NMFS sets final quotas for the Atlantic surfclam, ocean quahog, and Maine mahogany ocean quahog fisheries for 2004 (12/22, p. 71033-6)
• NMFS keeps measures to reduce overfishing and continue conservation measures in NE Multispecies Fishery for another 180 days, "after which subsequent Secretarial action may be taken to ensure that sufficient measures to reduce overfishing remain in place, or until Amendment 13 to the NE Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP) is implemented (on or about May 1, 2004), whichever occurs first." (12/22, p. 71032-3)
• NMFS issues this notice to inform the public of persons who prospectively qualify to bid, vote, or both in the fishing capacity reduction program for the crab species covered by the Fishery Management Plan for Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands king and tanner crabs. (12/22, p. 71082-93)

• FWS, FS: "This provides notice of the Federal Subsistence Board's management action to protect a declining moose population in Unit 22(A)." (12/19, p. 70712-4)
• NMFS proposes to apportion amounts of the reserve to certain target species in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area. (12/19, p. 70753-4)

• CWA enforcement: DOJ files proposed consent decree re: discharges of leachate from the Ordot Landfill without a permit in violation of CWA section 301; and violation of EPA's administrative order to cease the discharges (U.S. v. Guam, Civ. No. 02-22, D. Guam). "The consent decree requires the Government of Guam to: (1) close the Ordot Landfill, conduct environmental studies, and develop, design, construct, and operate a new sanitary landfill; (2) as a supplemental environmental project, develop and implement a comprehensive waste diversion strategy for household hazardous waste on Guam; and (3) pay a civil penalty of $200,000." (12/18, p. 70533)
• FWS issues negative 90-day finding on petition to delist Preble's meadow jumping mouse (12/18, p. 70523-6)
• FWS will prepare a CCP/EA for Tallahatchie, Dahomey, and Coldwater River National Wildlife Refuges in Mississippi (12/18, p. 70520-1)
• FWS issues Draft Revised Recovery Plan for the Hawaiian crow (12/18, p. 70527-8)
• FWS issues draft recovery plan for Otay Tarplant (12/18, p. 70526-7)
• FWS issues draft recovery plan for Blackburn's Sphinx Moth (12/18, p. 70528-9)
• FWS receives endangered species/marine mammal permit applications (12/18, p. 70521-2)
• FWS receives endangered species permit applications (12/18, p. 70522)
• FWS receives endangered species permit applications (12/18, p. 70522-3)
• FWS Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force Mississippi River Basin Panel to meet (12/18, p. 70529-30)
• The North Pacific Fishery Management Council submits for Secretarial review Amendment 17 to the Fishery Management Plan for Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crabs (FMP). This amendment would implement a rebuilding plan for the overfished stock of Pribilof Islands blue king crab (12/18, p. 70484-5)
• NOAA Pribilof Islands Restoration Project Office, National Ocean Service, Seattle, Wash., has applied in due form for a permit to take Northern fur seals for purposes of commercial/educational photography (12/18, p. 70493)

Wednesday, Dec. 17 (Dec. 17 Table of Contents from GPO)

• FWS lists dugong in the Republic of Palau as endangered (12/17, p. 70185-90)
• NMFS proposes prohibiting shallow longline sets of the type normally targeting swordfish on the high seas in the Pacific Ocean east of 150[deg] W. long. by vessels that are not already prohibited from making such sets under the current regulations for the Fishery Management Plan for the Pelagic Fisheries of the Western Pacific Region (WesPac FMP). This action is intended to protect endangered and threatened sea turtles from the adverse impacts of shallow longline fishing by U.S. longline fishing vessels in the Pacific Ocean and operating out of the west coast instead of Hawaii. (12/17, p. 70219-23)
• Alaska SeaLife Center, 301 Railway Ave., Seward, AK 99664, has applied for a permit to import and export marine mammal parts for purposes of scientific research (12/17, p. 70234-5)

• FWS releases draft EA/HCP, receives ITP application for Elizabeth Cross Roads Property, Town of Elizabeth, Elbert County, CO (Preble's meadow jumping mouse) (12/16, p. 70027-8)
• NMFS issues final rule to modify the management of the ``other species'' Community Development Quota (CDQ) reserve by eliminating specific allocations of ``other species'' CDQ to individual CDQ managing organizations (CDQ groups) and, instead, allowing NMFS to manage the ``other species'' CDQ reserve with the general limitations used to manage the catch of non-CDQ groundfish in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (12/16, p. 69974-7)
• NMFS closes Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) General category quota effective 11:30 p.m. Dec. 10. (12/16, p. 69969-70)
• NMFS implements measures contained in Amendment 13 to the FMP (Amendment 13). Amendment 13 establishes: A new surfclam overfishing definition; multi-year fishing quotas; a mandatory vessel monitoring system (VMS), when such a system is economically viable; the ability to suspend or adjust the surfclam minimum size limit through a framework adjustment; and an analysis of fishing gear impacts on Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) for surfclams and ocean quahogs (12/16, p. 69970-4)
• NMFS announces DAM zone to protect right whales. "These regulations apply to lobster trap/pot and anchored gillnet fishermen in an area totaling approximately 1,356 square nautical miles (nm2) (4,651 km2), east of Portsmouth, NH for 15 days." (12/16, p. 69967-9)
• NMFS prohibits drift gillnet fishing in the California/Oregon (CA/OR) thresher shark/swordfish drift gillnet fishery in waters off southern California east of the 120[deg]W., for the months of June, July, and August, when El Nino conditions are forecasted or present off southern California. NMFS has determined that the incidental take of loggerhead sea turtles by this fishery correlates to the area and season being fished during these oceanographic conditions. (12/16, p. )
  • More here
• NMFS receives application from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO), a part of Columbia University, for an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take small numbers of marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to conducting oceanographic surveys off the northern Yucatan Peninsula in the Gulf of Mexico (12/16, p. 70000-5)

• One NMFS meeting -- see Table of Contents

• FWS receives ES permit applications and application to amend marine mammal permit (12/12, p. 69418-9)
• NMFS final rule establishes a fishing capacity reduction program in the fishery for the crab species managed under the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crabs Fishery Management Plan (crab FMP). (12/12, p. 69331-42)
• NMFS proposes specifications for the 2004 Atlantic herring fishery (12/12, p. 69373-4)
• Between June 30, 2003 and September 24, 2003, NMFS' Northwest Region issued three permit modifications allowing endangered and threatened species of Pacific salmon and steelhead to be taken for scientific research purposes under the ESA (12/12, p. 69386-7)
• NMFS issues an ESA Section 10(a)(1)(B) artificial propagation permit to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), the Public Utility District No. 1 of Chelan County (Chelan PUD); and the Public Utility District No. 1 of Douglas County (Douglas PUD) (12/12, p. 69387)
• NMFS issues three enhancement permits to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Public Utility District No. 1 of Chelan County, and the Public Utility District No. 1 of Douglas County. Permit 1396 was issued to FWS and Permit 1412 to the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (12/12, p. 69387-8)
• NMFS receives request for modification to scientific research permit (12/12, p. 69388-9)

• NPS issues winter use regulations for Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and the John D. Rockefeller Jr., Memorial Parkway. "The rule implements an adaptive management strategy. In order to minimize impacts the rule requires that most recreational snowmobiles and snowcoaches operating in the parks meet certain air and sound emissions requirements, be accompanied by a trained guide, and comply with established daily entry limits on the numbers of snowmobiles that may enter the parks. Cross-country routes will continue to remain closed to oversnow motorized vehicles." (12/11, p. 69267-89)
• NMFS rescinds previous action that reallocated Pacific cod among gear types and is reallocating the currently projected unused amount of Pacific cod from vessels using trawl and jig gear to catcher/ processor vessels using hook-and-line gear and vessels using pot gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (12/11, p. )
• NMFS prohibits directed fishing for Pacific cod by vessels using pot gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area. This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2003 total allowable catch of Pacific cod allocated to vessels using pot gear in this area (12/11, p. 69048-9)
• NMFS prohibits directed fishing for Pacific cod by catcher/processor vessels using hook-and-line gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (12/11, p. 69049)
• NMFS prohibits directed fishing for Pacific cod by catcher vessels using hook-and-line gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (12/11, p. 69049-50)
• NMFS issues ANPR seeking public input on the Essential Fish Habitat guidelines promulgated through regulation in the Jan. 17, 2002, final rule. "NMFS recognizes that implementation of the Magnuson-Stevens Act's EFH provisions is complex and requires considerable species and habitat information not always equally available across species or geography. In addition, NMFS recognizes that not all habitats exhibit the same characteristics, and that implementation of the EFH guidelines continues to attract public interest from its stakeholders." (12/11, p. 69070-1)

• FWS proposes revisions to ICR forms and proposes two new ICRs (12/10, p. 68939-40)
• FWS receives applications for endangered species permits (12/10, p. 68940-1)
• Hanford Reach National Monument Federal Advisory Committee Meetings scheduled (12/10, p. 68941-2)
• NMFS closes commercial fishery for red snapper in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Gulf of Mexico. NMFS has determined that the fall portion of the annual commercial quota for red snapper will be reached on Dec. 7, 2003. (12/10, p. 68784-5)
• NMFS announces that the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council has submitted Amendment 21 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico for review, approval, and implementation by NMFS. Amendment 21 would continue the marine reserves at Madison-Swanson and Steamboat Lumps for an additional 6 years and revise the fishing restrictions that apply within the reserves (12/10, p. 68854-5)
• NMFS proposes regulations to implement the Fishery Management Plan for U.S. West Coast Fisheries for Highly Migratory Species, submitted by the Pacific Fishery Management Council for review and approval by the Secretary of Commerce (12/10, p. 68834-54)
• NMFS issues LOA to BP Exploration (Alaska), Inc. (BPXA) to take marine mammals incidental to the production of offshore oil and gas at the Northstar development in the Beaufort Sea off Alaska (12/10, p. 68874-5)

• NMFS plans to issue Exempted Fishing Permits and Scientific Research Permits for the collection of Atlantic highly migratory species (12/9, p. 68595-6)
• Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward, Alaska, receives permit to take harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) for purposes of scientific research (12/9, p. 68596-7)

