[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 135 (Thursday, July 14, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45459-45460]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-16675]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XE691


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 contains all 
of the required information and warrants further consideration. The 
Exempted Fishing Permit would allow one commercial fishing vessel to 
fish outside of the summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass 
regulations in support of research conducted by the Cornell Cooperative 
Extension. These exemptions would enable research designed to quantify 
codend mesh selectivity for summer flounder, black sea bass, and scup.
    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 July 29, 2016.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by any of the following 
methods:
     Email: [email protected]. Include in the subject line 
``CCE FSB mesh selectivity 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 
CCE FSB mesh selectivity EFP.''
     Fax: (978) 281-9135.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elizabeth Scheimer, Fisheries 
Management Specialist, 978-281-9236.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) 
submitted a complete application for an Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) 
on June 6, 2016. They are seeking regulatory exemptions to allow gear 
research to be conducted on a commercial vessel fishing for a project 
funded by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's collaborative 
research initiative. The EFP would authorize exemptions from the 
minimum mesh size and net modification requirements found at 50 CFR 
648.108, 648.125, and 648.144. Any fishing activity conducted outside 
the scope of the exempted fishing activity would be prohibited, 
including landing fish in excess of a possession limit or below the 
minimum size.
    Experimental fishing activity would compare the composition, 
commercial yield, retention efficiency, discards, and size selectivity 
of five different codends in the summer flounder, scup, and black sea 
bass commercial bottom trawl fishery in the Mid-Atlantic. The current 
regulated mesh sizes are 5.5-inch (13.97-cm) diamond or 6-inch (15.24-
cm) square for summer flounder, 5-inch (12.7-cm) diamond for scup, and 
4.5-inch (11.43-cm) diamond for black sea bass. This project would test 
diamond mesh in 4.5-inch (11.43-cm), 5-inch (12.7-cm), 5.5-inch (13.97-
cm), 6-inch (15.24-cm), and 6-inch (15.24-cm) square mesh.
    The research would be conducted on a commercial fishing vessel 
using a trouser trawl that would allow an experimental codend and the 
control codend to be fished at the same time. The control codend would 
be a standard squid liner with 6-cm diamond mesh.
    The researchers would conduct the experiment across the wide range 
of strata and conditions representative of this fishery. Tow speeds, 
tow cable

[[Page 45460]]

scope, and tow cable length would be consistent across all tows. The 
researchers propose to conduct 20 tows per experimental codend, for a 
total of 100 tows. Up to 20 days of fishing would occur between August 
15 and December 31, 2016, south of Block Island and Long Island, in 
statistical areas 539, 613, 612, and 611. The researchers would not 
fish in the scup gear restricted areas or the Summer Flounder Fishery 
Sea Turtle Protection Area. Onboard catch processing would follow NMFS 
trawl survey standards. Total summer flounder, black sea bass, and scup 
would be weighed for each tow. Researchers will target a minimum of 200 
random length measurements of each species to be sampled for each tow, 
but if fewer individuals are caught then all would be measured. CCE's 
anticipated catch is shown in table 1.

                    Table 1--Total Estimated Catch for 100 Tows During Mesh Selectivity Study
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              Species                                Legal                                Sub-legal
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Summer Flounder....................  18,000 lb (8.1 mt)...................  9,000 lb (4.0 mt).
Black Sea Bass.....................  27,000 lb (12.2 mt)..................  13,500 lb (6.1 mt).
Scup...............................  50,000 (22.7 mt).....................  25,000 lb (11.3 mt).
Incidental Catch:
    Skates.........................  30,000 lb (13.6 mt)..................
    Dogfish spiny & smooth.........  30,000 lb (13.6 mt)..................
    Whiting (silver hake)..........  30,000 lb (13.6 mt)..................
    Ling (red hake)................  15,000 lb (6.8 mt)...................
    Squid (longfin)................  10,000 lb (4.5 mt)...................
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    CCE would contract one commercial fishing vessel that is licensed 
for summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass in both New Jersey and 
New York. Fish would be landed and sold according to the appropriate 
state limits and be applied against the applicable annual catch limit. 
CCE would direct all experimental fishing activities that would occur 
under this EFP. This exemption may increase bycatch numbers beyond 
those that would normally occur within the fishery; however, the 
additional mortality will not exceed any catch limits and is therefore 
negligible. Bycatch will be returned to the water as quickly as 
possible to reduce mortality.
    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.

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

    Dated: July 11, 2016.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-16675 Filed 7-13-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P