[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 58 (Tuesday, March 26, 2002)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 13744-13746]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-7133]



[[Page 13744]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 600

[I.D. 030502B]


Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; General Provisions for Domestic 
Fisheries; Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management; 
Application 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: The Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS (Regional 
Administrator) has made a preliminary determination that the subject 
exempted fishing permit (EFP) application contains all the required 
information and warrants further consideration. The Regional 
Administrator has also made a preliminary determination that the 
activities authorized under the EFP would be consistent with the goals 
and objectives of the American lobster (lobster) fishery under the 
Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act (ACFCMA). 
However, further review and consultation may be necessary before a 
final determination is made to issue EFPs. Therefore, NMFS announces 
that the Regional Administrator has made a preliminary decision to 
issue EFPs that would allow up to 100 current federally permitted 
lobster and/or Maine lobster/crab license holders to conduct fishing 
operations otherwise restricted by the regulations governing the 
lobster fishery. EFPs would allow federally permitted and/or state-only 
lobster/crab licensed vessels to fish modified lobster traps to target 
Jonah crabs to collect important fishery and biological data on the 
sustainability and practicality of a directed Jonah crab fishery in 
Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Nearshore Management Area 1 (ENMA1).
    Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) require publication of this 
notification to provide interested parties the opportunity to comment 
on applications for proposed EFPs.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 10, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to Patricia A. Kurkul, 
Regional Administrator, NMFS, Northeast Regional Office, 1 Blackburn 
Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930-2298. Mark the outside of the envelope 
``Comments on EFP Proposal.'' Comments may also be sent via facsimile 
(fax) to (978) 281-9135. Copies of the proposal and the draft 
Environmental Assessment are available from the Northeast Regional 
Office at the address stated above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bonnie Van Pelt, Fishery Policy 
Analyst, 978-281-9244.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Maine Division of Marine Resources 
(MEDMR) submitted an original application on December 6, 2000, for EFPs 
to conduct an experimental fishery for Jonah crab in Federal waters of 
the EEZ. Subsequent amendments to this application were dated April 30, 
2001; May 29, 2001; July 9, 2001; and February 13, 2002. Revisions to 
the original application included: (1) Scaling back the fishery from 
unlimited participation to 100 participants; (2) an Environmental 
Assessment was prepared to describe the impacts attributable to the 
experimental fishery beyond those analyzed under the Draft Final 
Environmental Impact Statement prepared for the lobster fishery 
regulations under ACFCMA; (3) addition/removal of gear restrictions to 
comply with Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (ALWTRP) 
requirements; (4) addition of socioeconomic data to the logbook; (5) 
addition of a one-time demographic and ethnographic profile survey and 
fixed-cost survey; (6) reduced minimum soak times to 10 days from 2 
weeks and then later changed soak time to a maximum of 2 weeks 
(operational soak times of less than 1 week); (7) added a requirement 
that participants pass Level 1 training in identification and 
disentanglement of whales and sea turtles; (8) clarified that both 
Jonah crab buoys and Jonah crab traps would be clearly marked as 
``CRAB''; (9) requested that state-only licensed vessels be allowed to 
participate in the Federal portion of ENMA1; and (10) specified that 
the 40 percent ``exploratory'' (i.e., not yet field tested for 
targeting Jonah crabs) traps would be of a top-entry design instead of 
the previous proposal to have the design be at the discretion of the 
participant. In addition, a January 30, 2002, memorandum clarified that 
the submission dated December 5, 2001, will be considered a Memorandum 
of Understanding concerning the Reasonable and Prudent Alternatives 
outlined in the draft Biological Opinion for the Jonah crab 
experimental fishery.
    The Jonah crab, Cancer borealis, is currently an unregulated 
species in the EEZ and little is known about its biology, distribution, 
and relative abundance. MEDMR believes it is important to obtain a 
better understanding of the Jonah crab resource and the feasibility of 
developing a potential sustainable fishery. Due to a recent increase in 
Jonah crab abundance and market demand, it may be profitable for 
lobster fishermen to target Jonah crabs with modified lobster traps 
during times of low lobster landings (generally in the spring).
    Under current State of Maine lobster management (Atlantic States 
Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) Amendment 3), all traps (defined as 
structures or other devices, other than nets, that are placed, or 
intended to be placed, on the ocean bottom) that are designed for or 
are capable of catching lobsters must contain a lobster trap tag unless 
exempted. With a limit of 800 trap tags (and in some cases fewer), 
fishermen who are interested in helping explore and develop the Jonah 
crab fishery in the EEZ cannot do so unless they receive the necessary 
exemptions from the Federal lobster regulations at 50 CFR 697.19. The 
EFPs would facilitate the collection of data on modified lobster trap 
designs (side-entry and top-entry) to establish acceptable bycatch 
thresholds of lobsters and allow for the development of a species-
specific Jonah crab trap, which would be exempted from the lobster 
regulations. In addition, the issuance of EFPs for the testing of 
modified lobster traps under commercial conditions could: (1) 
Contribute to the development of year-round Jonah crab markets; (2) 
provide additional economic opportunities for lobster and Jonah crab 
fishermen who are currently being held to a maximum trap limit; and (3) 
provide important biological and demographic data on the Jonah crab 
resource, thus contributing to baseline information on the Jonah crab 
life cycle and population structure. The overall goal of the experiment 
is to develop a permanent Jonah crab fishery that could someday ease 
pressure and decrease reliance on the harvesting of lobsters by 
allowing fishermen to diversify fleet options through their pursuit of 
new markets.
    The experiment would expand on pilot studies in nearshore and 
offshore waters (within 3 nautical miles from shore) of the Gulf of 
Maine, which were conducted in spring and summer 2000. These pilot 
studies tested various gear modifications in areas of both high and low 
seasonal lobster abundance. The