• FWS, NMFS, BLM, NPS, BIA, FS issue "Joint Counterpart Endangered Species Act Section 7 Consultation Regulations" for projects under National Fire Plan. "The alternative consultation process contained in these counterpart regulations eliminates the need to conduct informal consultation and eliminates the requirement to obtain written concurrence from [FWS and NOAA Fisheries] for those NFP actions that the action agency determines are `'`not likely to adversely affect' any listed species or designated critical habitat." (12/8, p. 68254-65)
• NMFS issues interim 2004 total TAC amounts for each category of groundfish, Community Development Quota reserve amounts, AFA pollock allocations and sideboard amounts, and prohibited species catch allowances and prohibited species quota reserves for the groundfish fisheries of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (12/8, p. 68265-75)
• NMFS asks for public comment on its draft NMFS Strategic Plan for Fisheries Research (12/8, p. 68357-8) (Download report here or on NMFS page)

• FWS releases Draft Revised Recovery Plan for the Chittenango Ovate Amber Snail (12/5, p. 68102-3) (Plan may be here soon)
• NMFS issues interim 2004 total allowable catch (TAC) amounts for each category of groundfish, American Fisheries Act (AFA) sideboard amounts, and prohibited species catch (PSC) amounts for the groundfish fisheries of the Gulf of Alaska (12/5, p. 67964-70)
• NMFS proposes 2004 harvest specifications for groundfish, reserves and apportionment thereof, Pacific halibut prohibited species catch (PSC) limits, for the groundfish fishery of the Gulf of Alaska (12/5, p. 68022-14)
• NMFS proposes rule to implement Amendment 16-2 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan, which would allow the FMP to include overfished species rebuilding plans for lingcod, canary rockfish, darkblotched rockfish, and Pacific ocean perch. (12/5, p. 67998-68002)
• NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research will post NOAA Research Draft Report (on Laboratory consolidation) for public comment on Dec. 15, 2003. (12/5, p. 68035-6) (Report will be here)

• FWS releases final CCP for Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, Sasabe, AZ (12/4, p. 67859-60)
• NMFS Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries has made a preliminary determination to grant an EFP allowing exemptions from Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan as follows: The Georges Bank (GB) seasonal closure area; the Days-at-Sea (DAS) notification requirements; the effort-control program (DAS); and minimum fish size restrictions for the temporary retention of undersized fish for data collection purposes (12/4, p. 67839-40)

Wednesday, Dec. 3 (Dec. 3 Table of Contents from GPO)

• NMFS restores 18,665 lb (8,466 kg) of unused research set-aside to the 2003 scup TAL and 25,000 lb (11,340 kg) of unused RSA to the black sea bass TAL, and makes corresponding adjustments to the 2003 scup Winter II commercial quota, the 2003 scup recreational harvest limit, the 2003 black sea bass coastwide commercial quota, and the 2003 black sea bass recreational harvest limit (12/3, p. 67609-10)
• NMFS announces final 2003 management measures to prevent overfishing of eastern tropical Pacific Ocean tuna stocks, consistent with recommendations by the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission that have been approved by the Department of State under the Tuna Conventions Act. (12/3, p. 67607-8)
• NMFS proposes 2004 harvest specifications and prohibited species catch allowances for the groundfish fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (12/3, p. 67642-655)
• NMFS' Director of the Office of Sustainable Fisheries has received EFP applications from the State of North Carolina to continue work on the first year of a 2-year EFP issued in 2003; Atlantic Coast Weakfish Fishery (12/3, p. 67636-8)
• NMFS proposes a regulation to implement the annual harvest guideline for Pacific sardine in the U.S. exclusive economic zone off the Pacific coast for the fishing season Jan. 1, 2004, through Dec. 31, 2004 (12/3, p. 67638-40)
• NMFS, Western Pacific Fishery Management Council plan to phase, upon completion of the public scoping period identified in the Oct. 17, 2003, NOI, the SEIS and associated NEPA processes into two separate SEISs and two separate NEPA processes. (12/3, p. 67640-2)
• NMFS proposes to allow take by 30th Space Wing, USAF, for the authorization for the harassment of small numbers of pinnipeds incidental to space vehicle and test flight activities from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA (VAFB) between Jan. 1, 2004, and Dec. 31, 2008 (12/3, p. 67629-36)
• NMFS requests modification of scientific research permit no. 1429 submitted by Nmfs Southeast Fisheries Science Center (12/3, p. 67659-60)

• FWS receives endangered species recovery permit applications (12/2, p. 67465-7)
• NMFS rescinds previous action reallocating Pacific cod and is reallocating the projected unused amount of Pacific cod from vessels using trawl and jig gear to catcher/processor vessels using hook-and-line gear and vessels using pot gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (12/2, p. 67379-80)
• The North Pacific Fishery Management Council has submitted Amendment 63 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (12/2, p. 67390-1)
• Vessel Monitoring Systems; Approved Mobile Transmitting Units for Use in the Fisheries Off the West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Correction (12/2, p. 67404)

• CWA enforcement: Proposed consent decree filed in U.S. v. Northwoods Development, LLC d/b/a Portage Point Inn, Michael DeVoe, 03-CV-336, W.D. Mich., Southern Div.) (12/1, p. 67215) (CD is here)
• NMFS issues a final rule to implement Amendment 77 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Groundfish Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area (12/1, p. 67086-93)
• NMFS corrects phone number for the Pacific Fishery Management Council in the Nov. 6 notice of availability of the Highly Migratory Species Fishery Management Plan (12/1, p. 67132)
• NMFS, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, Maryland, 20910, has applied in due form for a permit to take threatened and endangered sea turtles for purposes of scientific research (12/1, p. 67152)

• FWS, NMFS issue FEIS for an ITP and HCP (J.L. Storedahl & Sons Inc., Clark County, Wash.) (11/28, p. 66820-1)
• FWS develops regulations that would authorize the incidental, unintentional take of small numbers of polar bears and Pacific walrus during year-round oil and gas industry exploration, development, and production operations in the Beaufort Sea and adjacent northern coast of Alaska. (11/28, p. 66744-61)
• FWS issues ES/marine mammal permits (11/28, p. 66850-1)
• FWS receives request to import sport-hunted bontebok and "export biological samples obtained from non-viable eggs and/or non-surviving hatchlings of hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) collected from the wild, for the purpose of diagnostic and scientific research." (11/28, p. 66851)
• NMFS will prepare an SEIS to assess the potential effects on the human environment of proposed alternatives and actions under a proposed rule to reduce sea turtle bycatch in the Atlantic pelagic longline fishery (11/28, p. 66783-4)
• NMFS proposes specifications for the 2004 summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass fisheries. (11/28, p. 66784-95)
• NMFS has received applications for a permit for scientific research from Natural Resource Scientists, Inc in Red Bluff, CA (1185), Turlock Irrigation District in Turlock, CA (1280), and California Rivers Restoration Fund in El Dorado, CA (1452). The permits would affect federally threatened Central Valley steelhead. This document serves to notify the public of the availability of the permit applications for review and comment. (11/28, p. 66819-20)

• Nothing on Thanksgiving Day

• FWS reopens comment period till Jan. 12 on proposal to list as endangered the Scimitar-Horned Oryx, Addax, and Dama Gazelle (11/26, p. 66395-6)
• FWS plans to revise a CCP and associated EIS for the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, Cold Bay, AK (11/26, p. 66474-5)
• FWS to revise a CCP for the Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge, Fairbanks, AK (11/26, p. 66475-6)
• FWS to revise CCP, prepare EIS for the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, Soldotna, AK (11/26, p. 66476-7)
• FWS releases final supplement and amendment to the1998 Final Revised Sonoran Pronghorn Recovery Plan--Recovery Criteria and Estimates of Time for Recovery Actions for the Sonoran Pronghorn (11/26, p. 66477-8)
• FWS to prepare EIS for issuance of an ITP associated with an HCP for the San Diego County Water Authority, California (11/26, p. 66478-9)
• NMFS announces changes to commercial fisheries trip limits and rockfish conservation areas (RCAs), as well as recreational fisheries closures and prohibitions for the Pacific Coast groundfish fishery (11/26, p. 66352-71)
• NMFS extends solicitation period on a notice inviting the public to submit proposals for available funding for the Chesapeake Bay Fisheries Research Program, which funds projects that support research, monitoring, modeling and management addressing various aspects of Chesapeake Bay fisheries (10/17/03) (11/26, p. 66401)

• NMFS proposes rule to implement Amendment 13A to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (11/25, p. 66069-71)
• NMFS issues Incidental Harassment Authorization to Caltrans to take small numbers of Pacific harbor seals and possibly California sea lions, by harassment, incidental to seismic retrofit construction of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, San Francisco Bay (11/25, p. 66076-9)
• FS, BLM correct Notice of Availability (new web site) for the Final SEIS for the Clarification of Language in the 1994 Record of Decision for the Northwest Forest Plan; Proposal To Amend Wording About the Aquatic Conservation Strategy); Western Oregon and Washington, and Northwestern California
  • FSEIS is here

• FWS: Notice of Intent To Conduct Restoration Planning for Natural Resources Injured by the Release of Oil From the MV Stuyvesant Oil Spill, Humboldt County, CA (11/24, p. 65944-6)

• FWS issues ES, marine mammal permits (11/21, p. 65727)
• FWS receives ES permit applications (11/21, p. 65727-8)
• FWS releases EA, receives ITP application to take loggerhead, green, leatherback, Kemp's ridley, and hawksbill sea turtles "as a result of authorizing the construction and removal of emergency coastal armoring structures along eroding sections of the 22.25 miles of [Indian River] County coastline." (11/21, p. 65730-2)
• FWS releases EA, receives ITP application by Martin Co., Fla., to take Florida scrub-jay in connection with expansion of a storm water retention facility (11/21, p. 65728-30)
• NMFS and the North Pacific Fishery Management Council are soliciting proposals for specific Habitat Areas of Particular Concern (HAPCs) that could be identified and managed within Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) (11/21, p. 65676-7)

