[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 61 (Friday, March 28, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16642-16643]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-6430]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XG69


Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; 
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Application for an Exempted Fishing 
Permit

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

ACTION: Notice; intent to issue the EFP; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the intent to issue exempted fishing permits 
(EFPs) to Pacific whiting shoreside vessels and first receivers that 
participate in a maximized retention and monitor program for the 2008 
Pacific whiting shoreside fishery. EFPs are needed to allow vessels to 
retain catch in excess of the cumulative limits and to retain 
prohibited species until offloading. EFPs are also needed to allow 
first receivers to possess catch from a vessel that is in excess of 
cumulative limits and to used hopper type scales to derive accurate 
catch weights prior to sorting. Issuance of the EFPs would allow NMFS 
to collect catch data on incidentally caught species, including 
salmonids listed under the Endangered Species Act, and would allow new 
components of an overall monitoring program to be investigated before 
implementation of a regulatory program.

DATES: Comments must be received by April 14, 2008.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by RIN 0648-XG69 by any 
one of the following methods:
     Fax: 206-526-6736, Attn: Becky Renko
     Mail: D. Robert Lohn, Administrator, Northwest Region, 
NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115-0070, Attn: Becky 
Renko.
    Instructions: All comments received are a part of the public record 
and will generally be posted to http://www.regulations.gov without 
change. All Personal Identifying Information (for example, name, 
address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly 
accessible. Do not submit Confidential Business Information or 
otherwise sensitive or protected information. NMFS will accept 
anonymous comments. Attachments to electronic comments will be accepted 
in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats only.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Becky Renko or Gretchen Arentzen or 
(206)526(6140.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This action is authorized by the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act provisions at 50 CFR 
600.745 which states that EFPs may be used to authorize fishing 
activities that would otherwise be prohibited. At the March 10-14, 
2008, Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) meeting in 
Sacramento, California, NMFS Northwest Region presented a proposal for 
issuance of EFPs to vessels and first receivers participating in the 
2008 Pacific whiting shoreside fishery. If issued, the EFPs would 
provide for a maximized retention and monitoring program for the 
Pacific whiting shoreside fishery. The proposed maximized retention and 
monitoring program regulations are intended to allow for the Pacific 
whiting shoreside fishery to be efficiently prosecuted while providing 
accurate catch data such that the Endangered Species Act and Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act requirements for this 
fishery are adequately met. An opportunity for Council discussion and 
public testimony were provided during the Councils March 2008 meeting 
in Sacramento, California.
    The issuance of EFPs would allow approximately 40 vessels to delay 
sorting of groundfish catch and to retain catch in excess of cumulative 
trip limits and prohibited species catch until offloading. These 
activities are otherwise prohibited by regulations at 50 CFR 
660.306(a)(10) and 660.306(a)(2), respectively.
    Issuance of the EFPs, to approximately 15 first receivers, will 
allow first receivers to possess more than a single cumulative limit of 
a particular species, per vessel, per applicable cumulative limit 
period. The

[[Page 16643]]

possession of catch in excess of the cumulative limits is otherwise 
prohibited by regulations at 50 CFR 660.306(a)(10). In addition, the 
EFPs will include an allowance for first receivers to use hopper type 
scales to derive an accurate total catch weight prior to sorting. 
Regulations pertaining to sorting at Sec.  660.370(h)(6) and 
prohibitions at Sec.  660.306(a)(7) require vessels to sort the catch 
before weighing.
    Issuance of these EFPs will allow for the collection of information 
on the catch of salmon, non-whiting groundfish, and other non-
groundfish species incidentally taken with Pacific whiting. These data 
are needed to monitor the attainment of the shore-based whiting 
allocation while assuring that the fishery specifications (bycatch 
limits, species allocations, OYs, and biological opinion thresholds) 
are not exceeded. Because whiting flesh deteriorates rapidly once the 
fish are caught, whiting must be minimally handled and immediately 
chilled to maintain the flesh quality. Allowing Pacific whiting 
shoreside vessels to retain unsorted catch will also enable whiting 
quality to be maintained.
    At the June 2007 Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) meeting, 
the PFMC recommended that NMFS implement a maximized retention program 
in Federal regulations that would allow full retention of Pacific 
whiting catch by the vessels and delivered to first receivers on shore. 
NMFS Northwest Region is in the process of transitioning the Pacific 
whiting shoreside fishery from a maximized retention and monitoring 
program conducted under a state-run EFP to a Federal regulatory 
program. Though it was expected that the program would be in place at 
the start of the 2008 fishing season, it will not be possible given the 
complexity of the rulemaking and other workload priorities. The EFP, as 
proposed, would be used to investigate the new components of the 
overall monitoring program before regulatory implementation. The EFP 
would be in effect until the effective date of the new Federal 
maximized retention and monitoring program, later in 2008.
    Proposed Federal regulations for a maximized retention and 
monitoring program would require Pacific whiting shoreside vessels to 
dump unsorted catch directly below deck and would allow unsorted catch 
to be landed, providing that an electronic monitoring system (EMS) is 
used on all fishing trips to verify retention of catch at sea. The EMS 
is an effective tool for accurately monitoring catch retention and 
identifying the time and location of discard events. The EFP would 
include provisions for EMS, paid for by the vessels, similar to the 
2007 EFP and similar to the proposed Federal regulatory program.
    Proposed Federal regulations for a maximized retention and 
monitoring program would also require first receivers to have on shore 
monitoring conducted by catch monitors. Catch monitors would be third 
party employees, paid for by industry, and trained to NMFS standards. 
The EFP would include provisions for third party catch monitors from a 
NMFS specified provider. Like the proposed Federal regulatory program, 
catch monitors used under the EFP would be trained in techniques that 
would be used for the verification of fish ticket data and in species 
identification. Catch monitor duties would include overseeing the 
sorting, weighing, and recordkeeping process, as well as gathering 
information on incidentally caught salmon. Catch monitors would verify 
the accuracy of electronic fish ticket data used to manage the Pacific 
whiting shoreside fishery such that inaccurate or delayed information 
does not result in any fishery specifications (bycatch limits, species 
allocations, OYs, and biological opinion thresholds) being exceeded.

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

    Dated: March 25, 2008.
Alan D. Risenhoover
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. E8-6430 Filed 3-27-08; 8:45 am]
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