[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 13 (Thursday, January 22, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3992-3993]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-1184]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XM62


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 application for exempted fishing permit.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces receipt of an exempted fishing permit 
(EFP) application from the North Pacific Fisheries Foundation. If 
granted, this permit would allow the applicant to collect approximately 
100 Pacific halibut caught in the non-pelagic trawl gear fishery for 
flatfish to evaluate the accuracy of two models for predicting delayed 
mortality of individual trawl caught halibut. This activity has the 
potential to promote the objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act, and the Pacific Halibut Act by 
assessing techniques for improving survival of halibut in non-pelagic 
trawl fisheries and improving the accuracy of estimates of halibut 
mortality. Comments will be accepted at the February 4-10, 2009, North 
Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) meeting in Seattle, WA.

DATES: Interested persons may comment on the EFP application during the 
Council's February 4-10, 2009, meeting in Seattle, WA.

ADDRESSES: The Council meeting will be held at the Renaissance Hotel, 
515 Madison Street, Seattle, WA.
    Copies of the EFP application and the basis for a categorical 
exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act are available by 
writing to the Alaska Region, NMFS, P. O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802, 
Attn: Ellen Sebastian. The application also is available from the 
Alaska Region, NMFS website at http://www.fakr.noaa.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeff Hartman, 907-586-7442 or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS manages the domestic groundfish 
fisheries in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) under the 
Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the BSAI (FMP), which the 
Council prepared under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act. Regulations governing the groundfish fisheries of the 
BSAI appear at 50 CFR parts 600 and 679. The FMP and the implementing 
regulations at Sec.  600.745(b) and Sec.  679.6 allow the NMFS Regional 
Administrator to authorize, for limited experimental purposes, fishing 
that would otherwise be prohibited. Procedures for issuing EFPs are 
contained in the implementing regulations.
    The International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) and NMFS manage 
fishing for Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) through 
regulations established under the authority of the Convention between 
the United States and Canada for the Preservation of the Halibut 
Fishery of the Northern Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea (Convention) and 
the Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1982 (Halibut Act). The IPHC 
promulgates regulations pursuant to the Convention. The IPHC's 
regulations are subject to approval by the Secretary of State with 
concurrence from the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary).
    NMFS has received an application for an EFP from the North Pacific 
Fisheries Foundation (NPFF). Under this EFP, the NPFF would evaluate 
methods for projecting survival of released halibut, which could 
improve NMFS's estimates of halibut mortality in the non-pelagic trawl 
gear fishery for flatfish and identify techniques for minimizing 
mortality of this species in trawl fisheries.

Background

    Regulations implemented by the IPHC allow Pacific halibut to be 
commercially harvested by the directed North Pacific longline fishery 
only. Halibut caught incidentally in other fisheries, such as non-
pelagic trawl fisheries, must be recorded and returned to the ocean as 
soon as possible. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council 
establishes a seasonal maximum biomass of halibut bycatch adjusted for 
the estimated halibut discard mortality factor for each non-halibut 
directed fishery. Fisheries close when they reach their seasonal 
mortality cap even if the catch of the target species is less than the 
seasonal quota for the directed

[[Page 3993]]

fishery. In the case of Bering Sea flatfish fisheries, seasons have 
been cut short by the halibut bycatch cap before the quotas have been 
reached. Accurately accounting for halibut in NMFS estimates of 
mortality and assuring that each halibut returned to the sea has the 
highest possible chance of survival are therefore high priorities for 
the IPHC's, the Council's, and NMFS's management goals for both halibut 
and groundfish.
    Before halibut are discarded at-sea, the catch must first be 
estimated by at-sea observers. In order to credibly account for halibut 
catch and to ensure that the catch and discard of halibut is observed, 
NMFS prohibits any removal of halibut from a cod end, bin, or 
conveyance system prior to being observed and enumerated by an at-sea 
observer.
    With the implementation of Amendment 80 to the FMP on September 14, 
2007 (72 FR 52668), allocation of halibut was modified for certain 
vessels, but halibut bycatch continued to limit fishing in some 
fisheries. The Amendment 80 sector received an initial allocation of 
2,525 mt of halibut bycatch mortality, but that allocation will 
decrease by 50 mt per year until it reaches 2,325 mt in 2012 and 
subsequent years. In certain years, this amount is less than the 
sector's historic catch; therefore, finding ways to accurately estimate 
halibut survival is important for this sector.
    This application for an EFP from NPFF proposes to study two methods 
for predicting halibut survival. It would allow researchers onboard a 
catcher processor vessel to collect approximately 100 halibut caught 
with non-pelagic trawl gear and evaluate a reflex action mortality 
predictor (RAMP) for predicting delayed mortality in individual trawl-
caught halibut. The RAMP method would be combined with and compared to 
the existing IPHC halibut mortality predictor currently used by 
observers. To assess and compare these two methods, halibut would be 
held in live tanks on a vessel and assessed by each method. The 
collection and holding of halibut in this manner requires an exemption 
from regulations that prohibit retention of halibut by trawl gear, and 
requiring that all halibut caught with this gear be released as soon as 
possible (Sec.  679.7(a)(12), and Sec.  679.21(b)(2)(ii)).
    This EFP would apply for the period of time required to complete 
the experiment during 2009, in areas open to directed fishing for 
flatfish. It would be of limited scope and duration and would not be 
expected to change the nature or duration of the groundfish fishery, 
fishing practices or gear used by this vessel, or the amount or species 
of fish caught.
    The activities that would be conducted under this EFP are not 
expected to have a significant impact on the human environment as 
detailed in the categorical exclusion issued for this action (see 
ADDRESSES).
    In accordance with Sec.  679.6, NMFS has determined that the 
proposal warrants further consideration and has forwarded the 
application to the Council to initiate consultation. The Council will 
consider the EFP application during its February 4-10, 2009, meeting, 
which will be held at the Renaissance Hotel in Seattle, Washington. The 
applicant has been invited to appear in support of the application.

Public Comments

    Interested persons may comment on the application at the February 
2009 Council meeting during public testimony. Information regarding the 
meeting is available at the Council's website at http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/npfmc/council.htm. Copies of the application and 
categorical exclusion are available for review from NMFS (see 
ADDRESSES).

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

    Dated: January 15, 2009.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E9-1184 Filed 1-21-09; 8:45 am]
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