[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 68 (Wednesday, April 8, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19747-19748]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-07392]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XX047]


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 submitted by 
the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen's Alliance contains all of the 
required information and warrants further consideration. This exempted 
fishing permit would require participants to use electronic monitoring 
systems on 100 percent of sector trips for catch accounting in the 
Northeast multispecies fishery; additionally, vessels would be 
authorized to access portions of Northeast multispecies closed areas. 
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 April 23, 2020.

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

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Claire Fitz-Gerald, Fishery Policy 
Analyst, 978-281-9255.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Northeast multispecies (groundfish) sectors 
must implement and fund an at-sea monitoring (ASM) program, and the 
Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan regulations allow 
sectors to use electronic monitoring (EM) to satisfy this monitoring 
requirement, provided that NMFS deems the technology sufficient for 
catch monitoring. NMFS recently notified the Council of its intent to 
allow sectors to submit EM plans instead of, or in addition to, ASM 
plans as part of the fishing year 2021 and 2022 sector operations plans 
approval process. For the 2020 fishing year, lessons learned through 
this exempted fishing permit (EFP) will allow NMFS to continue 
developing standards and requirements for the groundfish EM program. 
Project partners include the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen's Alliance, 
The Nature Conservancy, the Maine Coast Fishermen's Association, and 
fishermen.
    If approved, this EFP would build on previous EFPs issued to the 
project partners in support of the audit-model EM program for 
groundfish sectors. The first EFP was issued in fishing year 2017; 
participating vessels were required to use EM on 100 percent of sector 
trips and groundfish discards were calculated based on the video 
footage. Vessels were exempted from their sector's ASM requirements. 
Thirteen vessels using a variety of gear types (e.g. hook, benthic 
longline, sink gillnet, bottom trawl) participated in the project and 
completed a total of 81 trips. The EFP was renewed in fishing year 
2018. We developed and implemented a protocol for verifying, or 
auditing, vessels' self-reported discards from the electronic vessel 
trip report (eVTR) against video footage. Vessels were also granted 
exemptions to fish in closed areas during certain times of the year. A 
total of 258 trips suitable for quota monitoring were completed during 
fishing year 2018. In fishing year 2019, we renewed the EFP again and 
reduced the targeted level of audit to 50 percent of trips based on a 
statistical analysis of EFP trips from fishing years 2017 and 2018. 
EVTRs were used to calculate discards for trips that were not selected 
for audit.
    The project partners have submitted a renewal request for fishing 
year 2020. The proposed participant list includes 15 vessels, all of 
which participated in this EFP in fishing year 2019. Together, these 
vessels are expected to take a total of 590 trips. The project partners 
expect that additional vessels may join the project during fishing year 
2020.
    Vessels participating in this EFP would be exempt from the 
regulations requiring them to adhere to their sector's ASM program, and 
instead would be required to use EM on 100 percent of groundfish trips. 
Camera systems would be used in lieu of human at-sea monitors, and in 
addition to Northeast Fishery Observer Program (NEFOP) observers. 
Vessels would adhere to a vessel-specific monitoring plan detailing at-
sea catch handling protocols. Vessels would submit haul-level eVTRs 
with count and weight estimates for all groundfish discards. In fishing 
year 2020, individual vessels may test different catch handling and 
reporting methodologies (e.g., volumetric sampling, sub-trip level 
eVTR), with our approval. Vessels would not be exempt from any other 
standard reporting and monitoring requirements.
    The discard estimates provided in the eVTR would be used for catch 
accounting, and all catch of allocated groundfish would be deducted 
from the appropriate sector's allocation. The EM service provider would 
review the video footage and produce an EM summary report identifying, 
counting, and generating weight estimates for all groundfish discards. 
The provider would submit this report to NMFS. We would compare the 
eVTR and EM summary report to ensure the submissions match within an 
established tolerance. If the trips do not match, the eVTR would not be 
used for catch accounting for that trip. For trips that carry a NEFOP 
observer, the NEFOP data would be used for catch accounting.
    In fishing year 2019, we targeted an audit level of 50 percent of 
trips. In fishing year 2020, we intend to develop performance-based 
audit standards and may adjust the targeted audit level for vessels up 
or down in an effort to test a performance-based audit. Developing and 
implementing a performance-based audit selection process would 
incentivize accurate reporting on eVTRs and good catch handling 
practices. Following the EM service provider's review of selected 
trips, the Northeast Fisheries Science Center would conduct a secondary 
review of the EM summary reports for a subset of trips, consistent with 
previous years.
    Because participating vessels would be fully monitored and 
accountable, project partners requested exemptions to access closed 
areas, to incentivize participation and create additional fishing 
opportunities for healthy stocks.

[[Page 19748]]

Vessels would be allowed to use hook gear and sink gillnets in Closed 
Area II from April 16 through January 31, hook gear (i.e., jig 
machines, handgear, benthic longlines) in the Western Gulf of Maine 
Closure Area, jig gear (i.e., jig machines and handgear) in the Cashes 
Ledge Closure Area, excluding the Ammen Rock Habitat Management Area, 
and benthic longlines in the Fippinnies Ledge portion of the Cashes 
Ledge Closure Area (west of 69[deg]09.1' W). All catch of allocated 
groundfish would be deducted from the appropriate sector's allocation.

                                                 Table 1--Estimates of Groundfish Catch in Closed Areas
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                                                           WGOM closure    WGOM closure    Cashes ledge    Cashes ledge
                                                               (lb)            (mt)        closure (lb)    closure (mt)      CAII (lb)       CAII (mt)
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American Plaice.........................................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............
Atlantic Halibut........................................  ..............  ..............             651               0             305               0
Atlantic Wolffish.......................................              87               0             318               0              10               0
CC/GOM Yellowtail Flounder..............................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............
GB East Cod.............................................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............          25,500              12
GB East Haddock.........................................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............          25,100              11
GB West Cod.............................................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............
GB West Haddock.........................................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............           5,401               2
GB Winter Flounder......................................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............           1,015               0
GB Yellowtail Flounder..................................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............
GOM Cod.................................................           6,322               3          16,888               8  ..............  ..............
GOM Haddock.............................................          39,242              18          79,271              36  ..............  ..............
GOM Winter Flounder.....................................               7               0               5               0  ..............  ..............
N. Windowpane Flounder..................................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............
Ocean Pout..............................................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............               3               0
Pollock.................................................          17,630               8          19,861               9          13,633               6
Redfish.................................................              11               0  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............
S. Windowpane Flounder..................................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............
SNE/MA Winter Flounder..................................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............
SNE/MA Yellowtail Flounder..............................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............
White Hake..............................................             121               0             200               0              58               0
Witch Flounder..........................................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............
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    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 3, 2020.
H[eacute]l[egrave]ne M.N. Scalliet,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-07392 Filed 4-7-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P