[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 13 (Monday, January 22, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2651-2652]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-767]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 011607A]


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 an Exempted Fishing Permit 
(EFP) application submitted by the University of Maryland Eastern Shore 
(UMES) contains all of the required information and warrants further 
consideration. The Assistant Regional Administrator has made a 
preliminary determination that the activities authorized under this EFP 
would be consistent with the goals and objectives of the Northeast (NE) 
Multispecies and Monkfish Fishery Management Plans (FMPs). However, 
further review and consultation may be necessary before a final 
determination is made to issue an 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, 
which would enable researchers to study the biology of large monkfish, 
would grant exemptions from the NE Multispecies FMP as follows: Western 
Gulf of Maine (GOM) Closure Area; GOM Rolling Closure Areas I and II; 
and NE multispecies effort control measures.
    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 must be received on or before February 6, 2007.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by any of the following 
methods:
     Email: [email protected]. Include in the subject line 
``Comments on UMES monkfish EFP.''
     Mail: Patricia A. Kurkul, Regional Administrator, NMFS, NE 
Regional Office, 1 Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the 
outside of the envelope ``Comments on UMES monkfish EFP, DA6-387.''
     Fax: (978) 281-9135.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Douglas Potts, Fishery Management 
Specialist, 978-281-9341.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: An application for an EFP was submitted on 
December 28, 2006, by Andrea K. Johnson, Ph.D., Research Assistant 
Professor at UMES, for a project funded

[[Page 2652]]

under the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils' 
Monkfish Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program. The primary goal of this 
study is to investigate the length-weight relationship, spawning 
frequency, and rate of cannibalism in these members of the population 
not often reflected in the trawl survey. This information is considered 
to be very helpful to the management of the species. This is the second 
year this project has been funded under the Monkfish RSA Program.
    The project is scheduled to be conducted for 1 year (May 2007-April 
2008) and would collect large monkfish from three industry 
collaborators fishing using 102 Monkfish Days-At-Sea (DAS) awarded to 
the project through the RSA Program. Monkfish gillnet vessels fishing 
in the Southern Fishery Management Area will collect large monkfish as 
part of otherwise normal fishing activities and do not require an EFP. 
One vessel would fish inside the eastern edge of the Western GOM 
Closure Area from August 2007 through April 2008. Fishing would take 
place in deep mud habitats outside of the Western GOM Habitat Closure 
Area. This is east of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and 
would require exemption from the gear restrictions of the Western GOM 
Closure Area at 50 CFR 648.81(e), as well as from the restrictions of 
Rolling Closure Areas I and II at Sec.  648.81(f) that will be in 
effect during March and April 2008. It is expected that this location 
would provide access to large monkfish and would avoid gear 
interactions between these gillnets and trawls. The applicant is also 
requesting exemption from the NE multispecies effort control measures 
at Sec.  648.80(a)(3)(vi) in order to create sufficient incentive for a 
commercial vessel to participate in this experiment. This would exempt 
the vessel from the need to use a NE Multispecies DAS concurrent with 
Monkfish RSA DAS for these trips.
    The vessel would make up to 48 trips (30 DAS) using gillnets that 
are 13-inch (33-cm) stretch mesh with 24 gauge web and 12 meshes deep. 
Each net is 300 ft (91 m) long by 3 ft (0.91 m) high, and 150 nets 
would be used with an average soak time of 72 hr. Ten fish per week 
would be donated to the research project during the months of August-
September, and five fish per week from October-April 2008. This project 
is specifically interested in large monkfish, so donated fish would be 
the largest from each trip, at least 90 cm total length. Additional 
catch, within applicable size and possession limits, would be sold to 
help offset the costs of the research. As a consequence of the 
exemption from the need to use a NE Multispecies DAS, the vessel would 
not keep any regulated groundfish. Since these trips would use very 
large mesh nets, the bycatch of regulated groundfish is expected to be 
minimal.
    The applicant may request 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 have minimal impacts 
that do not change the scope or impact of the initially approved EFP 
request. Any fishing activity conducted outside the scope of the 
exempted fishing activity would be prohibited.

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

    Dated: January 17, 2007.
James P. Burgess,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E7-767 Filed 1-19-07; 8:45 am]
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