[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 76 (Thursday, April 21, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20737-20738]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-1880]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 041805B]


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: Notice; 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 application to 
modify an existing Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) 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 to modify a recently 
approved EFP by allowing additional exemptions from the regulations 
governing the fisheries of the Northeastern United States. The EFP 
would add an exemption from the FMP as follows: The Gulf of Maine (GOM) 
Rolling Closure Area III; Western GOM Closure

[[Page 20738]]

Area for the month of May 2005; and the minimum gillnet mesh size for 
the month of May 2005. Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) require 
publication of this notification to provide interested parties the 
opportunity to comment on applications for proposed EFPs.

DATES: Written comments on this document must be received on or before 
May 6, 2005.

ADDRESSES: 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 Revised GOM Gillnet Study.'' Comments may also be sent 
via fax to (978) 281-9135 or submitted via e-mail to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karen Tasker, Fishery Management 
Specialist, phone (978) 281-9273.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Gulf of Maine Research Institute, 
Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, and Angelica Fisheries, 
Inc., submitted an application for an EFP on August 13, 2004. The 
primary goal of the research is to establish gillnet selectivity curves 
for haddock in the GOM, and to test whether it is possible to catch 
legal-size haddock with gillnet gear with mesh size that is less than 
6.5 inches (16.5 cm) while avoiding catching cod or other species of 
concern in an area east of Cape Ann, Massachusetts, from January 
through April 2005. An EFP was granted on January 6, 2005, which 
allowed for exemptions from the regulations implementing the FMP as 
follows during 14 days in January through March 2005: The Western GOM 
Closure Area specified at 50 CFR 648.81(e) and the minimum gillnet mesh 
size specified at 50 CFR 648.80(a)(3)(iv)(B)(1).
    Five gillnets of mesh sizes ranging from 4.5 to 6.5 inches (11.4 to 
16.5 cm), in 0.5-inch (1.3-cm) increments, would be fished by one 
vessel in six groups (each group containing one net of each mesh size), 
for a total of 30 nets. The nets would be of standard commercial 
length, 300 ft (91.4 m), and approximately two-thirds the standard 
commercial height, resulting in a height of 7.5 ft (2.3 m). This net 
size was selected based on the applicants' belief that cod typically 
are captured in the upper meshes of standard nets when standard nets 
are fished in this area.
    In order to conduct this project, researchers requested, and were 
granted, an exemption to the minimum mesh size regulation of 6.5 
inches(16.5 cm) in the GOM. Additionally, in the initial EFP 
application, researchers requested, and were granted, access to fish in 
an area off of Cape Ann, Massachusetts, between 42[deg]35' and 
42[deg]50' N. lat. and 69[deg]50' to 70[deg]15' W. long. (30 minute 
squares 131 and 132), including the Western GOM Closure Area. 
Researchers requested access to a portion of the Western GOM Closure 
Area during January through April 2005 because historical commercial 
fishing experience indicates that haddock are present in high densities 
in this area during the study period. However, because the month of 
April is a peak spawning period for cod in the GOM, and the Western GOM 
Closure Area is closed in part to protect spawning cod, this EFP was 
prevented from occurring in the Western GOM Closure Area and thus was 
restricted to January through March 2005.
    On March 14, 2005, and April 11, 2005, researchers submitted 
requests to modify their EFP in order to allow them the opportunity to 
collect data in the month of May 2005. The additional time is needed 
because research could not begin until March due to the experimental 
gear not being ready until that time. The EFP would continue an 
exemption from the minimum mesh size requirements for the GOM RMA. In 
addition, researchers requested to change the study area for the month 
of May 2005 to an area between 42[deg]35' and 43[deg]00' N. latitude 
and 69[deg]50' to 70[deg]15' W. longitude, including access to the 
Western GOM Closure Area. They also requested an exemption from the 
regulations pertaining to GOM Rolling Closure Area III. Finally, the 
number of sea days during which this research would take place is 
anticipated to increase from 14 days proposed in the initial EFP 
request to 17 days.
    The data collection activities aboard the participating vessels 
would be conducted by observers from the Gulf of Maine Research 
Institute and Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries to ensure 
compliance with the experimental fishery objectives.
    If the proposed EFP modification is approved, the applicant may 
place requests for minor modifications and extensions to the EFP 
throughout the year. EFP modifications and extensions may be granted 
without further notice if they are deemed essential to facilitate 
completion of the proposed research and result in only a minimal change 
in the scope or impact of the initially approved EFP request.

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

    Dated: April 18, 2005.
Alan D. Risenhoover
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E5-1880 Filed 4-20-05; 8:45 am]
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