[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 227 (Monday, November 26, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60408-60410]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-25416]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XG557


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Application 
for an Exempted Fishing Permit

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for exempted fishing permit.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces receipt of an exempted fishing permit 
(EFP) application from Mr. Cory Lescher and Dr. Bradley Harris, Alaska 
Pacific University. If granted, this EFP would allow up to five 
Amendment 80 vessels in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) 
management area yellowfin and rock sole fisheries to retain red king 
crab (RKC; Paralithodes camtschaticus) bycatch on board for periods of 
no more than 72 hours during the 2019 BSAI flatfish fisheries' ``A'' 
season. Two concurrent studies would be conducted under this EFP. A 
whole-haul RKC census study would provide a comparison of whole-haul 
census of RKC to haul-level estimates of RKC generated from NMFS-
certified observer (observer) sampling to determine the ability of 
current prohibited species catch (PSC) rate estimations to accurately 
account for RKC PSC in these fisheries. Then, an at-sea viability study 
would examine factors that influence RKC PSC mortality and survival. 
The objective of the EFP application is to provide improved 
understanding of RKC PSC mortality, such as shell crushing, and 
variables that affect it. This proposed project has the potential to 
promote the objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act.

DATES: Comments on this EFP application must be submitted to NMFS on or 
before December 11, 2018. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council 
(Council) will consider the application at its meeting from December 3, 
2018, through December 11, 2018, in Anchorage, AK.

ADDRESSES: The Council meeting will be held at the Anchorage Hilton 
Hotel, 500 W 3rd Ave., Anchorage, AK 99501. The agenda for the Council 
meeting is available at http://www.npfmc.org. In addition to submitting 
comments at the Council meeting, you may submit comments on this 
document, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2018-0120, by any of the following 
methods:
     Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2018-0120, click the ``Comment Now!'' icon, 
complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.
     Mail: Submit written comments to Glenn Merrill, Assistant 
Regional Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries Division, Alaska Region 
NMFS, Attn: Ellen Sebastian. Mail comments to P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, 
AK 99802-1668.
    Instructions: Comments sent by any other method, to any other 
address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, 
may not be considered. All comments received are a part of the public 
record and will generally be posted for public viewing on 
www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying 
information (e.g., name, address) submitted voluntarily by the sender 
will be publicly accessible. NMFS will accept anonymous comments (enter 
``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to remain anonymous).
    Electronic copies of the EFP application and the basis for a 
categorical exclusion under the National

[[Page 60409]]

Environmental Policy Act are available from the Alaska Region, NMFS 
website at http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bridget Mansfield, 907-586-7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS manages the domestic groundfish 
fisheries in the BSAI under the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish 
of the BSAI Management Area (FMP), which the Council prepared under the 
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Regulations 
governing the BSAI groundfish fisheries appear at 50 CFR parts 600 and 
679. The FMP and the EFP implementing regulations at Sec.  600.745(b) 
and Sec.  679.6 allow the NMFS Regional Administrator to authorize, for 
limited experimental purposes, fishing that would otherwise be 
prohibited. Procedures for issuing EFPs are contained in the 
implementing regulations.

Background

    PSC in the North Pacific groundfish trawl gear fisheries is managed 
under limits that can trigger closures of management areas or target 
fisheries. Catch, including non-target species and PSC, is estimated in 
part by extrapolating fishery observer samples from individual hauls up 
to the trip level. Non-pollock fisheries--that is, vessels not engaged 
in directed pollock fishing--managed under fishing cooperatives use 
estimates derived from observer sampling to account for PSC, by number 
rather than weight for crab species or by weight only for other PSC, 
such as halibut or salmon. Amendment 80, implemented in 2008, allocates 
BSAI yellowfin sole, flathead sole, rock sole, Atka mackerel, and 
Aleutian Islands Pacific ocean perch to the head and gut trawl catcher 
processor sector, and allows qualified vessels to form cooperatives. 
Amendment 80 cooperatives track individual vessel catch against 
cooperative-determined, vessel-specific limits. Cooperatives are 
ultimately responsible for ensuring that the bycatch allowances they 
administer, but set by NMFS, are not exceeded. Individual 
accountability is enforced by cooperatives at the vessel and company 
level through legal contracts and bycatch agreements among members. In 
this context, understanding the degree to which current observer 
sampling practices provide accurate data for accounting of actual 
bycatch quantities for a fishing haul or trip can help improve 
cooperative management and support conservation and fishery management 
objectives overall.
    Fishing under this EFP would provide data to investigate the 
accuracy of current PSC estimation methods for individual hauls, 
including the degree to which high catch-per-unit-effort groundfish 
fishing impacts RKC PSC rates. Data from this EFP would also help 
industry collaborators understand and improve vessel-specific bycatch 
performance tracking.

