[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 41 (Thursday, March 4, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12656-12657]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-04420]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XA845


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 contains all 
of the required information and warrants further consideration. The 
Exempted Fishing Permit would allow two commercial fishing vessels to 
use large mesh gillnet gear to collect pre-construction data on the 
abundance, size structure, and distribution of monkfish and winter 
skate in the South Fork Wind Farm work area and adjacent waters, under 
the direction of the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation. 
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 19, 2021.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by any of the following 
methods:
     Email: [email protected]. Include in the subject line 
``CFRF South Fork Wind Farm Gillnet EFP.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Louis Forristall, Marine Resources 
Management Specialist, 978-281-9321, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation 
(CFRF) submitted a complete application for an Exempted Fishing Permit 
(EFP) in support of its South Fork Wind Farm (SFWF) Gillnet Survey on 
October 16, 2020. The proposed research would use large-mesh gillnet 
gear in a Before-After-Control-Impact study design to collect pre-
construction data on the abundance, size structure, and distribution of 
monkfish, winter skate, and other species in the SFWF lease area and 
adjacent waters.
    This EFP would temporarily exempt up to two active vessels and six 
backup vessels from: Possession limits and minimum size requirements 
specified in 50 CFR 648 subparts A, B, and D through O for on-board 
sampling and donation of sampled catch; and gillnet tagging 
requirements in 50 CFR 648 subparts A and F, so gillnets used in the 
surveys can be marked with tags from CFRF.
    A rotational sampling schedule would be used between a survey site 
inside the SFWF lease area and two reference survey areas outside the 
lease area. Individual surveys would sample one or two of these areas 
per trip, depending on the rotational schedule and steam time between 
the areas. Each survey would consist of four 1-day trips: Two trips to 
set the gear and two trips to retrieve gear and sample the catch. 
Survey trips would take place seasonally four times per month from 
April-June and again from October-December for each project year 
resulting in four sampling periods: October 2020-December 2020; April 
2021-June 2021; October 2021-December 2021; and April 2022-June 2022. 
In total, 90 nets would be sampled after 48 hour soak times twice per 
month during the survey periods.
    Vessels sampling gillnets under this EFP would declare out of 
fishery (DOF) to avoid using a monkfish day-at-sea (DAS) while carrying 
out the research activities covered by this EFP. Vessels operating as 
DOF and solely conducting

[[Page 12657]]

