[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 136 (Wednesday, July 15, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42831-42832]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-15192]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XS033]


Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; 
Exempted Fishing Permits

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

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

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the receipt of an application for an exempted 
fishing permit (EFP) from the University of Georgia Marine Extension 
and Georgia Sea Grant. If granted, the EFP would authorize the 
applicant to deploy modified black sea bass pots with Acoustic Subsea 
Buoy Retrieval Systems (ASBRS) in Federal waters off Georgia. The 
project would examine the potential usefulness of the ASBRSs for use in 
the black sea bass pot component for the commercial sector of the 
snapper-grouper fishery while minimizing impacts to protected species.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before August 14, 2020.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the application, identified by 
``NOAA-NMFS-2020-0090'' by any of the following methods:
     Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to 
www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2020-0090, click the 
``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or 
attach your comments.
     Mail: Frank Helies, Southeast Regional Office, NMFS, 263 
13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.
    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 by NMFS. 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), confidential business information, 
or otherwise sensitive information 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 application and may be obtained from the 
Southeast Regional Office website at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/southeast/black-sea-bass-pot-pilot-project-exempted-fishing-permit-application/.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Frank Helies, 727-824-5305; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The EFP is requested under the authority of 
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-
Stevens Act; 16 U.S.C 1801 et seq.), and regulations at 50 CFR 
600.745(b) concerning exempted fishing.
    Currently, vertical end lines and buoys, such as those utilized 
with black sea bass pots in the South Atlantic, present an entanglement 
risk to the North Atlantic right whale, a species that is listed as 
endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and that annually 
migrates and in the winter calves off the coast of Georgia in Federal 
and state waters. ASBRSs are a type of fishing gear that allows fish 
traps, including black sea bass pots, buoys, and their retrieval 
devices to be stored at depth until triggered for retrieval at the 
surface. These gear systems allow for trap and pot buoys and vertical 
lines to exist in the water column for minutes instead of hours or 
days, as they are activated via acoustic release only when fishers are 
present. As described in the application, the applicant believes that 
adaptation of ASBRSs or ``ropeless'' systems for black sea bass pot 
fishing in the South Atlantic could reduce the risk to these whales and 
other marine animals that are subject to entanglements from vertical 
lines and buoys.
    If granted, the EFP would exempt limited fishing gear testing 
activities from certain regulations for the black sea bass pot 
component for the commercial sector of the South Atlantic snapper-
grouper fishery, specifically gear identification at 50 CFR 
622.177(a)(4), the sea bass pot configuration restriction at 50 CFR 
622.189(b), and restrictions and requirements for sea bass pot buoy 
line marking at 50 CFR 622.189(g).
    The applicant seeks an EFP to determine the following: If the ASBRS 
gear will show a greater than 99 percent successful deployment and 
retrieval rate; if ASBRS gear significantly increases the time and/or 
expense for gear retrieval and recovery versus the current fishing 
method such that it might affect profitability; if ASBRS gear 
significantly increases time and/or expense for the repacking of gear 
for redeployment versus the current fishing method such that it might 
affect profitability; and if bycatch rates for the modified black sea 
bass pot fishing configuration described below are greater than those 
for the traditional single pots.
    Under the EFP, the applicant would collect data through an ongoing 
collaborative effort among different ASBRS manufacturers and fishery 
industry partners. In addition to this EFP request for exemption from 
Magnuson-Stevens Act regulations, the applicant would consult with NMFS 
to ensure the EFP would be consistent with North Atlantic right whale 
conservation measures currently in place through the ESA and Marine 
Mammal Protection Act. Fishers participating in this project would 
self-fund the trial and would keep and sell all catch lawfully 
harvested by black sea bass pots. The proposed testing area has an 
approximate perimeter of 87 nm and an area of 501 nm in Federal waters 
10 to 32 nm off Townsend, Georgia. Testing would occur in Federal 
waters in depths between 10 and 30 m. The proposed testing area is 
outside the November 1 through April 30 area prohibition on the use of 
black sea bass pots. The testing would not occur in special management 
zones listed in 50 CFR 622.182((a)(l)(i) and (ii)) or the North 
Atlantic Right Whale Critical Habitat Area.
    Black sea bass pots would be fished as singles with a traditional 
configuration (control pots) during August and September 2020. The 
control pots would yield data relative to the time used to retrieve and 
rebait traditional black seas bass pots that are fished per current 
regulations. Experimental configurations of black sea bass pots 
(described below) would be fished without vertical buoy lines on live 
bottom in the vicinity with the control pots. Using the ASBRS, the 
applicant would utilize virtual gear marking of the pots (marking of 
gear deployment location with chartplotters, GPS, and manufacturer-
provided software). The applicant would also evaluate the feasibility 
of use of various virtual gear marking systems and share the results 
with fishery management partners.
    Each pot deployment (ASBRS and control combined) under the EFP 
would be limited to 35 total pots with up to

[[Page 42832]]

300 gear hauls, with an average soak time of 90-120 minutes per 
configuration. Over the period of the EFP, the applicant expects to 
conduct 5 days total of testing in August and September 2020. The 
applicant intends to collect data from 90 traditional black sea bass 
pot deployments and 270 ASBRS gear deployments.

