[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 188 (Wednesday, September 27, 2000)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 58034-58035]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-24855]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 600

[I.D. 091800I]


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 announces that the Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS 
(Regional Administrator), has made a preliminary determination to issue 
EFPs to conduct experimental fishing operations otherwise restricted by 
the regulations governing the fisheries of the Northeastern United 
States. The New England Aquarium Conservation Department (NEACD) 
requested an EFP to conduct a Juvenile Lobster Trap Survey in the Gulf 
of Maine (Juvenile Lobster Trap Survey). This recruitment survey could, 
if geographically comprehensive, serve as an indicator for stock status 
and could provide stock size estimates for subsequent years. 
Regulations under Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management 
Act provisions require publication of this notification to provide 
interested parties the opportunity to comment on the proposed 
experimental fisheries.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by October 12, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to Patricia A. Kurkul, 
Regional Administrator, NMFS, Northeast Regional Office, 1 Blackburn 
Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside of the envelope 
``Comments on the EFP Proposal.'' Comments may also be sent via 
facisimile (fax) to (978) 281-9135. Comments will not be accepted if 
submitted via e-mail or the Internet.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries 
Commission has identified the need for regional baseline information on 
the American lobster (Homarus americanus) resource as a priority item 
in its most recent list of research needs for the lobster fishery. Data 
on juvenile lobster abundance is critical for effective and pro-active 
management of this valuable species.
    The framework of this survey was developed by the Canadian 
Department of Fisheries and Oceans Science Branch for its Gulf of St. 
Lawrence Fisheries Management Region. Its program has been implemented 
and can be readily adapted to the Gulf of Maine (GOM). Canadian 
response to this survey has been extremely supportive since this could 
lead to transboundary sampling projects in the future, where Canadian 
and U.S. fishermen would conduct a survey throughout the entire GOM.
    Existing survey programs, whether they be fishery-dependent or 
independent, are limited and prevent resource managers from obtaining a 
holistic view of growth and recruitment throughout the dynamic GOM 
ecosystem. In addition, the data are housed at various institutions and 
entered in a variety of formats, impeding accessibility and/or 
transferability to resource managers or interest groups in the region.
    These gaps in data collection were identified at the 1999 U.S./
Canadian Lobster Summit III in Rockland, ME, where over 200 fishermen, 
scientists, and resource managers met to define a strategy to increase 
the understanding of lobster stock status through enhanced industry 
involvement. The forum participants agreed that there is a need to 
improve the current assessment and management process through 
collaboration between industry and scientists. The recommendations 
emerging from Lobster Summit III fell into five general categories: (1) 
Build trust between scientists and the fishing industry, (2) Increase 
collaboration between scientists and fishermen to improve data 
collection and the dissemination of information, (3) Expand the scope 
and breadth of the models used to assess the health of lobster stocks, 
(4) Identify specific data needs, and (5) Improve management decisions. 
Expanded industry participation in data collection was considered a 
cost-effective strategy to implement some of these recommendations.
    The proposed Juvenile Lobster Trap Survey is a cooperative effort 
among the NEACD, Maine Department of Marine Resources, the 
Massachusetts Division

[[Page 58035]]

of Marine Fisheries, the New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game, 
NMFS, the Maine Lobstermen's Association, the DownEast Lobstermen's 
Association, the Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association, the South 
Shore Lobster Fishermen's Association, the Boston Harbor Lobstermen's 
Cooperative, and the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen's Association to more 
regularly involve fishermen in the data collection process and to 
create a regional picture of the lobster resource with the ultimate 
goal of helping to improve lobster stock assessment models.
    The Juvenile Lobster Trap Survey is a pilot project that will take 
place from the fall 2000 through the fall 2001 lobster fishing season. 
The number of participants coordinated by the NEACD will be limited to 
approximately 25 fishermen from Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The 
survey's co-principal investigators will monitor the quality of the 
data collection by making site visits and maintaining open 
communication among all of the participants. If successful, the 
collaboration will seek funding and EFPs to continue the survey on an 
annual basis to increase both fishermen's participation and the 
geographical scope of the survey.
    Fishermen collecting data under this exemption will be subject to 
the following guidelines:
    1. A minimum of two and a maximum of six experimental traps per 
participant will have disabled escape vents.
    2. The test traps (both experimental and control) are included in 
the participant's normal set and will not exceed trap number limits.
    3. The survey will be limited in scope by requiring participants to 
collect data only in their declared management areas.
    4. The survey will be limited in duration, ranging from late summer 
2000 to exactly 12 months from the start date.
    5. The experimental traps are standard lobster traps with the 
escape vent blocked by the following methods: Standard lobster wire 
mesh attached by biodegradable hog rings, a wooden lath tied over the 
vents, or twine laced to obscure the vents. The use of these 
biodegradable materials ensures that, if the escape vent opening is 
also the escape panel, it will allow lobsters to get out of ghost 
traps.
    6. Each test trap (including the experimental and control traps) 
will be marked with a unique tag depicting its scientific purpose.
    7. Following data collection, all sublegal-sized and illegal (egg-
bearing, v-notched) lobsters caught in any test trap will be released 
immediately.
    8. All incidental catch will be handled carefully and immediately 
returned to sea to decrease mortality.
    9. Participants shall not have prior lobster violations/convictions 
for short lobsters or for possession of berried (lobster-carrying eggs) 
or scrubbed (i.e., illegal removal of eggs) females.
    Any infraction of these conditions or any violation of any marine 
resources laws would be grounds for the immediate revocation of the 
EFP.
    At the end of each month, participating fishermen will send their 
data in a postage-paid, return-addressed envelope to the NEACD. Upon 
the first data mailing, fishermen will also fill out an information 
card providing a detailed description of their traps, including trap 
type, dimensions, twine type, hoop sizes, entry hoop diameter, and 
number of escape vents.
    The data will be entered by university interns at the NEACD into a 
transferable, user-friendly database. A steering committee consisting 
of leading lobster stock assessment scientists, including NMFS' 
Northeast Fisheries Science Center scientists and fishermen from the 
United States and Canada, will work with the co-principal investigators 
to monitor how the data are stored, to decide on the format of the 
summary reports that will be made available to the public, and to 
evaluate the survey. The NEACD and the steering committee will be 
responsible only for housing the data, and not for data analysis. This 
survey is to supply baseline data to fishing associations and resource 
managers so that they can analyze the data.
    This survey would target both legal and sub-legal sized lobsters. 
Bycatch of Jonah crab, red crab, rock crab, black sea bass and conger 
eel is anticipated. The proposal projects low incidence of bycatch and 
low mortality rates for each specified bycatch species.
    EFPs would be issued to all Federal fishery permit holders who use 
the experimental traps, whether in state or Federal waters, and will 
exempt them from the requirement under Sec.  697.21(c)(1)(i) and (ii) 
that all lobster traps must contain at least one escape vent with a 
minimum size of 1-15/16 inches (4.9 cm) by 5-3/4 inches (14.6 cm) or 
two circular vents that must be at least 2-7/16 inches (6.2 cm) in 
diameter.

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

    Dated: September 21, 2000.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 00-24855 Filed 9-26-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S