[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 69 (Monday, April 11, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21320-21321]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-08256]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XE552


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, has made a preliminary 
determination that an Exempted Fishing Permit application submitted by 
The Nature Conservancy contains all of the required information and 
warrants further consideration. This Exempted Fishing Permit would 
allow participants to use electronic monitoring systems in lieu of at-
sea monitors in support of a study to develop electronic monitoring for 
the purposes of catch monitoring in the groundfish fishery.
    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 26, 2016.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by any of the following 
methods:
     Email: [email protected]. Include in the subject line 
``TNC EM 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 ``TNC EM EFP.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brett Alger, Groundfish Sector Policy 
Analyst, 978-675-2153.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 2010, NMFS implemented Amendment 16 to 
the Northeast (NE) Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP), which 
revised and expanded the sector management system and established 
annual catch limits and accountability measures for each stock in the 
fishery. In order to reliably estimate sector catch and monitor sector 
operations, Amendment 16 included new requirements for groundfish 
sectors to implement and

[[Page 21321]]

fund an at-sea monitoring (ASM) program. Amendment 16 also included a 
provision that allows electronic monitoring (EM) to be used to satisfy 
this monitoring requirement, provided NMFS deems the technology 
sufficient for the purposes of catch accounting. There are likely 
different visions for what an EM system entails, but generally EM 
incorporates video cameras, sensors, and electronic reporting systems 
into a vessel's fishing operations. Depending on the program design, EM 
has the potential to reduce the expenses associated with monitoring 
groundfish sectors, and, at the same time, increase accountability and 
monitoring in the fishery. However, moving away from human observers 
has its trade-offs; the types and quality of data can be different 
between EM and ASMs. Simply stated, EM may be a suitable replacement to 
ASM, provided EM has the ability to identify species, and verify 
weights and counts of discards in the groundfish fishery.
    For the groundfish fishery, the program designs being considered 
are the ``audit model'' and the ``maximized retention model.'' The 
audit model would use EM to verify discards reported by a captain on a 
vessel trip report. Under the maximized retention model, vessels would 
be required to retain most fish species (e.g., allocated groundfish 
stocks), be allowed to discard others (e.g., protected species), and EM 
would be used to ensure compliance with discarding regulations. NMFS 
has not yet approved EM as a suitable alternative to ASM for the 
groundfish fishery. However, there have been several efforts in recent 
years to develop EM as a monitoring tool in the fishery.
    NMFS has been collaborating with The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the 
Gulf of Maine Research Institute, the Maine Coast Fishermen's 
Association, the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen's Alliance, and Ecotrust 
Canada to implement a program that uses EM for monitoring in the 
groundfish fishery. NMFS has been building database infrastructure and 
processing tools for data collected from EM video footage, conducting 
comparative analysis to the existing catch monitoring systems in the 
fishery, and addressing additional legal and logistical hurdles. 
However, there are some challenges that remain that will require 
additional EM data and analysis to resolve. For example, an EM program 
must specify how much video needs to be reviewed to satisfy the 
monitoring objectives, and best practices need to be developed for 
species that are difficult to identify using EM.
    To further examine these issues and develop EM, TNC submitted a 
complete application for an EFP on March 17, 2016, to enable data 
collection activities and catch monitoring that the regulations on 
commercial fishing would otherwise restrict. The EFP would support an 
EM study intended to improve the functionality of EM systems, optimize 
fish handling protocols by participating fishermen, and continue 
development of EM as a monitoring tool for the groundfish fishery. 
Results of this study would be used to inform the approval and 
implementation of EM in the fishery.
    The EFP would exempt participating vessels from adhering to its 
sector's monitoring plan, which requires the deployment of ASMs on 
sector trips selected for ASM coverage. While participating in the EM 
study, vessels would use EM to replace ASMs when selected for ASM 
coverage. EM would not replace Northeast Fishery Observer Program 
(NEFOP) observers. Approximately 20 sector vessels would participate in 
this project, including participants from the Georges Bank Cod Fixed 
Gear Sector, the Maine Coast Community Sector, the Northeast Fishery 
Sector 11, and possibly additional sectors as well.
    Under the EFP, vessels would declare sector trips in the Pre-Trip 
Notification System, as required by the FMP. However, if selected for 
ASM coverage, the vessel would be issued an ASM waiver and instead be 
required to turn on the EM system for the entire fishing trip. If 
selected for NEFOP coverage, the vessel would fish with a NEFOP 
observer and would also turn on the EM system for the entire trip. A 
third-party provider would review 100 percent of the video from each EM 
trip, and NMFS would audit the provider(s) to verify the accuracy of 
the EM data collected. For sector monitoring, NMFS uses a combination 
of the discard data collected from NEFOP observers and ASMs to estimate 
discards. For vessels participating in this EFP, NMFS would use the EM 
data collected in place of the ASM data. All other catch monitoring 
under the EFP would be consistent with standard sector monitoring, such 
as using dealer-reported landings and vessel trip reports.
    Across all participants, TNC expects approximately 900 total trips 
throughout the 2016 fishing year. If the target observer coverage was 
set at 14 percent, as proposed in Framework Adjustment 55 to the NE 
Multispecies FMP, this would result in approximately 126 EM trips. Some 
of these trips would have a NEFOP observer onboard as well.
    All catch of groundfish stocks allocated to sectors by vessels 
would be deducted from the sector's annual catch entitlement for each 
NE multispecies stock. Legal-sized regulated groundfish would be 
retained and landed, as required by the FMP. Undersized groundfish 
would be handled according to the EM project guidelines in view of 
cameras and returned to the sea as quickly as possible. All other 
species would be handled per normal commercial fishing operations. No 
legal-size regulated groundfish would be discarded, unless otherwise 
permitted through regulatory exemptions granted to the participating 
vessel's sector.
    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: April 6, 2016.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-08256 Filed 4-8-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P