[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 1 (Friday, January 2, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30-31]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-30781]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XD625


Fisheries Off West Coast States; Pacific Coast Groundfish 
Fishery; Application for an Exempted Fishing Permit

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

ACTION: Notice; receipt of EFP applications; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the receipt of exempted fishing permit (EFP) 
applications, and is considering issuance of EFPs for vessels 
participating in the EFP fisheries. The EFPs are necessary to allow 
activities that are otherwise prohibited by Federal regulations. The 
EFPs will be effective no earlier than April 1, 2015, and will be for a 
minimum duration of two years unless there is a need to extend the EFP 
to collect more information or the need for the EFP no longer exists 
because appropriate regulations have been implemented. These EFPs can 
be terminated earlier under terms and conditions of the EFPs and other 
applicable laws.

DATES: Comments must be received no later than 5 p.m., local time on 
January 17, 2014.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by 0648-XD625, by any 
one of the following methods:
     Email: [email protected].
     FAX: 206-526-6736, Attn: Steve Freese.
     Mail: William W. Stelle, Regional Administrator, West 
Coast Region, NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way NE., Seattle, WA 98115-0070, 
Attn: Steve Freese.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To view copies of the Electronic 
Monitoring EFP applications, visit the Pacific Council Web site at 
www.pcouncil.org and browse the ``June 2014 Briefing Book'' and the 
``Trawl Catch Share Program Electronic Monitoring''; or contact Steve 
Freese (West Coast Region, NMFS), phone 206-526-6113, fax: 206-526-
6736.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This action is authorized by the Pacific 
Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act provisions at 50 CFR 600.745, 
which states that EFPs may be used to authorize fishing activities that 
would otherwise be prohibited. At the June 2014 Pacific Fishery 
Management Council (Council) meeting in Garden Grove, California, the 
Council considered applications for four revised EFPs from: (1) The 
California Risk Pool; (2) Michele Longo Eder; (3) Peter Leipzig; and 
(4) Heather Mann and Brent Paine. An opportunity for public testimony 
was provided during the June 2014 Council meeting. For more details on 
these EFP applications and to view copies of the applications, see the 
Pacific Council's Web site at www.pcouncil.org and browse the ``June 
2014 Briefing Book''. The Council recommended that NMFS consider 
issuing the following EFPs, and that those EFPs be used to test EM in 
the fisheries in a limited capacity with some additional permit 
conditions for possible use in 2015 and beyond.

California Risk Pool EFP

    The California Risk Pool (which includes the Fort Bragg Groundfish 
Association, the Half Moon Bay Groundfish Marketing Association, and 
the Central California Seafood Marketing Association) submitted an 
application for an EFP, along with their collaborators: The 
Environmental Defense Fund (EDF); and The Nature Conservancy. Seven 
vessels will participate in this EFP: Three from the fixed gear sector 
and four from the trawl sector. Sarah McTee of the Environmental 
Defense Fund and Lisa Damrosch of the Half Moon Bay Groundfish 
Marketing Association are the points of contact for this EFP.

Fixed Gear EFP

    The applicants participating in this EFP are trawl-permitted, fixed 
gear fishermen (Bob Eder, John Corbin and Burton C. Parker, Sr.) using 
pots or longlines. The primary purpose of the EFP is to test monitoring 
catch and discard via an EM system without 100 percent observers 
coverage as currently required by law. Michele Longo Eder is the point 
of contact for this EFP.

Peter Leipzig EFP

    The fishermen that would participate in this EFP are bottom trawl 
fishermen.

[[Page 31]]

The primary purpose of the EFP is to test the use of EM equipment in 
lieu of an observer and to evaluate components of an overall EM program 
before implementation of a comprehensive regulatory program. Peter 
Leipzig of the Fishermen's Marketing Association is the point of 
contact for this EFP.

Heather Mann and Brent Paine EFP

    The vessels participating in this EFP are mid-water trawls that 
fish in the shoreside and mothership whiting fishery. The primary 
purpose of the EFP is to determine whether utilizing cameras in lieu of 
human observers proves both cost effective and operationally effecting 
while still providing 100 percent monitoring of catch and discards. 
Heather Mann of the Midwater Trawlers Cooperative and Brent Paine of 
the United Catcher Boats are the points of contact for this EFP.

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

    Dated: December 29, 2014.
James P. Burgess,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-30781 Filed 12-31-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P