[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 154 (Wednesday, August 11, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48845-48846]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E4-1763]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 080504A]


Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; General Provisions for Domestic 
Fisheries; 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: NMFS announces that the Assistant Regional Administrator for 
Sustainable Fisheries, Northeast Region, NMFS (Assistant Regional 
Administrator) has made a preliminary determination that an application 
to issue EFPs for up to 100 commercial lobster vessels, submitted by 
the Maine Department of Marine Resources (MEDMR), contains all the 
information required by the regulations governing exempted experimental 
fishing under the provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) and, therefore, 
warrants further consideration. The Assistant Regional Administrator 
has also made a preliminary determination that the activities 
authorized under these EFPs would be consistent with the goals and 
objectives of the American lobster (lobster) fishery under the Atlantic 
Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act (ACFCMA) and is within the 
scope of earlier analyses of the impacts. However, further review and 
consultation may be necessary before a final determination is made to 
issue the EFPs. Therefore, NMFS announces that the Assistant Regional 
Administrator proposes to recommend that EFPs be issued that would 
allow commercial fishing vessels to conduct fishing operations that are 
otherwise restricted by the regulations governing the fisheries of the 
Northeastern United States.
    Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Act require publication of 
this notification to provide interested parties the opportunity to 
comment on applications for proposed EFPs.

DATES: Comments on this document must be received on or before August 
26, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Comments on this notice may be submitted by e-mail. The 
mailbox address for providing e-mail comments is [email protected]. 
Include in the subject line of the e-mail comment the following 
document identifier: ``Comments on MEDMR Jonah Crab Experimental 
Fishery.'' Written comments should be sent to Patricia A. Kurkul, 
Regional Administrator, NMFS, Northeast Regional Office, 1 Blackburn 
Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside of the envelope 
``Comments on MEDMR Jonah Crab Experimental Fishery.'' Comments may 
also be sent via fax to (978) 281-9135. Copies of the Draft Year 3 
Supplemented Environmental Assessment (EA) prepared for the 2004/2005 
Experimental Jonah Crab Fishery in Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) 
Nearshore Lobster Management Area 1 (NLMA1), as well as the May 2002 EA 
that it supplements, are available from the Northeast Regional Office 
at the same address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Hooker, Policy Analyst, phone 
978-281-9220.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: MEDMR initially submitted an application to 
conduct a Jonah crab experimental fishery on December 6, 2000. An EA 
was prepared that resulted in a Finding of No Significant Impact 
(FONSI), which was signed on June 20, 2002. The initial application 
anticipated the need for two additional years of the experimental 
fishery beyond Year 1 (2002/2003) in order to gauge the effectiveness 
of the gear modifications and collect the data necessary to support a 
potential permanent exemption to the lobster gear regulations. The EFP 
application for Year 2 (2003/2004) of the study was received, along 
with a Supplemented EA, on March 10, 2003, and was issued on August 19, 
2003. MEDMR submitted an EFP application and Supplemented EA for Year 3 
(2004/2005) of the Jonah Crab Experimental Fishery in NLMA1 on July 26, 
2004. Along with the bycatch reduction objective, complementary goals 
of the EFP have been, and would continue to be to: (1) Contribute to 
the development of year-round Jonah crab markets; (2) provide 
additional economic opportunities for lobster and 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 proposed experimental fishery would take place from September 
15, 2004, to September 15, 2005, in the EEZ portion of the NLMA1 
described at 50 CFR 697.18(a)(1). To date, over 30 EFP harvesters have 
reported on 12,484 trap hauls of experimental gear. The proposed EFP 
would require that the experimental gear employ escape vents that are 
larger (and in greater numbers) than those in standard lobster traps. 
The side- and top-entry trap dimensions would be the same as that which 
was authorized for the original EFP. As all additional EFP gear would 
be fixed, additional habitat impacts are expected to be negligible.
    Total participation levels for the experiment have not exceeded 32 
percent of the authorized maximum of 100 vessels for the 19-month 
period ending in March 2004. Comparing the top-entry, side-entry, and 
standard lobster trap designs, the MEDMR logbook data thus far suggest 
that a modified side-entry trap may be the best design for targeting 
Jonah crabs with negligible lobster bycatch. There were 159 sublegal 
and 35 legal lobsters caught in 11,944 side-entry trap hauls and 540 
top-entry trap hauls. All bycatch was returned to the sea. The catch of 
Jonah crabs under the EFP has been small when contrasted with Maine's 
reported 2002 landings in the crab fishery as a whole (approximately 
140,449 lb (63,706 kg) of Jonah crabs caught under the EFP for 2002/
2003 with 9.5 million lb (4.3 million kg) caught overall--approximately 
1.5 percent of the total landings). However, results from both Year 1 
and Year 2 indicate that landings in a directed Jonah Crab fishery 
could attain 300,000 lb (136,077 kg) from 100 participants.
    All lobsters caught incidentally to the catch of Jonah crabs, all 
female crabs and crabs smaller than the MEDMR minimum size of 5-inch 
(12.7-cm) carapace width, and all other bycatch,

[[Page 48846]]

would be returned to the sea promptly after data collection. The MEDMR 
remains committed to providing the same level of observer coverage as 
in the previous year's experiment (two trips per month). Observer data 
would continue to complement the information collected by participants 
through the MEDMR-supplied logbooks, along with detailed fisheries 
information (e.g., bycatch information, molt condition, etc.).
    An August 13, 2002, Biological Opinion on the Jonah crab EFP 
evaluated impacts on protected resources over the anticipated time 
frame of the experiment (one year initially and renewal for two 
additional years). Based on this consultation, a Reasonable and Prudent 
Alternative (RPA) was implemented to avoid the likelihood that the 
Jonah crab EFP would jeopardize the continued existence of the North 
Atlantic right whale. This RPA recommended that participants in the 
Jonah crab experiment use neutrally buoyant lines on all modified 
lobster traps during June-October.
    As was the case previously, 2004/2005 EFP participants would be 
required to comply with the RPA and the Atlantic Large Whale Take 
Reduction Plan (ALWTRP) requirements in effect at the time of the 
experiment. To date, approximately 40 percent of the EFP participants 
have received Level I training for whale and sea turtle entanglement. 
There have been no observed or reported interactions with whales or sea 
turtles during the operations of this project. The proposed EFP would 
not represent a change or redistribution of effort, therefore further 
Endangered Species Act consultation is not necessary.
    In 2003, a supplement to the EA for the Jonah crab EFP was prepared 
to meet revised guidelines regarding cumulative effects and comparative 
impacts of the preferred alternative (status quo) and other EFP 
alternatives. The 2004 Supplemented EA determined that the proposed 
experimental fishery, including cumulative effects, would not 
significantly affect the quality of the human environment.
    The EFP would allow up to 100 vessels to fish 200 of the modified 
traps above their 800-trap allocation and exempt them from the lobster 
fishery regulations at 50 CFR part 697 as follows: permit, tagging, and 
trap limit requirements under Sec.  697.4(a) and (d), and Sec.  
697.19(a)(2) and (c); temporary possession of lobster less than the 
minimum carapace size specified at Sec.  697.20(b)(1) and (2) for data 
collection purposes; trap tag identification requirements at Sec.  
697.21(a)(2); and deployment and gear configuration requirements at 
Sec.  697.21(b)(2).

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

    Dated: August 5, 2004.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E4-1763 Filed 8-10-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-08-S