[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 203 (Thursday, October 21, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61803-61804]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E4-2783]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 101804B]


Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act Provisions; 
Application for Exempted Fishing Permits (EFPs)

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

ACTION: Notification of a request for EFPs to conduct experimental 
fishing; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Director, State, Federal and Constituent Programs Office, 
Northeast Region, NMFS (Office Director) has made a preliminary 
determination that the subject EFP application contains all the 
required information and warrants further consideration. The Office 
Director has also made a preliminary determination that the activities 
authorized under the EFPs would be consistent with the goals and 
objectives of Federal management of the American lobster resource. 
However, further review and consultation may be necessary before a 
final determination is made to issue EFPs. Therefore, NMFS announces 
that the Office Director proposes to issue EFPs that would allow a 
maximum of six Federally permitted commercial fishing vessels to 
participate in a project designed to monitor the movement of berried 
female American lobsters (berried lobsters) in two inshore locations in 
the vicinity of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Friendship, Maine, and 
in two offshore locations along the northern edge of Georges Bank and 
in Corsair and Lydonia Canyons to the southeast of Georges Bank.
    This EFP is a collaborative project involving the University of New 
Hampshire (UNH), Durham, New Hampshire (NH); the Lobster Conservancy, 
Friendship, Maine; the New England Aquarium, Boston, Massachusetts; and 
the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen's Association, Candia, NH. The EFP 
proposes to monitor a total of 120 legal sized berried lobsters 
carrying early-stage eggs until the eggs mature and are released. Each 
berried lobster will be tagged and fitted with a small ambient 
temperature recording device (Tidbit temperature-loggers) and then the 
movement and egg-development stages of these tagged berried lobsters 
will be documented. The objective of the project will be to test the 
hypothesis that berried lobsters speed up or slow down egg growth and 
development by moving to warmer or colder water in order to expose 
their eggs to water temperatures that result in hatching at an optimal 
time for larval growth and survival. To test this hypothesis, when a 
tagged berried lobster is recaptured in commercial lobster gear, 
participating lobstermen will download thermal data from the attached 
Tidbit temperature-logger, and also preserve a maximum of 6 eggs from 
each tagged berried lobster to allow researchers to estimate the egg 
developmental stage and time to maturity. The tagged berried lobsters 
will then be released unharmed. The EFP would waive the prohibition on 
removal of eggs specified at 50 CFR 697.7(c)(iv) for the six 
participating vessels and is limited to the 120 pre-tagged berried 
lobsters in this project.
    This project would not involve the authorization of any additional 
trap gear, and all trap gear would conform to existing Federal lobster 
regulations. There would be no anticipated adverse effects on protected 
resources or habitat as a result of this research. Therefore,

[[Page 61804]]

this document invites comments on the issuance of EFPs to allow a 
maximum of six commercial fishing vessels in possession of Federal 
lobster permits to remove a maximum of six eggs each time any one of 
the 120 tagged berried lobsters are captured during the course of 
normal fishing operations in the designated study areas.

DATES: Comments on this lobster EFP notification for berried lobster 
monitoring and data collection must be received on or before November 
5, 2004.

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 - Lobster EFP Proposal''. Comments also may be sent via 
facsimile (fax) to 978-281-9117. Comments on the Lobster EFP Proposal 
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 - Lobster EFP 
Proposal''.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bob Ross, Fishery Management 
Specialist, (978) 281-9234, fax (978)-281-9117.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The regulations that govern exempted fishing, at 50 CFR 600.745(b) 
and 697.22 allow the Regional Administrator 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 Federal management of the American lobster resource are not 
compromised, and issuance of the EFP is beneficial to the management of 
the species.
    The American lobster fishery is the most valuable fishery in the 
northeastern United States. In 2002, approximately 82 million pounds 
(37,324 metric tons (mt)) of American lobster were landed with an ex-
vessel value of approximately 293 million dollars. Operating under the 
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's interstate management 
process, American lobster are managed in state waters under Amendment 3 
to the American Lobster Interstate Fishery Management Plan (Amendment 
3). In Federal waters of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), lobster is 
managed under Federal regulations at 50 CFR part 697. Amendment 3, and 
compatible Federal regulations established a framework for area 
management, which includes industry participation in the development of 
a management program which suits the needs of each lobster management 
area while meeting targets established in the Interstate Fisheries 
Management Program. The industry, through area management teams, with 
the support of state agencies, have played a vital role in advancing 
the area management program.
    American lobster experience very high fishing mortality rates and 
are overfished throughout their range, from Canada to Cape Hatteras. 
Although harvest and population abundance are near record levels due to 
high recent recruitment and favorable environmental conditions, there 
is significant risk of a sharp drop in abundance, and such a decline 
would have serious implications. To facilitate the development of 
effective management tools, extensive monitoring and detailed abundance 
and size frequency data on the composition of lobsters throughout the 
range of the resource are necessary. This proposed EFP would monitor 
tagged berried lobsters in four study areas using traditional lobster 
trap gear.

Proposed EFP

    The EFP proposes to collect statistical and scientific information 
as part of a project designed to monitor the movement of tagged berried 
lobsters to collect data that will assist in the assessment of the 
lobster resource and in the development of management practices 
appropriate to the fishery. Participants in this project are funded by, 
and under the direction of the Northeast Consortium, a group of four 
research institutions (University of New Hampshire, University of 
Maine, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Woods Hole 
Oceanographic Institution) which are working together to foster this 
initiative.
    Each of the six commercial fishing vessels in possession of Federal 
lobster permits involved in this monitoring and data collection program 
would collect temperature data and a maximum of six eggs from each 
tagged berried lobster harvested using traditional lobster trap gear. 
Participating vessels would collect data from each of the four general 
study areas in the vicinity of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and 
Friendship, Maine, the northern edge of Georges Bank and in the 
vicinity of Corsair and Lydonia Canyons. This EFP would not involve the 
authorization of any additional lobster trap gear in the study areas. 
The participating vessels may retain on deck tagged egg bearing female 
lobsters, in addition to legal lobsters, for the purpose of collecting 
temperature data from the attached Tidbit temperature-loggers, and for 
the purpose of collecting a maximum of six eggs from each tagged 
berried lobster to allow researchers to estimate the egg developmental 
stage and time to maturity. All sub-legal lobsters, berried females, 
and v-notched females would be returned to the sea as quickly as 
possible after data collection. Pursuant to 50 CFR 600.745(3)(v), the 
Regional Administrator may attach terms and conditions to the EFP 
consistent with the purpose of the exempted fishing.
    This project would not involve the authorization of any additional 
lobster trap gear. All traps fished by the participating vessels would 
comply with all applicable lobster regulations specified at 50 CFR 697. 
To allow for the collection of temperature data and the removal of a 
maximum of six of eggs from each tagged berried lobster, the EFP would 
waive the American lobster prohibition on removal of eggs specified at 
50 CFR 697.7(c)(iv). All sample collections would be conducted by six 
federally permitted commercial fishing vessels, during the course of 
regular commercial fishing operations. There would not be observers or 
researchers onboard every participating vessel.
    This project, including the lobster handling protocols, was 
initially developed in consultation with University of New Hampshire 
scientists. To the greatest extent practicable, these handling 
protocols are designed to avoid unnecessary adverse environmental 
impact on lobsters involved in this project, while achieving the data 
collection objectives of this project.

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

    Dated: October 18, 2004.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E4-2783 Filed 10-20-04; 8:45 am]
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