The National Marine Fisheries Service is extending the public comment period on its Dec. 22, 2022, notice of receipt of North Carolina’s Incidental Take Permit application and conservation plan to address sturgeon and sea turtle interactions in the state’s estuarine anchored gill net fishery, per an update from the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries.
The public comment period will be extended by 30 days to Feb. 22, 2023. Comments previously submitted do not need to be resubmitted.
The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries submitted the ITP application to the National Marine Fisheries Service Office of Protected Resources on Dec. 2. The Notice of Receipt and request for public comments was published in the Federal Register on Dec. 22, 2022.
The public may review and download the application at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/endangered-species-conservation/incidental-take-permits and at http://www.regulations.gov.
Public comments may be submitted electronically via the Federal eRulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov. Enter [NOAA-NMFS-2022-0115] 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 Receipt published at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/12/22/2022-27799/endangered-species-file-no-27106 and its correction published at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/01/05/2022-28553/endangered-species-file-no-27106-correction.