[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 158 (Wednesday, August 15, 2001)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 42832-42833]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-20437]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Parts 600 and 697

[I.D. 080601B]


Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act Provisions; 
Application for Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP)

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

ACTION: Notification of a request for EFPs to harvest horseshoe crabs; 
request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries 
is considering issuing an EFP to Limuli Laboratories to conduct 
experimental fishing operations otherwise restricted by the regulations 
prohibiting the harvest of horseshoe crabs in the Carl N. Schuster Jr. 
Horseshoe Crab Reserve (Reserve) located 3 nautical miles (nm) seaward 
of the mouth of Delaware Bay. NMFS is considering issuing EFPs for the 
harvest of 10,000 horseshoe crabs total for biomedical purposes and 
requiring as a condition of each EFP the collection of data on the 
status of Delaware Bay Horseshoe Crabs within the Reserve. Therefore, 
this document invites comments on the issuance of an EFP to Limuli 
Laboratories and establishes a cut-off date for receipt of complete 
applications for the harvest of horseshoe crabs from the Reserve for 
biomedical and data collection purposes.

DATES: Comments on this notice and applications for an EFP for 
biomedical and data collection purposes must be received on or before 
August 30, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and complete applications should be sent to 
and copies of a draft environmental assessment may be requested from 
Richard H. Schaefer, Chief, Staff Office for Intergovernmental and 
Recreational Fisheries, NMFS, 8484 Georgia Avenue, Suite 425, Silver 
Spring, MD 20910. Mark the outside of the envelope ``Comments on 
Horseshoe Crab EFP Proposal'' or ``Application for Horseshoe Crab 
EFP.'' Comments or applications may also be sent via facsimile (fax) to 
(301) 427-2313. Neither comments nor applications will be accepted if 
submitted via e-mail or the Internet.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Perra, Fishery Biologist 
(Management), (301) 427-2014.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The regulations that govern exempted experimental fishing, at 50 
CFR 600.745(b) and 697.22 allow the Regional Administrator or Assistant 
Administrator for Fisheries to authorize for limited testing, public 
display, data collection, exploration, health and safety, environmental 
clean-up and/or hazardous removal purposes, and 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, the conservation goals and objectives of the Fishery 
Management Plan are not compromised, and issuance of the EFP is 
beneficial to the management of the species.
    The Reserve was established on February 5, 2001 (66 FR 8906) to 
provide protection for the Atlantic coast stock of horseshoe crab, and 
to promote the effectiveness of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries 
Commission's (Commission) Interstate Fishery Management Plan (ISFMP) 
for horseshoe crab. The final rule prohibited fishing for horseshoe 
crabs in the Reserve and the possession of horseshoe crabs on a vessel 
with a trawl or dredge aboard while in the Reserve. The rule did not 
allow for any biomedical harvest or the collection of fishery dependent 
data, unless an EFP is issued. However, in the comments and responses 
section, NMFS stated that it would consider issuing EFPs for the 
biomedical harvest of horseshoe crabs from the Reserve.
    The biomedical industry collects horseshoe crabs, removes 
approximately 30 percent of their blood, and returns them alive to the 
water. Approximately 10 percent do not survive the bleeding process. 
The blood contains a reagent called Limulus Amebocyte Lysate (LAL) that 
is used to test injectable drugs and medical devices for bacteria and 
bacterial by-products. Presently, there is no alternative to LAL 
derived from the horseshoe crab.
    NMFS manages horseshoe crabs in the exclusive economic zone in 
close cooperation with the Commission. The Commission's Horseshoe Crab 
Management Board met on April 21, 2000, and recommended that biomedical 
companies with a history of collecting horseshoe crabs in the Reserve 
be given an exemption to continue their historic levels of collection 
not to exceed a combined harvest total of 10,000 crabs annually. The 
Commission's Horseshoe Crab Plan Review Team has reported that 
biomedical harvest of up to 10,000 horseshoe crabs should be allowed to 
continue in the Reserve because the resulting mortality should be about 
1,000 horseshoe crabs (10 percent mortality during bleeding process). 
Also, the Commission's Horseshoe Crab Stock Assessment Committee 
Chairman recommended that, in order to protect the Delaware Bay 
horseshoe crab population from over-harvest or excessive collection 
mortality, no more than a maximum of 20,000 horseshoe crabs should be 
collected for biomedical purposes from the Reserve. In addition to the 
direct mortality of horseshoe crabs that are bled, it can be expected 
that more than 20,000 horseshoe crabs will be trawled up and examined 
for LAL processing. This is because horseshoe crab trawl catches 
usually have varied sizes of horseshoe crabs and the large female 
horseshoe crabs are the ones selected for LAL processing. The 
unharvested horseshoe crabs are released at sea with some unknown 
amount of mortality due to the trawling operation.
    Collection of horseshoe crabs for biomedical purposes from the 
Reserve is necessary because of the low numbers of horseshoe crabs 
found along the New Jersey Coast from August through October and in 
light of the critical role horseshoe crab blood plays in proper health 
care. In conjunction with the biomedical harvest, NMFS is considering 
requiring significant scientific data gathered from the horseshoe crabs 
collected in the Reserve as a condition of receiving an EFP. Since the 
Reserve was established on February 5, 2001, no fishery data has been 
collected from this area. This data is needed to improve the 
understanding of horseshoe crabs in the Delaware Bay area and to better 
manage the horseshoe crab resource under the cooperative state/Federal 
management program. The information collected through the EFP will be 
provided to NMFS, the State of New Jersey, and the Commission.

