Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the NMFS Saltonstall-Kennedy Research and Development Program

Filed on regulations.gov — full text not in the inline record.

Please accept these comments as a placeholder. If we are able, we will submit more detailed comments. The Federal Register notice gives a due date of June 6, 2022, but the NMFS website says to submit comments by June 27, 2022. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/event/three-public-meetings-draft-programmatic-environmental-impact-statement-saltonstall-kennedy We request that NMFS undertake programmatic Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 7 consultation on the Saltonstall-Kennedy Research and Development Program and project-specific consultation on projects funded by the agency under that program, to ensure that listed species will not be jeopardized and critical habitat will not be adversely modified in violation of the ESA. Fishing gear entangles endangered marine mammals, sea turtles, and sea birds. For example, it is one of the primary threats for the endangered Central America humpback whales. The Saltonstall-Kennedy program has the potential to benefit these endangered species by prioritizing research funding for gear like traps with ropeless, or pop-up, buoys. Plastic pollution also results from fishing gear an has impacts to endangered species. "Globally, derelict fishing gear is a serious problem and is considered to be the largest plastic pollution by volume and potential impact (UNEP, 2016). . . .The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) states that the most common derelict fishing gear are gillnets and crab pots/traps." https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/csp2.45 The Saltonstall-Kennedy Program must ensure that its funding is not contributing to the global ocean plastic crisis. Thank you for your consideration of these comments. Sincerely, Catherine Kilduff Center for Biological Diversity