[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 54 (Monday, March 23, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12113-12115]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-6350]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XN80


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.

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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 Best Use Cooperative (BUC). If granted, this 
permit would allow three BUC vessels to remove halibut from a codend on 
the deck, and release those fish back to the water after determining 
the physical condition of the halibut with the International Pacific 
Halibut Commission method for predicting halibut mortality. The EFP 
would allow operators of BUC non-pelagic trawl vessels to study methods 
for reducing halibut mortality in trawl fisheries by evaluating various 
fishing and handling practices. This activity has the potential to 
promote the objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act by assessing techniques for reducing halibut discard 
mortality in non-pelagic trawl fisheries. Comments will be accepted at 
the April 1 to April 7, 2009, North Pacific Fishery Management Council 
(Council) meeting in Anchorage, AK.

DATES: Interested persons may comment on the EFP application during the 
Council's April 1 to April 7, 2009, meeting in Anchorage, AK.

ADDRESSES: The Council meeting will be held at the Hilton Hotel, 500 
West Third Avenue, Anchorage, AK.
    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://alaskafisheries.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 Management Area (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 from the Best Use Cooperative 
(BUC) for an EFP that would allow them to evaluate methods to improve 
discard survival of incidentally caught halibut. This study could 
assist that sector in reducing halibut mortality in the non-pelagic 
trawl gear fishery.

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 sampled by observers, and returned to 
the ocean as soon as possible. Regulations implementing the FMP 
establish annual halibut bycatch mortality limits, also referred to as 
halibut prohibited species catch (PSC) limit, for the groundfish 
fisheries. Fisheries close when they reach their seasonal or annual 
halibut PSC limit even if the allowable catch of groundfish is not yet 
caught. In the case of the Bering Sea flatfish fishery, seasons have 
been closed before the fishery quotas have been reached to prevent the 
fishery from reaching the halibut PSC limit. Reducing halibut 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 returned to the sea, the catch of halibut as 
well as other groundfish must first be estimated by at-sea observers. A 
number of regulations assure that observer estimates of halibut and 
groundfish catch are credible, accurate, and without bias. For example, 
NMFS requires that all catch be made available for sampling by an 
observer; prohibits tampering with observer samples; prohibits removal 
of halibut from a cod end, bin, or conveyance system prior to being 
observed and counted by an at-sea observer; and prohibits fish 
(including halibut) from remaining on deck unless an observer is 
present.
    With the implementation of Amendment 80 to the FMP on September 14, 
2007 (72 FR 52668), allocation of halibut PSC amounts was modified for 
vessels in the Amendment 80 sector, but halibut mortality continued to 
limit fishing in some fisheries. The Amendment 80 sector received an 
initial allocation of 2,525 metric tons (mt) of halibut PSC in 2008, 
but that allocation will decrease by 50 mt per year until it reaches 
2,325 mt in 2012 and subsequent years. This amount is further allocated 
between the BUC and the Amendment 80 limited access fishery. In certain 
years, this amount of halibut PSC allocated to the Amendment 80 sector 
is less than the sector's historic catch; therefore, finding ways to 
continue to improve halibut survival is important for this sector.
    The EFP applicant proposes to assess various fishing practices and 
their effect on halibut survival. It would allow researchers onboard 
the three catcher processor vessels to sort halibut removed from a 
codend on the deck of the vessel, and release those fish back to the 
water after determining the physical condition of the halibut using 
standard IPHC viability methods for predicting mortality of individual 
fish. Fishing under the EFP would occur in two phases during 2009. In 
May and June, Phase I fishing would allow sorting of halibut on deck to 
determine practices for reducing halibut mortality. Later in the year, 
Phase II would apply the halibut mortality saved in Phase I to allow 
additional EFP catch of groundfish and halibut within the BUC's 
allocation.
    This proposed action would exempt the participating vessels from:
    1. the prohibition to conduct any fishing when the fishery is 
closed due to reaching the limit for halibut Prohibited Species Catch 
(PSC) under Sec.  679.7(a)(2);
    2. the prohibition to bias the sampling procedure employed by an 
observer through sorting of catch before sampling, at Sec.  
679.7(g)(2);
    3. the prohibition to exceed an amount of halibut cooperative quota 
(CQ) assigned to an Amendment 80 cooperative at Sec.  679.7(o)(4)(v);
    4. a requirement to weigh all catch by an Amendment 80 vessel on a 
NMFS-approved scale at Sec.  679.27(j)(5)(ii);
    5. the requirement for all catch to be made available for sampling 
at Sec.  679.93(c)(1); and

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    6. the requirement for halibut to not be allowed on deck without an 
observer present at Sec.  679.93(c)(5).
    The exemptions to Sec.  679.7(a)(2) and (o)(4) would be needed only 
if the BUC were to reach the 2009 Amendment 80 cooperative 
apportionment of halibut mortality (1,793 mt). In the event that BUC 
reaches this amount, the BUC's directed fishery for groundfish would 
close. If the amount of halibut mortality savings estimated under this 
EFP shows less mortality than the amount estimated using standard 2009 
halibut discard mortality rates established for the Bering Sea trawl 
fisheries (February 17, 2009, 74 FR 7333), BUC may be allowed to 
continue fishing for groundfish species later in the year, with some 
limitations. The BUC would be required to submit a report to NMFS and 
the IPHC of the estimated halibut mortality saved during the Phase I 
agency review and determination of halibut savings. After review and 
approval by NMFS, the BUC may be allowed to do subsequent EFP fishing 
at the end of the year as Phase II fishing under the EFP. The BUC would 
be limited to no more than the BUC's Amendment 80 groundfish 
allocation. The additional amount of halibut caught would not exceed 
the amount of the halibut mortality savings under the EFP, or BUC's 
2009 allocation of halibut PSC.
    This EFP would apply for the period of time required to complete 
the experiment in Phase I and potentially in subsequent fishing in 
Phase II, during 2009, in areas of the BSAI open to directed fishing by 
the BUC. The EFP activities 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, or the amount or 
species of fish caught by the BUC.
    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 April 2009 meeting, which will 
be held at the Hilton Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska. The applicant has 
been invited to appear in support of the application.

Public Comments

    Interested persons may comment on the application at the April 2009 
Council meeting during public testimony. Information regarding the 
meeting is available at the Council's website at http://alaskafisheries.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: March 17, 2009.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E9-6350 Filed 3-20-09; 8:45 am]
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