Proposed EFP

    The proposed EFP would exempt one commercial vessel from 
regulations at 50 CFR 697.7(e), which prohibits fishing for horseshoe 
crabs in the Reserve described in Sec.  697.23(f)(1) and prohibits 
possession of horseshoe crabs on a vessel with a trawl or dredge aboard 
in the same Reserve.
    The Limuli Laboratories of Cape May Court House, in cooperation 
with Dr. Carl N. Schuster, Jr., and the State of

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New Jersey's Division of Fish and Wildlife, submitted an application 
for an EFP on April 11, 2001. NMFS has made a preliminary determination 
that the subject EFP contains all the required information and warrants 
further consideration. NMFS has also made a preliminary determination 
that the activities authorized under the EFP would be consistent with 
the goals and objectives of the Federal horseshoe crab regulations and 
the Commission's Horseshoe Crab ISFMP.
    The regulations at 50 CFR 600.745(b)(3)(v) authorize NMFS to attach 
terms and conditions to the EFP's consistent with the purpose of the 
exempted fishery, the objectives of the horseshoe regulations and 
fisheries management plan, and other applicable law. NMFS is 
considering terms and conditions such as:
    (1) Allowing up to five vessels to collect horseshoe crabs from the 
Reserve. Five vessels are considered the maximum number because of the 
difficulty in enforcing the terms and conditions of the EFPs and the 
Reserve's regulations if more vessels are allowed to harvest horseshoe 
crabs from the Reserve;
    (2) Requiring collection under an EFP to take place over 
approximately 20 days during the months of August, September, and 
October. Horseshoe crabs are readily available in harvestable 
concentrations nearshore earlier in the year, and offshore in the 
Reserve later in the year;
    (3) Requiring a 5 and 1/2 inch flounder net to be used by these 
vessels to collect the horseshoe crabs. This condition would allow for 
continuation of traditional harvest gear and adds to the consistency in 
the way horseshoe crabs are harvested for data collection;
    (4) Limiting trawl tow times to 30 minutes as a conservation 
measure to protect sea turtles, which are expected to be migrating 
through the area during the collection period, and are vulnerable to 
bottom trawling;
    (5) Limiting the number of horseshoe crabs collected by any one 
vessel to 500 per day and limiting the total number of horseshoe crabs 
to be taken out of the Reserve to no more than 10,000 per year;
    (6) Restricting the hours of fishing to daylight hours only, 
approximately from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. will aid law enforcement. 
NMFS also is considering a requirement that the State of New Jersey Law 
Enforcement be notified daily when and where the collection will take 
place; and
    (7) Requiring that the collected horseshoe crabs be picked up from 
the fishing vessels at docks in the Cape May Area and transported to 
local laboratories, bled for LAL, and released the following morning 
alive back to Lower Delaware Bay.
    Also as part of the terms and conditions of the EFP, for all 
horseshoe crabs bled for LAL, NMFS is considering a requirement that 
EFP holders provide information on sex ratio, daily numbers, and tag 10 
percent of the horseshoe crabs harvested. Also, EFP holders may be 
required to provide photographic documentation of physical appearance 
and to examine at least 200 horseshoe crabs for:
    a. Morphometric data, by sex- e.g. interocular (I/O) distance and 
weight, and
    b. Level of activity, as measured by a response or by distance 
traveled after release on a beach.
    Based on the results of this EFP, this action may lead to future 
rulemaking.

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

    Dated: August 8, 2001.
Dean Swanson,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 01-20437 Filed 8-14-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S