[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 229 (Wednesday, November 27, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Page 65360]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-25696]
[[Page 65360]]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XW012]
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; General Provisions for Domestic
Fisheries; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Applications for Exempted
Fishing Permits (EFP)
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces renewal request applications for three exempted
fishing permits. The applications, submitted by the San Francisco
Community Fishing Association, Scott Cook, and Real Good Fish, request
exemptions from prohibitions to fish for rockfish species inside the
non-trawl Rockfish Conservation Areas during the 2020 fishing year. All
three applicants request to test hook-and-line gear that selectively
harvests underutilized, midwater rockfish species while avoiding
bottom-dwelling, overfished rockfish species. NMFS previously evaluated
these projects and issued exempted fishing permits for these applicants
for the 2019 fishing year. NMFS requests public comment on these
applications for the 2020 fishing year.
DATES: Comments must be received by December 12, 2019.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by
NOAA-NMFS-2019-0133, by any of the following methods:
Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to
www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2019-0133, click the
``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or
attach your comments. The EFP applications will be available under
Supporting Documents through the same link.
Mail: Submit written comments to Lynn Massey, West Coast
Region, NMFS, 501 W Ocean Blvd., Ste. 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802-4250.
Instructions: Comments must be submitted by one of the above
methods to ensure that the comments are received, documented, and
considered by NMFS. 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, etc.) submitted voluntarily by the
sender will be publicly accessible. Do not submit confidential business
information, or otherwise sensitive or protected information. NMFS will
accept anonymous comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you
wish to remain anonymous).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lynn Massey, West Coast Region, NMFS,
(562) 436-2462, [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This action is authorized by the Pacific
Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan and the regulations
implementing the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management
Act at 50 CFR 600.745, which state that NMFS may issue exempted fishing
permits (EFP) to authorize fishing activities that would otherwise be
prohibited.
At the June 2018 Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council)
meeting, the Council voted to recommend the following three 2019 EFP
projects to NMFS, and made the preliminary decision to recommend
continuing the EFP projects in 2020:
Yellowtail Rockfish Jig Fishing for the 2019-2020 Fishing
Seasons (San Francisco Community Fishing Association);
Commercial Midwater Hook-and-Line Rockfish Fishing in the
RCA off the Oregon Coast (Scott Cook); and,
Monterey Bay Regional Exempted Fishing Permit--Chilipepper
Rockfish (Real Good Fish).
NMFS published a description of the EFP projects in the Federal
Register on September 6, 2018 (83 FR 45224), and solicited public
comments through October 9, 2018. NMFS received one public comment in
support of issuing the EFPs.
At the November 2019 Council meeting, the Council confirmed its
recommendation to renew all three EFP projects for the 2020 fishing
year. All three EFP applicants request to continue testing hook-and-
line gear that selectively targets underutilized, midwater rockfish
species (e.g. yellowtail rockfish) while avoiding overfished, bottom-
dwelling rockfish species (e.g. yelloweye rockfish). An EFP is
necessary for these activities because they will all occur inside the
non-trawl rockfish conservation area (RCA), which is closed to fishing
with non-trawl fixed gear to protect overfished groundfish stocks.
The only requested change for 2020 was an additional exemption for
the Real Good Fish EFP project, which would permit vessel participants
to take an EFP trip without a vessel monitoring system (VMS). The
primary purpose of VMS is to monitor vessel movement to ensure that
vessels do not fish in restricted areas. The current EFP exempts
vessels from a prohibition on fishing in a restricted area (i.e., the
non-trawl RCA). In addition, there are no other closed areas near the
area where vessels would conduct EFP fishing activity, and vessels are
only permitted to conduct EFP fishing activities on EFP trips. For
these reasons, it is not necessary to use VMS to monitor EFP vessel
fishing activity inside the non-trawl RCA, or near the area where
vessels would conduct EFP fishing activities. Therefore, NMFS does not
expect any unintended biological impacts or enforcement issues if it
issues this exemption. All EFP trips are still subject to specific
catch limits and must carry an observer.
All applicants will adhere to EFP set-asides for targeted and
incidental groundfish and other species, which the Council considered
and approved for both the 2019 and 2020 fishing years at its June 2018
meeting. These EFP set-asides are off the top deductions from the 2020
applicable annual catch limits (ACLs), meaning any landings and
discards that occur under these EFPs would be accounted for within the
applicable ACLs.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq., 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq., and 16
U.S.C. 7001 et seq.
Dated: November 21, 2019.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-25696 Filed 11-26-19; 8:45 am]
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