[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 246 (Monday, December 22, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78317-78318]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-30336]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XL46


Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; General Provisions for Domestic 
Fisheries; Application for Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP)

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

ACTION: Notification of a proposal for an EFP to conduct experimental 
fishing; 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 the subject EFP application 
submitted by Wallace and Associates contains all the required 
information and warrants further consideration. The proposed EFP would 
extend the previously authorized EFP for an additional year to continue 
testing the safety and efficacy of harvesting surfclams and ocean 
quahogs from the Atlantic surfclam and ocean quahog Georges Bank (GB) 
Closure Area using a harvesting protocol developed by state and Federal 
regulatory agencies and endorsed by the U.S. Food and Drug 
Administration (FDA). The Assistant Regional Administrator has also 
made a preliminary determination that the activities authorized under 
the EFP would be consistent with the goals and objectives of the 
Atlantic Surfclam and Ocean Quahog regulations and Fishery Management 
Plan (FMP). However, further review and consultation may be necessary 
before a final determination is made to issue the 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 would allow for an exemption from the Atlantic surfclam 
and ocean quahog GB Closure Area. 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 on this document must be received on or before January 
6, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Comments on this notice may be submitted by e-mail.
    The mailbox address for providing e-mail comments is 
[email protected]. Include in the subject line of the e-mail comment the 
following document identifier: ``Comments on GB PSP Closed Area 
Exemption.'' Written comments should be sent to Patricia A. Kurkul, 
Regional Administrator, NMFS, Northeast Regional Office, 55 Great 
Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside of the envelope 
``Comments on GB PSP Closed Area Exemption.'' Comments may also be sent 
via facsimile (fax) to (978) 281-9135.
    Copies of supporting documents referenced in this notice are 
available from Timothy Cardiasmenos, Fishery Policy Analyst, National 
Marine Fisheries Service, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 
01930, and are available via the Internet at http://www.nero.noaa.gov/sfd/clams.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Timothy Cardiasmenos, Fishery Policy 
Analyst, phone 978-281-9204.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Truex Enterprises of New Bedford, MA, first 
submitted an application for an EFP on March 30, 2006, and public 
comment was solicited via the Federal Register on June 19, 2006 (71 FR 
35254). On October 2, 2006, the applicant submitted additional 
information seeking to add states where the product harvested under the 
EFP could be landed. Comments for the revised EFP were published on 
November 14, 2006 (71 FR 66311). At that time, due to lack of 
concurrence on the Protocol for Onboard Screening and Dockside Testing 
for PSP Toxins in Molluscan Shellfish (Protocol) from the state of 
landing, the EFP was not issued. The applicant subsequently received 
concurrence from the state of landing and the state where the product 
is to be processed for the Protocol and EFP, and an EFP was authorized 
through the end of calendar year 2008.
    The current applicant, Wallace & Associates, of Cambridge, MD, 
request an extension of the previously authorized EFP to allow the 
catch and retention for sale of Atlantic surfclams and ocean quahogs 
from within the Atlantic surfclam and ocean quahog GB Closure Area. 
This area, located east of 69[deg]00' W. long. and south of 42[deg]20' 
N. lat., has been closed since May 25, 1990. This closure was 
implemented based on advice from the FDA after samples of surfclams 
from the area tested positive for the toxins (saxotoxins) that cause 
Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP). These toxins are produced by the 
alga Alexandrium fundyense, which can form blooms commonly referred to 
as red tides. Red tide blooms, also known as harmful algal blooms 
(HABs), can produce toxins that accumulate in filter-feeding shellfish. 
Shellfish contaminated with the saxotoxin, if eaten in large enough 
quantity, can cause illness or death from PSP. Due, in part, to the 
inability to test and monitor this area for the presence of PSP, this 
closure was made permanent through Amendment 12 to the FMP in 1999.
    The primary goal of the proposed study is to test the efficacy of 
the Protocol that was developed by state and Federal regulatory 
agencies to test for presence of saxotoxins in shellfish, and which has 
been in a trial period through previous EFP's since 2006. This protocol 
would facilitate the harvest of shellfish from waters susceptible to 
HABs, which produce the saxotoxins, but that are not currently under 
rigorous water quality monitoring programs by either state or Federal 
management agencies. The Protocol details procedures and reporting for 
harvesting, testing, and landing of shellfish harvested from areas that 
are susceptible to HABs prior to the shellfish from entering commerce. 
A copy of the Protocol is available from the NMFS Northeast Region 
website: http://www.nero.noaa.gov/sfd/clams.
    The proposed project would conduct a trial for the sampling 
protocol in an exemption zone within the larger 1990 GB Closure Area 
with the F/V Sea Watcher I (Federal permit 410565, O.N. 
1160720). The exemption zone would not include any Northeast 
multispecies or essential fish habitat year-round closure areas. This 
proposed exempted fishing activity would occur during the 2009 calendar 
year, using surfclam and ocean quahog quota allocated to Truex 
Enterprises under the Federal individual transferable quota (ITQ) 
program. The applicant has estimated a harvest of 176,000 bushels 
(9,370,240 L) of surfclams and 80,000 bushels (4,259,200 L) of ocean 
quahogs from the exemption area. The exemption area has been tested in 
cooperation with the FDA

[[Page 78318]]

from 2006 to the present. No samples collected during that time were 
above acceptable levels for saxotoxins (80microg toxin/100g of 
shellfish).
    The applicant has obtained endorsements for the EFP and the 
Protocol from the States of New Jersey and Delaware, the states in 
which it intends to land and process the product harvested under the 
EFP, respectively. Each state is responsible for regulating the 
molluscan shellfish industry within its jurisdiction and ensuring the 
safety of shellfish harvested within or entering its borders. This EFP 
would allow for an exemption from the Atlantic surfclam and ocean 
quahog GB Closure Area specified at 50 CFR 648.73(a)(4). The Protocol 
and the pilot project that would be authorized by this EFP have also 
since been endorsed by the executive board of the Interstate Shellfish 
Sanitation Conference.
    The applicants may request minor modifications and extensions to 
the EFP throughout the course of research. EFP modifications and 
extensions may be granted without further public notice if they are 
deemed essential to facilitate completion of the proposed research and 
result in only a minimal change in the scope or impacts of the 
initially approved EFP request.
    In accordance with NAO Administrative Order 216-6, a Categorical 
Exclusion or other appropriate NEPA document would be completed prior 
to the issuance of the EFP. Further review and consultation may be 
necessary before a final determination is made to issue the EFP. After 
publication of this document in the Federal Register, the EFP, if 
approved, may become effective following the public comment period.

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

    Dated: December 16, 2008.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E8-30336 Filed 12-19-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S