[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 159 (Thursday, August 17, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47487-47488]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-13550]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 081106A ]


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

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

ACTION: Notification of a proposal for an EFP; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS (Regional 
Administrator) has made a preliminary determination that the subject 
Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) proposal contains all the required 
information and warrants further consideration. 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 Atlantic Sea Scallop 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 Regional Administrator proposes to issue an EFP that 
would allow 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 exemptions from 
Atlantic sea scallop open area days-at-sea (DAS), in the event that 
there is an insufficient number of trips in the scallop access area 
made available to compensate research authorized under the Sea Scallop 
Research Set-aside Program (RSA Program).

DATES: Comments on this document must be received on or before 
September 1, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be submitted by any of the following 
methods:
     Mail: Patricia A. Kurkul, Regional Administrator, NMFS, 
Northeast Regional Office, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. 
Mark the outside of the envelope, ``Comments on sea scallop RSA EFP 
proposal;''
     E-mail: [email protected], include ``Comments on sea 
scallop RSA EFP proposal'' in the subject line of the e-mail;
     Fax: (978) 281-9135.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ryan Silva, Fishery Management 
Specialist, phone: 978-281-9326, fax: 978-281-9135.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations currently allocate 0.2 percent 
of the Southern New England and Georges Bank YT TACs to the Nantucket 
Lightship Scallop Access Area (NLCA) and Closed Area II Scallop Access 
Area (CAII), respectively, for research and/or compensation trips 
conducted under the RSA program. RSA YT bycatch TACs are 644 lb (292 
kg) for the NLCA, and 9,127 lb (4,140 kg) for CAII. Seven RSA projects 
have been recommended by the Regional Administrator for funding through 
the 2006 RSA Program. Six of these projects will be allocated scallops 
set-aside from the NLCA and/or CAII, pending approval of the projects 
through the NOAA Grants Review Process. If one or both of the Access 
Areas were closed as a result of the attainment of the RSA YT bycatch 
TAC, a project may become substantially under-funded, and be unable to 
accomplish the objectives it was intended to achieve.
    For the commercial scallop fishery, the YT bycatch TACs are 
monitored using scallop data provided by vessel operators, and scallop 
and YT bycatch data provided by at-sea observers. NMFS determines a YT 
bycatch rate from these data in order to determine the status of the 
bycatch TAC. The NLCA was closed on July 20, 2006, for the remainder of 
the 2006 scallop fishing year (FY) to commercial scallop

[[Page 47488]]

vessels due to the attainment of the YT bycatch TAC. Since there will 
be no additional observer bycatch data for the NLCA due to this 
closure, the final bycatch rate will be applied to NLCA RSA Program 
compensation trips. For example, with a YT bycatch rate of 0.65 percent 
(i.e., for every 100 lb (45.4 kg) of scallops caught, 0.65 lb (0.29 kg) 
of yellowtail are caught), approximately 43 percent, or 100,000 lb 
(45,359 kg), of the NLCA set-aside scallops can be harvested before the 
644 lb (292 kg) YT bycatch TAC is caught. About 57 percent, or 130,000 
lb (58,967 kg), of the scallops that have been preliminarily allocated 
to RSA projects to fund research will not be available.
    As of August 8, 2006, the CAII commercial YT bycatch TAC had not 
been caught. Although the current CAII YT bycatch rate does not 
indicate the 9,127-lb (4,140 kg) CAII RSA YT bycatch TAC will be 
caught, the bycatch rate could increase, and CAII could close to RSA 
compensation trips before all of the set-aside scallops are harvested. 
There is an additional 130,201 lb (59,058 kg) of scallops available 
from CAII that were not allocated to any RSA project.
    If a project is unable to harvest its allocated scallop 
compensation due to a YT bycatch TAC closure, project coordinators 
would have the option to take unused compensation from either CAII, if 
available, or open scallop areas. Since scallop catch rates are greater 
in CAII (approximately 2,600 lb (1,179 kg) per day fished) than open 
areas (approximately 1,880 lb (853 kg) per day fished), it is likely 
project coordinators will request scallops from CAII before open areas. 
However, if the CAII YT bycatch rate increases enough to trigger a 
closure before sufficient scallop compensation can be harvested, 
researchers would need to harvest scallops from open areas to offset 
the costs of research. If scallops need to be harvested from open 
areas, vessels will need an EFP to exempt them from scallop open area 
DAS as specified at Sec.  648.53(b)(2). Vessels authorized to take an 
open area trip will have a scallop possession limit consistent with the 
amount of compensation authorized in the access area(s).
    Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act require publication of this notification to provide 
interested parties the opportunity to comment on proposed EFPs. EFP 
modifications and extensions may be granted without further notice if 
they are deemed essential to facilitate completion of the proposed 
research and minimal so as not to change the scope or impact of the 
initially approved EFP request.

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

    Dated: August 11, 2006.
James P. Burgess,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E6-13550 Filed 8-16-06; 8:45 am]
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