The 30-day public comment period begins today on the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) of the effects of issuing an Incidental Take Permit (ITP) to N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries.
The Division submitted an Endangered Species Act Section 10 ITP application to the NMFS Office of Protected Resources on Dec. 2. The ITP application and conservation plan was submitted to address sturgeon and sea turtle interactions in the state’s estuarine anchored gill-net fishery. As issuing an ITP is a major federal action, NMFS must conduct a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis on the effects of issuing the ITP and publish the document summarizing this analysis. NMFS’ analysis is included in the draft EA, which was published in the Federal Register today. The public comment period ends on Sept. 11.
The public may review and download the draft EA here: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-permit-north-carolina-division-marine-fisheries-sea-turtles-and-sturgeon.
Public comments may be submitted electronically via the Federal eRulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov. Enter [NOAA-NMFS-2023-0098] in the search box. Click on the “Comment Now!” icon, complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.
For more commenting instructions, please refer to the Notice of Availability published here:
https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection/2023-17170/environmen….