[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 161 (Friday, August 20, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 45501]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-21592]



[[Page 45501]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Parts 600 and 649

[I.D. 080999H]


Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; General Provisions for Domestic 
Fisheries; Applications for Exempted Fishing Permits (EFPs)

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notification of a proposal for EFPs to conduct experimental 
fishing; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS issues this document to announce that the Regional 
Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator), is 
considering approval of 21 EFPs to conduct exempted experimental 
fishing activities otherwise restricted by regulations governing the 
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States. These EFPs would allow the 
fieldwork for a study that proposes to ascertain the overfished status 
of American lobster (Homarus americanus) through the collection of 
stock assessment information. These EFPS would allow for the temporary 
possession of sublegal and egg-bearing female lobsters (berried female 
lobsters) in industry-standard lobster traps during normal fishing 
operations for tag, v-notch, and release purposes only. The tagging/v-
notch program will be conducted by participating commercial fishermen 
in designated American lobster Management Areas 2 and 3 and the Area 2/
3 overlap area from mid-September 1999 through mid-September 2000. 
Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act provisions require publication of this notification to 
provide interested parties the opportunity to comment on the proposed 
EFPs.

DATES: Comments on this document must be received by September 7, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to the Regional Administrator, NMFS, 
Northeast Regional Office, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. 
Mark the outside of the envelope ``Comments on Proposed Experimental 
Fisheries.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bonnie VanPelt, Fishery Management 
Specialist, 978-281-9244.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Rhode Island Lobsterman's Association 
(RILA), University of Rhode Island (URI), and the Rhode Island Division 
of Environmental Management (RIDEM) have submitted a joint proposal to 
conduct a lobster tag and release program in inshore/nearshore and 
offshore waters within two of the seven numeric lobster management 
areas; specifically, from the Upper Narragansett Bay, East and West 
Passage, Rhode Island Sound, Block Island Sound to the Offshore Canyons 
(Block and Hudson).
    A lobster tagging program has been conducted in Rhode Island state 
waters under the joint management of the URI and Rhode Island Sea Grant 
for the past 5 years. This cooperative effort was developed to help 
shift the responsibility of the lobster tagging and release program 
from its current joint management to the RILA.
    The project is funded through a Saltonstall-Kennedy grant and would 
commence in mid-September 1999 and continue over the course of 1 year. 
Approximately 60,000 American lobsters will be tagged and released; 
40,000 sub-legal lobsters and 20,000 berried female lobsters. There are 
three main objectives of the experimental fishery: (1) To collect 
information for use in models that currently assess overfished status 
(e.g., NMFS' Eggs Per Recruit Model) and to provide updated information 
for inclusion to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's 
stock assessment for lobsters; (2) to educate and provide training to 
fishermen about the v-notch program and to recognize v-notched 
lobsters; and (3) to share the responsibility in data collection for 
the co-management of the American lobster resource.
    URI and RIDEM will provide sea sampling coverage on a combined 
total of 70 inshore and nearshore trips throughout the course of the 
experiment. Due to time and money constraints the offshore areas in the 
Canyons (Block and Hudson) will not be monitored by sea samplers. 
However, the two vessels that will be involved in tagging activities 
offshore will also conduct trips inshore that are being monitored.
    The study involves the tag, v-notch, and release of American 
lobsters only; no other species will be retained. It is anticipated 
that the lobsters will be held for no longer than 3-4 hours before they 
are released. All program participants will receive training on tagging 
and v-notching protocols prior to the start of operations.
    The participating vessel owners have obtained collectors permits 
from the RIDEM that will enable them to catch, tag, and release 
juvenile lobsters as well as egg-bearing female lobsters in state 
waters.
    EFPs would be issued to 21 participating federally permitted 
lobster vessels to exempt them from the size and possession 
restrictions of the American Lobster Fishery Management Plan. Exemption 
to the regulations specified at 50 CFR 649.20(b) and (d) will remain in 
effect until Federal authority to manage the American lobster fishery 
is transferred from the Magnuson-Stevens Act to the Atlantic Coastal 
Cooperative Management Act, at which time the authority for this 
exemption will transfer to the regulations specified at 50 CFR 
697.20(b) and (d).

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: August 16, 1999.
Gary C. Matlock,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 99-21592 Filed 8-19-99; 8:45 am]
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