September 28, 2016
EVENTS
NOAA-sponsored 8th Annual Right Whale Festival in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. October 3Public meeting in Silver Spring, Maryland, to discuss the tentative U.S. positions for the October 2016 meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Slovenia.
October 3 - 11
North Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting in Anchorage. October 4 - 5Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council Reef Fish Advisory Panel Meetingin Tampa, Florida, and via webinar.
October 4 - 6
Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council meeting in Galloway, New Jersey. October 4 - November 1Five public meetings to discuss an industry-funded monitoring omnibus amendment, hosted by the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils, in four states and via webinar. October 6Quantitative Ecology and Socioeconomics Training (QUEST) Webinar on using internet search volume to improve quota monitoring for the Gulf of Mexico red snapper recreational sector.
Permanent Advisory Committee meeting to advise the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commissions.
October 10 - 14
Western Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting in Honolulu.
October 13
Free Atlantic Shark Identification workshop in Somerville, Massachusetts.
Open session of the fall meeting of the Advisory Committee to the U.S. Section to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT).
October 17-20
Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council meeting in Biloxi, Mississippi.
October 20 and 26Two free Protected Species Safe Handling, Identification, and Release workshops in South Carolina and New Jersey.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
October 3
Nominations due forappointments to the Advisory Committee to the U.S. Section to ICCAT and forTechnical Advisors on the Advisory Committee's Species Working Groups.
Proposals due for 2017 Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance grants.
Proposals due for 2017/2018 Scallop Research Set-Aside Program.
Nominations due for Marine Protected Areas Federal Advisory Committee.
Proposals due for 2017 Community-based Marine Debris Removal grants.
Applications due for 2017 Species Recovery Grants to States.
FEDERAL REGISTER ACTIONS
Visit regulations.gov for a list of only those actions open for public comment. Scroll search for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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During summer surveys, scientists at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center's Marine Mammal Laboratory collect thousands of aerial photos of Steller sea lions. This year, many of these photos were taken by a new hexacopter. In the fall, researchers pore through each image and count the animals to get an accurate picture of the population's size. Learn more about Steller sea lion research in this story map.
In September, President Obama designated the first marine national monument in the Atlantic Ocean: the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. The Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office has put together answers to some frequently asked questions about the monument.
By November 1, please submit your comments on a proposed rule to designate a deep-sea coral protection area in the Mid-Atlantic. The area extends from the continental shelf/slope break off the Mid-Atlantic states to the border of U.S. federal waters and includes 15 deep-sea canyons - hotspots of biodiversity that provide habitat for commercially important fishes and hundreds of other species.
NOAA's Fisheries Finance Program will begin accepting loan applications starting October 3. The program may provide up to $100 million in traditional loans and $24 million in IFQ loans in FY 2017. See the website for details on what the program is designed to support (such as financing for the cost of construction or reconstruction of fishing vessels, fisheries facilities, aquaculture facilities and individual fishing quota in the Northwest Halibut/Sablefish and Alaskan Crab Fisheries) and information on how to apply.
NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which jointly implement the Endangered Species Act, announced final changes to the process by which species are petitioned for listing, delisting, or reclassification under the Act. The revised process will involve state wildlife agencies at an earlier step and limit petitions to one species at a time, better leveraging agency resources and improving transparency for the public.
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By October 24, please submit your comments on a proposed rule implementing Amendment 47 to the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crabs Fishery Management Plan. If approved, the rule would exempt certain custom-processed crab from being applied against the processing facility owners' individual processing quota use cap.
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Past El Niño events have taken a heavy toll on the endangered black abalone, as the accompanying warm waters led to higher rates of a disease known as withering syndrome. While the 2015/2016 El Niño did cause some population declines, there are also promising signs of resistance and recovery in the Channel Island populations.
In a new study, scientists from the Southwest Fisheries Science Center found that the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill impacted a portion of the Western Atlantic bluefin tuna's spawning habitat. Researchers used 16 years of electronic tagging data from Atlantic bluefin to map their preferred spawning habitat and assess how much of it was affected by the spill.
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Watch a video about U'ilani, a beloved female Hawaiian monk seal who touched the lives of both NOAA Fisheries staff and local community members. After U'ilani, whose name means "heavenly beauty," died from toxoplasmosis - a parasite spread by cat feces - the community held a traditional ash scattering ceremony and named a canoe in her honor.
The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Department of the Interior have formally reached an agreement that marks one of the final steps necessary to transfer the submerged lands around the islands of Farallon de Pajaros, Maug, and Asuncion to the CNMI government. The CNMI will continue to work with U.S. federal agencies to protect these biodiverse and culturally significant lands.
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By October 27, please submit your comments on the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council's establishment of a control date of June 15, 2016. The Council may use this control date if it decides to limit participation in the federal charter vessel/headboat (for-hire) components of the Atlantic coastal migratory pelagics fishery, the Atlantic dolphin and wahoo fishery, and the South Atlantic snapper-grouper fishery.
The latest issue of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council's newsletter is now available. Topics include new council members; upcoming council meetings and public meetings; and invasive lionfish research, response, and recipes.
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The Penobscot River drains nearly one-third of the state of Maine, and its watershed is home to 11 migratory fish species. It is also home to the Penobscot Indian Nation. Learn more about the watershed - one of NOAA Fisheries' 10 Habitat Focus Areas - and ongoing efforts to protect and restore it by exploring our new story map.
By October 14 (formerly September 1), please submit your comments on two proposed rules to designate critical habitat for five distinct population segments of Atlantic sturgeon. One rule designates critical habitat from Maine to Virginia, and the other from North Carolina to Florida.
By November 7, please submit your comments on a draft omnibus amendment-now available online-designed to allow for future industry-funded at-sea monitoring programs. The amendment is being developed jointly by the Mid-Atlantic and New England Fishery Management Councils.
Critically endangered North Atlantic right whales are the rarest of the large whales that occur in New England waters. In late September, we learned of two right whale mortalities and one right whale entanglement. Read a synopsis of the incidents and NOAA's responses.
The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office announced nearly $2.4 million in environmental education grants funded through the competitive Bay-Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) Chesapeake Program. B-WET supports outdoor, experience-based learning for students in grades K-12 and their teachers. Read more about the projects in the Chesapeake region.
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