[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 100 (Thursday, May 24, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29126-29127]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-10020]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XA48


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone off Alaska; Application 
for an Exempted Fishing Permit

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

ACTION: Notice; receipt of an application for an exempted fishing 
permit.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces receipt of an application for an 
exempted fishing permit (EFP) from Alaska Groundfish Data Bank. If 
granted, the EFP would allow the applicants to explore electronic 
monitoring (EM) as a tool for monitoring halibut discards and 
estimating amounts of halibut discarded. This project is intended to 
promote the objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of 
the Gulf of Alaska (FMP) and National Standard 9 of the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). 
Comments will be accepted at the June 4-12 North Pacific Fishery 
Management Council (Council) meeting in Sitka, AK.

DATES: Interested persons may comment on the EFP application during the 
Council's June 4-12, 2007, meeting in Sitka, AK.

ADDRESSES: The Council meeting will be held at Centennial Hall, 330 
Harbor Drive, Sitka, AK.
    Copies of the EFP application and the environmental assessment (EA) 
are available by writing to the Alaska Region, NMFS, P.O. Box 21668, 
Juneau, AK 99802, Attn: Ellen Sebastian. The application and EA also 
are available from the Alaska Region, NMFS website at http://www.fakr.noaa.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jason Anderson, 907-586-7228 or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS manages the domestic groundfish 
fisheries in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) under the FMP. The North Pacific 
Fishery Management Council (Council) prepared the FMP under the 
Magnuson-Stevens Act. Regulations governing the groundfish fisheries of 
the GOA appear at 50 CFR parts 600 and 679. The FMP and the 
implementing regulations at Sec. Sec.  679.6 and 600.745(b) authorize 
issuance of EFPs to allow fishing that would be otherwise prohibited. 
Procedures for issuing EFPs are contained in the implementing 
regulations.
    NMFS received an EFP application from Alaska Groundfish Data Bank 
on April 30, 2007. The primary objectives of the proposed EFP are to 1) 
test the feasibility of using video to monitor halibut discards at a 
single location on catcher vessels, 2) estimate the amount of halibut 
discarded at this location, and 3) assess the costs associated with 
collecting and reviewing EM data. The applicants developed the EFP in 
cooperation with NMFS scientists at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center 
(AFSC). The AFSC approved the EFP scientific design on May 2, 2007. The 
project is intended to provide information needed by the Council and 
NMFS to inform decisions on future management actions in the Gulf of 
Alaska rockfish fisheries. Specifically, the project would assess 
whether NMFS can relax recently increased observer coverage 
requirements implemented under the Central GOA rockfish pilot program 
(Program) on catcher vessels that employ EM.

Background

    NMFS issued a final rule to implement the Program on November 20, 
2006 (71 FR 67210). Program development was initiated by trawl industry 
representatives, primarily from Kodiak, Alaska, in conjunction with 
catcher/processor representatives. They sought to improve the economic 
efficiency of Central GOA rockfish fisheries by developing a program 
that establishes cooperatives that receive exclusive harvest privileges 
for a specific set of rockfish species, and for associated species 
harvested incidentally to those rockfish in the Central GOA. 
Participants in the program include the catcher vessel, onshore 
processing, and offshore catcher/processor sectors.
    NMFS, Sustainable Fisheries Division, consulted with the Council, 
members of the industry, NMFS Office of Law Enforcement, NOAA General 
Counsel, and the U.S. Coast Guard to design a monitoring program to 
increase data quality for total catch reporting. As part of that 
monitoring program, observer coverage was increased on many catcher 
vessels to 100 percent (one observer at all times). Industry is 
concerned that costs associated with increased observer coverage are 
high relative to the increased revenue associated with the Program. To 
address these concerns, Alaska Groundfish Data Bank developed, in 
conjunction with staff at the AFSC and NMFS Alaska Region, an 
alternative approach to manage shoreside rockfish fisheries that could 
include the use of EM to replace increased observer coverage.
    Rockfish fishing for the major target species in the Program 
(Pacific ocean perch, northern rockfish, and pelagic shelf rockfish) is 
relatively selective in terms of the percentage of catch that is 
rockfish. Additionally, retention rates are high relative to flatfish 
and other GOA target fisheries. Selective fisheries where a high 
fraction of the catch is retained are logical candidates for reliance 
on shoreside sampling as the primary fishery data collection point, and 
EM to monitor and account for at-sea discards.
    Under the EFP, halibut are proposed to be the only species allowed 
to be discarded at sea. Further, discarding would only be allowed at a 
single, specially designed discard chute. The vessel would be fitted 
with several cameras designed to assess whether video can adequately 
detect all discard activities. The discard chute would be modified to 
retain all discarded halibut. Data on total halibut discarded would be 
compared against EM data to determine its effectiveness.
    Additionally, the discard chute would be equipped with cameras to 
obtain individual halibut length data. The weight of each halibut would 
be estimated based on the International Pacific Halibut Commission 
length-to-weight table, and a total halibut removal weight would be 
calculated for each haul.
    If successful and feasible, catch accounting data of all non-
halibut species could thus be obtained during deliveries to shoreside 
plants, and at-sea halibut discards could be estimated through this 
specialized application of EM. Information gathered during this

