[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 128 (Thursday, July 3, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38013-38014]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-15708]



[[Page 38013]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XD186


Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; 
Reef Fish Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico; Exempted Fishing Permit

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

ACTION: Notice of receipt of an application for an exempted fishing 
permit; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the receipt of an application for an exempted 
fishing permit (EFP) from the Alabama Charter Fishing Association 
cooperative (ACFAC). The ACFAC proposes to evaluate the efficacy of an 
allocation-based management system, using a limited number of charter 
vessels in a 2-year pilot study. This study, to be conducted in the 
exclusive economic zone of the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf), is intended to 
assess whether such a system can better achieve conservation goals 
established in the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Resources 
of the Gulf of Mexico; evaluate the effectiveness of a more timely 
electronic data reporting system; and evaluate the potential social and 
economic benefits of an alternative management strategy for the charter 
vessel segment of the recreational fishing sector within the Gulf reef 
fish fishery.

DATES: Comments must be received no later than August 4, 2014.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the application, identified by 
``RIN 0648-XD186'', by any of the following methods:
     Email: [email protected]. Include in the 
subject line of the email comment the following document identifier: 
``ACFAC EFP''.
     Mail: Steve Branstetter, Southeast Regional Office, NMFS, 
263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.
    The application and related documents are available for review upon 
written request to any of the above addresses.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steve Branstetter, 727-824-5305; 
email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The EFP is requested under the authority of 
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 
1801 et seq.) (Magnuson-Stevens Act), and regulations at 50 CFR 
600.745(b) concerning exempted fishing.

Overall Program Concept

    The described research program is being proposed by selected 
members of the Alabama (AL) charter vessel fleet in the Gulf reef fish 
fishery. A charter vessel is a for-hire vessel that charges a fee on a 
vessel basis. The ACFAC seeks to conduct a pilot study to evaluate the 
efficacy of an allocation-based management strategy, which if proven 
successful, could potentially be implemented by the Gulf of Mexico 
Fishery Management Council (Council) for the entire reef fish charter 
vessel fleet in the Gulf.
    Currently, charter vessels operate under a common set of management 
measures, such as recreational bag limits, size limits, and open 
fishing seasons. According to the ACFAC, regulatory responses to 
overharvesting of reef fish in the recreational sector and the need for 
more timely harvest data have resulted in shorter fishing seasons, 
reduced bag limits, and other factors that make it difficult to operate 
successful charter vessel businesses. Because charter vessel operators 
can now only fish for certain species during brief seasons in each 
year, there are increased regulatory discards during the closed 
seasons, and boats often lose out on potential customers during periods 
of high tourist traffic along the Gulf coast that do not coincide with 
those open fishing seasons. In addition, even long-time customers are 
losing confidence that if they book a charter vessel trip in advance, 
the fishing seasons for their target reef fish species will be open 
when their fishing trip occurs. This lack of certainty makes customers 
reluctant to book charter vessel fishing trips.
    The ACFAC is requesting that they be issued an EFP authorizing 
their members to harvest a specific amount of red snapper anytime 
during the 2015 and 2016 fishing years. Membership in the ACFAC would 
be open to all active Alabama licensed charter for-hire entities that 
also possess a valid Federal Gulf charter/headboat for reef fish 
permit. Currently, the ACFAC has identified approximately 90 for-hire 
vessels that would be eligible to participate. The amount of fish that 
would be authorized for harvest by the ACFAC would be based on a 
percentage of AL charter vessels' red snapper landings relative to the 
total Gulf-wide red snapper landings for the 2011, 2012, and 2013 
fishing years. All landings would be determined by NMFS. That 
percentage would then be applied to the 2015 and 2016 red snapper 
recreational quota to determine the amount of red snapper authorized 
under the EFP to be harvested by the ACFAC.
    The ACFAC would be responsible for distributing the allotted fish 
to individual charter vessels in the program. Final distribution would 
be in numbers of fish, and associated poundage, calculated from the 
proportional landings data, which are reported in weight. The ACFAC 
would then be responsible for reporting their landings electronically 
to the NMFS Southeast Regional Office.
    NMFS would establish an electronic account for the ACFAC manager 
before the start of the 2015 fishing season. Vessel accounts would also 
be established by NMFS for each vessel participating in the EFP. NMFS 
would provide the ACFAC Manager and participating Federal Gulf charter/
headboat for reef fish permit holders each with a unique UserID and 
Personal Identification Number (PIN) to log-in to their accounts. The 
amount of fish authorized for harvest under the EFP would be deposited 
in the ACFAC manager's electronic account on January 1, each year. The 
ACFAC manager would then transfer fish to and from charter vessel 
accounts. The number of fish each vessel receives would be determined 
by the ACFAC and not NMFS. Vessel account holders would be able to view 
the number of fish available for harvest at any point in time through 
their account. Landed fish would be deducted from the vessel account 
after each recorded trip. After all fish have been harvested, the 
vessel would either need to obtain additional fish from the ACFAC 
manager to continue landing fish or no longer harvest red snapper for 
the remainder of the fishing year.

