[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 50, Volume 7]
[Revised as of January 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 50CFR222.102]

[Page 112-118]
 
                    TITLE 50--WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES
 
  CHAPTER II--NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND 
           ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
 
PART 222_GENERAL ENDANGERED AND THREATENED MARINE SPECIES--Table of
 
              Subpart A_Introduction and General Provisions
 
Sec. 222.102  Definitions.

    Accelerator funnel means a device used to accelerate the flow of 
water through a shrimp trawl net.
    Act means the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended, 16 U.S.C. 
1531 et seq.
    Adequately covered means, with respect to species listed pursuant to 
section 4 of the Act, that a proposed conservation plan has satisfied 
the permit issuance criteria under section 10(a)(2)(B) of the Act for 
the species covered by the plan and, with respect to unlisted species, 
that a proposed conservation plan has satisfied the permit issuance 
criteria under section 10(a)(2)(B) of the Act that would otherwise apply 
if the unlisted species covered by the plan were actually listed. For 
the Services to cover a species under a conservation plan, it must be 
listed on the section 10(a)(1)(B) permit.
    Alaska Regional Administrator means the Regional Administrator for 
the Alaska Region of the National Marine Fisheries Service, National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, or 
their authorized representative. Mail sent to the Alaska Regional 
Administrator should be addressed: Alaska Regional Administrator, F/AK, 
Alaska Regional Office, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, P.O. 
Box 21668 Juneau, AK 99802-1668.
    Approved turtle excluder device (TED) means a device designed to be 
installed in a trawl net forward of the cod end for the purpose of 
excluding sea turtles from the net, as described in 50 CFR 223.207.
    Assistant Administrator means the Assistant Administrator for 
Fisheries of the National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, or his 
authorized representative. Mail sent to the Assistant Administrator 
should be addressed: Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, 
MD 20910.
    Atlantic Area means all waters of the Atlantic Ocean south of 
36[deg]33[min]00.8[sec] N. lat. (the line of the North Carolina/Virginia 
border) and adjacent seas, other than waters of the Gulf Area, and all 
waters shoreward thereof (including ports).
    Atlantic Shrimp Fishery--Sea Turtle Conservation Area (Atlantic 
SFSTCA) means the inshore and offshore waters extending to 10 nautical 
miles (18.5 km) offshore along the coast of the States of Georgia and 
South Carolina from the Georgia-Florida border (defined as the line 
along 30[deg]42[min]45.6[sec] N. lat.) to the North Carolina-South 
Carolina border (defined as the line extending in a direction of 
135[deg]34[min]55[sec] from true north from the North Carolina-South 
Carolina land boundary, as marked by the border station on Bird Island 
at 33[deg]51[min]07.9[sec] N. lat., 078[deg]32[min]32.6[sec] W. long.).
    Authorized officer means:
    (1) Any commissioned, warrant, or petty officer of the U.S. Coast 
Guard;
    (2) Any special agent or enforcement officer of the National Marine 
Fisheries Service;

[[Page 113]]