• FWS receives applications to conduct certain activities with endangered species and/or marine mammals (11/20, p. 65466)
• FWS receives enhancment of survival permit application (westslope cutthroat trout) (11/20, p. 65466-7)
• NMFS announces temporary restrictions on lobster trap/pot and anchored gillnet fishermen in an area totaling about 1,356 square nautical miles, east of Portsmouth, N..H., for 15 days. The purpose of this action is to provide protection to an aggregation of North Atlantic right whales (right whales) (11/20, p. 65409-11)
• NMFS grants Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take small numbers of marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to conducting an oceanographic survey in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean near Bermuda has been issued to Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) (11/20, p. 65438-45)
• NMFS issues amendment to scientific research Permit No. 732-1487-03 (11/20, p. 65445)

• No FWS or NMFS notices today

• FWS asks for comments on July 2000 proposal on Mexican spotted owl critical habitat. Disputed final rule from Feb. 1, 2001, is still in effect. Final rule cut about 9 million acres in national forests in Arizona and New Mexico and some tribal lands from the designation, leaving 4.6 million acres of federal lands in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. Comment period ends Dec. 18. (11/18, p. 65020-3)
• FWS provides public notice that International Nontoxic Composites Corporation of Ontario, Canada, has applied for approval of Tungsten-Bronze-Iron shot as nontoxic for waterfowl hunting in the United States. The Service has initiated review of the shot under the criteria set out in Tier 1 of the nontoxic shot approval procedures given at 50 CFR 20.134. (11/18, p. 65023-4)
• FWS submits ICR to OMB for approval: NEPA Compliance Checklist, to determine whether a grantee complies with NEPA (11/18, p. 65081-2)
• NMFS has determined that effective 11:30 p.m. local time on Nov. 17, the Atlantic bluefin tuna Angling category fishery will close in both the northern and southern management areas. (11/18, p. 64990-2)

• NOAA to prepare an EIS for the construction of an office/laboratory/classroom facility for the Canaan Valley Institute (11/17, p. 64860)
• NOAA to prepare an EIS for the construction of an office/laboratory/classroom facility for the Canaan Valley Institute (11/17, p. 64860)
• NMFS closes commercial fishery for king mackerel in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the northern Florida west coast subzone (11/17, p. 64820-1)
• NMFS announces that 95 percent of the Atlantic herring total allowable catch (TAC) allocated to Management Area 1A (Area 1A) for fishing year 2003, is projected to be harvested by Nov. 19, 2003. Therefore, effective Nov. 19, federally permitted vessels may not fish for, catch, possess, transfer or land more than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of Atlantic herring harvested from Area 1A per trip or calendar day until Jan. 1, 2004, when the 2004 TAC becomes available (11/17, p. 64821)
• NMFS provides notice of vessel monitoring systems (VMS) approval for use by vessels participating in the Pacific Coast groundfish fishery and sets forth relevant features of the VMS (11/17, p. 64860-4)
• NMFS will hold a public meeting regarding the scientific research proposed by Dr. Peter J. Stein, Scientific Solutions, Inc., Nashua, New Hampshire, in an application for a scientific research permit and analyzed in a draft environmental assessment (11/17, p. 64865)

• FWS issues endangered species permits (11/14, p. 64637-8)
• FWS requests comments on ES/marine mammal permit applications (11/14, p. 64638-9)
• FWS issues marine mammal permits (11/14, p. 64639)
• FWS announces Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force Northeast Regional Panel Meeting Dec. 11-12 in Derby, Conn. (11/14, p. 64639-40)
• NMFS proposes initial specifications for the 2004 fishing year for Atlantic mackerel, squid, and butterfish (11/14, p. 64579-84)
• NMFS issues Incidental Harassment Authorization to the California Department of Transportation to take small numbers of California sea lions, Pacific harbor seals, and gray whales, by harassment, incidental to construction of a replacement bridge for the East Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (SF-OBB) in California (11/14, p. 64595-609)
• NMFS Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Northeast Region, proposes to recommend that an EFP be issued that would allow two vessels to conduct fishing operations that are otherwise restricted by the regulations governing the fisheries of the Northeastern United States. The EFP would allow for exemptions from the FMP as follows: Minimum mesh size in the southern Gear Restricted Area (GRA) for fishing for Loligo squid with a 1 7/8-inch (4.8-cm) diamond mesh codend net; and scup landing limits for Winter I period (11/14, p. 64609-10)

• FWS to submit ICR to OMB for approval: Federal Fish and Wildlife Permit Applications and Reports, Migratory Birds and Eagles (11/13, p. 64362-4)
• FWS releases final CCP and EA for the Minnesota Wetland Management Districts, Big Stone, Detroit Lakes, Fergus Falls, Litchfield, Morris, and Windom (11/13, p. 64364-5)
  • More here

• Corps issues Programmatic Regulations for the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (11/12, p. 64199-249)
  • More here
• NMFS announces that the Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Northeast Region, proposes to recommend that EFPs be issued in response to an application submitted by the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen's Association, in collaboration with the New England Aquarium and NMFS. The EFP would allow up to six vessels to retain undersized Atlantic cod in the area of the Great South Channel east onto Georges Bank from December 2003 through November 2004 (11/12, p. 64084-5)

• Nothing on Veterans Day, Nov. 11

• FWS, BuRec, California Department of Fish and Game will prepare a joint PEIS/EIR to "develop and analyze a regional plan that would outline the actions necessary in Suisun Marsh to preserve and enhance managed seasonal wetlands, implement a comprehensive levee protection/improvement program, and protect ecosystem and drinking water quality, while restoring habitat for tidal marsh-dependent sensitive species, consistent with the California Bay-Delta Program's strategic goals and objectives." Scoping meetings planned. (11/10, p. 63814-5)
• NMFS issues a final rule in accordance with framework procedures for adjusting management measures of the Final Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Tunas, Swordfish and Sharks (HMS FMP), and Amendment 1 to the Atlantic Billfish Fishery Management Plan (Billfish FMP). (11/10, p. 63738-42)
• NMFS proposes to amend regulations under the framework provisions of the Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Tunas, Swordfish, and Sharks (HMS FMP) governing the Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) fishery regarding the opening date of the Purse seine category, closure dates of the Harpoon and General categories, and size tolerances of large medium BFT for the Purse seine and Harpoon categories (11/10, p. 63747-51)
• NMFS issues Incidental Harassment Authorization to Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory to take small numbers of marine mammals incidental to conducting oceanographic surveys in the Mid-Atlantic Ocean. (11/10, p. 63761-8)

• NMFS: Pacific Fishery Management Council has submitted Amendment 16-2 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Secretarial review (11/7, p. 63053-4)

• FWS releases final Recovery Plan for the star cactus (Astrophytum asterias). Star cactus has been documented on one private land site in Starr County, Texas. Additional populations may be found in the United States in Texas, and in Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon, Mexico. (11/6, p. 62828-9)
• NMFS announces that Pacific Fishery Management Council has submitted the Fishery Management Plan for U.S. West Coast Fisheries for Highly Migratory Species for Secretarial review (11/6, p. 62763-4)
• NMFS has issued a Letter of Authorization (LOA) to take marine mammals by harassment, injury and mortality, incidental to power plant operations to Seabrook Station nuclear power plant, Seabrook, NH. (11/6, p. 62775-6)

• NMFS has determined that the Gulf of Mexico vermilion snapper fishery is overfished and has notified the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council of related responsibilities under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (11/5, p. 62542-3)
• NMFS: Peter J. Stein, Scientific Solutions, Inc., Nashua, New Hampshire, has applied in due form for a permit to take the marine mammal species (whales, porpoises) listed below for purposes of scientific research. (11/5, p. 62563-4)

• FWS to prepare CCP/EA for Mingo, Pilot Knob, and Ozark Cavefish National Wildlife Refuges in Southern Missouri and Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in Southwestern Indiana (11/4, p. 62472)
  • More here
• NMFS reduces trip limit in the commercial hook-and-line fishery for king mackerel in the northern Florida west coast subzone to 500 lb (227 kg) of king mackerel per day in or from the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). This trip limit reduction is necessary to protect the Gulf king mackerel resource (11/4, p. 62373-4)
• NMFS issues a final rule to require vessels registered to Pacific Coast groundfish fishery limited entry permits to carry and use mobile vessel monitoring system (VMS) transceiver units while fishing in state or Federal waters off the coasts of Washington, Oregon and California. This action is necessary to monitor compliance with large-scale depth-based conservation areas that restrict fishing across much of the continental shelf (11/4, p. 62374-85)
• NMFS revises the descriptions of Gulf of Alaska (GOA) statistical and reporting areas 620 and 630 in Figure 3b to part 679 to include the entire Alitak/Deadman's/Portage Bay complex of Kodiak Island within area 620 (11/4, p. 62423-5)
• South Atlantic Fishery Management Council has submitted Amendment 13A to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (FMP) for review, approval, and implementation by NMFS. The amendment would extend the current prohibitions on fishing for South Atlantic snapper-grouper in the experimental closed area and on retaining such species in or from the area. (11/4, p. 62422-3)
• NMFS issues notice to inform the public about tendering reduction payments under the Pacific Coast groundfish fishing capacity reduction program. (11/4, p. 62435-40)
• NMFS informs surfclam and ocean quahog allocation owners that they will be required to purchase their year 2004 cage tags from a vendor (11/4, p. 62440-1)

Monday, Nov. 3 (Nov. 3 Table of Contents from GPO)

• FWS, in cooperation with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and the Idaho Governor's Office of Species Conservation, will "gather information necessary to prepare an environmental document ([EA and/or EIS]) regarding a proposed Southern Idaho Ground Squirrel Programmatic CCA with Assurances and enhancement of survival permit." (11/3, p. 62315-6)
• FWS: Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group to meet Dec. 8 in Weaverville, Calif. (11/3, p. 62316)
• FWS receives endangered species permit applications (11/3, p. 62314-5)
• NMFS suspends the minimum size limit of 4.75 inches (12.07 cm) for Atlantic surfclams for the 2004 fishing year (11/3, p. 62250)
• NMFS issues this final rule to implement measures contained in Framework Adjustment 3 (Framework 3) to the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan (FMP) to allow the rollover of unused commercial scup quota from the Winter I period to the Winter II period, and to change the regulations regarding the scup commercial quota counting procedures (11/3, p. 62250-4)
• NMFS proposes rule to implement the Fishery Management Plan for the Dolphin and Wahoo Fishery off the Atlantic States (11/3, p. 62267-8)

Friday, Oct. 31 (Oct. 31 Table of Contents from GPO)

