[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 128 (Wednesday, July 2, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37934-37935]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-14943]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XI30


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), Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 Massachusetts Division of Marine 
Fisheries (MADMF) 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 Spiny Dogfish 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 a spiny dogfish 
excluder grate within a raised footrope whiting trawl, would grant 
exemptions from the NE multispecies regulations as follows: Gear 
restrictions while fishing in the Gulf of Maine (GOM) Regulated Mesh 
Area (RMA), Northeast (NE) multispecies days-at-sea (DAS) effort 
control measures, and NE multispecies minimum fish sizes for sampling 
purposes only.
    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 July 17, 2008.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by any of the following 
methods:
     Email: [email protected]. Include in the subject line 
``Comments on MADMF whiting fishery 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 MA MADMF whiting fishery EFP, 
DA8-141.''
     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 
May 29, 2008, by David Chosid, the conservation engineering project 
leader at MADMF, for a project funded by the Northeast Consortium. The 
primary goal of this study is to investigate the effects of an 
experimental excluder grate in order to reduce catch rates of spiny 
dogfish and maximize the catch rates of whiting, using a raised 
footrope whiting trawl. The results of this research could be submitted 
to the New England Fishery Management Council to provide information 
that could be used to enhance the management of the whiting and spiny 
dogfish fisheries.
    The project is proposed to be conducted from July 2008 through 
September 2008. One fishing industry collaborator would conduct a total 
of 70 1-hour tows using the excluder grate in a raised footrope whiting 
trawl over the course of 14 trips, conducting 5 tows per trip. The 
vessel would use a 2.5-inch (6.4-cm) diamond codend mesh and, with the 
exception of the spiny dogfish grate, the gear would be configured as a 
standard raised footrope trawl. All experimental tows would occur 
between 42[deg]12' W. long. and 42[deg]30' W. long. in statistical area 
514. Fishing would occur along the western edge of Stellwagen Bank 
National Marine Sanctuary, but not within it. No testing would occur in 
closed areas or during rolling closures. An underwater camera would be 
attached to the net to observe the behavior of spiny dogfish and 
whiting. Catches in the codend would be quantified. MADMF would have at 
least one staff member on board the vessel at all times during the 
experimental tows.
    Due to the small mesh size used in the whiting fishery, this 
activity would require an exemption from gear restrictions while 
fishing in the GOM RMA found at Sec.  648.80(a)(3)(i). The researchers 
are requesting permission to fish outside of the small mesh exemption 
areas and time restrictions in order to increase interactions with the 
project's target species, spiny dogfish. Based on industry 
recommendations, whiting and spiny dogfish are expected to be 
inrelatively high abundance in the proposed research location. The 
requested exemption would help ensure that adequate densities of fish 
are present to conduct valid testing and provide sound statistical 
evidence of gear performance within that area. An exemption from the 
use of NE multispecies DAS at Sec.  648.82(a) is necessary because, due 
to the small mesh size of the raised footrope trawl, landing NE 
multispecies under the DAS possession limits would otherwise be 
prohibited and thus inconsistent with the purpose of charging DAS. In 
lieu of fishing under a NE multispecies DAS, the project must adhere to 
a multispecies bycatch cap of 5 percent of the total weight of fish 
caught overall during the course of the research. This percentage is 
the standard percentage used as a criterion to qualify an

[[Page 37935]]

exempted fishery within regulated mesh areas. Because one of the 
research goals is to use the information to expand the whiting fishery 
exemption area, staying within this 5-percent multispecies bycatch cap 
would be useful for future management decisions based on this research. 
No NE multispecies would be landed for sale, with the exception of 
whiting. Additionally, this EFP would include an exemption from 
multispecies minimum size limits at Sec.  648.86 for sampling purposes 
only. This exemption would allow sampling of undersized species prior 
to their discard.
    Whiting caught during the research would be landed and sold, up to 
the current possession limit, to provide additional funding for the 
project. All other organisms, including whiting with high expected 
survival return rates, would be released as quickly and carefully as 
practicable. 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: June 26, 2008.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E8-14943 Filed 7-1-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S