Data Collection and Reporting

    The ACFAC has proposed to provide a transparent real-time 
monitoring system. All vessels in the program would be required to 
purchase, install, activate, and maintain a Vessel Monitoring System 
(VMS) unit in accordance with NMFS Office of Law Enforcement 
procedures. A participating captain would ``hail out'' using the VMS 
device or by telephone as the vessel leaves the dock, notifying NMFS of 
the fishing trip. In return, the captain would receive a confirmation 
number for that particular trip. When returning to port, the vessel 
would be required to ``hail in'' using the VMS or by telephone at least 
1 hour prior to landing, alerting law enforcement and port agents to 
his/her return. This would provide sufficient notice to allow a 
dockside intercept if deemed

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necessary by enforcement and charter vessel port samplers.
    Landings would be reported at the end of the trip using a software 
application (iSnapper) developed by Texas A&M University's Harte 
Research Institute. The software application was pilot-tested by the 
for-hire fleet in the Gulf during 2011 and 2012. Before returning to 
the dock, the charter vessel captain would enter the number of red 
snapper retained during the trip, approximate GPS location to identify 
fishing zones, and social and economic information regarding the 
customers on each trip. At the end of the trip, the captain would use 
the iSnapper data to print out a receipt for each individual customer, 
which would include summary information, such as species and number of 
fish landed, the date of the trip, and the name of the vessel. This 
receipt would be used at the dock to track the fish that had been 
landed on the ACFAC vessel participating in the EFP.
    By using this electronic reporting methodology, the ACFAC would 
maintain a real-time, internet-based tracking system to ensure 
accounting of each red snapper landed. The data would be collected on 
remote servers and sent to NMFS. The ACFAC would maintain an electronic 
account with NMFS, specifying the numbers of red snapper that could be 
landed. As fish are landed, they would be deducted from the charter 
vessel's account. Finally, charter vessel captains, if selected, would 
continue submitting completed NMFS logbook data as required in 50 CFR 
622.5.

Socio-Economic Study

    The pilot project, if approved, offers an opportunity to evaluate 
the impacts of an alternative management system on the economic 
performance of the Gulf reef fish charter vessel industry. It also 
provides a valuable opportunity to customize data collection to 
maximize usefulness of the data for answering important management 
questions. Academic researchers, in collaboration with the ACFAC, would 
conduct a socio-economic study of the anticipated effects of the change 
in charter vessel cooperative management using currently available data 
sources. Simultaneously, the academic researchers and the ACFAC would 
develop additional survey instruments to gather economic data for a 
post-EFP analysis of the effects of the pilot project on ACFAC vessels 
after its first and second years. Data collection would emphasize post-
EFP impacts of the pilot project. A partial list of impacts to assess 
in the study includes:
    1. How has the pilot project changed the temporal and spatial 
distributions of fishing by ACFAC members?
    2. How has the number of anglers/customers changed as a result of 
ACFAC members being able to better target their trips to the 
seasonality of demand specific to red snapper?
    3. Do charter vessel owners utilize increased flexibility to 
provide a more differentiated recreational product to customers?
    4. How has the pilot project affected the cost and net revenue 
associated with a representative trip?
    Data collection would include trip-level catch and effort 
characteristics (e.g., retained and discarded catch, spatial location, 
and number of customers), trip and season-level variable revenues and 
costs (e.g., trip pricing, gear, bait, ice, fuel, and maintenance 
expenditures), and labor employment and compensation information. Many 
trip-level data would be collected using the iSnapper application, 
whereas seasonal data would be collected through supplementary survey 
instruments.
    Section 303A(c)(6)(D), 16 U.S.C. 1853a(c)(6)(D), of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act, requires a referendum to approve or implement a fishery 
management plan or plan amendment that creates an IFQ program for any 
species in the Gulf. Although the allocation-based system requested by 
the ACFAC might reasonably be considered to create such an IFQ program, 
the mere issuance of an EFP to test the program on a limited basis does 
not trigger the referendum requirement. The statutory language is 
explicit that the referendum is only required to approve a fishery 
management plan or plan amendment that would implement such a program. 
An EFP is neither a fishery management plan nor a plan amendment, and 
does not implement any new requirements for all or a portion of 
recreational participants. If issued, the EFP would only establish 
specific requirements for the members of the voluntary ACFAC who have 
requested the EFP. Therefore, NMFS has determined that no referendum is 
required.
    Currently, the recreational red snapper fishing season begins on 
June 1 of each year, and is closed when NMFS projects the recreational 
quota will be landed. As noted above, the recreational seasons have 
become shorter each year, impacting the ability of charter vessels to 
operate in an efficient and economically viable manner. If this EFP is 
authorized, identified Gulf reef fish charter vessels in the ACFAC 
would be able to use their allocation to fish during the open 
recreational season, but also would be able to select days outside the 
designated season where they could use their red snapper allocation to 
meet specific customer demands. Nevertheless, in accordance with 
section 407(d)(1) (16 U.S.C. 1883(d)) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, when 
NMFS determines the recreational red snapper fishing quota is reached, 
NMFS is required to prohibit the retention of red snapper caught during 
the rest of the fishing year. Should NMFS determine that the 
recreational red snapper quota is reached prior to the end of the 2015 
or 2016 fishing year, including consideration of fish already harvested 
by the ACFAC, charter vessels participating under the EFP would have to 
cease retaining red snapper, even if the ACFAC still has allocation of 
red snapper available.
    NMFS finds this application does warrant further consideration. 
Possible conditions the agency may impose on this permit, if it is 
indeed granted, include but are not limited to, a prohibition of 
conducting research within marine protected areas, marine sanctuaries, 
or special management zones, without additional authorization. A report 
on the research would be due at the end of the collection period, to be 
submitted to NMFS and reviewed by the Council.
    NMFS specifically solicits comments from the public regarding the 
appropriateness of the potential number of vessels that would be 
eligible to participate in the pilot study authorized by the EFP and on 
the economic effects to the surrounding communities if the EFP were to 
be issued.
    A final decision on issuance of the EFP will depend on NMFS's 
review of public comments received on the application, the Council's 
recommendation, consultations with the affected states, and the U.S. 
Coast Guard, as well as a determination that it is consistent with all 
applicable laws.

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

    Dated: June 30, 2014.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-15708 Filed 7-2-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P