• FWS receives endangered species permit applications (10/31, p. 62096)
• NOAA proposes a draft revised management plan and revised regulations for the Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary (10/31, p. 62033-40)
• NOAA extends due date for decision on federal consistency appeal by Millennium Pipeline Company, from an objection by the New York Department of State (10/31, p. 62058-9)

• FWS releases Candidate Conservation Agreement and "Best Available Information" for Slickspot Peppergrass, Idaho plant that has been proposed as endangered. CCA has been prepared by Idaho Governor's Office of Species Conservation, the Idaho Department of Agriculture, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, the Idaho Department of Lands, the Idaho Army National Guard, the Bureau of Land Management, and several private property owners who hold grazing permits on BLM-managed and maintained lands (10/30, p. 61821-2)
  • CCA is here
• NOAA announces availability of seats for the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council (10/30, p. 61791-2)

• FWS plans to establish policy on State audits accomplished by its Division of Federal Assistance by issuing FWS manual chapters on the subject. The service is requesting comments and suggestions on the chapters as described below (10/29, p. 61681-9)
• CWA enforcement: Vail Associates has agreed to pay a fine, restore wetlands and perform mitigation for discharging pollutants without a permit into waters of the United States U.S. v. Vail Associates Inc., (Civ. 03-D-2069 BNB, D. Colo.) (10/29, p. 61696)
  • Proposed CD will be here soon
• NMFS announces closure of the 2003 catcher/processor fishery for Pacific whiting (whiting) at noon local time (l.t.) Oct. 24, 2003, because the allocation for the catcher/processor sector will be reached by that time (10/29, p. 61634-5)
• NOAA says appeal record has been closed for an administrative appeal filed with the Department of Commerce by Barnes Nursery Inc. (10/29, p. 61657)
• Appeal record has been closed for an administrative appeal filed with the Department of Commerce by John T. Keegan (10/29, p. 61656-7)

• FWS receives endangered species permit applications (10/28, p. 61547-8)
• NMFS closes the fishery for Pacific sardine in the exclusive economic zone off the Pacific Coast north of Pt. Arena, California at 12:01 a.m. local time (l.t.) on Oct. 17, 2003. The purpose of this action is to comply with the allocation procedures mandated by the Coastal Pelagic Species Fishery Management Plan. (10/28, p. 61373)

• FWS creates permit category specifically to authorize migratory bird rehabilitation. Migratory bird rehabilitation is the practice of caring for sick, injured, or orphaned migratory birds with the goal of releasing them back to the wild (10/27, p. 61123-40)
• FWS releases draft EA on proposal to implement CCAs and conservation measures for Eastern Massasaugas in FWS Region 3 (Midwest) (10/27, p. 61127-8)
  • Go here for EA
• NMFS proposes rule to provide potential participants information about the schedule, procedures, and eligibility requirements for participating in referendums to determine whether an individual fishing quota (IFQ) program for the Gulf of Mexico commercial red snapper fishery should be prepared and, if so, whether it subsequently should be submitted to the Secretary of Commerce for review (10/27, p. 61178-81)

• FWS: ENVIRON-Metal, Inc. of Sweet Home, Oregon, has applied for approval of HEVI-Steel shot as nontoxic for waterfowl hunting in the United States. The Service has initiated review of Hevi Steel under the criteria set out in Tier 1 of the nontoxic shot approval procedures (10/24, p. 60897-8)
• FWS: Victor Oltrogge of Arvada, Colo., has applied for approval of Silvex shot as nontoxic for waterfowl hunting in the United States. (10/24, p. 60898)
• FWS issues endangered species/marine mammal permits (10/24, p. 61010-1)
• FWS receives applications to import sport-hunted trophies of the bontebok; also other applications received (10/24, p. 61011)
• NMFS announces changes to trip limits and trawl rockfish conservation areas (RCAs) for the Pacific Coast groundfish fishery (10/24, p. 60865-84)
• NMFS publishes the Fraser River salmon inseason orders regulating salmon fisheries in U.S. waters. (10/24, p. 60862-4)
• NMFS proposes to designate the AT1 Group of Transient Killer Whales as a Depleted Stock Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (10/24, p. 60899-903)
• NMFS has prepared a draft EA on potential effects of approval of a Fishery Management and Evaluation Plan (FMEP) submitted by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) for a coho salmon fishery in Siltcoos and Tahkenitch Lakes (10/24, p. 60915-6)
  • FMEPs are here
• NMFS issues Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take small numbers of marine mammals incidental to conducting oceanographic surveys in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean, to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (10/24, p. 60916-21)

• NOAA issues EA/FONSI on request by New Hampshire to expand its Coastal Management Program Boundary (10/23, p. 60644)
• NOAA will evaluate the performance of the Alabama Coastal Management Program and the Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Alabama (10/23, p. 60643-4)
• Bob McLaughlin, P.O. Box 496, 339 Glenwood, Eastsound, Wash., has been issued a permit to take several species of non-listed marine mammals for purposes of commercial/educational photography (10/23, p. 60645-6)

• FWS proposes to withdraw two areas in Florida from those designated as federally established manatee protection areas. (10/22, p. 60316-24)
• NMFS proposes rule to modify the management of the ``other species'' Community Development Quota (CDQ) reserve by eliminating specific allocations of ``other species'' to individual CDQ managing organizations (CDQ groups) and instead allow NMFS to manage the ``other species'' CDQ reserve with the general limitations used to manage the catch of non-CDQ groundfish in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (10/22, p. 60327-32)
• NMFS proposes quotas for the Atlantic surfclam, ocean quahog, and Maine mahogany ocean quahog fisheries for 2004 (10/22, p. 60324-7)

• FWS issues negative 90-day finding on petition to list wolverine (10/21, p. 60112-5)
• NMFS extends comment deadline on an application for the harassment of marine mammals incidental to conducting an oceanographic survey in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean near Bermuda (10/21, p. 60085)
• NMFS receives application from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, a part of Columbia University, for an Incidental Harassment Authorization to take small numbers of marine mammals incidental to conducting oceanographic surveys in the Southeast Caribbean Sea and adjacent Atlantic Ocean (10/21, p. 60086-91)

• NMFS is closing directed fishing for groundfish by vessels using trawl gear in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA), except for directed fishing for pollock by vessels using pelagic trawl gear in those portions of the GOA open to directed fishing for pollock (10/20, p. 59889)
• NMFS reinstates recordkeeping and reporting regulations implementing the IFQ Cost Recovery Program which were inadvertently removed from regulations in a final rule published in the Federal Register on July 29, 2003 (10/20, p. 59889-91)
• Based on recommendations from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and comments received from an ANPR, NMFS announces its intent to prepare an EIS to analyze the impacts on the human environment of potential revisions to Federal Atlantic striped bass regulations for the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (10/20, p. 59906-8)
• NMFS grants requests to modify scientific research permit No. 1123 submitted by FWS (Edgard O. Espinoza, Primary Investigator), Office of Law Enforcement, National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laborator. (10/20, p. 59913-4)

• FWS issues endangered species, marine mammal permits (10/17, p. 59811)
• FWS receives endangered species, marine mammal permit applications (10/17, p. 59811-2)
• NMFS is reallocating the projected unused amount of Pacific cod from vessels using trawl, jig, and pot gear to vessels using hook-and-line in the BSAI (10/17, p. 59748-9)
• NMFS and Western Pacific Fishery Management Council to prepare SEIS on federal management of pelagic fishery resources in the waters of the United States exclusive economic zone, around the state of Hawaii, the territories of American Samoa and Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and several western Pacific remote islands and atolls under direct Federal jurisdiction (10/17, p. 59771-2)
• NOAA announces "second availability of grant funds for Fiscal Year 2004. The purpose of this notice is to provide the general public with a single source of program and application information related to the Agency's competitive grant offerings, and it contains the information about those programs required to be published in the Federal Register." (10/17, p. 59778-82)
• NMFS receives request for amendment to scientific research permit (humpback and gray whales) (10/17, p. 59782-3)

• FWS submits Information Collection Renewal to OMB for approval: Declaration for Importation or Exportation of Fish or Wildlife (10/16, p. 59634-5)
• FWS releases draft revised Recovery Plan for Hawaiian Forest Birds. (10/16, p. 59635-6)
  • Go here for plan
• NMFS is reopening directed fishing for Pacific cod by vessels catching Pacific cod for processing by the offshore component in the Central Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska for 48 hours. (10/16, p. 59546-7)
• NMFS corrects Oct. 2 final rule concerning the final initial 2003 fishing year specifications for the Atlantic bluefin tuna (10/16, p. 59546)
• NMFS issues a proposed rule to implement Amendment 66 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (FMP), and an amendment to the Pacific halibut commercial fishery regulations for waters in and off of Alaska (10/16, p. 59564-7)
• NMFS grants enhancement of survival permit covering salmon and steelhead to Fish First, a non-profit organization based in southwest Washington State (10/16, p. 59591)

• FWS reclassifies Missouri Bladderpod from endangered to threatened (10/15, p. 59337-45)
• FWS releases draft recovery plan for Sidalcea oregana var. calva (Wenatchee Mountains Checker-mallow) (10/15, p. 59414-5)
  • Go here for plan
• NMFS is reopening directed fishing for pollock in Statistical Area 630 of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) for 24 hours. This action is necessary to fully use the total allowable catch (TAC) of pollock specified for Statistical Area 630 (10/15, p. 59345)
• NMFS, in cooperation with the Pacific Fishery Management Council, announces its intent to prepare an EIS to assess the impacts of the 2005-2006 Pacific Coast groundfish fishery specifications and management measures on the human environment (10/15, p. 59358-9)

• NMFS proposes to incorporate biomass-based stock status determination criteria into the Fishery Management Plan for the Coastal Migratory Pelagic Resources of the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic. (10/14, p. 59151-3)
• Northeast Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, Woods Hole, MA, has applied for a permit to take loggerhead (Caretta caretta), leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii), green (Chelonia mydas), and hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) sea turtles for purposes of scientific research (10/14, p. 59163)
• NMFS: Dr. Kathryn Ono, Department of Biological Sciences, University of New England, has been issued a permit to take harbor seals (Phoca vitulina concolor), gray seals (Halichoerus grypus), harp seals (Phoca groenlandica) and hooded seals (Cystophora cristata) for purposes of scientific research. (10/14, p. 59163-4)