    (3) Any officer designated by the head of a Federal or state agency 
that has entered into an agreement with the Secretary or the Commandant 
of the Coast Guard to enforce the provisions of the Act; or
    (4) Any Coast Guard personnel accompanying and acting under the 
direction of any person described in paragraph (1) of this definition.
    Bait shrimper means a shrimp trawler that fishes for and retains its 
shrimp catch alive for the purpose of selling it for use as bait.
    Beam trawl means a trawl with a rigid frame surrounding the mouth 
that is towed from a vessel by means of one or more cables or ropes.
    Certificate of exemption means any document so designated by the 
National Marine Fisheries Service and signed by an authorized official 
of the National Marine Fisheries Service, including any document which 
modifies, amends, extends or renews any certificate of exemption.
    Chain mat means a device designed to be installed in a scallop 
dredge forward of the sweep, as described in 50 CFR 223.206, for the 
purpose of excluding sea turtles from the dredge.
    Changed circumstances means changes in circumstances affecting a 
species or geographic area covered by a conservation plan that can 
reasonably be anticipated by plan developers and NMFS and that can be 
planned for (e.g., the listing of new species, or a fire or other 
natural catastrophic event in areas prone to such events).
    Commercial activity means all activities of industry and trade, 
including, but not limited to, the buying or selling of commodities and 
activities conducted for the purpose of facilitating such buying and 
selling: Provided, however, that it does not include the exhibition of 
commodities by museums or similar cultural or historical organizations.
    Conservation plan means the plan required by section 10(a)(2)(A) of 
the Act that an applicant must submit when applying for an incidental 
take permit. Conservation plans also are known as ``habitat conservation 
plans'' or ``HCPs.''
    Conserved habitat areas means areas explicitly designated for 
habitat restoration, acquisition, protection, or other conservation 
purposes under a conservation plan.
    Cooperative Agreement means an agreement between a state(s) and the 
National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, Department of Commerce, which 
establishes and maintains an active and adequate program for the 
conservation of resident species listed as endangered or threatened 
pursuant to section 6(c)(1) of the Endangered Species Act.
    Dredge or dredge gear, with respect to the fishery operating under 
the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan, means gear consisting 
of a mouth frame attached to a holding bag constructed of metal rings, 
or any other modification to this design, that can be or is used in the 
harvest of sea scallops.
    Fishing, or to fish, means:
    (1) The catching, taking, or harvesting of fish or wildlife;
    (2) The attempted catching, taking, or harvesting of fish or 
wildlife;
    (3) Any other activity that can reasonably be expected to result in 
the catching, taking, or harvesting of fish or wildlife; or
    (4) Any operations on any waters in support of, or in preparation 
for, any activity described in paragraphs (1) through (3) of this 
definition.
    Footrope means a weighted rope or cable attached to the lower lip 
(bottom edge) of the mouth of a trawl net along the forward most 
webbing.
    Footrope length means the distance between the points at which the 
ends of the footrope are attached to the trawl net, measured along the 
forward-most webbing.
    Foreign commerce includes, among other things, any transaction 
between persons within one foreign country, or between persons in two or 
more foreign countries, or between a person within the United States and 
a person in one or more foreign countries, or between persons within the 
United States, where the fish or wildlife in question are moving in any 
country or countries outside the United States.
    Four-seam, straight-wing trawl means a design of shrimp trawl in 
which the main body of the trawl is formed from a top panel, a bottom 
panel, and two side panels of webbing. The upper and

[[Page 114]]

lower edges of the side panels of webbing are parallel over the entire 
length.
    Four-seam, tapered-wing trawl means a design of shrimp trawl in 
which the main body of the trawl is formed from a top panel, a bottom 
panel, and two side panels of webbing. The upper and lower edges of the 
side panels of webbing converge toward the rear of the trawl.
    Gillnet means a panel of netting, suspended vertically in the water 
by floats along the top and weights along the bottom, to entangle fish 
that attempt to pass through it.
    Gulf Area means all waters of the Gulf of Mexico west of 81[deg] W. 
long. (the line at which the Gulf Area meets the Atlantic Area) and all 
waters shoreward thereof (including ports).
    Gulf Shrimp Fishery-Sea Turtle Conservation Area (Gulf SFSTCA) means 
the offshore waters extending to 10 nautical miles (18.5 km) offshore 
along the coast of the States of Texas and Louisiana from the South Pass 
of the Mississippi River (west of 89[deg]08.5[min] W. long.) to the 
U.S.-Mexican border.
    Habitat restoration activity means an activity that has the sole 
objective of restoring natural aquatic or riparian habitat conditions or 
processes.
    Harm in the definition of ``take'' in the Act means an act which 
actually kills or injures fish or wildlife. Such an act may include 
significant habitat modification or degradation which actually kills or 
injures fish or wildlife by significantly impairing essential behavioral 
patterns, including, breeding, spawning, rearing, migrating, feeding or 
sheltering.
    Headrope means a rope that is attached to the upper lip (top edge) 
of the mouth of a trawl net along the forward-most webbing.
    Headrope length means the distance between the points at which the 
ends of the headrope are attached to the trawl net, measured along the 
forward-most webbing.
    Import means to land on, bring into, or introduce into, or attempt 
to land on, bring into, or introduce into any place subject to the 
jurisdiction of the United States, whether or not such landing, 
bringing, or introduction constitutes an importation within the meaning 
of the tariff laws of the United States.
    Inshore means marine and tidal waters landward of the 72 COLREGS 
demarcation line (International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at 
Sea, 1972), as depicted or noted on nautical charts published by the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Coast Charts, 1:80,000 
scale) and as described in 33 CFR part 80.
    Modified pound net leader means a pound net leader that is affixed 
to or resting on the sea floor and made of a lower portion of mesh and 
an upper portion of only vertical lines such that: The mesh size is 
equal to or less than 8 inches (20.3 cm) stretched mesh; at any 
particular point along the leader the height of the mesh from the 
seafloor to the top of the mesh must be no more than one-third the depth 
of the water at mean lower low water directly above that particular 
point; the mesh is held in place by vertical lines that extend from the 
top of the mesh up to a top line, which is a line that forms the 
uppermost part of the pound net leader; the vertical lines are equal to 
or greater than \5/16\ inch (0.8 cm) in diameter and strung vertically 
at a minimum of every 2 feet (61 cm); and the vertical lines are hard 
lay lines with a level of stiffness equivalent to the stiffness of a \5/
16\ inch (0.8 cm) diameter line composed of polyester wrapped around a 
blend of polypropylene and polyethylene and containing approximately 42 
visible twists of strands per foot of line.
    Northeast Regional Administrator means the Regional Administrator 
for the Northeast Region of the National Marine Fisheries Service, 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, or their authorized representative. Mail sent to the Northeast 
Regional Administrator should be addressed: Northeast Regional 
Administrator, F/NE, Northeast Regional Office, National Marine 
Fisheries Service, NOAA, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930-2298.
    Northwest Regional Administrator means the Regional Administrator 
for the Northwest Region of the National Marine Fisheries Service, 
National

