[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 67 (Wednesday, April 8, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18821-18823]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-08056]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XD885


Magnuson-Stevens 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, Greater Atlantic Region, NMFS (Assistant Regional 
Administrator), has made a preliminary determination that an exempted 
fishing permit application contains all of the required information and 
warrants further consideration. This exempted fishing permit would 
allow up to three commercial fishing vessels to conduct exploratory 
fishing in year-round groundfish closed areas (Closed Areas I and II) 
for the purposes of obtaining fisheries dependent catch information. 
This research is being conducted by Atlantic Trawlers Fishing, Inc.
    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 April 23, 2015.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by any of the following 
methods:
     Email [email protected]. Include in the subject line 
``Comments on Exploratory Closed Area Fishing 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 Closed Area Exploratory 
Fishing EFP.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brett Alger, Fisheries Management 
Specialist, 978-675-2153, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In a 2014 proposed rule for Northeast 
Multispecies Sectors that would have allowed vessels using selective 
trawl gear into portions of year-round Georges Bank (GB) groundfish 
closed areas (CAs) I and II, we announced interest in gathering catch 
data from these areas through exempted fishing permits (EFPs) (79 FR 
14639, March 17, 2014). Because many of these areas have been closed to 
groundfish bottom trawling for nearly 20 years, fisheries dependent 
data collected through an EFP would help inform whether to allow 
conditional access to CAs I and II to sector vessels through the sector 
exemption process. Data from vessels operating under an EFP may be used 
to characterize catch rates of target and non-target species in the 
CAs, as well as help inform industry on the economic feasibility of 
industry-funded monitoring for trips into CAs I and II.
    In April 2014, we announced our intention to issue an EFP to 
Atlantic Trawlers Fishing, Inc. (79 FR 23940,

[[Page 18822]]