EFP Black Sea Bass Pot Configurations

    Under the EFP, four regulation-sized pots would be connected 
together with wire connecting clips or zip ties so that only one ASBRS 
gear device is needed to retrieve four connected pots. Each pot would 
have the standard black sea bass pot single entrance and would possess 
one back panel of 2-inch (5.1-cm) uniform mesh. The connected four 
traps would test both one and two single entrances (on adjacent sides 
of single traps to replace the allowable two opposite entrances) to 
four regulation-sized trap interiors and would otherwise comply with 
the requirements for black sea bass pot dimensions and construction in 
the South Atlantic. This experimental gear design of the four connected 
pots is not a chevron-style fish trap, it is standard black sea bass 
pots connected to adjacent standard black sea bass pots. The goal of 
this modification is to examine ways to reduce procurement and 
implementation costs associated with the number of required ASBRSs to 
fish 35 pots.
    The control traps used in the EFP would also be black sea bass 
pots, with a uniform back panel mesh size of 2-inch (5.1-cm) or 
greater, and a uniform all over mesh size on remaining sides of 1.5 
inches (3.8 cm) or greater. A four pot trawl of single standard black 
sea bass pot gear would be deployed to compare the catchability between 
the two configurations.

EFP Gear Markings

    Two of the technologies that would be used in the EFP utilize lift 
bags and buoys and are therefore unable to be line-marked as they do 
not incorporate line into their design. For the other technologies 
being tested under the EFP, all buoy lines on ASBRS gear types that use 
stored line would be marked in accordance with the most recent 
requirements per the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan and 
Federal regulations, and would have weak links with a maximum breaking 
strength of 600 lb (272 kg), 1,700 lb (771 kg) maximum breaking 
strength sleeves, and line with a breaking strength of less than 2,200 
lb (998 kg). These systems that incorporate line would only be fished 
inshore of the seasonal closure area of the commercial black sea bass 
pot component of the snapper-grouper fishery (50 CFR 622.183(b)(6)(i) 
and (ii)).

EFP Buoy Line

    Six of the eight currently available ASBRS devices require the use 
of a line for retrieval that is contained and stored at depth by a line 
management system. The other two release devices do not use line, but 
instead, utilize the inflation of either a lift bag or inflatable buoy 
to pull a lead trap to the surface. The styles of line storage vary 
with device design and includes square, rectangular, domed, circular, 
and conical cages, oyster mesh bags, canisters, and spools. These have 
been successfully used in trials and testing in a variety of active 
fishing operations in the United States and worldwide.
    Four of the ASBRS devices in the EFP require floating line to 
return the buoy or buoys to the surface for retrieval. Currently, the 
average time for appearance of buoys at depths greater than 100 ft 
(30.5 m) is approximately 3 minutes. Retrieval generally takes less 
than 2 minutes, which means that any floating line would be at the 
surface for less than 5 minutes, and during which time the fishing 
vessel would be within 20-30 ft (6.1-9.1 m) of the line. Two of the 
release devices do not incorporate line longer than 10 ft (3.1 m) in 
their design, and two devices use a harness that clips to the pot. The 
remaining devices use less than 150 ft (45.7 m) of line which would be 
stowed inside either a bag or on a spool. Sinking line cannot be used 
for any ASBRS as it would create a negatively buoyant strain on the 
buoys and not effectively allow for their return to the surface. All of 
the ASBRSs with a line storage system would need to be attached between 
the trap and the buoy. If necessary, several of the ASBRSs may also 
require a small anchor or weight to be attached between the pot and 
line-storage device or buoy in areas with higher current to keep them 
from fouling in the pot, as well as to ensure they are not dragged from 
their intended deployment area. For lift bag and buoy systems, the 
actual systems would be secured between the pot and the buoy/bag.
    NMFS finds the application warrants further consideration based on 
a preliminary review. Possible conditions the agency may impose on the 
permit, if granted, include but are not limited to, a prohibition on 
conducting fishing gear testing within marine protected areas, marine 
sanctuaries, special management zones, or areas where they might 
interfere with managed fisheries without additional authorization. 
Additionally, NMFS may require special protections for ESA-listed 
species and designated critical habitat, and may require particular 
gear markings. A final decision on issuance of the EFP will depend on 
NMFS' review of public comments received on the application, 
consultations with the appropriate fishery management agency of the 
affected state, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, and the 
U.S. Coast Guard, and a determination that the activities to be taken 
under the EFP are consistent with all applicable laws.

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

    Dated: July 9, 2020.
Ngagne Jafnar Gueye,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-15192 Filed 7-14-20; 8:45 am]
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