• NOAA issues letter of authorization to take several species of marine mammals incidental to operation of a low frequency sound source to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (Scripps) (10/10, p. 58662)
• NMFS' National Marine Mammal Laboratory has been issued a permit to take California sea lions, harbor seals, and northern elephant seals in California, Washington and Oregon for purposes of scientific research (10/10, p. 58663-4)

• FWS, NMFS reopen comment period on proposed joint counterpart regulations for Healthy Forests Initiative (10/9, p. 58298-9)
  More here, including, at some point, EA
• FWS reopens comment Period for draft recovery plan for the Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep (10/9, p. 58355-6)
  • Plan is here
• FWS receives permit application to take Sonoma County distinct population segment of the California tiger salamander, other species (10/9, p. 58354-5)
• FWS, NMFS receive marine mammal scientific research permit applications (10/9, p. 58316-7)
• FWS: Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force Meeting set for Nov. 4-5 in Arlington, Va. (10/9, p. 58356)
• NMFS announces that it will continue the 2003 quota specifications for the golden tilefish fishery for the 2004 fishing year (10/9, p. 58281-2)
• NMFS receives application from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) for an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take small numbers of marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to conducting an oceanographic survey in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean near Bermuda (10/9, p. 58308-15)
• NMFS to prepare an EA and hold scoping meetings to inform interested parties of the potential impacts on the human environment of the implementation of the regulatory changes resulting from the recently extended Treaty on Fisheries between the Governments of Certain Pacific Island States and the Government of the United States of America (10/9, p. 58296-8)

• FWS issues depredation order for double-breasted cormorants. "The purpose of this depredation order is to help reduce depredation of aquacultural stock by double-crested cormorants at private fish farms and state and federal fish hatcheries." (10/8, p. 58022-37)
  • Cormorant page
• FWS releases CCP/EA for Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge, Muleshoe, TX and Grulla National Wildlife Refuge, Arch, NM (10/8, p. 58124-5)
• FWS withdraws FONSI/EA on management of mute swans in the Atlantic Flyway. FWS won't issue any depredation permits authorizing the take of mute swans under the MBTA pending completion of further review under NEPA (10/8, p. 58126-7)
• FWS receives endangered species and marine mammal permit applications (10/8, p. 58125-6)
• FWS receives endangered species permit applications (10/8, p. 58126)
• FWS grants marine mammal permit (10/8, p. 58127)
• FWS issues marine mammal permits (10/8, p. 58127)
• Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force Gulf of Mexico Regional Panel Meeting slated for Oct. 20-21 in New Orleans (10/8, p. 58127-8)
• NMFS issues final rule to amend regulations governing the North Pacific Groundfish Observer Program (10/8, p. 58038-41)
• NMFS prohibits directed fishing for pollock in Statistical Area 620 of the Gulf of Alaska. This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the pollock total allowable catch for Statistical Area 620 of the GOA. (10/8, p. 58038)
• NMFS prohibits directed fishing for pollock in Statistical Area 610 of the Gulf of Alaska in order to prevent exceeding the pollock TAC (10/8, p. 58037-8)
• NMFS NE Regional Administrator suspends haddock trip limit for the NE multispecies fishery for the remainder of the 2003 fishing year (10/8, p. 58037)

• FWS removes Hoover's woolly-star from the federal list of T&E species (10/7, p. 57829-37)
• FWS releases FEIS/R on application by Riverside County, Caltrans, California Department of Parks and Recreation and 14 cities in western Riverside County to incidentally take 83 animal species, including 69 unlisted species should any of them become listed (Western Riverside County MSCP) (10/7, p. 57924-6)
  • Riverside Co. Integrated Project
• NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Atka mackerel in the Western Aleutian District of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (10/7, p. 57837-8)

• FWS releases draft economic analysis for proposed critical habitat designation for five endangered Tennessee and Cumberland River Basin Mussels. Service also makes a correction to the critical habitat legal description and "gives notice of a possible 6.4-river-kilometer (rkm) (4-river-mile (rmi)) upstream extension of Unit 8 (Rock Creek)." (10/6, p. 57643-6)
• FWS issues 12-month finding that listing the Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii) as endangered is warranted. "The best available information indicates that the total population of Tibetan antelope has declined drastically over the past three decades." (10/6, p. 57646-52)
• FWS: Notice of Permit Application and Safe Harbor Agreement between FWS and the Malpai Borderlands Group (Chiricahua leopard frog). "The proposed take could occur as a result of conservation measures implemented on the approximately 1 million acres (404,700 hectares) identified in the application and associated documents in Cochise County, Arizona and Hidalgo County, New Mexico." (10/6, p. 57702-3)
• FWS releases recovery plan for endangered San Francisco lessingia and Raven's manzanita, two coastal plants of the Northern San Francisco Peninsula (10/6, p. 57703-4)
• FS amends NOI to prepare EIS for Sheep Creek Fire Salvage, Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, Beaverhead County, MT (10/6, p. 57660-2)
• NMFS issues an inseason adjustment closing the fishery for Pacific cod by vessels catching Pacific cod for processing by the offshore component in the Central Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (10/6, p. 57636-7)
• NMFS reallocates projected unused amounts of Bering Sea subarea (BS) pollock from the incidental catch account to the directed fisheries. This action is necessary to allow the 2003 total allowable catch (TAC) of pollock to be harvested (10/6, p. 57634-6)
• NOAA's Damage Assessment and Restoration Program (DARP) announces new indirect cost rates on the recovery of indirect costs for its component organizations involved in natural resource damage assessment and restoration activities for FY 2002 (10/6, p. 57672-3)
  • DARP page
• NMFS lists applicants for permits "to take various pinniped, cetacean and sea turtles during stock assessment activities for purposes of scientific research." (10/6, p. 57673-4)

• FWS plans to prepare a separate species recovery plan for the endangered Alabama beach mouse (10/3, p. 57483-4)
  • More here
• NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for pollock in Statistical Area 630 of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the pollock total allowable catch (TAC) for Statistical Area 630 of the GOA (10/3, p. 57381)
• NMFS issues this final rule to implement the Fishery Management Plan for Pelagic Sargassum Habitat of the South Atlantic Region (10/3, p. 57375-9)
• NMFS issues a final rule to implement the annual harvest guideline for Pacific mackerel in the exclusive economic zone off the Pacific coast. (10/3, p. 57379-81)
• NOAA Fisheries is preparing an EA, in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), for Secretarial Amendment 1 to the Reef Fish FMP (10/3, p. 57400)
• NMFS: The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will prepare EA for Amendment 13 to the Shrimp FMP (10/3, p. 57400-1)
• NOAA to hold public hearing on federal consistency appeal by Islander East Pipeline Company From an Objection by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (10/3, p. 57426-7)
• NMFS has received a request from the California Department of Transportation for a renewal of its Incidental Harassment Authorization to take small numbers of marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to seismic retrofit construction of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, San Francisco Bay, CA. (10/3, p. 57430-3)
• NMFS: Small Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking of California Sea Lions, Pacific Harbor Seals and Northern Elephant Seals Incidental to Research Surveys at San Nicolas Island, Ventura County, CA (10/3, p. 57427-9)

• CWA enforcement: DOJ files proposed consent decree in U.S. v. Phelps Dodge Corp., 03-1804-PHX-SMM, D. Ariz.). "Under the terms of the proposed settlement, Phelps Dodge will pay a civil penalty of $220,142. In addition, Phelps Dodge will carry out three projects at the United Verde mine designed to address the violations [of Section 301(a)] alleged in the complaint." (10/2, p. 56851-2)
• FWS issues final rule for the 2003-2004 Refuge-Specific Hunting and Sport Fishing Regulations (10/2, p. 57307-18)
• FWS Northeast Region says it issued ITP on the proposed 51-acre Camp Wilderness Development (West Virginia Northern Flying Squirrel), Snowshoe Mountain, Pocahontas County, West Virginia (10/2, p. 56849-50)
• NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for groundfish by vessels using hook-and-line gear in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA), except for demersal shelf rockfish in the Southeast Outside District or sablefish (10/2, p. 56788)
• NMFS issues this final rule to increase the incidental catch allowance for weakfish caught in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) from 150 lb (67 kg) to no more than 300 lb (135 kg) per day or trip, whichever is longer in duration; to remove Connecticut from the list of states where commercially caught weakfish from the EEZ can be landed; and to add to NMFS' regulations the Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, as an official who can grant Exempted Fishing Permits (10/2, p. 56789-91)
• NMFS announces the final initial 2003 fishing year specifications for the Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) fishery (10/2, p. 56783-8)

• FWS delists Truckee barberry from list of endangered and threatened plants (10/1, p. 56564-7)
• FWS submits Information Collection Renewal to OMB for review: Federal Aid Grant Application Booklet (10/1, p. 56645-6)
• FWS releases recovery plan for the Endangered Fat Threeridge, Shinyrayed Pocketbook, Gulf Moccasinshell, Ochlockonee Moccasinshell, Oval Pigtoe and the Threatened Chipola Slabshell, and Purple Bankclimber (10/1, p. 56647-8)
• FWS receives endangered species permit applications (10/1, p. 56646-7)

• FWS reopens comment period for proposed rule that would: list the Central California distinct population segment (DPS) of the California tiger salamander as a threatened species under the ESA, reclassify the Sonoma County and Santa Barbara County DPSs of the California tiger salamander from endangered to threatened, and exempt, under section 4(d) of the Act, existing routine ranching activities on private or Tribal lands from section 9 prohibitions for the Central California DPS of the California tiger salamander and, if reclassified to threatened, for the Santa Barbara and Sonoma County DPS's. (9/30, p. 56251-2)
• NMFS prohibits directed fishing for Atka mackerel in the Central Aleutian District of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (9/30, p. 56214-5)
• NMFS prohibits directed fishing for Pacific cod by vessels catching Pacific cod for processing by the inshore component in the Western Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (9/30, p. 56213)
• NMFS is closing directed fishing for Pacific cod by vessels using trawl gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (9/30, p. 56213-4)
• NMFS is closing directed fishing for yellowfin sole by vessels using trawl gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (9/30, p. 56214)
• NMFS adjusts the Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) General category daily retention limit to allow for maximum utilization of the proposed coastwide General category quota (9/30, p. 56212-3)
• NMFS proposes rule to implement Amendment 10 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Shrimp Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico (Amendment 10), as prepared and submitted by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (9/30, p. 56252-9)
• NMFS says it has granted modifications of scientific research permits No. 1174 submitted by Harold Brundage, Environmental Research and Consulting, Inc, 112 Commons Court, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania 19317, and No. 1360 submitted by Dr. David Secor, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, P.O. Box 38, Solomons, Maryland 20619 (9/30, p. 56269)