Exempted Fishing Permit

    On September 20, 2018, Mr. Cory Lescher submitted an application 
for an EFP to conduct two concurrent studies on incidentally caught RKC 
on select Amendment 80 trawl vessels targeting yellowfin and rock sole 
in the BSAI in 2019. The first study (whole-haul census study) would be 
conducted on up to five vessels and would consist of a series of whole-
haul censuses of RKC (census of all RKC in an entire haul) in 
conjunction with observer sub-sampling of the same haul. Biological 
samples would also be collected from the RKC, with a handling time of 
one to two minutes per RKC, before the RKC is released back to the sea. 
The objectives of this study under the proposed EFP are to:
     Assess the accuracy of current sampling methods,
     collect basic biological data from RKC PSC to resolve data 
gaps in key characteristics associated with RKC encountered in the 
yellowfin and rock sole fisheries in the first part of the year, and
     examine how RKC PSC rates are influenced by haul 
characteristics and environmental variables.
    The second study (viability study) conducted under this proposed 
EFP would require two vessels to hold up to a total of 384 RKC for up 
to 72 hours each in on-deck, saltwater flow-through tanks to monitor 
survival of deck-sorted RKC compared to factory-sorted RKC. This study 
has three objectives under the proposed EFP: First, to examine factors 
affecting RKC PSC mortality and survival; second, the ability to 
predict discard mortality using vitality assessments, and third, to 
assess the feasibility of collecting data on such vitality metrics.

Whole-Haul Census Study

    The applicant proposes to conduct the whole-haul census study on up 
to five vessels in the Amendment 80 yellowfin and rock sole trawl 
fishery in the Bering Sea from January 20 through April 15, 2019. The 
participating vessels would be selected on a voluntary basis and would 
carry an observer as required by regulation. All stages of the whole-
haul sampling process would be conducted by a trained ``sea sampler'' 
on each participating EFP vessel, who would be required to be a NMFS-
certified observer, but who would not act as a NMFS observer during an 
EFP trip. The sea sampler data collection duties would be separate from 
those duties of the vessel's NMFS observer and their work would not 
interfere with or constrain the work of the NMFS observer.
    The applicant's proposed sampling for the whole-haul census would 
consist of the following protocols. Sea samplers would conduct a whole-
haul count for RKC for every haul during a trip. To achieve this, for 
each haul the sea sampler would instruct designated crew to remove all 
RKC from the sorting belt downstream of the observer sampling station. 
The designated crew would place such RKC in a designated tote labeled 
with the vessel haul number, keeping all haul-specific RKC together. 
The EFP sampling would occur after observer sampling and would not 
interfere with the observer's sampling duties or vessel operations. The 
sea sampler would sort the RKC from the tote, returning all non-RKC to 
the discard belt for immediate discard, and would collect and record 
RKC-specific biological data from each RKC and return it immediately to 
the discard belt for immediate discard to the sea. Biological data 
collected would include sex, carapace length, shell condition, 
externally visible physical injuries, vitality metrics, and for 
females, clutch fullness and egg condition. Vitality metrics include 
presence and absence of pre-determined injuries, and reflex and 
behavior responses, including leg flare, leg retraction, chela closure, 
eye retraction, and mouth closure. The sampling process would be 
expected to require less than 2 minutes and would have no impact on the 
probability of survival of the sampled RKC. The sampling protocol 
outlined above follow established Donaldson and Byersdorfer methods as 
described in the EFP application (see ADDRESSES).

Viability Study

    The applicant proposes to conduct the RKC viability study on two 
vessels in the Amendment 80 yellowfin and rock sole trawl fisheries in 
the Bering Sea from January 20 through April 15, 2019. As with the 
whole-haul study proposed under this EFP application, the participating 
vessels in the RKC viability study would be selected on a voluntary 
basis and would carry a NMFS-certified fishery observer as required by 
regulation.
    The applicant's proposed sampling for the RKC viability study would

[[Page 60410]]

consist of the following general protocols. For further details, please 
consult the EFP application available at (see ADDRESSES). The viability 
study would commence at the beginning of a fishing trip. During a 
predetermined haul, up to 32 incidentally caught RKC would be selected 
from the catch on deck or in the factory. The on-deck RKC collection 
would coincide with halibut deck sorting authorized under the halibut 
deck sorting EFP #2018-01 to allow the assessment of RKC collected from 
both on-deck and the factory point of discard without impeding fishing 
operations. On-deck collection would be conducted independent of, and 
would not impact, halibut deck sorting activities or observer data 
collections under the halibut deck sorting EFP. RKC collected on deck 
would be removed from the catch prior to observer sampling. The RKC EFP 
sea sampler would collect RKC counts and weights from pre-sorted RKC 
from selected hauls and provide that data to the vessel's NMFS 
observer. RKC collected in the factory for this viability study would 
be removed from the conveyor belt downstream of the observer sampling 
station following the protocols described for the whole-haul study.
    A vitality test, as described above under the heading Whole-Haul 
Census Study, would be used to select only live RKC, including RKCs 
with a range of initial impairments and levels of vitality for the 
holding trials. Each RKC would be labeled with a uniquely numbered tag. 
Carapace length, sex shell condition, and vitality would be collected 
and recorded for each RKC at the time of collection. Each assessment 
would last approximately 1 to 2 minutes per RKC, after which they would 
immediately be placed in one of several flow-through seawater tanks on 
deck. Each tank would be divided into four separate sections that would 
hold two RKC each. The sea sampler would record water temperature and 
dissolved oxygen from each of the seawater tanks daily and continue 
monitoring individual RKC vitality every 2, 4, 6, 12, 24, 48, and 72 
hours. RKC would be monitored following methods described in the EFP 
application (see ADDRESSES). Details of any mortality would be 
recorded, and dead RKC would be removed and discarded. Live RKC would 
be released 72 hours after collection. Once all RKC are released, the 
tank would be flushed with seawater and refilled with eight new RKC 
from a subsequent tow. The 72-hour period for holding RKC would provide 
a short window to observe for discard mortality, yet allow for adequate 
sample size. Metrics that may be used to predict RKC mortality would be 
collected for future analysis. Such metrics include, but are not 
limited to, fishing effort information (e.g., length of tow, tow depth, 
bottom temperature, and total catch size), and RKC time out of water.

