[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 188 (Friday, September 27, 2002)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 61061-61062]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-24514]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[ID. 091702C]


Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western 
Pacific;Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Application for an Exempted 
Fishing Permit

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

ACTION: Notice of receipt of an application for an exempted fishing 
permit, request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces receipt of an application for an exempted 
fishing permit (EFP) from the California Department of Fish and Game. 
This EFP application applies to vessels with valid California State 
delivery permits fishing for flatfish with small footrope trawl gear in 
Federal waters off the state of California. If awarded, the EFP would 
allow vessels with a Federal limited entry permit to land federally 
managed groundfish species in excess of cumulative trip limits and to 
sell flatfish catch for profit, provided that the vessels carry state-
sponsored observers. Observers would collect data that are otherwise 
not available shoreside. This EFP proposal is intended to promote the 
objectives of the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan 
(FMP) by providing data that can be used to enhance management of the 
groundfish fishery.

DATES: Comments must be received by October 15, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the EFP application are available from Becky

[[Page 61062]]

Renko, Northwest Region, NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., Bldg. 1, 
Seattle, WA 98115-0070.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Becky Renko (206)526-6140.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This action is authorized by the FMP and 
implementing regulations at 50 CFR 600.745 and 50 CFR 660.350.
    If awarded, the EFP would allow vessels with a Federal limited 
entry permit to land federally managed groundfish species in excess of 
cumulative trip limits and to sell flatfish catch for profit, provided 
that these vessels carry state-sponsored observers. Observers would 
collect data that are otherwise not available shoreside.
    This exempted fishing activity is designed to measure bycatch rates 
of shelf rockfish species taken with small footrope trawl gear used to 
target flatfish in Federal waters off the State of California. Fishing 
would be restricted to areas outside of 3 miles and in less than 70 
fathoms (130 meters) of water. Flatfish catch under this EFP will be 
limited to 70,000 lb (31,752 kg) per month. No more than 40,000 lb 
(18,144 kg) per month may be species other than Pacific sand dab, 
English sole, rock, and sand sole, or unspecified flatfish. Of the 
40,000 lb (18,144 kg) per month, no more than 15,000 lb (6,804 kg) may 
be petrale sole. All groundfish caught under this EFP would be counted 
against the OYs for those species and so will not result in total 
harvest above expected levels. Because the bocaccio rockfish OY has not 
been taken (67 FR 44778, July 5, 2002) special provisions will be 
necessary to assure that the EFP is ended if more than negligible 
amounts of bocaccio rockfish are taken.
    If the EFP is issued, approximately 20 vessels would be eligible to 
participate, with up to 6 observers being deployed at one time.
    Flatfish species are abundant and commercially important off 
California; however, the harvest of these species is constrained by 
efforts to rebuild overfished species, particularly bocaccio rockfish. 
Fishers believe that the flatfish fishery can be prosecuted without 
catching bocaccio rockfish and with a much lower shelf rockfish bycatch 
rate than is currently assumed.
    Data collected during this project are expected to benefit the 
management of the groundfish fishery by: (1) Providing information on 
catch rates of incidentally caught species by fishing location, (2) 
allowing for the collection of biological data that is otherwise not 
available from landed catch, and (3) providing data that can be used to 
evaluate the full retention of rockfish as a management approach. The 
information gathered through this EFP may lead to future rulemaking.
    NMFS determined that the proposal warranted further consideration 
and, therefore, consulted with the Pacific Fishery Management Council 
(Council). The Council considered the EFP application during its June 
and September 2002, meetings and recommended that NMFS issue the EFP. 
NMFS intends to approve the EFP fishing for October through December 
2002. The applicant also requested that the EFP be effective for the 
months of May through October 2003. However, decisions regarding the 
issuance of EFPs for 2003 will be made following the Council's October-
November 2002 meeting. A copy of the application is available for 
review from NMFS (see ADDRESSES).

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

    Dated: September 23, 2002.
Virginia M. Fay,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 02-24514 Filed 9-26-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S