• FWS prescribes special late-season migratory bird hunting regulations for certain tribes on Federal Indian reservations, off-reservation trust lands and ceded lands. This responds to tribal requests for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (hereinafter Service or we) recognition of their authority to regulate hunting under established guidelines. (9/29, p. 56101-10)
• FWS prescribes the hunting seasons, hours, areas, and daily bag and possession limits for general waterfowl seasons and those early seasons for which States previously deferred selection (9/29, p. 56047-100)
• FWS receives endangered species recovery permit applications (9/29, p. 55988-9)
• FWS receives endangered species/marine mammal (9/29, p. 55989-55990)
• FWS issues marine mammal permits (9/29, p. 55990)
• NMFS officially withdraws 19 critical habitat designations for salmon and steelhead ESUs (9/29, p. 55900)
• NMFS prohibits fishing with trawl gear in the Chum Salmon Savings Area of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (9/29, p. 55901)
• NMFS publishes ANPR on preparing CH designations for 20 ESUs of salmon, steelhead (9/29, p. 55926-32)

• FWS prescribes final late-season frameworks from which States may select season dates, limits, and other options for the 2003-04 migratory bird hunting seasons. (9/26, p. )
• FWS issues draft CCP/EA for Eastern Shore of Virginia and Fisherman Island National Wildlife Refuges (9/26, p. 55650-1)
• NMFS closes the commercial fishery for king mackerel in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the western zone of the Gulf of Mexico. This closure is necessary to protect the Gulf king mackerel resource (9/26, p. 55554-5)
• South Atlantic Fishery Management Council has submitted the subject FMP for review, approval, and implementation by NMFS. (9/26, p. 55573-4)

• FWS releases recovery plan for the Lake Erie Water Snake (9/25, p. 55411)
• FWS releases recovery plan for the Rough Popcornflower (9/25, p. 55410-1)
  • Recovery plans are here
• NMFS proposes regulations to implement Amendment 13 to the Surfclam and Ocean Quahog Fishery Management Plan (9/25, p. 55358-61)

• NMFS proposes measures contained in Framework Adjustment 3 (Framework 3) to the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan (9/24, p. 55283-6)

• NMFS: The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council and NMFS will prepare a comprehensive EIS on the federal management of bottomfish fishery resources in the exclusive economic zone around the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. (9/23, p. 55240-1)

• FWS removes Sacramento splittail from the list of threatened species following status review (9/22, p. 55139-66)
• FWS releases recovery plan for Mead's Milkweed (9/22, p. 55061-2)
• FWS releases recovery plan for the Tumbling Creek Cavesnail (9/22, p. 55060-1)
  • Recovery plans here
• NMFS announces that the Commonwealth of Virginia has transferred a total of 500,000 lb (226,860 kg) of commercial bluefish quota to the State of New York for 2003 (9/22, p. 55010-1)
• FWS, FS: Federal Subsistence Board acts to provide "an exception to the Subsistence Management Regulations for Public Lands in Alaska, published in the Federal Register on Feb. 12, 2003. Those regulations established seasons, harvest limits, and methods relating to the taking of fish and shellfish for subsistence uses during the 2003 regulatory year" (Copper River) (9/22, p. 55006-8)
• NMFS announces scoping meetings on EIS for ITP application by Hawaiian fisheries to authorize take of Hawaiian monk seals during commercial fishing activities in the state of Hawaii (9/22, p. 55023-5)

• FWS approves recovery plan for the Karner Blue Butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis) (9/19, p. 54913-4)
  • Plan should be here soon
• NMFS corrects Aug. 27 rule on new TEDs requirements for sea turtle conservation in Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean (9/19, p. 54934)
• NMFS reschedules two public meetings due to concern over Hurricane Isabel. Meetings are now scheduled for Oct. 1 in Manteo, NC, and Oct. 2 in Pawleys Island, SC (9/19, p. 54885)
• NMFS has received a request from the 30th Space Wing, U.S. Air Force (USAF) for the harassment of small numbers of pinnipeds incidental to space vehicle and test flight activities from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA between Jan. 1, 2004, and Dec. 31, 2008. (9/19, p. 54894-5)

• NMFS grants modification to scientific research permit no. 1187 submitted by Mr. Christopher J. McNally, St. George's School has been granted (9/18, p. 54718-9)
• CWA enforcement: DOJ proposes consent decree for discharge of fill material into waters of the U.S. w/o a permit (U.S. v. Madison County Executive Airport Authority, 03-H-2484-NE, (N.D. Ala.) (9/18, p. 54740-1)

• The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is reviewing available economic and biological information on bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis) for possible addition of that species to the list of injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act (9/17, p. )
• FWS submits ICR to OMB for approval (grant agreements) (9/17, p. 54484-5)
• FWS releases final Recovery Plan for the Quino Checkerspot Butterfly (9/17, p. 54485)
  • Recovery plan will be here soon. This is a good page for recovery plans
• NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for species that comprise the shallow-water species fishery by vessels using trawl gear in the Gulf of Alaska, except for vessels fishing for pollock using pelagic trawl gear in those portions of the GOA open to directed fishing for pollock (9/17, p. 54395)
• NMFS proposal would amend the regulations governing Atlantic HMS recreational fisheries in order to implement recommendations adopted by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), and to achieve consistent recreational reporting requirements for Atlantic highly migratory species (9/17, p. 54410-4)
• The NOAA Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) announces its intent to evaluate the performance of the New York Coastal Management Program and the Ohio Coastal Management Program (9/17, p. 54421)
• Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision in the Case of the Goat Canyon Enhancement Project at the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve (9/17, p. 54421)
• NMFS has received an application from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO), a part of Columbia University, for an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take small numbers of marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to conducting oceanographic surveys in the Mid-Atlantic Ocean (9/17, p. 54421-9)
• Alaska Department of Fish and Game, P.O. Box 25526, Juneau, Alaska 99802-5526 [Principal Investigator: Robert Small, Ph.D.] has been issued an amendment to scientific research Permit No. 358-1585-02 as amended by a minor change [No. -03] (9/17, p. 54429)
• NOAA: ``Draft Louisiana Regional Restoration Plan: Region 2'' is available for public review and comment. This document has been prepared by the state and federal natural resource trustee agencies: NOAA, DOI, Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator's Office; and Louisiana Departments of Environmental Quality; Natural Resources; and Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF)) to address natural resource injuries resulting from discharges of oil in Region 2 of the State of Louisiana (9/17, p. 54429-30)

Tuesday, Sept. 16 (Sept. 16 Table of Contents from GPO)

• FWS releases final recovery plan for the Northern Idaho Ground Squirrel (Spermophilus brunneus brunneus) (9/16, p. 54242)
• FWS releases final recovery plan for Great Lakes Piping Plover (9/16, p. 54241-2)
  • Recovery plans are here
• NOAA designates San Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, California (9/16, p. 54204)

• FWS, NMFS issue negative 12-month finding on petition to list the Northern and Florida Panhandle Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta) subpopulations as endangered (9/15, p. 53947-55)
• FWS Pacific Region issued nine permits between Nov. 23, 2002, and July 17, 2003, in response to applications for incidental take of threatened and endangered species (9/15, p. 53994-5)
• FWS asks for comments on endangered species permit applications (9/15, p. 53993-4)
• FWS releases Holston River/Saltville National Priority List Site Natural Resource Damage Assessment Plan, which encompasses Smyth and Washington counties, Virginia, and Hawkins and Sullivan counties, Tenn. (9/15, p. 53995-6)
• EPA, NOAA say they intend to approve Connecticut Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program (9/15, p. 53965-6)
  • More information is supposed to be here. Send an e-mail to poplar@crosslink.net if you find it.
• NMFS issues permit to National Marine Mammal Laboratory to take Northern fur seals for purposes of scientific research (9/15, p. 53967)

• FWS is reviewing available economic and biological information on the Boiga genus of snakes for possible addition of the 28 species of snakes in the genus to the list of injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act (9/12, p. 53705-6)
• FWS receives endangered species permit applications (9/12, p. 53746)
• FWS grants endangered species and marine mammal permit applications (9/12, p. 53746-7)
• FWS receives endangered species permit applications (9/12, p. 53747)
• FWS releases Safe Harbor Agreement, receives enhancement of Survival Permit for activities on the (Crosswhite) EC Bar Ranch, Apache County, AZ (9/12, p. 53747)
• FWS to prepare EIS, announces public scoping meeting related to the Pima County Multi-Species Conservation Plan To Be Held on Oct. 4 (9/12, p. 53748-51)
  • More here
• FWS grants marine mammal permits (9/12, p. 53751)
• FWS: Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council to meet Sept. 24 (9/12, p. 53751)
• NMFS is prohibiting retention of Pacific cod by vessels catching Pacific cod for processing by the inshore component in the Central Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska ( (9/12, p. 53686)
• NMFS announces that the recreational selective fishery for marked hatchery coho salmon in the area from Cape Falcon, OR to Humbug Mountain, OR, was closed at midnight on August 19, 2003 (9/12, p. 53685-6)
• NMFS and the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council intend to prepare a draft EA for extension of the prohibition on fishing for and possessing snapper grouper species within the Oculina Experimental Closed Area (9/12, p. 53706-7)
• NMFS and the Pacific Fishery Management Council will prepare EIS analyzing the adoption of rebuilding plans for four overfished groundfish species: cowcod, bocaccio, widow rockfish, and yelloweye rockfish (9/12, p. 53712-4)
• NMFS issues Incidental Harassment Authorization to take small numbers of marine mammal incidental to conducting oceanographic surveys at the Storegga Slide off the west coast of Norway in the Norwegian Sea has been issued to Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (9/12, p. 53714-20)
• NMFS says its Southeast Fisheries Science Center in Miami has requested a modification to scientific research Permit No. 1429 (9/12, p. 53720-1)

