[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 71 (Friday, April 14, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17972-17973]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-07581]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XF348


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 (EFP) application 
submitted by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) contains all of the required 
information and warrants further consideration. This EFP 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 EFPs.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 1, 2017.

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

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brett Alger, Groundfish 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 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. EM incorporates video cameras, gear 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.
    For the groundfish fishery, the program designs currently 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), but be required to discard other species, such as 
those managed by trip limits (e.g., dogfish) or protected species 
(e.g., Atlantic salmon), 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; and there are a number 
of issues that must be resolved before EM could be implemented. To 
address these implementation issues, NMFS has been collaborating with 
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 an EM program that utilizes the audit model.
    In May 2016, NMFS issued EFPs to vessels from the Georges Bank Cod 
Fixed Gear Sector, the Maine Coast Community Sector, the Sustainable 
Harvest Sector, and Northeast Fishery Sectors 5 and 11, which allowed 
them to use EM in lieu of ASMs on trips selected for ASM coverage. 
Under the EFP, 100 percent of the video from these trips was reviewed 
and used to identify and enumerate discards of groundfish species, we 
did not use discarded catch reported on the vessel trip report (VTR). 
With one month remaining in the 2016 fishing year, there have been 
approximately 20 successful EM trips, defined generally as having 
adequate video quality and ability to review catch handling; there were 
a few trips that were not usable. We had projected far more EM trips, 
but there was generally less fishing effort given low catch limits, and 
with an ASM coverage level of 14 percent, vessels were not selected 
very often to use EM. As a result, the 2016 EFP did not result in an 
appreciable amount of data collected to support EM development. 
However, vessels generally operated according to protocol, EM data was 
recorded and processed, and improvements to the program.
    TNC has requested to renew the EFP for the 2017 fishing year to 
continue efforts to improve the functionality of EM, refine fish 
handling protocols, and support future implementation of the audit 
model. The 2017 EFP would be identical to the EFP issued for the 2016 
fishing year, and would exempt participating vessels from adhering to 
their 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. Under the EFP, vessels would declare sector trips in 
the Pre-Trip Notification System; 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.
    Participation in this EFP would be heavily dependent on a separate 
EFP request that we have received, that would require vessels to run EM 
on every trip (i.e., 100 percent monitoring). If approved, we would 
issue EFPs for the new request no later than July 1, 2017. Therefore, 
it is difficult to project trip counts and catch estimates for this EFP 
renewal, knowing that many of the participants could shift to the 
subsequent EFP. Assuming limited participation under this EFP from July 
2017 through the end of the 2017 fishing year, and a 16-percent ASM 
coverage level in 2017, we do not many EM trips under this EFP.
    All catch of groundfish stocks allocated to sectors by vessels 
would be deducted from the sector's annual catch

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entitlement for each groundfish 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 11, 2017.
Karen H. Abrams,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-07581 Filed 4-13-17; 8:45 am]
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