[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 132 (Tuesday, July 11, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39055-39056]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-10770]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 070506D]
RIN 0648-AU25


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

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

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Regional Administrator, Southwest Region, NMFS has made a 
preliminary determination that an application for an exempted fishing 
permit (EFP) warrants further consideration. The application was 
submitted to NMFS by the Federation of Independent Seafood Harvesters 
(FISH), requesting an exemption from the fishing prohibitions within 
the Pacific Leatherback Conservation Area in the exclusive economic 
zone (EEZ) off California and Oregon. The 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 
Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP). However, 
further review and consultation is necessary before a final 
determination is made to issue the EFP. Therefore, NMFS proposes to 
review the EFP and requests public comment on the application.

DATES: Comments must be received by August 10, 2006.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this notice, identified by ``I.D. 
070506D'' by any of the following methods:
     E-mail: [email protected]. Include the I.D. number in 
the subject line of the message.
     Mail: Rodney R. McInnis, Regional Administrator, Southwest 
Region, NMFS, 501 West Ocean Blvd., Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802-
4213.
     Fax: (562) 980-4047.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Helvey, Southwest Region, NMFS, 
(562) 980-4040.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: An application for an EFP was submitted by 
FISH on April 16, 2006. The EFP would exempt a limited number of drift 
gillnet federally permitted commercial fishing vessels from the 
following requirement of the FMP: prohibition on fishing drift gillnet 
gear from August 15 through November 15 in the area as specified at 50 
CFR 660.713(c)(1).
    At its June 2005 meeting, the Council directed its HMS Management 
Team (MT) and HMS Advisory Subpanel (AS) to begin developing proposals 
to change the Federal regulatory structure for the drift gillnet (DGN) 
fishery. It was determined that there was insufficient information 
available to support a regulatory amendment eliminating the Pacific 
leatherback conservation area closure. FISH applied for an EFP that is 
intended as a means to gather information under controlled conditions, 
specifically about levels of fishing effort that would occur and the 
impact of that fishing to leatherback sea turtles. The HMS MT developed 
a suite of alternatives for the EFP and prepared a draft Environmental 
Assessment (EA). In March 2006, the Council adopted a preferred 
alternative for conditioning the EFP and forwarded that alternative to 
NMFS, recommending that the agency review the proposed EFP and, if 
consistent with Federal law, issue the permit.
    The EFP would authorize approximately 30 vessels to fish from 
August 15, 2006, to November 15, 2006, in an area off the U.S. West 
Coast of California and Oregon defined as the Pacific Leatherback 
Conservation Area within the Federal EEZ. The EFP would allow a maximum 
of 300 DGN sets, and would require 100 percent observer coverage for 
all fishing under the EFP. The fishery would be managed through limits 
on the amount of incidental take of protected species. The proposed EFP 
would impose a limit of two leatherback sea turtles that may be 
incidentally taken during the course of fishing under the EFP and limit 
to one the number of serious injuries or mortalities to humpback whale 
(Megaptera novaeangliae), short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala 
macrorhynchus), or sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus). If any one of 
these limits is reached by the fishery authorized by the EFP, the EFP 
would be immediately revoked.
    Aside from the exemption described above, vessels fishing under the 
EFP would be subject to all other regulations implementing the HMS FMP, 
including measures to protect sea turtles, marine mammals, and sea 
birds.
    The EFP application is for 2006 only. The applicant has requested 
preliminary consideration by the Council of a similar EFP fishery in 
2007. Pending results of the 2006 EFP fishery, the EFP may be renewed 
in 2007, however a final decision will not be made until summer of 
2007.
    In accordance with NOAA Administrative Order 216-6, an appropriate 
National Environmental Policy Act document will be completed prior to 
the issuance of the EFP. A draft EA on the EFP was presented to the 
Council and public in March 2006. Further review and consultation is 
necessary before a final determination is made to issue the EFP. As 
required in Section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 
Sec.  1531 et seq.), NMFS is engaged in formal consultation to 
determine if the proposed action is likely to jeopardize the continued 
existence and recovery of any

[[Page 39056]]

endangered or threatened species or result in the destruction or 
adverse modification of critical habitat.

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

    Dated: July 6, 2006.
James P. Burgess,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E6-10770 Filed 7-10-06; 8:45 am]
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