April 29, 2014). In May 2014, an EFP was issued that authorized vessels 
to fish inside portions of groundfish CA I and CA II during specified 
times of the fishing year. For more details on the original application 
and objectives of this EFP, reference last year's notice or visit 
http://www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/mediacenter/2014/EFPsgroundfish_closed_areas.html. Additionally, for preliminary catch 
information from Atlantic Trawlers Fishing, Inc., visit http://www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/aps/monitoring/nemultispecies.html.
    Due to several factors, including catch rates, time and area access 
to CAs I and II, and weather, only 12 trips were taken under the EFP in 
fishing year 2014. Because there were a limited amount of trips and, 
therefore, not enough information to make a determination on whether or 
not to approve access to CAs I and II through the sector exemption 
process, we did not approve access for sectors in fishing year 2014. 
Additionally, we did not propose to allow sector vessels access to CAs 
I and II for fishing year 2015 (80 FR 12380, March 19, 2015), however, 
Atlantic Trawlers Fishing, Inc., has requested an EFP renewal for 
fishing year 2015 to continue collecting data under the same exemptions 
as their previous EFP.
    Atlantic Trawlers Fishing, Inc., seeks to address five objectives 
as follows: (1) Generate data on the composition of catch, including 
presence and absence of target (e.g., GB haddock) and non-target 
species; (2) test the effectiveness of utilizing gear comparable to the 
Canadian haddock fishery on GB (e.g., haddock separator trawl with 5.1-
inch (13-cm) square mesh codend) to improve haddock selectivity, catch 
ratios, and improved annual catch limit (ACL) utilization rates; (3) 
collect data to examine the economic feasibility of an industry funded 
monitoring program for CA trips; (4) test the effectiveness of 
providing access to portions of the existing CAs for improving 
utilization rates of GB haddock; and (5) collect information from CAs I 
and II so that we may conduct analyses to determine whether fishing can 
be allowed at a level of observer coverage of less than 100 percent, 
should an exemption be considered and approved.
    To fulfill these objectives, three vessels would be allowed to use 
nets with either a haddock separator trawl or a Ruhle trawl, fitted 
with either a 6-inch (15.2-cm) diamond mesh codend (currently allowed 
in the fishery) or a 5.1-inch (13-cm) square mesh codend (not currently 
allowed in the fishery). The applicant claims that the 5.1-inch (13-cm) 
square mesh codend will improve their ability to target legal-size 
haddock while maintaining the ability to filter out small non-target 
catch, including sub-legal haddock. Preliminary results indicate that 
the two codends have similar selectivity characteristics, but 
additional replicates are needed. In addition, for sampling purposes, 
vessels would be authorized to temporarily retain sub-legal fish, and 
fish in excess of possession limits. All undersized fish and fish in 
excess of possession limits would be discarded as soon as practicable 
following data collection. All three vessels would be accompanied by a 
technician with an at-sea monitor certification and equipped with echo 
sounders that operate on multiple frequencies, which provide the 
capability of revealing fish size distribution and bottom hardness.
    For CA I, vessels would have access from May 1, 2015, through 
February 15, 2016, but would not be given access to areas within CA I 
that are existing Habitat Management Areas. Additionally, vessels would 
not be given access to areas that are Habitat Management Area 
alternatives contained in the Council's draft Omnibus Habitat Amendment 
as of April 30, 2015. We have raised concerns about spawning of 
groundfish in CA I from January 1 to February 15, but Atlantic Trawlers 
Fishing, Inc., has requested access for this period to collect 
information to address questions about spawning fish.
    For CA II, vessels would have access from May 1, 2015, through June 
15, 2015, and then from November 1, 2015, through February 15, 2016, 
but would not be given access to areas within CA II that are existing 
Habitat Management Areas. Additionally, vessels would not be given 
access to areas that are Habitat Management Area alternatives contained 
in the Council's draft Omnibus Habitat Amendment as of April 30, 2015. 
Similar to CA I, we have raised concerns about spawning of groundfish 
in CA II from January 1 to February 15, but Atlantic Trawlers Fishing, 
Inc., has requested access for this period to collect information to 
address questions about spawning fish. The dates for CA II access 
reflect an agreement between sector trawl fishermen and the lobster 
industry to avoid gear conflicts. Atlantic Trawlers Fishing, Inc., 
would not access portions of CA II from June 15 through November 1, the 
time period that the lobster industry is allowed access.
    Atlantic Trawlers Fishing, Inc., requests issuance of the EFP for 
the entire fishing year in order to use a smaller mesh codend 
throughout the year, but access to the closed areas would be for only 
portions of the year. Fishing effort under the EFP would be heavily 
dependent upon operational decisions dictating whether to fish within 
CAs I and II, as compared to outside the areas. As previously 
described, Atlantic Trawlers Fishing, Inc., has stated that the 
directed haddock fishery is highly dynamic and requires a high degree 
of mobility. If approved, the three participating vessels would focus 
on the directed haddock fishery throughout the study period, and make 
tows both inside and outside the CAs on the same trip. Vessel tow 
duration would vary from 30 minutes to 3 hours, and tow time and speed 
would be at the discretion of the vessel operator. However, in order to 
conduct statistical comparisons between meshes or areas, the vessels 
would be required to conduct some tows in a specific sequence and for a 
specified amount of time. While this may be disruptive to the 
commercial enterprise, it would ensure that codend comparison data are 
representative of the fishery and can be used to inform any potential 
future management decisions. Trawling would occur up to 18 hours per 
fishing day, an average trip would last seven days (five days fishing 
and two days steaming), and there would be an average of three trips 
total, per month. Under the EFP in fishing year 2014, this would have 
resulted in approximately 72 trips, however, Atlantic Trawlers Fishing, 
Inc., only took the 12 trips. Under the renewed EFP, vessels would be 
limited to the remaining amount of trips (i.e., 60), but anticipate 
taking far fewer than that amount.
    All legal sized fish will be landed and sold with all proceeds 
retained by the vessel owner. All three vessels are members of the 
Sustainable Harvest Sector (SHS) and all catch of allocated stocks 
(e.g., haddock, cod) would be accounted for under the annual catch 
entitlements (ACEs) of the SHS. If the SHS exceeds its ACE for an 
allocated stock, it would need to lease in additional ACE in order to 
continue fishing.
    If approved, Atlantic Trawlers Fishing, Inc., 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.


[[Page 18823]]


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

    Dated: April 3, 2015.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-08056 Filed 4-7-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P