[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 216 (Tuesday, November 9, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Page 64909]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-24955]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 110304C]


Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; General Provisions for Domestic 
Fisheries; Application for Exempted Fishing Permits

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

ACTION: Notification of a proposal for Exempted Fishing Permits to 
conduct experimental fishing; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable 
Fisheries, Northeast Region, NMFS (Assistant 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 Assistant 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 Northeast (NE) Multispecies Fishery Management Plan 
(FMP). However, further review and consultation may be necessary before 
a final determination is made to issue the EFP. Therefore, NMFS 
announces that the Assistant Regional Administrator proposes to 
recommend that an EFP be issued that would allow one vessel to conduct 
fishing operations that are otherwise restricted by the regulations 
governing the fisheries of the Northeastern United States. The EFP may 
allow exemptions from the NE multispecies rolling closure areas, 
minimum mesh size, and the days-at-sea (DAS) effort control program for 
up to 16 DAS for testing a bycatch reducing gear modification. 
Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management 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 November 24, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Comments on this notice may be submitted by e-mail to: 
[email protected]. Include in the subject line the following document 
identifier: ``Comments on UNH Double Grid Gear Modification EFP 
Proposal.'' Written comments may also 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 UNH Double Grid Gear Modification EFP Proposal.'' 
Comments may also be sent via fax to (978) 281-9135.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Heather Sagar, Fishery Management 
Specialist, phone (978) 281-9341.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice of this proposed project was 
previously published in the Federal Register on September 24, 2004, (69 
FR 57269) with the comment period ending on October 12, 2004. However, 
the exemption for the Gulf of Maine Regulated Mesh Area (RMA) minimum 
mesh size was inadvertently omitted in that notice.
    Bart McNeel, in cooperation with the University of New Hampshire 
Cooperative Extension (UNH), submitted an application for an EFP on May 
21, 2004, for a project that started in 2002. This EFP would authorize 
one commercial vessel to conduct sea trials using a double grid 
excluder device. The final phase of this 2-year study would be 
conducted by UNH with the goal of designing trawl gear through 
modifications to the grid bar orientations to release sub-legal sized 
cod and flatfish species incidental to the catch, while retaining fish 
of marketable size. To accomplish this, the commercial fishing vessel 
would conduct trawl net gear trials using the double grid excluder 
device within the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank area from 40[deg]30' 
N. latitude to the coast of Maine, excluding the Western and Eastern 
U.S./Canada Areas and all groundfish year-round closure areas. An 
exemption from the minimum mesh size is requested in order to place a 
small-mesh catch bag over the escape vent in order to quantify the 
results.
    The fishing portion of this study began in March 2002. The 
applicant requests an exemption from 16 DAS to complete the project 
during the 2004 fishing year. Based upon the catch rates from eight 
days of fishing in the 2003 fishing year, the following catch is 
estimated for the 2004 fishing year: American plaice 992 lb (450 kg); 
cod 7,200 lb (3,266 kg); haddock 1,376 lb (624 kg); monkfish 2,317 lb 
(1,051 kg); pollock 144 lb (65 kg); white hake 400 lb (181 kg); and 
witch flounder 688 lb (312 kg). Estimated discards are estimated to be: 
American plaice 112 lb (51 kg); cod 5,008 lb (2,272 kg); dogfish 9,008 
lb (4,085 kg); herring 2,608 lb (1,183 kg); lobster 32 lb (15 kg); 
monkfish 48 lb (22 kg); skate 64 lb (29 kg); white hake 2,528 lb (1,147 
kg); whiting 800 lb (363 kg); and witch flounder 32 lb (15 kg). All 
undersized fish would be returned to the sea as quickly as possible. 
Legal-sized fish that would otherwise have to be discarded would be 
allowed to be retained and sold within the applicable GOM possession 
limits. The participating vessel would be required to report all 
landings in its Vessel Trip Report.

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

    Dated: November 4, 2004.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 04-24955 Filed 11-8-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S