[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 150 (Tuesday, August 4, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47188-47189]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-16867]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XA297]


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 application submitted by the Cape Cod Commercial 
Fishermen's Alliance for the renewal of an exempted fishing permit 
contains all of the required

[[Page 47189]]

information and warrants further consideration. This exempted fishing 
permit would allow two commercial fishing vessels participating in an 
electronic monitoring program to fish in the Southern New England 
Regulated Mesh Area with a 6-inch (15.24 cm) diamond mesh codend. 
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 August 19, 2020.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by the following method:
     Email: [email protected]. Include in the subject line 
``6-INCH MESH CODEND EM EFP.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Spencer Talmage, Fishery Management 
Specialist, 978-281-9232.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 5, 2020, the Cape Cod Commercial 
Fishermen's Alliance (Alliance) submitted an application for a renewal 
of an exempted fishing permit (EFP) which would exempt two trawl 
vessels from the codend minimum mesh size restriction in the Southern 
New England (SNE) Regulated Mesh Area (RMA), as found in 50 CFR 
648.80(b)(2)(i), to conduct an exploratory fishing project. Fishermen 
have reported a seasonally appearing abundance of haddock in the SNE 
RMA, and a 6-inch (15.24-cm) diamond mesh codend is intended to 
increase harvest of haddock while reducing discards of flounder 
species, relative to the current codend minimum mesh size of 6.5 inches 
(16.51 cm).
    We issued the fishing year 2019 EFP in December 2019, and the EFP 
ended on April 30, 2020. The study period under the 2019 EFP did not 
provide sufficient time for participating vessels to fish for haddock 
with the 6-inch (15.24-cm) diamond mesh codend. Vessels completed only 
one tow on a single trip with the gear and encountered no haddock. The 
Alliance submitted a renewal application so that exploratory fishing 
could be completed, and requests an expanded study period from 
September 1, 2020, through April 30, 2021. This would provide an 
opportunity for participating vessels to locate and fish for seasonally 
available haddock when present. This EFP would be identical to the EFP 
issued for the 2019 fishing year.
    Participating vessels would conduct commercial fishing with the 6-
inch (15.24-cm) diamond mesh codend in SNE, specifically statistical 
areas 537, 539, 611, and 613. The application estimates that each of 
the two vessels participating with the exemption from minimum codend 
mesh size would take 35 day-trips during the project. Of the 35 trips 
that each vessel plans to take during that time period, the number of 
trips taken with a 6-inch (15.24-cm) mesh codend under the proposed EFP 
would vary, based on the presence of haddock. On EFP trips, four to 
five hauls would be made per day, with each tow length averaging 2 to 3 
hours. While on these trips, vessels may switch back to a standard 6.5-
inch (16.51-cm) mesh cod-end to retain operational flexibility.
    The applicant states that a switch from a 6.5-inch (16.51-cm) 
square mesh codend to the 6-inch (15.24-cm) diamond mesh codend would 
improve catch of haddock, a healthy stock, while reducing catch of 
several flounder species. Based on a codend mesh selectivity study 
which compared retention length and size selection range for 6.5- and 
6-inch (16.51- and 15.24-cm) square and diamond mesh, the applicant 
additionally states that 6-inch (15.24-cm) diamond mesh is unlikely to 
retain undersized haddock (He, 2007).
    The participating vessels must also participate in the audit-model 
electronic monitoring (EM) program, and participating vessels are 
required to use EM on 100 perfect of trips. Vessels must adhere to a 
vessel-specific monitoring plan detailing at-sea catch handling 
protocols. Vessels also submit haul-level electronic vessel trip 
reports (eVTR) with count and weight estimates for all groundfish 
discards. The Alliance would compare the discard data collected from 
trips taken by vessels fishing with a 6-inch (15.24-cm) diamond mesh 
codend to trips with the standard 6.5-inch (16.51-cm) mesh codend. The 
Alliance states that this comparison would also demonstrate the 
usefulness of EM systems as tools for research.
    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.

References

He, P. (2007). Selectivity of large mesh trawl codends in the Gulf 
of Maine: I. Comparison of square and diamond mesh. Fisheries 
Research, 83(1), 44-59.

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

    Dated: July 29, 2020.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 2020-16867 Filed 8-3-20; 8:45 am]
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