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results of this preliminary research suggested that a modified side-
entry trap may be the best design for targeting Jonah crabs with 
negligible lobster bycatch.
    The proposed experiment would be conducted in ENMA1, defined at 50 
CFR 697.18(a), for 1 year from the date of EFP issuance, and would be 
carried out according to the specifications detailed below. The 
experimental area would be concentrated along the Maine coast between 
the western and eastern boundaries of the ENMA1. The results of the 
NMFS trawl survey suggest that Jonah crabs are most abundant at depths 
of 60-200 m, which occur about 3 to 20 nautical miles offshore.
    While at least 60 percent of the traps used in the experiment would 
have the preferred modified side-entry trap design, the remaining 40 
percent of experimental traps could incorporate a top-entry design that 
has proven effective in decreasing lobster bycatch in State crab 
fisheries. The following side-entry trap dimensions were developed 
through preliminary research and modeling and are in compliance with 
current lobster trap requirements: (1) Side-entry hoops not to exceed 
2.5 inches (6.35 cm) in height; (2) a minimum of two, 3.25-inch (8.26-
cm) circular escape vents in the parlor and kitchen of the trap; and 
(3) a minimum of one standard 1.94-inch (4.93-cm) x 5.75-inch (14.61-
cm) rectangular escape vent in the parlor of the trap. Although 
preliminary testing of side-entry traps was conducted with escape vents 
of 3.0 inches (7.62 cm) in diameter, a projected escape pattern model 
based on Jonah crab carapace length and width revealed that the 3.25-
inch (8.26-cm) escape vent would be most efficient at retaining legal 
crabs and excluding lobsters. The top-entry ``exploratory'' traps would 
be required to have a minimum circular entrance-opening diameter of 
3.6-inches (9.14-cm), as well as the same circular and rectangular 
escape vent requirements outlined above for modified side-entry traps.
    In response to MEDMR's July 30, 2001, request that NMFS initiate an 
ESA section 7 consultation on this fishery, a draft Biological Opinion 
on the Jonah crab fishery concluded that the proposed EFP activities, 
described in the original application and all subsequent amendments, 
are likely to jeopardize the continued existence of the endangered 
western North Atlantic right whale. Therefore, the proposed Reasonable 
and Prudent Alternative (RPA) is designed to avoid the likelihood that 
the Jonah crab experimental fishery will jeopardize the continued 
existence of the western North Atlantic right whale. The proposed 
measure is intended to remove the potential for entanglement of western 
North Atlantic right whales in Jonah crab trap gear during the period 
when the whales are most likely to occur in the experimental fishing 
area. The proposed RPA would limit Jonah crab experimental fishery 
participants to no more than their current lobster trap allocation (800 
traps or fewer), unless the fisher uses either neutrally buoyant or 
sinking groundline for any traps in excess of his/her lobster trap 
allocation, during those times that western North Atlantic right whales 
are expected to be in the experimental fishing area (June 1 through 
October 31).
    Vertical lines (e.g., buoy lines) and horizontal lines (e.g., 
lobster pot trawl groundlines) in the water column have been shown to 
adversely affect Endangered Species Act (ESA)-listed marine mammals and 
sea turtles, and precautions must be taken to prevent gear 
entanglements with these species. It is generally believed that 
floating line poses more of an entanglement risk to sea turtles and 
whales than sinking or neutrally buoyant line because it is loosely 
suspended in the water column, making it more likely to be encountered 
by a whale or sea turtle swimming through the area. Thus, the use of 
