[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 67 (Friday, April 7, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17834-17836]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-5119]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 040306B]


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

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

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

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SUMMARY: This Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) application is a 
continuation of 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 continue monitoring a total of 150 legal sized egg bearing 
female lobsters (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. 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 10 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)(1)(iv) for a maximum of 16 
participating vessels and is limited to the 150 pre-tagged berried 
lobsters in this project.
    The Director, State, Federal and Constituent Programs Office, 
Northeast

[[Page 17835]]

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 16 Federally permitted 
commercial fishing vessels to participate in the continuation of a 
project designed to monitor the movement of 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 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, this 
document invites comments on the issuance of EFPs to allow a maximum of 
16 commercial fishing vessels in possession of Federal lobster permits 
to remove a maximum of 10 eggs each time any one of the 150 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 April 24, 
2006.

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 one of the most valuable fisheries 
in the northeastern United States. In 2004, approximately 75 million 
pounds (34,169 metric tons (mt)) of American lobster were landed with 
an ex-vessel value of approximately 315 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 
throughout their range, from Canada to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. 
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 data on 
the biology and composition of lobsters throughout the range of the 
resource are necessary. To facilitate effective management, this 
proposed EFP would monitor egg growth and development of tagged berried 
lobsters in four study areas using traditional lobster trap gear.

Proposed EFP

    The EFP proposes to continue the collection of statistical and 
scientific information as part of a project, originally announced in 
the Federal Register on October 21, 2004 (69 FR 19165), that is 
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 maximum of 16 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 10 
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 along the southern edge 
of Georges Bank. 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 10 eggs from each tagged berried lobster to 
allow researchers to estimate the egg developmental stage and time to 
maturity. All berried lobsters would be returned to the sea as quickly 
as possible after data collection. Pursuant to 50 CFR 600.745(b)(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 part 
697. To allow for the collection of temperature data and the removal of 
a maximum of 10 eggs from each tagged berried lobster,

[[Page 17836]]

the EFP would waive the American lobster prohibition on removal of eggs 
specified at 50 CFR 697.7(c)(1)(iv). All sample collections would be 
conducted by a maximum of 16 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: April 3, 2006.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E6-5119 Filed 4-6-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S