United States v. Vigor Industrial, LLC, No. 3:22-cv-06101 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 17, 2022). Settling National Marine Sanctuaries Act defendants must pay $9,135,134.80 to resolve a claim arising from injury to sanctuary resources that occurred due to the sinking of the YFD-70 Drydock on October 25-26, 2016, inside the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

NOAA announced that the Draft Strategic Plan for Federal Research and Monitoring of Ocean Acidification is available for public comment.

United States v. Utility Board of the City of Key West, Florida, No. 4:22-cv-10070-JLK (S.D. Fla. Aug. 23, 2022). A proposed consent decree resolves a National Marine Sanctuaries Act claim for $1,800,000 for the recovery of damages arising from utility work relating to Keys Energy Services Line 4 conducted near Rockland Key, Florida, between October 14 and December 20, 2017, that destroyed sea grasses in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

NMFS seeks comment on draft revisions to a procedural directive concerning the process for distinguishing serious from non-serious injury of marine mammals under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. 

NOAA proposed changes to the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary to expand the boundary of the sanctuary, update sanctuary-wide regulations, update the individual marine zones and their associated regulations, and revise the sanctuary’s terms of designation. 

NOAA amended the National Marine Sanctuaries program regulations with an interim final rule that updates the existing regulations, eliminates redundancies, eliminates outmoded regulations, adopts standard boundary descriptions, and consolidates general regulations and permitting procedures. 

NMFS seeks information regarding nations or entities whose vessels are engaged in illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing; fishing practices that result in the bycatch of protected living marine resources; and/or fishing activities in waters beyond any national jurisdiction that target or incidentally catch sharks to help identify nations or entities pursuant to the High Seas Driftnet Moratorium Protection Act. 

NOAA seeks comment on specific thematic and geographic priorities for ocean exploration and characterization in the draft Strategic Priorities for Ocean Exploration and Characterization of the United States Exclusive Economic Zone. 

DOI withdrew in its entirety the proposed rule published on December 9, 2020, entitled “Revisions to the Requirements for Exploratory Drilling on the Arctic Outer Continental Shelf.”

NMFS seeks comment on a proposed rule to modify turtle excluder device-related requirements for skimmer trawl vessels less than 40 feet in length operating in shrimp fisheries in the southeastern United States.