[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 36 (Wednesday, February 24, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9170-9171]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-03760]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XE463


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.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable 
Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Region, NMFS, 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 exempt commercial fishing vessels from 
Atlantic sea scallop regulations in support of research conducted by 
the Coonamessett Farm 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 March 10, 2016.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by any of the following 
methods:
     Email: [email protected]. Include in the subject line 
``DA15-084 CFF Resource Enhancement 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 
DA15-030 CFF Resource Enhancement Study EFP.''
     Fax: (978) 281-9135.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shannah Jaburek, Fisheries Management 
Specialist, 978-282-8456.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NOAA Fisheries awarded the Coonamesset Farm 
Foundation (CFF) a grant through the 2015 Atlantic sea scallop research 
set-aside (RSA) program, in support of a project titled, ``Habitat 
Characterization and Sea Scallop Resource Enhancement Study in a 
Proposed Habitat Research Area-Year Three.'' CFF has also submitted a 
proposal for a project of similar design for consideration under the 
2016 Atlantic sea scallop RSA program titled ``Drivers of Dispersal and 
Retention in Recently Seeded Sea Scallops.'' Final project selections 
for the 2016 scallop RSA program are still to be determined and grant 
funding is expected sometime in March 2016. CFF submitted a complete 
application for an EFP for both projects on November 12, 2015. The main 
objectives for these projects are:
    1. Perform a seeding operation and monitor environmental conditions 
before and after seeding;
    2. Test a new cost-effective technique for marking and tracking 
seed scallops by size class;
    3. Monitor transplanted scallops using an autonomous underwater 
vehicle (AUV) to quantify scallop and predator densities, dispersal 
rates, and survival; and
    4. Investigate the different seedbed characteristics to provide 
insight into factors behind transplant success or failure.
    Each project would transplant scallops from areas of high 
concentration to areas of lower concentration that were historically 
known to have high scallop densities, to demonstrate the feasibility of 
a reseeding program to enhance and stabilize scallop recruitment on 
Georges Bank. The Exempted Fishing Permit would exempt participating 
vessels from Atlantic sea scallop days-at-sea allocations at 50 CFR 
648.53(b); crew size restrictions at Sec.  648.51(c); Atlantic sea 
scallop observer program requirements at Sec.  648.11(g); and closed 
area exemptions for Nantucket Lightship at Sec.  648.58(c). It would 
also exempt participating vessels from the access area program 
requirements at Sec.  648.60(a)(4), which would allow them to transit 
in and out of the access areas from the open area, as well as from the 
50 bushel in-shell scallop possession limit outside of an access area 
found at Sec.  648.52(f). Finally the Exempted Fishing Permit would 
exempt vessels from possession limits and minimum fish size 
requirements specified in 50 CFR part 648, subsections B and D through 
O, for sampling purposes and to retain any yellowtail flounder showing 
signs of disease for further shore side analysis.
    Three dredging trips would collect and transplant roughly 10,000 to 
15,000 scallops. One trip would support the 2015 project and two trips 
would support the proposed 2016 project. Dredging trips would be 
conducted utilizing a single vessel starting in March 2016 for the 2015 
project, and April through May 2016 for the 2016 project if funded. The 
juvenile scallops would be harvested from the southeast portion of 
Nantucket Lightship Access Area (NLAA) to suitable sites in an 
alternate area of NLAA or a suitable site on Cox's Ledge. The projects 
define a suitable site as having currents less than 3 knots (~1 m/s) 
and large areas of coarse substrate preferred by scallops.
    The vessel would tow two standard 15-foot (4.57-meter) wide dredges 
with a 4-inch (10.16-cm) ring bag for up to 10 minutes at 4.5 knots. To 
harvest all of the scallops, the applicant estimates they would need to 
complete approximately 25 tows. Once the catch is on deck, the scallops 
would be sorted by size class, marked with an appropriately colored 
reflective tape to aid with post-seeding monitoring, and stored in fish 
totes with a chilled seawater flow through system. All harvesting and 
tagging would occur during nighttime hours to reduce stress on the 
scallops. Once the vessel reaches the reseeding site, the vessel would 
anchor up to allow for a controlled placement, and researchers will 
lower the scallops to the ocean bottom for a targeted density of two 
scallops per square meter. A bottom marker would also be released with 
each scallop placement to locate the original site enabling researchers 
to note any scallop movement.
    One bushel from each tow would be measured for size frequency and 
15 individual scallops would be sampled for meat weights to determine 
shell height/meat weight ratios prior to transplanting. Any finfish 
caught in the dredge that show signs of abnormalities would have a 
small biopsy of the area

[[Page 9171]]

removed and preserved in a vial with formalin and the carcass would be 
placed in a ziplock bag and stored on ice. Researchers would continue 
gathering information on the prevalence of the disease Ichthyophonus 
seen locally in yellowtail flounder. Anticipated bycatch for both 
projects is listed in the table below.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                          Minimum bycatch                 Maximum bycatch
                     Species                     ---------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       (lb)            (kg)            (lb)            (kg)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scallop.........................................          12,000           5,443          15,075           6,838
Yellowtail Flounder.............................             140              64             450             204
Winter Flounder.................................              20               9             225             102
Windowpane Flounder.............................             120              54             450             204
Monkfish........................................             500             227           1,575             714
Other Fish......................................             220             100             450             204
Barndoor Skate..................................              20               9             675             306
NE Skate Complex................................           7,740           3,510          12,825           5,817
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In addition to trips that will harvest and place seed scallops, 
there will be five trips dedicated to conducting optical surveys of the 
research area; two trips to determine seed placement locations, and 
three trips to monitor the seeding effort. Researchers would conduct 
each initial optical survey over the course of a day and the post seed 
optical surveys over seven days. The post seeding surveys would start 
immediately after scallop placement, and recur at each site once a day. 
To collect data at each of the sites, researchers would use a GAVIA 
AUV, and a video sled comprised of a 9.84-foot (3-m) wide beam 
outfitted with a battery operated camera and strobe system. The only 
contact with the ocean bottom would be with three 3-inch (7.62-cm) wide 
runners attached to the bottom of the beam. No exemptions are needed 
for the optical survey trips.
    Regulatory exemptions are needed to allow CFF to collect scallops 
from a closed access area and reseed them in an open area, and without 
being charged days-at-sea. Exemptions are also needed to deploy dredge 
gear in closed access areas and retain yellowtail flounder for 
scientific purposes. Participating vessels need crew size waivers to 
accommodate science personnel and possession waivers will enable them 
to conduct data collection activities. We would waive the observer 
program notification requirements because the research activity is not 
representative of standard fishing activity.
    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: February 18, 2016.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-03760 Filed 2-23-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P