[[Page 115]]

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, or 
their authorized representative. Mail sent to the Northwest Regional 
Administrator should be addressed: Northwest Regional Administrator, F/
NW, Northwest Regional Office, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, 
7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115-0070.
    Office of Enforcement means the national fisheries enforcement 
office of the National Marine Fisheries Service. Mail sent to the Office 
of Enforcement should be addressed: Office of Enforcement, F/EN, 
National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, 8484 Suite 415, Georgia Ave., 
Silver Spring, MD 20910.
    Office of Protected Resources means the national program office of 
the endangered species and marine mammal programs of the National Marine 
Fisheries Service. Mail sent to the Office of Protected Resources should 
be addressed: Office of Protected Resources, F/PR, National Marine 
Fisheries Service, NOAA, 1315 East West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 
20910.
    Offshore means marine and tidal waters seaward of the 72 COLREGS 
demarcation line (International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at 
Sea, 1972), as depicted or noted on nautical charts published by the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Coast Charts, 1:80,000 
scale) and as described in 33 CFR part 80.
    Operating conservation program means those conservation management 
activities which are expressly agreed upon and described in a 
Conservation Plan or its Implementing Agreement. These activities are to 
be undertaken for the affected species when implementing an approved 
Conservation Plan, including measures to respond to changed 
circumstances.
    Permit means any document so designated by the National Marine 
Fisheries Service and signed by an authorized official of the National 
Marine Fisheries Service, including any document which modifies, amends, 
extends, or renews any permit.
    Person means an individual, corporation, partnership, trust, 
association, or any other private entity, or any officer, employee, 
agent, department, or instrumentality of the Federal government of any 
state or political subdivision thereof or of any foreign government.
    Possession means the detention and control, or the manual or ideal 
custody of anything that may be the subject of property, for one's use 
and enjoyment, either as owner or as the proprietor of a qualified right 
in it, and either held personally or by another who exercises it in 
one's place and name. Possession includes the act or state of possessing 
and that condition of facts under which persons can exercise their power 
over a corporeal thing at their pleasure to the exclusion of all other 
persons. Possession includes constructive possession that which means 
not an actual but an assumed existence one claims to hold by virtue of 
some title, without having actual custody.
    Pound net leader means a long straight net that directs the fish 
offshore towards the pound, an enclosure that captures the fish. Some 
pound net leaders are all mesh, while others have stringers and mesh. 
Stringers are vertical lines in a pound net leader that are spaced a 
certain distance apart and are not crossed by horizontal lines to form 
mesh. An offshore pound net leader refers to a leader with the inland 
end set greater than 10 horizontal feet (3 m) from the mean low water 
line. A nearshore pound net leader refers to a leader with the inland 
end set 10 horizontal feet (3 m) or less from the mean low water line.
    Pound Net Regulated Area I means Virginia waters of the mainstem 
Chesapeake Bay, south of 37[deg]19.0[min] N. lat. and west of 
76[deg]13.0[min] W. long., and all waters south of 37[deg]13.0[min] N. 
lat. to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (extending from approximately 
37[deg]05[min] N. lat., 75[deg]59[min] W. long. to 36[deg]55[min] N. 
lat., 76[deg]08[min] W. long.) at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, and 
the portion of the James River downstream of the Hampton Roads Bridge 
Tunnel (I-64; approximately 36[deg]59.55[min] N. lat., 76[deg]18.64[min] 
W. long.) and the York River downstream of the Coleman Memorial Bridge 
(Route 17; approximately 37[deg]14.55[min] N. lat, 76[deg]30.40[min] W. 
long.)
    Pound Net Regulated Area II means Virginia waters of the Chesapeake 
Bay outside of Pound Net Regulated Area I

