[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 76 (Wednesday, April 20, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23274-23276]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-09168]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XE574


Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; General Provisions for Domestic 
Fisheries; Application for Exempted Fishing Permits

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

[[Page 23275]]

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 contains all 
of the required information and warrants further consideration. This 
Exempted Fishing Permit would allow eight commercial fishing vessels to 
fish outside of the limited access sea scallop regulations in support 
of bycatch reduction research by using a bi-directional extended link 
apron.
    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 May 5, 2016.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by any of the following 
methods:
     Email: [email protected]. Include in the subject line 
``DA16-026 CFF Eco Friendly Dredge 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 '' DA16-026 CFF 
Eco Friendly Dredge EFP.''

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Coonamesset Farm Foundation (CFF) has 
submitted a proposal titled ``Development of Ecosystem Friendly Scallop 
Dredge Bags: Tools for Long-Term Sustainability,'' that has been 
favorably reviewed and is pending final approval by NOAA's Grants 
Management Division under the 2016 Atlantic Sea Scallop Research Set-
Aside (RSA) Program.
    CFF submitted a complete application for an Exempted Fishing Permit 
(EFP) on March 10, 2016. The project would continue testing gear that 
reduces bycatch focusing on a bi-directional extended link apron which 
increases inter-ring spacing to improve escapement of small scallops 
and reduction in finfish bycatch.
    CFF is requesting exemptions that would allow eight commercial 
fishing vessels be exempt from the Atlantic sea scallop days-at-sea 
(DAS) 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); access area program requirements at Sec.  648.60(a)(4), and 
rotational closed area exemptions for Closed Area I at Sec.  648.58(a); 
Closed Area II at Sec.  648.58(b), and Nantucket Lightship at Sec.  
648.58(c). The EFP would exempt participating vessels from possession 
limits and minimum size requirements specified in 50 CFR part 648, 
subsections B and D through O, for sampling purposes only. The EFP 
would also exempt one vessel from the scallop dredge gear restrictions 
for minimum ring and mesh size and use of a liner at Sec.  648.51(b) in 
order to use a survey dredge set to the same specifications the NMFS 
uses for its yearly abundance survey. Any fishing activity conducted 
outside the scope of the exempted fishing activity would be prohibited.
    Eight vessels would conduct scallop dredging in June 2016-May 2017, 
on a total of seven 7-day trips, for a total of 49 DAS. Each trip would 
complete approximately 50 tows for an overall total of 350 tows for the 
project. Trips would take place in the open areas of Southern New 
England and Georges Bank as well as in the Mid-Atlantic scallop access 
area and Georges Bank access areas that are currently closed. Four 
trips would be conducted in the Mid-Atlantic and southern New England, 
and three trips would be conducted on Georges Bank. Trips would be 
centralized around areas with high yellowtail and winter flounder 
bycatch and in areas with a high abundance of harvestable size scallops 
mixed with pre-recruit scallops.
    Six trips would fish two 15-foot (4.57-m) Turtle Deflector Dredges, 
towed for a maximum duration of 30 minutes with a tow speed range of 
4.8-5.1 knots. One dredge would be rigged with a standard linked bag 
while the other would be rigged with a bi-directional extended link 
apron. Standard linking is defined as a single link between ring 
spaces, and the extended link is defined as two links linked together 
between rings. Both dredges would use 4-inch (10.16-cm) rings and a 10-
inch (25.40-cm) twine top. One trip would utilize the NMFS survey 
dredge on one side, which has specifications of 8-feet (2.44 m) wide 
with 2-inch (5.08-cm) rings and a 3.5-inch (8.89-cm) twine top with a 
1.5-inch (3.81-cm) liner inserted inside. The project would use a 
combination of both the experimental and control dredge on the other 
side. This would allow the project to compare the absolute selectivity 
curves between the control and experimental dredges.
    For all tows, the sea scallop catch would be counted into baskets 
and weighed. One basket from each dredge would be randomly selected and 
the scallops would be measured in 5-mm increments to determine size 
selectivity. Finfish catch would be sorted by species and then counted, 
weighed and measured in 1-mm increments. Depending on the volume of 
scallops and finfish captured, the catch would be subsampled as 
necessary. No catch would be retained for longer than needed to conduct 
sampling and no catch would be landed for sale.

                                        Project Catch Estimates in Pounds
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                                                                                                     Weight
                        Species                                Number        Weight (pounds)      (kilograms)
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Scallops...............................................            250,000            100,000             45,359
Yellowtail Flounder....................................              2,000              2,000                907
Winter Flounder........................................                300                500                227
Windowpane Flounder....................................              5,000              3,500              1,588
Monkfish...............................................              2,500              5,500              2,495
Summer Flounder........................................                100                150                 68
Barndoor Skate.........................................                500                500                227
Northeast Skate Complex................................             75,000            100,000             45,359
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    CFF needs these exemptions to allow them to conduct experimental 
dredge towing without being charged DAS, and to deploy gear in closed 
access areas where concentrations of primary bycatch species are 
sufficiently high to provide statistically robust results. Exemption 
from the dredge gear requirements would allow the project to

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tow the NMFS survey dredge, which does not conform with regulation. 
Participating vessels need crew size waivers to accommodate science 
personnel, and possession waivers will enable researchers to conduct 
finfish sampling activities. The project would be exempt from the sea 
scallop observer program requirements because activities conducted on 
the trip are not consistent with normal fishing operations.
    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 15, 2016.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-09168 Filed 4-19-16; 8:45 am]
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