[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 12, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8843-8844]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-04413]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XG790


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 Acting 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 exempt seven commercial fishing vessels 
from limited access sea scallop regulations in support of a study on 
the feasibility of transplanting and monitoring scallops transplanted 
from one offshore area to another.
    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 March 27, 2019.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by any of the following 
methods:
     Email: [email protected]. Include in the subject line 
``DA19-005 CFF Reseeding EFP.''
     Mail: Michael Pentony, Regional Administrator, NMFS, 
Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, 
Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside of the envelope ``DA19-005 CFF 
Reseeding EFP.''

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Coonamesset Farm Foundation (CFF) submitted 
an exempted fishing permit (EFP) application in support of a project 
titled ``Dispersal and Growth of Recently Transplanted Sea Scallops 
(Placopecten magellanicus) in an Offshore Grow-Out Area.'' The project 
would look primarily at the feasibility of transplanting/seeding 
scallops from one offshore area to another. The project would also 
demonstrate the feasibility of tracking the scallops once they have 
been transplanted/seeded over a nine-month period. Researchers propose 
that information gained from this project on scallop growth and 
survival could be broadly applicable to future stock dynamic studies as 
well as a possible mitigation technique to help deal with global 
climate change.
    To enable this research, CFF is requesting exemptions for seven 
commercial fishing vessels from the Atlantic sea scallop crew size 
restrictions at Sec.  648.60(c); observer program requirements at Sec.  
648.11(g); Nantucket Lightship South and North Rotational Areas at 
Sec.  648.60(e) and 648.60(g); and access area program requirements at 
Sec.  648.59(a)(1)-(3), (b)(2), (b)(4).
    This project would be conducted in three phases. An initial trip 
would harvest approximately 60 scallops to conduct a health assessment 
to ensure that disease transmission between areas will not occur. The 
second phase would have 1 vessel conducting dredging operations to 
harvest between 100,000-500,000 scallops on a single trip from 
Nantucket Lightship South and transplant them in Nantucket Lightship 
North. This trip would also include camera surveys when the scallops 
are transplanted and then at 12-, 24-, and 48-hour intervals. The third 
phase of the project would consist of five trips to the transplant 
area. The first four would only consist of camera surveys of the 
transplant area. The fifth and final trip would consist of a camera 
survey of the area and harvest activities of both natural set and 
transplant scallops for final size composition comparisons.
    All tows to harvest scallops for transplanting would be conducted 
with one 15-foot (4.57 m) dredge for a duration of 10 minutes using an 
average tow speed of 4.5 knots. All dredge gear would conform to 
scallop gear regulations. A subset of approximately 10,000 scallops 
would be tagged with a unique identifier to both the top and bottom of 
the shell. An additional 25 scallops would be tagged with acoustic 
telemetry tags to help relocate transplanted scallop piles. All 
scallops, both tagged and untagged, would be lowered to the ocean 
bottom in covered baskets. Following transplant operations, CFF would 
use a stationary camera array tied on to the vessel to photographically 
document the drift of the transplanted scallops.
    No catch sampling beyond tagging scallops would occur, therefore 
any non-scallop catch would not be retained for longer than needed to 
sort catch, and no catch would be landed for sale. All catch estimates 
for the project are listed in the table below.

[[Page 8844]]



        Table 1--Estimated Catch, by Species, for CFF EFP Request
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                                                   Estimated   Estimated
                   Common name                      weight      weight
                                                     (lb)        (kg)
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Sea Scallop.....................................      12,000       5,443
Yellowtail Flounder.............................          20           9
Winter Flounder.................................          20           9
Windowpane Flounder.............................          60          27
Monkfish........................................         100          45
Other Fish......................................         120          54
Barndoor Skates.................................          20           9
Northeast Skate Complex.........................         500         227
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    CFF needs these exemptions to allow them to deploy gear in areas 
that are currently closed to scallop fishing. Participating vessels 
need crew size waivers to accommodate science personnel. 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. Researchers from CFF will accompany each trip taken 
under the EFP.
    The New England Fishery Management Council is currently devising a 
management strategy for these scallops in the 2020 fishing year and 
there is talk of allocating them through a specifications action. NMFS 
is particularly interested in receiving comment on how this EFP would 
intersect with the Council's developing management strategy.
    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: March 6, 2019.
Karen H. Abrams,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-04413 Filed 3-11-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P