[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 83 (Monday, April 30, 2001)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 21306]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-10653]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 600

[I.D. 041801B]


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 received a proposal to 
conduct experimental fishing and has made a preliminary determination 
that the subject EFP application contains all the required information 
and warrants further consideration. A preliminary determination has 
also been made that the activities authorized under the EFP will be 
consistent with the goals and objectives of the Northeast Multispecies 
Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and within the scope of earlier analyses 
of impacts. However, further review and consultation may be necessary 
before a final determination is made to issue an EFP. Therefore, NMFS 
announces that the Regional Administrator is considering whether to 
issue an EFP that would allow a single vessel to conduct fishing 
operations otherwise restricted by regulations governing the fisheries 
of the Northeastern United States. The University of Massachusetts at 
Dartmouth and Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences (Manomet) have 
submitted an application for an EFP to allow them to target 
multispecies in order to investigate the selectivity of various shapes 
and sizes of knotless trawl mesh, and the selectivity of finfish 
excluder grates with two different bar-spacings and configurations.

DATES: Comments must be received by May 15, 2001.

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

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom Warren, Fishery Management 
Specialist, 978-281-9347.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The regulations that govern exempted 
experimental fishing, at 50 CFR 600.745, allow the Regional 
Administrator to authorize for certain purposes the targeting or 
incidental harvest of managed species that would otherwise be 
prohibited. An EFP to authorize such activity may be issued, provided 
there is adequate opportunity for the public to comment on the EFP 
application, and the conservation goals and objectives of the FMP are 
not compromised.
    The University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and Manomet, submitted 
to NMFS on April 5, 2001, an application for an EFP to conduct research 
in the multispecies fishery on Georges Bank. The research would target 
multispecies in the Georges Bank Seasonal Closure area, with the 
objective of investigating the selectivity of various shapes and sizes 
of knotless trawl mesh, and the selectivity of finfish excluder grates 
with two different bar-spacings and configurations. Specifically, the 
research would utilize a standard 6.0-inch (15.3-cm) diamond mesh as 
control, and compare its selectivity to 6.5-inch (16.5-cm) hexagon, 
6.5-inch (16.5-cm) square, and 6.0-inch (15.3-cm) hexagon, knotless 
mesh. The two configurations of finfish excluder grates to be tested on 
separate tows would be horizontal bars spaced at 3 inches (7.6-cm) and 
vertical bars spaced at 4 inches (10.2-cm). A double cod-end trawl 
design will be utilized on both the mesh and excluder grate trials. The 
goal of the research is to develop trawl gear designed to target 
flatfish that allows greater escapement of gadoids (e.g., cod and 
haddock), than the flatfish trawls that are currently utilized by the 
industry.
    A single vessel would be issued an EFP to allow a total of 42 tows. 
EFPs would be required to exempt the vessel from the Days-at-Sea, 
closed area, and mesh restrictions of the FMP. The proposed timing and 
location of the research, and the applicant's justification for 
requesting an exemption to the Georges Bank Seasonal Closure Area is 
that the relatively high numbers of flatfish and gadoids that are 
available in that area would allow conclusive results to be obtained in 
a cost-effective manner. The applicant estimates that the research will 
take 6 to 8 days to complete.

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

    Dated: April 24, 2001.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 01-10653 Filed 4-27-01; 8:45 am]
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