• CWA enforcement: EPA says it entered a Complaint/Consent Agreement and [Proposed] Final Order (``CA/FO'') in an administrative enforcement proceeding, "In the Matter of J.E. McAmis Inc." The CA/FO would impose a fine of $70,000 for discharging dredged material into San Francisco Bay (9/11, p. 53608)
• NMFS announces that the annual quota for the Maine mahogany quahog fishery has been harvested (9/11, p. 53528)

• FWS proposes to "refine and clarify the application requirements and issuance criteria for [ESA] permits, particularly when used in connection with projects to improve habitat for listed species." (9/10, p. 53327-34)
• FWS proposes to revise regulations on Safe Harbor Agreements and Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances (9/10, p. 53320-7)
• FWS releases recovery plan for Gila trout (9/10, p. 53386-7)
  • It should be here soon
• Wetlands enforcement: Proposed consent decree would impose $7,500 fine for filling wetlands w/o a permit (U.S. v. Paul A. Heinrich and Charles Vogel Enterprises, 03-C-0075-S, W.D. Wis.) (9/10, p. 53392-3)
  • Proposed consent decree
• Wetlands enforcement: IMC Phosphates agrees to pay $50,000 and restore or mitigate for loss of 36 acres of wetlands it filled (U.S. v. IMC Phosphates Co., 03-cv-1814-T-17MSS, M.D. Fla.) (9/10, p. 53393)
  • Proposed consent decree
• NMFS proposes to amend the regulations implementing the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP) to provide for a mandatory, vessel-financed observer program on at-sea processing vessels (9/10, p. 53334-42)
• NMFS issues three incidental take permits allowing endangered Pacific salmon and steelhead to be taken as result of operation of three hydroelectric projects located on the Columbia River, WA (9/10, p. 53351)

• FWS withdraws proposal to list mountain plover as threatened (9/9, p. 53083-101)
• NMFS reallocates remaining Pacific sardine harvest guideline in the exclusive economic zone off the Pacific Coast (9/9, p. 53053)
• NMFS reschedules Western Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting because of court order (9/9, p. 53101-2)
• NMFS receives applications to take shortnose sturgeon for purposes of scientific research (9/9, p. 53140-1)
• NMFS grants Bernd Wursig a permit to take bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) for purposes of scientific research (9/9, p. 53141)

• FWS releases draft CCP/EA for Illinois River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, Havana, IL (9/8, p. 52952-3)
  • More info here
• NMFS stops directed fishing for Pacific cod by the inshore component in the Central Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska, to prevent exceeding the 2003 TAC. (9/8, p. 52856)
• National Marine Sanctuary Program: Seats available for the Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council (9/8, p. 52904)
• National Marine Sanctuary Program asks for applications for a representative to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve Advisory Council for the Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve (9/8, p. 52904-5)
• NMFS receives scientific research permit applications from U-Alaska Museum, in Fairbanks (Dr. Gordon Jarrell, Principal Investigator); and The Alaska Sea Otter and Steller Sea Lion Commission in Anchorage (Dr. Dolly Garza, PI) (9/8, p. 52905-6)

• FWS proposes changes in regulations governing the import into the United States of parts of protected migratory birds. We propose to specify the requirements for importing down of nesting common eiders that breed in Iceland and list the procedures required to harvest, import, possess, and manufacture finished eiderdown products (9/5, p. 52727-32)
• FWS makes positive 90-day finding on petition to delist Astragalus magdalenae var. peirsonii (Peirson's milk-vetch) (9/5, p. 52784-6)
• FWS: Klamath Fishery Management Council to meet Oct 15-16, Yreka, Calif. (9/5, p. 52786)
• NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for pollock in Statistical Area 620 of the Gulf of Alaska (9/5, p. 52718-9)
• NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for pollock in Statistical Area 610 of the Gulf of Alaska (9/5, p. 52718)
• NMFS announces changes to the closed areas affecting the limited-entry fixed gear fleet, the open access non-trawl gear fleet and the recreational fishery in southern California (9/5, p. 52703-18)
• NMFS proposes rule to implement Amendment 16-1 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (9/5, p. 52732-5)

• FWS receives T&E species permit applications (9/4, p. 52608-9)
• FWS issues T&E species permits (9/4, p. 52609)
• FWS issues new ITP for Delmarva fox squirrel in Maryland (9/4, p. )
  • Documents are here
• DOI plans to revise system of records in its current inventory, Permits System--Interior, FWS-21, subject to the Privacy Act of 1974 (9/4, p. 52610-2)
• NMFS final rule implements Amendment 17 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (9/4, p. 52519-23)
• NMFS final rule implements a regulatory amendment to the Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP) that changes the management subareas and the allocation process for Pacific sardine (9/4, p. 52523-7)

• FWS to prepare CCP, EIS for Vieques National Wildlife Refuge in Puerto Rico (9/3, p. 52418)
• NMFS proposes to amend regulations governing the North Pacific Groundfish Observer Program, says "action is necessary to amend current regulations to provide flexibility in the deployment of observers in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) off the coast of Alaska." (9/3, p. 52378-80)
• North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries, Morehead City, N.C., has applied for a permit to take threatened and endangered sea turtles for purposes of scientific research (9/3, p. 52387-8)

Tuesday, Sept. 2 (Sept. 2 Table of Contents from GPO)

• FWS proposes to remove scarlet-chested parakeet and turquoise parakeet (Australian birds) from the list of endangered species (9/2, p. 52169-73)
• FWS releases draft CCP/EA for Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge, Las Vegas, NM (9/2, p. 52220-1)
• NMFS prohibiting directed fishing for pollock in Statistical Area 630 of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the C season allowance of the pollock total allowable catch (TAC) for Statistical Area 630 of the GOA (9/2, p. 52141-2)
• NMFS issues regulatory changes to implement the partial approval of Amendment 75 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Groundfish Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area (9/2, p. 52142-4)
• NMFS increases the daily retention limit to two large medium or giant Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) through Sept. 30 (9/2, p. 52140-1)
• NMFS closes flounder fishery because summer flounder commercial quota available to Massachusetts has been harvested. Vessels issued a commercial Federal fisheries permit for the summer flounder fishery may not land summer flounder in Massachusetts for the rest of the year. (9/2, p. 52141)
• The North Pacific Fishery Management Council has submitted Amendment 66 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (9/2, p. 52173)
• NMFS will allow U.S. Navy to "unintentional[ly take] small numbers of marine mammals incidental to missile launch operations from San Nicolas Island, CA." (9/2, p. 52132-40)

Friday, Aug. 29 (Aug. 29 Table of Contents from GPO)

• FWS prescribes special early season migratory bird hunting regulations for certain tribes on federal Indian reservations, off-reservation trust lands, and ceded lands (8/29, p. 51919-28)
• NMFS issues an inseason adjustment opening the B season for Atka mackerel with gears other than jig in the Eastern Aleutian District (area 541) and the Bering Sea subarea of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI) for 12 hours, from 2400 hrs, Alaska local time (A.l.t.), Sept. 1, 2003, until 1200 hrs, A.l.t., Sept. 2, 2003 (8/29, p. 51929-31)
• NMFS is notifying registered vessels of their assignments for the 2003 B season Atka mackerel fishery in harvest limit areas (HLA) 542 and/or 543 of the Aleutian Islands subarea of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to allow the harvest of the B season HLA limits established for area 542 and area 543 (8/29, p. 51931)
• NMFS is reallocating projected unused amounts of Bering Sea subarea (BS) pollock from the incidental catch account to the directed fisheries. This action is necessary to allow the 2003 total allowable catch (TAC) of pollock to be harvested (8/29, p. 51928-9)
• Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife submits a Fisheries Management and Evaluation Plan (FMEP) pursuant to the protective regulations promulgated for Oregon Coast coho salmon (8/29, p. 51995)

Thursday, Aug. 28 (Aug. 28 Table of Contents from GPO)

• FWS prescribes hunting seasons, hours, areas, and daily bag and possession limits of mourning, white-winged, and white-tipped doves; band-tailed pigeons; rails; moorhens and gallinules; woodcock; common snipe; sandhill cranes; sea ducks; early (September) waterfowl seasons; migratory game birds in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands; and some extended falconry seasons (8/28, p. 51831-66)
• FWS releases Recovery Plan for Fritillaria gentneri (Gentner's Fritillary) (8/28, p. 51793-4)
  • Recovery plans, sorted by date
• FWS announces meetings of the Klamath River Basin Fisheries Task Force (8/28, p. 51794)
• NMFS decides not to revise critical habitat for northern right whales (8/28, p. 51758-63)
• NMFS corrects errors in the amendatory instructions and table titles of the final rule published in the Federal Register on July 29, 2003. That final rule implemented Amendment 72 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Groundfish Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area and Amendment 64 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Groundfish Fishery of the Gulf of Alaska. (8/28, p. 51711-2)
• NMFS says "persons who enter the bottomfish fisheries in waters of the U.S. exclusive economic zone around Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands after June 13, 2003 are not guaranteed future participation in these fisheries." (8/28, p. 51763)

Wednesday, Aug. 27 (Aug. 27 Table of Contents from GPO)

• Wetlands enforcement: DOJ proposes $13,000 fine, wetlands remediation for filling of wetlands w/o a permit, and for installing bank stabilization and boat docks in the Fox River without a permit (U.S. v. Jacobs, 02-C-8998, N.D. Ill.) (8/27, p. 51595)
  • Consent decree
• FWS prescribes final early-season frameworks from which the States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands may select season dates, limits, and other options for the 2003-04 migratory bird hunting seasons. (8/27, p. 51657-72)
• FWS receives permit applications for endangered species and/or marine mammals (8/27, p. 51588-9)
• FWS releases Threemile Canyon Farms Multi-Species CCA with Assurances, and related draft EA, Morrow and Gilliam Counties, Oregon (8/27, p. 51589-91)
• FWS issues marine mammal permits (8/27, p. 51591)
• FWS conducts preliminary screen of existing data and literature pertaining to injuries to natural resources from releases of hazardous chemicals from three large open-pit copper mines in southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona (8/27, p. 51591-2)
• NMFS will allow use of a hooped hard Turtle Excluder Device (``the Coulon TED'') that is capable of releasing large loggerhead and green turtles as well as leatherback turtles (8/27, p. 51508-15)
• NMFS prohibits retention of Pacific ocean perch in the Eastern Aleutian District of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands. NMFS is requiring that catch of Pacific ocean perch in this area be treated in the same manner as prohibited species and discarded at sea with a minimum of injury (8/27, p. )
• NMFS releases Alaska, Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific marine mammal stock assessment reports (8/27, p. 51561-3)

