[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 221 (Wednesday, November 17, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67323-67324]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E4-3190]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 110904I]


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), Commerce.

ACTION: Notification of a proposal for a permit 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 issue 
an EFP that would allow three vessels to conduct fishing operations 
that are otherwise restricted by the regulations governing the 
fisheries of the Northeastern United States. The EFP would allow for

[[Page 67324]]

exemptions from the NE multispecies closed area restrictions and the NE 
multispecies minimum fish size requirements. The applicant proposes to 
conduct a study of an experimental haddock separator trawl, a bycatch 
reduction device, in order to examine the effectiveness of this type of 
gear at reducing the catch of Atlantic cod, and other similarly 
behaving groundfish, when targeting haddock. The EFP would allow these 
exemptions for three commercial vessels for a combined total of 50 days 
at sea. All experimental work would be monitored by Gulf of Maine 
Research Institute (GMRI) personnel. 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 December 2, 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 GMRI EFP Proposal for Haddock 
Separator Trawl Study (DA-676).'' 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 GMRI EFP Proposal for Haddock Separator 
Trawl Study (DA-676).'' Comments may also be sent via fax to (978) 281-
9135.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter Cooper, Fishery Management 
Specialist, phone: 978-281-9122, fax: 978-281-9135.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: An application for an EFP was submitted by 
GMRI on August 26, 2004. The EFP would exempt three federally permitted 
commercial fishing vessels from the following requirements in the FMP: 
NE multispecies closed area restrictions specified at Sec. Sec.  
648.81(a) and 648.81(b) to provide an optimum mixture of cod and 
haddock for testing the experimental gear; and the NE multispecies 
minimum fish size requirements specified at Sec.  648.83(a) in order to 
allow weighing and measuring of the entire catch.
    The goal of this study is to assess the selectivity of a bycatch 
reduction device in Closed Area (CA) I and CA II of the NE groundfish 
fishery. Three factors are proposed to be examined in this study: (1) 
Net Selectivity - examination of the catch composition in the 
experimental net; (2) Environmental Factors - air and water 
temperature, wind, sea state, and weather data would be collected at 
every station; and (3) Seasonal Variation - the study would be 
conducted over 10 months to determine if there are any seasonal 
differences in catch or fish behavior. The specific trawl design to be 
tested is referred to as a haddock separator trawl, which consists of a 
separation panel comprised of 6.5-inch (16.5-cm) diamond mesh 
integrated horizontally into a conventional trawl net designed with 
6.5-inch (16.5-cm) mesh in the fishing circle and 6.5-inch (16.5-cm) 
mesh in the codend. The codend would be further modified to create an 
upper and lower codend.
    The study would be conducted from November 2004 through February 
2005, and from May 2005 through October 2005. Separator trawl gear 
testing would take place aboard three different fishing vessels 
totaling 220, 20-minute trawls conducted over 50 days at sea. All of 
the trawls are expected to take place inside portions of CA I and CA 
II. The proposers are requesting access to CA II only if the Eastern 
U.S./Canada Haddock Special Access Program (SAP) Pilot Program that is 
proposed in Framework 40-A to the FMP is not approved. The areas to be 
trawled are within 19 defined 5-square-nautical mile areas, all at 
least partially within the central portion of CA I, the area that lies 
outside of the CA I Habitat Closure Area (HCA); and within three 
defined 5-square-nautical mile areas, all at least partially within the 
Eastern U.S./Canada Haddock SAP Pilot Program that is proposed in 
Framework 40-A to the FMP. One trawl per month would be randomly 
conducted in each cell. Tows in cells that partially overlap the HCA in 
CA I and CA II would be conducted only in areas of the cells that are 
not within the HCA. All fish retained by the upper and lower codends 
would be counted, weighed, and measured. All legal catch would be 
landed and sold, consistent with the current daily and trip possession 
and landing limits. Current regulations restrict vessels fishing on 
Georges Bank to landing no more than 1,000 lb (454 kg) of cod per day-
at-sea (DAS), up to a maximum of 10,000 lb (4,536 kg) per trip, and no 
more than 3,000 lb (1,361 kg) of haddock per DAS, up to a maximum of 
30,000 lb (13,608 kg) per trip from May 1 to September 30; and no more 
than 5,000 lb (2,268 kg), up to a maximum of 50,000 lb (22,680 kg) per 
trip from October 1 to April 30. Undersized fish would be returned to 
the sea as quickly as possible after measurement. The participating 
vessels would be required to report all landings in their Vessel Trip 
Reports.
    The target fishery is the groundfish mixed-species fishery; the 
target species is haddock. Estimates of the total amount of the primary 
species that are expected to be caught under this EFP are: 210,000 lb 
(95,254 kg) of haddock; 21,000 lb (9,525 kg) of Atlantic cod; 250 lb 
(113 kg) of pollock; and 250 lb (113 kg) yellowtail flounder. Other 
commercially important fish commonly found in the groundfish mixed-
species fishery are expected to be caught incidentally. The incidental 
catch is expected to be comprised of American plaice, monkfish, skates, 
spiny dogfish, white hake, winter flounder, and witch flounder.
    The applicant is preparing an Environmental Assessment (EA) that 
will analyze the impacts of the proposed experimental fishery on the 
human environment. This EA will examine whether the proposed activities 
are consistent with the goals and objectives of the FMP, whether they 
would be detrimental to the well-being of any stocks of fish harvested, 
and whether they would have any significant environmental impacts. The 
EA will also examine whether the proposed experimental fishery would be 
detrimental to essential fish habitat, marine mammals, or protected 
species.

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

    Dated: November 10, 2004.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E4-3190 Filed 11-16-04; 8:45 am]
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