[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 59 (Wednesday, March 26, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15995-15996]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-6190]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XG57


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. This EFP, 
which would enable researchers to study the effects of climate on the 
distribution and catch rates of monkfish, would grant exemptions from 
the NE multispecies regulations as follows: Gulf of Maine (GOM) Rolling 
Closure Area III 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 April 10, 2008.

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, DA8-055.''
     Fax: (978) 281-9135.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Emily Bryant, Fishery Management 
Specialist, 978-281-9244.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: An application for an EFP was submitted on 
February 20, 2008, by Andrea K. Johnson, Ph.D., Research Assistant 
Professor at UMES, for a project funded 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 influence 
of temperature on monkfish distribution and abundance, as well as 
determine age and growth patterns, spawning frequency, feeding rates, 
and cannibalism. This information will provide information on the 
biology of monkfish that could be used to enhance the management of 
this species. This is the first year this project has been funded under 
the Monkfish RSA Program.
    The project is scheduled to be conducted for 1 year, from May 2008 
through April 2009. Four fishing industry collaborators using 95 
Monkfish days-at-sea (DAS) that will be awarded to the project through 
the monkfish RSA Program would collect a total of 640 monkfish from 
three size categories. Three monkfish gillnet vessels fishing in the 
Southern Fishery Management Area will collect monkfish as part of 
otherwise normal fishing activities, and do not require an EFP. One 
vessel fishing in the Northern Fishery Management Area would collect 
monkfish from a location inside Rolling Closure Area III. This activity 
would require an exemption from the restrictions of Rolling Closure 
Area III at 50 CFR 648.81(f) that will be in effect during May 2008. It 
is expected that this location would provide access to large monkfish 
and would avoid gear interactions between the research gillnet gear and 
the trawl gear. Due to the high economic value associated with the NE 
multispecies DAS, 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 in the NFMA. This would exempt the 
vessel from the need to use a NE Multispecies DAS when fishing in the 
GOM for these research trips. The vessel would be using a large (12-
inch) (30-cm) mesh, so the bycatch of NE multispecies is expected to be 
minimal.
    The vessel would make up to 40 trips (25 DAS) using gillnets that 
are 12-inch (30-cm) stretch mesh with a 3.5-inch (8.9-cm) diameter 
gauge web that is 12 meshes deep. Each net is 300 ft (91 m) long, and 
100 nets would be hauled every 5 days in the spring, summer, and fall, 
with an average soak time of 120 hours. Five fish per week would be 
donated to UMES between May-December 2008, and February-April 2009. The 
smallest samples would measure 17 inches (44 cm) in 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 NE multispecies. Since these trips would be 
using gillnets with very large mesh, the bycatch of regulated NE 
multispecies is expected to be minimal.

[[Page 15996]]

    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: March 19, 2008.
Emily H. Menashes
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E8-6190 Filed 3-25-08; 8:45 am]
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