Tuesday, Aug. 26 (Aug. 26 Table of Contents from GPO)

• FWS proposes to revise permit application fee schedule for permits issued by the Divisions of Migratory Bird Management, Endangered Species, Law Enforcement, and Management Authority. "The rule also clarifies several aspects of Service permit application procedures, and updates permit-related Service addresses. Additionally, the rule extends the tenure of two types of migratory bird permits." (8/26, p. 51222-31)
• FWS releases final draft of a review of regulations pertaining to the release and take of captive-reared mallards on licensed shooting preserves. Comments and suggestions are requested. (8/26, p. 51231-2)
  • Report is here
• NMFS final rule amends Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan regs "to identify gear modifications that sufficiently reduce the risk of entanglement to western North Atlantic right whales." Specifically, NMFS "identifies anchored gillnet and lobster trap/pot gear modifications that could be allowed within a DAM zone." (8/26, p. 51195-201)
• NMFS reopens till Sept. 25 comment period on Atlantic Striped Bass ANPR (8/26, p. 51232-3)
• NMFS asks for comments on EFPs that "would allow up to 18 vessels (including 2 alternates) to fish for haddock using longline gear or jig gear in NE multispecies year-round Georges Bank (GB) Closed Area I (CA I)" from October through December 2003 (8/26, p. 51238-9)
• NMFS asks for comments on EFP that "would allow for exemption from the Georges Bank cod landing limit for one commercial vessel, for not more than 26 days-at-sea (DAS). The experiment would test the effectiveness of two cod-avoiding flatfish trawl designs for reducing bycatch of cod and sub-legal size yellowtail flounder while maintaining catch rates of legal-sized yellowtail flounder." (8/26, p. 51239-40)
• NMFS receives application from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, a part of the University of California, for an Incidental Harassment Authorization to take small numbers of marine mammals incidental to conducting oceanographic surveys in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean (8/26, p. 51240-5)
• NMFS issues scientific research permit (green sea turtles, Chelonia mydas (8/26, p. 51247)

• FWS releases draft handbook for Candidate Conservation Agreements With Assurances and Enhancement of Survival Permit Processing (8/25, p. 51029-30)
  • Handbook is here
• OMB approves NMFS collection-of-information requirements contained in the American Fisheries Act-related amendments: Amendment 61 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Groundfish Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area, Amendment 61 to the FMP for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska, Amendment 13 to the FMP for BSAI King and Tanner Crab, and Amendment 8 to the FMP for the Scallop Fishery off Alaska, and in Amendment 69 to the FMP for the Groundfish Fishery of the BSAI Area, and issues a final rule to make effective the collections of information contained in those amendments (8/25, p. 51145-6)
• NMFS proposes to remove the expiration date of regulations published as a final rule in the Federal Register on Dec. 30, 2002, implementing the American Fisheries Act (8/25, p. 51147-8)
• NMFS announces that the Mid-Atlantic Council has submitted Amendment 13 to the Atlantic Surf Clam and Ocean Quahog Fishery Management Plan for secretarial review and is requesting comments from the public (8/25, p. 50998-9)

• FWS receives T&E species, marine mammal permit applications (8/22, p. 50804-5)

• FWS rule would authorize state wildlife agencies to conduct (or allow) indirect and/or direct population control management activities, including the take of birds, on resident Canada goose populations (8/21, p. 50496-509)
• FWS reopens comment period on a DEIS analyzing the potential environmental impacts of alternative strategies to reduce, manage, and control resident Canada goose populations in the continental United States and to reduce goose-related damages. (8/21, p. )
• NOAA Fisheries will hold five public meetings in Washington, D.C., Seattle, WA, and in Juneau, Kodiak and Anchorage, AK, in September and October 2003 for the purpose of answering questions and receiving public testimony on a PSEIS on groundfish Fisheries of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area and the Gulf of Alaska (8/21, p. 50509-10)

• FWS: Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group to meet (8/20, p. 50178)
• NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for arrowtooth flounder in the Western Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (8/20, p. 50079-80)
• NMFS intends to evaluate alternative approaches for HAPC designation in the EFH EIS NMFS is preparing in conjunction with the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (8/20, p. 50120-1)
• NMFS issues two 1-year Letters of Authorization (LOAs) to take marine mammals by harassment incidental to the U.S. Navy's operation of Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System Low Frequency Active (SURTASS LFA) sonar operations (8/20, p. 50123-4)
• NMFS has received applications to modify existing scientific research permits related to threatened Pacific salmon and steelhead (8/20, p. 50124-5)
• NMFS issues 16 scientific research permits (1114, 1119, 1124, 1134, 1152, 1194, 1379, 1403, 1406, 1410, 1421, 1422, 1423, 1426, 1427) and six scientific research permit modifications (1290, 1291, 1322, 1335, 1366, 1382). (8/20, p. 50125-6)

• FWS, FS propose to establish regulations for hunting and trapping seasons, harvest limits, methods, and means related to taking of wildlife for subsistence uses during the 2004-2005 regulatory year. (8/19, p. 49734-7)
• FWS proposes to establish the 2003-04 late-season hunting regulations for certain migratory game birds (8/19, p. 50015-38)
• NMFS issues final rule to implement approved measures contained in the Skate Fishery Management Plan (8/19, p. 49693-703)
• NMFS announces that the recreational fishery in the area from the Queets River to Cape Falcon, Oregon, was modified to open 7 days per week effective on Friday, July 26, 2003 (8/19, p. 49721-2)
• NOAA resumes processing of Islander East's administrative appeal (Consistency Appeal of Islander East Pipeline Company, L.L.C.) by the Department of Commerce; (2) reopens the period for the public to comment on Islander East's administrative appeal; and (3) provides information about other procedural aspects of the appeal (8/19, p. 49760-1)

• FWS receives ES, marine mammal permit applications (8/18, p. 49511)
• Notice of Availability of an Environmental Assessment/Habitat Conservation Plan and Receipt of Application for Incidental Take of the Houston Toad (8/18, p. )
• FWS issues permits for marine mammals (8/18, p. 49512)
• FWS issues draft policy for Enhancement-of-Survival permits for foreign species listed under the ESA (8/18, p. 49512-8)
• NMFS amends Dec. 30, 2002, final rule that implemented changes to regulations governing the American Fisheries Act. This final rule included revisions to the North Pacific Groundfish Observer Program. The action is necessary to correct an error in replacement text that occurred in the final rule (8/18, p. 49374)
• NMFS proposes to implement Amendment 77 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Groundfish Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area (8/18, p. 49416-20)
• NMFS announces that the Pacific Fishery Management Council has submitted Amendment 16-1 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan for Secretarial review. Amendment 16-1 would set a process and standards by which the Council will specify rebuilding plans for groundfish stocks declared overfished by the Secretary of Commerce. (8/18, p. 49415-6)
• NMFS reopens application period for the NMFS Cooperative Research program. The original solicitation for applications for this program was published in an action entitled ``Omnibus Notice Announcing the Availability of Grant Funds for Fiscal Year 2004.'' (8/18, p. 49437)
• NMFS receives application for a permit for scientific research from California Department of Fish and Game in Sacramento, CA (1443) and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in Byron, CA (1445). (8/18, p. 49437-8)
• NMFS receives scientific research permit applications from U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in Shasta Lake, CA (1433) and Interagency Ecological Program (IEP) in Stockton, CA (1440) (chinook and steelhead). (8/18, p. 49438-9)
• NMFS receives application for a permit modification for scientific research from Dynamac/USEPA in Corvallis, OR (1288). (8/18, p. 49439)

• FWS releases Higgins' Eye Pearlymussel (Lampsilis higginsii) Draft Revised Recovery Plan for Review and Comment (8/15, p. 48933-4)
  • More here, including plan
• FWS grants endangered species permits (8/15, p. 48931-2)
• FWS receives ES permit applications (sport-hunted trophies) (8/15, p. 48932)
• FWS grants permit to Long Point Homeowner's Association, Kellys Island, Erie County, Ohio, to take Lake Erie water snake (Nerodia sipedon insularum) within the Long Point Subdivision under terms of an HCP (8/15, p. 48932-3)
  • More here
• FWS requesting proposals under the Landowner Incentive Program pending a Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act 2004 allocation of funds for conservation grants to States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa, and tribes (8/15, p. 48934)

• FWS reopens comment period, sets public hearing, releases draft economic analysis on proposed designation of critical habitat for three threatened mussels and eight endangered mussels in the Mobile River Basin (8/14, p. 48581-3)
  • Analysis is supposed to be here
• The Fish and Wildlife Service proposes to add seven additional refuges to the list of areas open for hunting and/or sport fishing activities and increase the activities available at three other refuges for 2003-2004 (8/14, p. 48583-92)
• FWS receives proposed low-effect HCP (1 year) for George Shimboff, Solano County, California (threatened valley elderberry longhorn beetle) (8/14, p. 48617-8)
• FWS releases recovery plan for Kneeland Prairie Penny-Cress (Thlaspi californicum) (8/14, p. 48618)
  • Plan is here
• FWS receives application for Safe Harbor Agreement for White River Spinedace at Indian Springs, White Pine County, NV (8/14, p. 48618-9)
• NMFS announces changes to the regulations for the Area 2A sport halibut fisheries off the central coast of Oregon (8/14, p. 48572-3)
• NMFS announces that the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council has submitted Amendment 10 to the FMP for the shrimp fishery of the Gulf of Mexico for review, approval, and implementation by NMFS (8/14, p. 48592-3)

• FWS releases draft CCP and EA for Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge (8/12, p. 48408-9)
  • More here

• NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for non-Community Development Quota (CDQ) pollock with trawl gear in the Chinook Salmon Savings Areas of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (8/12, p. 47875-6)
• NMFS will hold six public hearings to receive comments from fishery participants and other members of the public regarding proposed shark regulations and draft Amendment 1 to the Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Tunas, Swordfish and Sharks (8/12, p. 47904-5)

• Notice of Availability; Final Environmental Impac