[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 121 (Wednesday, June 24, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36323-36325]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-15522]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XD986


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 NMFS Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable 
Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Region, has made a preliminary 
determination that an Exempted Fishing Permit application from the 
University of Rhode Island contains all of the required information and 
warrants further consideration. Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the Atlantic Coastal 
Fisheries Cooperative Management Act require publication of this 
notification to provide interested parties the opportunity to comment 
on Exempted Fishing Permit applications.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 9, 2015.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by any of the following 
methods:
     Email: [email protected]. Include in the subject line 
``Comments on URI Bycatch Study EFP.''
     Mail: John K. Bullard, Regional Administrator, NMFS, 
Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, 
Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside of the envelope ``Comments on 
URI Bycatch Study EFP.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Allison Murphy, Fishery Policy 
Analyst, 978-281-9122.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The University of Rhode Island (URI) 
submitted a complete application for an Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) 
to conduct a 1-year lobster trap study that Federal regulations would 
otherwise restrict. The purpose of this study is to provide data on the 
effect of alternative escape vent designs on Jonah crab and lobster 
catch in an attempt to improve the retention of Jonah crabs while not 
increasing catch of sub-legal lobsters. This EFP proposes to test the 
modified vents over a wide range of Federal waters throughout Lobster 
Management Areas 2 and 3, covering statistical areas 515, 521, 526, 
537, and 616 (see Figure 1).
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[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN24JN15.002

    Site selection would be based on each vessel's commercial fishing 
habits. URI is conducting this study to field test laboratory 
hypotheses that vents smaller than the minimum 5\3/4\-inch (14.61-cm) 
regulatory size will allow for greater retention of Jonah crab without 
increasing lobster mortality. This is in response to the development of 
a draft Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Jonah Crab that proposes 
a range of legal harvest width alternatives from no minimum size to 5.5 
inches (13.97 cm). These proposed minimum sizes are smaller than the 
legal vent size length of 5\3/4\ inches (14.61 cm) for Federal lobster 
gear. Funding for this lobster trap escape vent study is provided by a 
2014 NOAA Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program grant.
    URI is requesting exemptions from the following regulations to 
allow commercial lobster vessels to set, haul, and retain on-board the 
experimental traps:

[[Page 36325]]

     Trap limit requirements to allow each vessel to fish 15 
traps more than each vessel's allocation,
     Gear specification requirements to allow for the use of 
smaller than required and closed escape vents, and
     Trap tag requirements to allow for untagged traps.
    Each vessel will use five each of the three modified traps for 
sampling: Ventless; smaller vent length of 3\1/2\ inches (8.89 cm); and 
smaller vent length of 3\9/16\ inches (9.05 inches).
    The EFP would authorize participating vessels to deploy up to three 
modified traps within their normal trawl configuration, not to exceed a 
total deployment of 15 modified traps across all trawls, per vessel. 
Traps will be hauled during normal commercial fishing activity, at 
least bi-monthly over the course of six months, up to one year. Catch 
from modified traps will be held briefly on-board vessels to record 
measurements and sex of crabs and lobster, trap vent type, and soak 
time. After data are recorded, the applicant states that all catch from 
modified traps will be promptly discarded and no catch from modified 
traps would be retained for sale. All catch data would be collected by 
the vessel captain and crew.
    If approved, URI may request minor modifications and extensions to 
the EFP throughout the study. 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: June 19, 2015.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-15522 Filed 6-23-15; 8:45 am]
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