[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 149 (Friday, August 2, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46922-46923]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-18656]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XC786


Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act Provisions; 
General Provisions for Domestic Fisheries; Application for Exempted 
Fishing Permits

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

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable 
Fisheries, Northeast Region, NMFS (Assistant Administrator), has made a 
preliminary determination that an Exempted Fishing Permit Application 
contains all the required information and warrants further 
consideration. This Exempted Fishing Permit would exempt participating 
commercial fishing vessels from the escape vent, trap limits, and trap 
tag requirements of the Federal lobster regulations in order to help 
determine the abundance and distribution of juvenile American lobsters 
at the Massachusetts and Rhode Island offshore wind farm area. The 
research is being conducted by the Commercial Fisheries Research 
Foundation.
    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 Exempted Fishing Permits.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before August 19, 2013.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by any of the following 
methods:
     Email: [email protected]. Include in the subject line 
``Comments on CFRF Lobster EFP.''
     Mail: John K. Bullard, Regional Administrator, NMFS, NE 
Regional Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark 
the outside of the envelope ``Comments on CFRF Lobster EFP.''
     Fax: (978) 281-9135.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Maria Jacob, Environmental Technician, 
978-281-9180.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation 
(CFRF) submitted a complete application for an Exempted Fishing Permit 
on June 24, 2013. To conduct its research on the abundance and 
distribution of juvenile American lobster in Lobster Management Area 
(LMA) 2, the CFRF is requesting exemptions from the following Federal 
lobster regulations: (1) Gear specifications to allow for closed escape 
vents, as prohibited in 50 CFR 697.21(c)(2); (2) trap limits to be 
exceeded by 80 additional traps per fishing vessel, for a total of 240 
additional traps, as prohibited in Sec.  697.19(a)(2) for LMA 2; and 
(3) trap tag requirements, as specified in Sec.  697.19(f). Escape 
vents are designed to allow smaller, sublegal-sized lobsters to escape 
standard lobster traps; therefore, closed escape vents are necessary to 
target juvenile American lobsters and collect information on their 
abundance and distribution. Federal lobster regulations also limit the 
number of traps that each permit holder can fish, which is based on 
their permit qualification. Therefore, each participating vessel would 
need exemptions in order to fish the survey traps in excess of their 
trap allocation. The wind farm development area includes 24 lease 
blocks, and sampling would take place with 1 trawl of 10 traps per 
lease block, requiring 24 trawls of 10 traps (240 traps), or 80 traps 
per vessel. Federal lobster regulations also require a trap tag to be 
fixed to each active lobster trap; however, the survey traps will 
remain separate from each vessel's commercial fishing traps, and would 
be hauled during sampling trips only. Therefore, there is no need to 
have these survey traps fixed with the conventional lobster trap tags. 
Instead, there would be identification tags fixed to each trap for 
identification purposes.
    Funding for this pilot study would be provided through the Bureau 
of Ocean Energy Management. The proposed lobster sampling would take 
place outside of regular fishing activity, with one or two scientist(s) 
from the University of Rhode Island onboard each vessel. Gear would be 
set for a 5-day soak during regular commercial fishing trips, without a 
scientist onboard; however, no sampling would take place when survey 
gear is being set. If an EFP is granted, there would be an additional 
240 modified traps in the water for 6 consecutive months (May through 
October), and for a 2-year study period. Each participating vessel 
would have eight trawls with 10 traps per trawl, consisting of 6 vent-
less traps and 4 standard traps per trawl, for a total of 48 modified 
traps and 32 standard traps for each vessel, to be hauled after a 5-
night soak. The addition of 144 modified traps and 96 standard traps in

[[Page 46923]]

total for all three vessels would increase the total number of traps in 
the fishery by 240 traps, a negligible number when compared to the 
current number of lobster traps deployed in the fishery.
    Modifications to a conventional lobster trap would include a closed 
escape vent, a smaller mesh size, and a smaller entrance head. All 
lobsters retrieved from standard and modified traps would remain 
onboard for a short period of time to allow for sampling, after which 
they would be returned to the water.
    Biological information would be collected on all lobsters, 
including: Carapace length; sexual determination; cull status; and 
presence of eggs, v-notches, and shell disease. Bycatch species would 
also be kept onboard for enumeration, weight collection, and 
measurement.
    If approved, 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: July 30, 2013.
Emily H. Menashes,
Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-18656 Filed 8-1-13; 8:45 am]
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