survey activities would not need to use monkfish DAS and a DAS 
exemption would be unnecessary. If vessels combine commercial 
activities with survey activities (i.e., setting or hauling commercial 
gear) the operator would need to be declared into the monkfish DAS 
program. The proposed research area would fall within the bounds of the 
monkfish Southern Fishery Management Area (SFMA). Current effort 
controls for the SFMA were established in Framework Adjustment 12 to 
the Monkfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP). Framework 12 documented a 
decline in landings over the last ten years and decreased the SFMA 
Annual Catch Limit (ACL). Even with the decreased ACL in the SFMA, the 
limit is higher than landings in recent fishing years. Therefore, the 
fishing effort from this EFP would not be beyond the scope of what was 
considered in Framework 12. Additionally, this EFP would not result in 
a significant increase in catch from what was considered in the 
Supplemental Information Report completed for Framework Adjustment 8 to 
the Northeast Skate Complex FMP. A vessel conducting survey activities 
under this EFP would be required to adhere to its permit-based Vessel 
Trip Reporting requirements to ensure accurate catch accounting. Catch 
from this EFP will be counted against the monkfish and skate ACLs, but 
not against the in season Total Allowable Landings limits for the 
commercial skate fisheries.
    Participating vessels would use gillnet strings with six, 300-foot 
net panels of 12-inch mesh and tie-downs. Gillnet strings would be 
compliant with all regulations, including the Atlantic Large Whale Take 
Reduction Plan, and will be using Future Oceans Marine Mammal Deterrent 
Devices (10Khz) to warn harbor porpoises of nearby nets. The EFP would 
exempt vessels from gillnet tagging requirements and all buoys would be 
labeled with ``CFRF'' and the EFP permit number to mark them as 
research gear.
    CFRF staff would be on board for all sampling trips of survey nets. 
No catch from the survey nets would be landed for sale. From each haul, 
researchers would record the number and size for all species, and all 
organisms would be identified to the species level. Length frequency 
distribution would be recorded for dominant species in the catch up to 
50 individuals, as well as for any endangered species. Stomach content 
analysis would be performed for commercially important species 
(monkfish, winter skate, gadids, black sea bass) to determine the prey 
composition for these species during the pre-construction period in the 
offshore wind lease area. A maximum of 5 individuals per species and 10 
total animals per string will be sampled. Otoliths would be sampled 
from all fish that are sacrificed for biological sampling.
    If a sturgeon is encountered, the protocols outlined in the 
observer on-deck reference guide will be followed. This will include 
photographing the animal, taking a fin clip unless it is a shortnose 
sturgeon, measuring fork length and weight if possible, recording any 
injuries or bruises, and returning the animal to the water as soon as 
these activities are completed.
    Estimated catch of federally regulated species that would be 
expected under this EFP is shown in Table 1. Survey catch estimates 
were derived from commercial catch data for similar gillnet gear 
reported in NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-NE-254 2019 Discard 
Estimation, Precision and Sample Size Analyses for 14 Federally Managed 
Species Groups in the Waters off the Northeastern United States 
(https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/23007). The gear 
configuration, location, and soak times of these trips is unknown, and 
would likely vary from what would be used under this EFP. It is also 
likely that the catch from this survey would be less than the estimates 
provided below because they are derived from fishing data from trips 
that often targeted these species directly with commercial fishing gear 
in areas where they are more abundant.

Table 1--Estimated Catch of Federally Regulated Species per Survey Trip,
                        and Total Estimated Catch
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                                  Catch per area per    Estimated total
   Species name/species group            trip            survey catch
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Skate Complex...................  1,516.5 lb (687.9   109,184.8 lb
                                   kg).                (49,525.4 kg)
Monkfish........................  606.1 lb (274.9     43,638.0 lb
                                   kg).                (19,793.9 kg)
Spiny Dogfish...................  140.1 lb (63.5 kg)  10,147.3 lb
                                                       (4602.7 kg)
Fluke...........................  7.2 lb (3.3 kg)...  1,443.9 lb (654.9
                                                       kg)
Atlantic Halibut................  6.7 lb (3.0 kg)...  561.8 lb (254.8
                                                       kg)
Atlantic Cod....................  6.5 lb (2.9 kg)...  520.5 lb (236.1
                                                       kg)
Pollock.........................  3.5 lb (1.6 kg)...  483.8 lb (219.4
                                                       kg)
Bluefish........................  1.8 lb (0.8 kg)...  467.1 lb (211.9
                                                       kg)
Silver Hake.....................  1.8 lb (0.8 kg)...  248.4 lb (112.7
                                                       kg)
White Hake......................  1.3 lb (0.6 kg)...  132.3 lb (60.0 kg)
Haddock.........................  1.0 lb (0.5 kg)...  127.1 lb (57.7 kg)
American Plaice.................  0.4 lb (0.2 kg)...  126.4 lb (57.3 kg)
Scup............................  0.4 lb (0.2 kg)...  90.4 lb (41.0 kg)
Winter Flounder.................  0.4 lb (0.2 kg)...  73.2 lb (33.2 kg)
Tilefish........................  0.2 lb (0.1 kg)...  29.5 lb (13.4 kg)
Golden Tilefish.................  0.2 lb (0.1 kg)...  28.4 lb (12.9 kg)
Black Sea Bass..................  0.2 lb (0.1 kg)...  28.0 lb (12.7 kg)
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    If approved, CFRF may request minor modifications and extensions to 
the EFP throughout the study. 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: February 26, 2021.
Kelly Denit,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-04420 Filed 3-3-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P