[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 219 (Tuesday, November 14, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66311-66312]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-19190]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 110806A]
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: Notification of a proposal for an exempted fishing 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 submitted by Truex Enterprises contains all
the required information and warrants further consideration. This
proposed EFP was first published for public comment on June 16, 2006.
Due to changes in the EFP proposal from that previously published, the
notice and comment period is re-initiated. The proposed EFP would test
the safety and efficacy of harvesting surfclams and ocean quahogs from
the Atlantic surfclam and ocean quahog Georges Bank (GB) Closure Area
using a harvesting protocol developed by state and Federal regulatory
agencies and endorsed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
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 Atlantic Surfclam and
Ocean Quahog regulations and 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 that would allow one commercial fishing vessel to conduct
fishing operations that are otherwise restricted by the regulations
governing the fisheries of the Northeastern United States. The EFP
would allow for an exemption from the Atlantic surfclam and ocean
quahog GB Closure Area. 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 on this document must be received on or before November
29, 2006.
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 GB PSP Closed Area Exemption.''
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 GB
PSP Closed Area Exemption.'' Comments may also be sent via facsimile
(fax) to (978) 281-9135.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tobey Curtis, Fishery Management
Specialist, phone 978-281-9273.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Truex Enterprises of New Bedford, MA,
submitted an application for an EFP on March 30, 2006. Additional
information was received on April 19, 2006, completing the application.
This proposed EFP was first published in the Federal Register on June
19, 2006 (71 FR 35254). On October 2, 2006, the applicant submitted
additional information seeking to add states where the product
harvested under the EFP could be landed. The experimental fishing
application requests authorization to allow the catch and retention for
sale of Atlantic surfclams and ocean quahogs from within the Atlantic
surfclam and ocean quahog GB Closure Area. This area, located east of
69[deg]00 W. long. and south of 42[deg]20 N. lat., was closed on May
25, 1990. This closure was implemented based on advice from the FDA
after samples of surfclams from the area tested positive for the toxins
(saxotoxins) that cause Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP). These
toxins are produced by the algae Alexandrium fundyense which can form
blooms commonly referred to as red tides. Red tide blooms, also known
as harmful algal blooms (HABs), can produce toxins that accumulate in
filter-feeding shellfish. Shellfish contaminated with the saxotoxin, if
eaten in large enough quantity, can cause illness or death from PSP.
Due, in part, to the inability to test and monitor this area for the
presence of PSP, this closure was made permanent through Amendment 12
to the FMP in 1999.
The primary goal of the study is to test the efficacy of the
Protocol for Onboard Screening and Dockside Testing for PSP Toxins in
Molluscan Shellfish (Protocol) developed by state and Federal
regulatory agencies to test for presence of saxotoxins in shellfish.
This protocol would facilitate the harvest of shellfish from waters
susceptible to HABs, which produce the saxotoxins, but that are not
currently under rigorous water quality monitoring programs by either
state or Federal management agencies. The Protocol details procedures
and reporting for harvesting, testing, and landing of shellfish
harvested from areas that are susceptible to HABs prior to the
shellfish from entering commerce. A copy of the Protocol is available
from the NMFS Northeast Region website: http://www.nero.noaa.gov/sfd/clams.
The proposed project would conduct a trial for the sampling
protocol in an exemption zone within the larger 1990 GB Closure Area
with the F/V Seawatcher. The exemption zone would not include any
Northeast multispecies or essential fish habitat year-round closure
areas. This proposed exempted fishing activity would occur from
approximately December 2006 through March 2007, using surfclam and
ocean quahog quota allocated to Truex Enterprises under the Federal
individual transferable quota (ITQ) program. The applicant has
estimated a harvest of 176,000 bushels (9,370,240 L) of surfclams and
80,000 bushels (4,259,200 L) of ocean quahogs from the
[[Page 66312]]
exemption area. The exemption area was tested in cooperation with the
FDA in the winter of 2006. No samples collected during that time were
above acceptable levels for saxotoxins (80[micro]g toxin/100g of
shellfish). In order for the proposed EFP to be issued, the applicant
would be required to obtain an endorsement from the state in which it
intends to land the product harvested under the EFP. The initial
application, submitted on March 30, 2006, only listed Massachusetts as
a possible state for landing the product. The revised application
includes the initial preferred state of landing, Massachusetts, as well
as Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Delaware as possible states where
shellfish harvested under the EFP could be landed. Each state would be
required to endorse and/or otherwise explicitly permit the F/V
Seawatcher to land product harvested under the conditions of the EFP in
order for the EFP to be valid, as each state is responsible for
regulating the molluscan shellfish industry within its jurisdiction and
ensuring the safety of shellfish harvested within or entering its
borders. This EFP would allow for an exemption from the Atlantic
surfclam and ocean quahog GB Closure Area specified at 50 CFR
648.73(a)(4).
During the comment period for the initial proposed EFP, NMFS
received five comments. One comment was against the concept of the EFP
in general. Three comments were opposed to the issuance of the EFP
until concerns regarding the dockside sampling protocol could be
resolved. One comment, from the Massachusetts Division of Marine
Fisheries, was in support of the comments regarding the dockside
sampling protocol submitted by the Massachusetts Department of Public
Health. Although adherence to the dockside monitoring protocol would be
a condition of the EFP, NMFS is not the author of the protocol, nor the
Federal agency responsible for matters of public health, thus NMFS
defers response to issues regarding the dockside monitoring protocol to
the FDA. However, since the initial public notification of this EFP,
the FDA has amended the Protocol in response to concerns raised by
state shellfish control authorities. The Protocol and the pilot project
that would be authorized by this EFP have also since been endorsed by
the executive board of the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: November 8, 2006.
James P. Burgess,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E6-19190 Filed 11-13-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S