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defined above, extending to the Maryland-Virginia State line 
(approximately 37[deg]55[min] N. lat., 75[deg]55[min] W. long.), the 
Great Wicomico River downstream of the Jessie Dupont Memorial Highway 
Bridge (Route 200; approximately 37[deg]50.84[min] N. lat, 
76[deg]22.09[min] W. long.), the Rappahannock River downstream of the 
Robert Opie Norris Jr. Bridge (Route 3; approximately 37[deg]37.44[min] 
N. lat, 76[deg]25.40[min] W. long.), and the Piankatank River downstream 
of the Route 3 Bridge (approximately 37[deg]30.62[min] N. lat, 
76[deg]25.19[min] W. long.) to the COLREGS line at the mouth of the 
Chesapeake Bay.
    Pre-Act endangered species part means any sperm whale oil, including 
derivatives and products thereof, which was lawfully held within the 
United States on December 28, 1973, in the course of a commercial 
activity; or any finished scrimshaw product, if such product or the raw 
material for such product was lawfully held within the United States on 
December 28, 1973, in the course of a commercial activity.
    Properly implemented conservation plan means any conservation plan, 
implementing agreement, or permit whose commitments and provisions have 
been or are being fully implemented by the permittee.
    Pusher-head trawl (chopsticks) means a trawl that is spread by two 
poles suspended from the bow of the trawler in an inverted ``V'' 
configuration.
    Resident species means, for purposes of entering into cooperative 
agreements with any state pursuant to section 6(c) of the Act, a species 
that exists in the wild in that state during any part of its life.
    Right whale means, as used in Sec. 224.103(c), any whale that is a 
member of the western North Atlantic population of the northern right 
whale species (Eubalaena glacialis).
    Roller trawl means a variety of beam trawl that is used, usually by 
small vessels, for fishing over uneven or vegetated sea bottoms.
    Scrimshaw product means any art form which involves the substantial 
etching or engraving of designs upon, or the substantial carving of 
figures, patterns, or designs from any bone or tooth of any marine 
mammal of the order Cetacea. For purposes of this part, polishing or the 
adding of minor superficial markings does not constitute substantial 
etching, engraving, or carving.
    Secretary means the Secretary of Commerce or an authorized 
representative.
    Shrimp means any species of marine shrimp (Order Crustacea) found in 
the Atlantic Area or the Gulf Area, including, but not limited to:
    (1) Brown shrimp (Penaeus aztecus).
    (2) White shrimp (Penaeus setiferus).
    (3) Pink shrimp (Penaeus duorarum).
    (4) Rock shrimp (Sicyonia brevirostris).
    (5) Royal red shrimp (Hymenopenaeus robustus).
    (6) Seabob shrimp (Xiphopenaeus kroyeri).
    Shrimp trawler means any vessel that is equipped with one or more 
trawl nets and that is capable of, or used for, fishing for shrimp, or 
whose on-board or landed catch of shrimp is more than 1 percent, by 
weight, of all fish comprising its on-board or landed catch.
    Skimmer trawl means a trawl that is fished along the side of the 
vessel and is held open by a rigid frame and a lead weight. On its 
outboard side, the trawl is held open by one side of the frame extending 
downward and, on its inboard side, by a lead weight attached by cable or 
rope to the bow of the vessel.
    Southeast Regional Administrator means the Regional Administrator 
for the Southeast Region of the National Marine Fisheries Service, 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, or their authorized representative. Mail sent to the Southeast 
Regional Administrator should be addressed: Southeast Regional 
Administrator, F/SE, Southeast Regional Office, National Marine 
Fisheries Service, NOAA, 9721 Executive Center Drive N., St. Petersburg, 
FL 33702-2432.
    Southwest Regional Administrator means the Regional Administrator 
for the Southwest Region of the National Marine Fisheries Service, 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, or their authorized representative. Mail sent to the Southwest 
Regional Administrator should be addressed: Southwest Regional 
Administrator, F/SW, Southwest Regional Office, National

[[Page 117]]

Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, 501 West Ocean Blvd, Suite 4200, Long 
Beach, CA 90802-4213.
    Stretched mesh size means the distance between the centers of the 
two opposite knots in the same mesh when pulled taut.
    Summer flounder means the species Paralichthys dentatus.
    Summer flounder fishery-sea turtle protection area means all 
offshore waters, bounded on the north by a line along 37[deg]05[min] N. 
lat. (Cape Charles, VA) and bounded on the south by a line extending in 
a direction of 135[deg]34[min]55[sec] from true north from the North 
Carolina-South Carolina land boundary, as marked by the border station 
on Bird Island at 33[deg]51[min]07.9[sec] N. lat., 
078[deg]32[min]32.6[sec] W. long.(the North Carolina-South Carolina 
border).
    Summer flounder trawler means any vessel that is equipped with one 
or more bottom trawl nets and that is capable of, or used for, fishing 
for flounder or whose on-board or landed catch of flounder is more than 
100 lb (45.4 kg).
    Take means to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, 
capture, or collect, or to attempt to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, 
wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect.
    Taper, in reference to the webbing used in trawls, means the angle 
of a cut used to shape the webbing, expressed as the ratio between the 
cuts that reduce the width of the webbing by cutting into the panel of 
webbing through one row of twine (bar cuts) and the cuts that extend the 
length of the panel of webbing by cutting straight aft through two 
adjoining rows of twine (point cuts). For example, sequentially cutting 
through the lengths of twine on opposite sides of a mesh, leaving an 
uncut edge of twines all lying in the same line, produces a relatively 
strong taper called ``all-bars''; making a sequence of 4-bar cuts 
followed by 1-point cut produces a more gradual taper called ``4 bars to 
1 point'' or ``4b1p''; similarly, making a sequence of 2-bar cuts 
followed by 1-point cut produces a still more gradual taper called 
``2b1p''; and making a sequence of cuts straight aft does not reduce the 
width of the panel and is called a ``straight'' or ``all-points'' cut.
    Taut means a condition in which there is no slack in the net 
webbing.
    Test net, or try net, means a net pulled for brief periods of time 
just before, or during, deployment of the primary net(s) in order to 
test for shrimp concentrations or determine fishing conditions (e.g., 
presence or absence of bottom debris, jellyfish, bycatch, seagrasses, 
etc.).
    Tongue means any piece of webbing along the top, center, leading 
edge of a trawl, whether lying behind or ahead of the headrope, to which 
a towing bridle can be attached for purposes of pulling the trawl net 
and/or adjusting the shape of the trawl.
    Transportation means to ship, convey, carry or transport by any 
means whatever, and deliver or receive for such shipment, conveyance, 
carriage, or transportation.
    Triple-wing trawl means a trawl with a tongue on the top, center, 
leading edge of the trawl and an additional tongue along the bottom, 
center, leading edge of the trawl.
    Two-seam trawl means a design of shrimp trawl in which the main body 
of the trawl is formed from a top and a bottom panel of webbing that are 
directly attached to each other down the sides of the trawl.
    Underway with respect to a vessel, means that the vessel is not at 
anchor, or made fast to the shore, or aground.
    Unforeseen circumstances means changes in circumstances affecting a 
species or geographic area covered by a conservation plan that could not 
reasonably have been anticipated by plan developers and NMFS at the time 
of the conservation plan's negotiation and development, and that result 
in a substantial and adverse change in the status of the covered 
species.
    Vessel means a vehicle used, or capable of being used, as a means of 
transportation on water which includes every description of watercraft, 
including nondisplacement craft and seaplanes.
    Vessel restricted in her ability to maneuver has the meaning 
specified for this term at 33 U.S.C. 2003(g).
    Wildlife means any member of the animal kingdom, including without 
limitation any mammal, fish, bird (including any migratory, 
nonmigratory,

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or endangered bird for which protection is also afforded by treaty or 
other international agreement), amphibian, reptile, mollusk, crustacean, 
arthropod or other invertebrate, and includes any part, product, egg, or 
offspring thereof, or the dead body or parts thereof.
    Wing net (butterfly trawl) means a trawl that is fished along the 
side of the vessel and that is held open by a four-sided, rigid frame 
attached to the outrigger of the vessel.

[64 FR 14054, Mar. 23, 1999, as amended at 64 FR 60731, Nov. 8, 1999; 67 
FR 13101, Mar. 21, 2002; 67 FR 41203, June 17, 2002; 67 FR 71899, Dec. 
3, 2002; 68 FR 8467, Feb. 21, 2003; 68 FR 17562, Apr. 10, 2003; 69 FR 
25011, May 5, 2004; 70 FR 1832, Jan. 11, 2005; 71 FR 36032, June 23, 
2006; 71 FR 50372, Aug. 25, 2006]