[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 24 (Thursday, February 5, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5509-5510]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-2413]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I. D. 012304B]


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; 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.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces receipt of an application for an 
exempted fishing permit (EFP) from the Alaska Fisheries Development 
Foundation, Inc. (AFDF).If granted, this EFP would be used to support 
an AFDF project that investigates and develops hook-and-line techniques 
specific to the harvest of various rockfish species in the Gulf of 
Alaska (GOA) Southeast Outside District (SEO), which historically had 
been targeted by trawl gear, a gear type now prohibited in the SEO.The 
project is intended to promote the objectives of the Fishery Management 
Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (FMP) by improving 
utilization of the rockfish resources in the SEO.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the EFP application may be obtained by writing to 
Sue Salveson, Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable 
Fisheries, Alaska Region, NMFS, P. O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802, 
Attn: Lori Durall.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Melanie Brown, 907-586-7228 or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS manages the domestic groundfish 
fisheries in the GOA under the FMP.The North Pacific Fishery Management 
Council (Council) prepared the FMP under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).Regulations 
governing the groundfish fisheries of the GOA appear at 50 CFR parts 
600 and 679.The FMP and the implementing regulations at Sec.Sec. 679.6 
and 600.745(b) authorize the issuance of EFPs to allow fishing that 
would otherwise be prohibited.Procedures for issuing EFPs are contained 
in the implementing regulations.
    NMFS received an application for an EFP from the AFDF.The purpose 
of this EFP is to support a project to develop and test hook-and-line 
gear for the harvest of rockfish species in the SEO that historically 
had been harvested with trawl gear.Trawl gear has been prohibited in 
the SEO since March 23, 1998, (63 FR 8356, February 19, 1998).The goal 
is to improve the utilization of rockfish resources in the SEO in ways 
that are consistent with Magnuson-Stevens Act national standard 1 which 
directs that conservation and management measures must achieve optimal 
yield from a fishery and national standard 5, which seeks to promote 
efficiency in the utilization offishery resources.The project, as 
described in the application, has two phases: (1) development of two 
rockfish-specific hook-and-line gear types that can be effectively 
handled on typical Southeast Alaska fishing vessels, and (2) 
comparative testing ofthe gear types developed in phase 1 in terms of 
catch of target rockfish species per unit of effort and incidental 
catch of nontarget species.
    As an alternative to the use of trawl gear, which was prohibited in 
1998, this EFP is necessary to allow the applicant to develop and test 
hook-and-line gear for rockfish in the SEO with certain exemptions from 
fishery closures and fish retention restrictions. The hook-and-line 
rockfish fisheries may close to prevent: (1) exceeding a total 
allowable catch (TAC) amount of a target species, (2) reaching 
overfishing levels of a non-target groundfish species, or (3) exceeding 
the prohibited species catch (PSC) limit for Pacific halibut.
    Since the taking of rockfish is crucial for determining the 
effectiveness of hook-and-line gear in harvesting these species, and 
potential exists that the amount of some rockfish species taken during 
the EFP period would approach or exceed the TAC limits, the applicant 
has requested that rockfish taken during the testing not be counted 
toward the 2004 TAC amounts specified for the GOA under Sec. 679.20. 
Counting rockfish taken during the testing phase against the TACs may 
create an additional burden on the hook-and-line industry by causing 
earlier closures of one or more hook-and-line fisheries.Although the 
EFP would allow the applicant to continue harvesting up to the amount 
specified in the permit, even if rockfish harvest amounts have resulted 
in the closure of one or more rockfish hook-and-line fisheries in the 
SEO, fishing activities would not be exempt from any hook-and-line 
fishery closures in the SEO that address overfishing concerns.
    The EFP applicant has requested permission to retain and sell all 
rockfish species taken while fishing under the EFP.To accommodate this 
request, the EFP would exempt the applicant from one or more maximum 
retainable amounts specified in Table 10 of 50 CFR part 679.Since 
demersal shelf rockfish (DSR) are managed by the State of Alaska, which 
has special provisions for the retention and sale of DSR, the project 
is required to be conducted in compliance with the State's DSR 
regulations at 5 AAC 28.171, which allows full retention of DSR but 
limits the numbers of DSR that may be sold for revenue to the 
harvester.Sablefish and legal sized Pacific halibut would be retained 
within the limits of the

[[Page 5510]]

individual fishing quota available to those individual(s) on the vessel 
conducting the project.Information gathered on the catch of target and 
incidentally taken species will allow the applicant to further modify 
the hook-and-line gear targeting rockfish species.
    The applicant has requested the following amounts of target and 
incidental catch species: 50 metric tons (mt) each of Pacific ocean 
perch, other rockfish, and pelagic shelf rockfish; 15 mt of rougheye/
shortraker rockfish; 2 mt each of thornyhead rockfish and DSR; and 10 
mt each of Pacific halibut and sablefish.These levels of harvest and 
manner of harvest are not expected to have a significant impact on the 
marine environment, but the potential effects on the marine environment 
will be further analyzed during the application review process.
    In accordance with Sec. 679.6, NMFS has determined that the 
application warrants further consideration and has initiated 
consultation with the Council by forwarding the application to the 
Council for its input.The Council will consider the application during 
its February 2-10, 2004, meeting which will be held at the Hilton Hotel 
in Anchorage, Alaska.While the applicant has been invited to appear in 
support of the application, all interested parties may comment on the 
application at the meeting during public testimony.
    Certain information regarding the vessel identification was not 
provided with the application, but will be provided as a condition of 
the EFP, once the vessels have been selected for the project.The NMFS 
Regional Administrator may consider and attach additional terms and 
conditions to the EFP that are consistent with the purpose of the 
experiment.Public comment may facilitate such consideration.
    A copy of the application is available for review from NMFS (see 
ADDRESSES).

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

    Dated: January 29, 2004.
Bruce C. Morehead.
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 04-2413 Filed 2-4-04; 8:45 am]
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