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°33′00.8″ 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°42′45.6″ N. lat.) to the North Carolina-South Carolina border (defined as the line extending in a direction of 135°34′55″ from true north from the North Carolina-South Carolina land boundary, as marked by the border station on Bird Island at 33°51′07.9″ N. lat., 078°32′32.6″ 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;

(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.

Diamonds, with respect to dredge or dredge gear as defined in this section, means the triangular shaped portions of the ring bag on the “dredge bottom” as defined in 50 CFR 648.2.

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 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° 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°08.5′ 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.

Hard lay lines mean lines that are at least as stiff as 5⁄16 inch (0.8 cm) diameter line composed of polyester wrapped around a blend of polypropylene and polyethylene and 42 visible twists of strands per foot of line.

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 a bottom chain that forms the lowermost part of the pound net leader; the vertical lines 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.

Nearshore pound net leader or nearshore pound net means a pound net with every part of the leader (from the most offshore pole at the pound end of the leader to the most inshore pole of the leader) in less than 14 feet (4.3 m) of water at any tidal condition.

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 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.

Offshore pound net leader or offshore pound net means a pound net with any part of the leader (from the most offshore pole at the pound end of the leader to the most inshore pole of the leader) in water greater than or equal to 14 feet (4.3 m) at any tidal condition.

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 means a fixed entrapment gear attached to posts or stakes with three continuous sections from offshore to inshore consisting of:

(1) A pound made of mesh netting that entraps the fish;

(2) At least one heart made of a mesh netting that is generally in the shape of a heart and aids in funneling fish into the pound; and

(3) A leader, which is a long, straight element consisting of mesh or vertical lines that directs the fish offshore towards the pound.

Pound net leader means a long straight net that directs 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, also known as vertical lines, are spaced a regular distance apart and are not crossed by other lines to form mesh.

Pound Net Regulated Area I means Virginia waters of the mainstem Chesapeake Bay and the portion of the James River seaward of the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel (Interstate Highway-64) and the York River seaward of the Coleman Memorial Bridge (Route 17), bounded to the south and east by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (Route 13; extending from approximately 37°07′ N. lat., 75°58′ W. long. to 36°55′ N. lat., 76°08′ W. long.), and to the north by the following points connected by straight lines and in the order listed:

Pound Net Regulated Area II means Virginia waters of the Chesapeake Bay outside of Pound Net Regulated Area I, bounded by the Maryland-Virginia State line to the north and by the COLREGS line at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and 37°07′ N. lat. between Kiptopeke and Smith Island, Northampton County, Virginia to the south and east. This area includes the Great Wicomico River seaward of the Jessie Dupont Memorial Highway Bridge (Route 200), the Rappahannock River downstream of the Robert Opie Norris Jr. Bridge (Route 3), the Piankatank River downstream of the Route 3 Bridge, and all other tributaries within these boundaries.

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 §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 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°05′ N. lat. (Cape Charles, VA) and bounded on the south by a line extending in a direction of 135°34′55″ from true north from the North Carolina-South Carolina land boundary, as marked by the border station on Bird Island at 33°51′07.9″ N. lat., 078°32′32.6″ 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).

Sweep, with respect to dredge or dredge gear as defined in this section, means a chain extending, usually in an arc, from one end of the dredge frame to the other to which the ring bag, including the diamonds, is attached. The sweep forms the edge of the opening of the dredge bag.

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, 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; 74 FR 46933, Sept. 14, 2009; 80 FR 6928, Feb. 9, 2015]