sinking or neutrally buoyant line rather than floating line as a 
condition of the EFP would reduce the chances of entanglement.
    Additional gear restrictions that would meet the requirements of 
the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (ALWTRP), as well as 
additional measures to minimize the risk to protected species are as 
follows: (1) A minimum of 10 traps per vertical line; (2) no 
interspersed lobster traps per single line of Jonah crab traps; (3) a 
MEDMR requirement to clearly mark each buoy with the word ``CRAB'' 
under the State lobster/crab license number; (4) maximum soak times of 
2 weeks (operational soak time will less than 1 week); and (5) a MEDMR 
requirement to mark each Jonah crab trap with the State lobster/crab 
license number and the word ``CRAB.''
    The following additional conservation measures would be required of 
all Jonah crab experimental participants. Unlike lobsters, most crabs 
reach reproductive size before the size of harvest. Therefore, the 
MEDMR is recommending that there be a minimum legal carapace width of 5 
inches (127 mm), no retention of females, and no retention of regulated 
species, in particular lobster. MEDMR would require participating 
fishermen to record catch information including, but not limited to, 
numbers of trap hauls, type of trap, soak times, and bycatch 
(specifically, count of undersized and legal-sized lobsters). The MEDMR 
would designate a minimum of 2 observer days per month to this 
experimental fishery. Observer data collected would complement the 
MEDMR-supplied logbooks, and would include detailed fisheries, trap 
design and fishing methods information on randomly sampled individual 
trap hauls. For each trap haul sampled, all crabs and lobster bycatch 
retained would be measured for carapace width (length for lobsters), 
sex, molt condition, and egg development. All illegal crabs and all 
bycatch, including all lobsters incidental to the catch of Jonah crabs, 
would be returned to the sea promptly after data collection. In 
addition, a one-time MEDMR survey will provide baseline demographic and 
ethnographic profiles on the Jonah crab fishery, and information on 
fixed costs (gear modifications, rope, etc.).
    While alternative top-entry trap designs have proven to be less 
capable of catching lobsters, the MEDMR proposed that these 
``exploratory'' traps be monitored directly by periodic onboard 
observer trips. In addition, the Maine Marine Patrol (MMP) would 
routinely haul gear to ensure compliance with experimental crab trap 
specifications and gear restrictions described above. A cooperative 
agreement that was signed on March 8, 2001, between NMFS and the MMP 
will allow State enforcement officials to enter Federal waters and act 
as deputized Federal law enforcement agents in upholding the 
regulations promulgated under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, ACFCMA, ESA, 
Marine Mammal Protection Act, National Marine Sanctuaries Act, and the 
Lacey Act.

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    The EFPs would exempt up to 100 vessels from the requirements of 
the lobster fishery regulations according to the provisions at 50 CFR 
parts 600.745 and 697.22, as follows: (1) Permit, tagging and trap 
limit requirements under Sec. 697.4(a) and (d), and Sec. 697.19(a)(2) 
and (c); (2) temporary possession of lobster less than the minimum 
carapace size specified at Sec. 697.20(b)(1) and (2) for data 
collection purposes; (3) trap tag identification requirements at 
Sec. 697.21(a)(2); and (4) deployment and gear configuration 
requirements at Sec. 697.21(b)(2).
    Based on the results of this EFP, this action may lead to future 
rulemaking.

    Dated: March 19, 2002.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 02-7133 Filed 3-25-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S