Exemptions

    RKC is a prohibited species in the groundfish fishery, requiring 
immediate return to the sea with a minimum of injury. This proposed 
action would exempt the participating vessel, for RKC only, from the 
requirement, at Sec.  679.21(b)(2)(ii), to return all prohibited 
species, or parts thereof, to the sea immediately, with a minimum of 
injury, regardless of its condition. Because some RKC would be pre-
sorted before observer sampling under this proposed action, permit 
holders, vessel owners, and operators fishing under this permit would 
be exempt from Sec.  679.7(g)(2) that otherwise prohibits biasing the 
observer's sampling procedure by pre-sorting RKC catch. The 
participating vessels would be allowed to account for the number of RKC 
caught through sampling methods described above. All other Sec.  
679.7(g)(2) provisions would continue to apply to all other fishing 
during an EFP trip.
    Sorting of PSC species other than RKC before observers sample the 
catch onboard the vessels would continue to be prohibited.
    Further, owners and operators of Amendment 80 vessels participating 
in this EFP are exempt from the requirement at Sec.  679.93(c)(1), 
which requires that (1) all catch by vessels participating in the 
Amendment 80 program are weighed on a NMFS-approved scale, (2) each 
haul must be weighed separately, (3) all catch must be made available 
for sampling by a NMFS-certified observer, and (4) no sorting of catch 
may take place prior to weighing. Owners and operators of all other 
vessels participating in this EFP are exempt from regulations at Sec.  
679.28(b) that require that all catch of RKC must be weighed on a NMFS-
approved scale and made available at a single location. This exemption 
is necessary to allow sea samplers to account for RKC sorted on deck 
and transferred to tanks on deck for the viability study prior to 
observer sampling.

Permit Conditions, Review, and Effects

    Under the EFP, participating vessels would be limited to the 
Amendment 80 groundfish allocations under the 2019 harvest 
specifications (available from the Alaska Region, NMFS website at 
http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/). No additional target or PSC amounts 
beyond those authorized through regulation would be needed for this 
EFP; all groundfish catch will accrue against the Amendment 80 sector's 
yellowfin and rock sole catch and PSC allowances. EFP-authorized 
fishing activities would not be expected to change the nature or 
duration of the flatfish trawl fishery or the amount or species of fish 
caught by the participating vessels.
    In 2019, Mr. Lescher would be required to submit to NMFS a report 
of the EFP results after EFP experimental fishing has ended in 2019. 
For each study, the report would include: Sampling design and methods, 
number of RKC sampled, fishing and environmental variables collected, 
RKC handling and mortalities, analytical results, and the total catch 
of each groundfish species and RKC in metric tons. The report would be 
made available to the public.
    The fieldwork that would be conducted under this EFP is not 
expected to have a significant impact on the human environment as 
detailed in the categorical exclusion prepared for this action (see 
ADDRESSES).
    In accordance with Sec.  679.6, NMFS has determined that the 
application warrants further consideration and has forwarded the 
application to the Council to initiate consultation. The Council is 
scheduled to consider the EFP application during its December 2018 
meeting, which will be held at the Hilton Hotel, Anchorage, AK. The EFP 
application will also be provided to the Council's Scientific and 
Statistical Committee for review at the December Council meeting. The 
applicant has been invited to appear in support of the application.

Public Comments

    Interested persons may comment on the application at the December 
2018 Council meeting during public testimony or until December 11, 
2018. Information regarding the meeting is available at the Council's 
website at http://www.npfmc.org. Copies of the application and 
categorical exclusion are available for review from NMFS (see 
ADDRESSES).
    Comments also may be submitted directly to NMFS (see ADDRESSES) by 
the end of the comment period (see DATES).

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

    Dated: November 16, 2018.
Karen H. Abrams,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2018-25416 Filed 11-23-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P