[[Page 29127]]

project could assist the Council in developing future monitoring 
protocols for all North Pacific fisheries.
    To support this EFP, an allocation of rockfish and associated 
bycatch species in addition to those allocated under the Program is 
proposed. Groundfish and halibut amounts required are listed in the 
table below:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                   Species                            Amount (mt)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
arrowtooth flounder                            34
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halibut                                        12
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northern rockfish                              88
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Pacific cod                                    42
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pelagic shelf rockfish                         52
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Pacific ocean perch                            145
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sablefish                                      26
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shortraker/rougheye rockfish                   1
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thornyhead rockfish                            4
------------------------------------------------------------------------
other                                          8
------------------------------------------------------------------------
total                                          412
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The project would begin September 15, 2007, and continue until 
either the halibut mortality limit is reached or 30 hauls (5 to 7 
individual trips) are completed. Additionally, NMFS may consider 
extending the EFP to allow additional testing in the following year, if 
needed. Fishing would occur in the Central GOA.
    The EFP would exempt the applicant from Central GOA directed 
fishing closures implemented under Sec. Sec.  679.20, 679.21, 679.23 or 
679.25 for reasons other than overfishing. The EFP would allow for the 
harvest of up to 400 mt of groundfish species. The EFP would exempt the 
applicant from the requirements of the Program under Sec. Sec.  
679.4(n), 679.5(r) and 679.7(n).
    Because the participating vessel would be carrying at-sea samplers, 
the EFP would exempt the applicant from regulations requiring observers 
to be onboard the vessel. Specifically, the permit would exempt the 
applicant from Sec. Sec.  679.50, 679.7(a)(3), 679.7(g) while the 
experiment is being conducted.
    Halibut mortality from this project would not be applied against 
the halibut prohibited species catch (PSC) limits allocated to the 
Central GOA trawl fishery or to the prohibited species quota limits in 
the Program. The proposed EFP would exempt a vessel from halibut PSC 
limits at Sec.  679.21(d)(3) and allow up to 12 mt of halibut mortality 
associated with fishing under this project.
    The vessel would be exempted from maximum retainable amount (MRA) 
regulations at Sec.  679.20(e) and Table 10 to 50 CFR part 679. 
Additional discards occurring during the experiment would hamper the 
ability of reviewers to determine whether or not all halibut were 
retained. It is highly unlikely that discard above the MRA would be 
required.
    These exemptions are necessary to allow the permit holder to 1) 
effectively test the feasibility of using video to monitor for halibut 
discards at a single location on the catcher vessel, 2) estimate the 
amount of halibut discarded at this location, and 3) assess the costs 
of collecting and reviewing EM data. Information gathered during this 
proposed EFP could be used by the Council to develop future monitoring 
protocols for all North Pacific fisheries
    The applicant will present draft results of the project to members 
of the industry in Kodiak, Alaska. Additionally, the applicant, in 
conjunction with NMFS staff involved with the project, would present 
the draft findings to the Council and its advisory bodies at a meeting 
convenient to the Council. The applicant also would be responsible for 
providing the final report to the interested public once that report 
has been reviewed by the Council and its advisory bodies.
    In accordance with Sec.  600.745(b) and Sec.  679.6, NMFS has 
determined that the proposal warrants consideration and has initiated 
consultation with the Council. The Council will consider the EFP 
application during its meeting in Sitka, AK, from June 4-12, 2007. The 
applicant has been invited to appear in support of the application.

Public Comments

    Interested persons may comment on the application at the June 2007 
Council meeting during public testimony. Information regarding the 
meeting is available at 72 FR 26606 (May 10, 2007) and on the Council's 
website at http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/npfmc/council.htm.

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

    Dated: May 21, 2007.
James P. Burgess,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E7-10020 Filed 5-23-07; 8:45 am]
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