[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 11 (Tuesday, January 18, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2595-2597]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-00737]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XB651]


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

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 Sustainable Seas Technology, LLC. If 
granted, the EFP would authorize the applicant to deploy modified black 
sea bass pots with Acoustic Subsea Buoy Retrieval Systems (ASBRS) in 
South Atlantic Federal waters off North Carolina, South Carolina, 
Georgia, and Florida. The project would examine the potential 
usefulness of ASBRSs for use in the black sea bass pot gear component 
for the commercial sector of the snapper-grouper fishery in minimizing 
impacts to protected species.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before February 2, 2022.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the application, identified by 
``NOAA-NMFS-2021-0129'' by any of the following methods:
     Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to Go to https://www.regulations.gov and enter ``NOAA-NMFS-2021-0129'' in the Search 
box. Click the ``Comment'' 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/science-data/black-sea-bass-pot-experimental-retrieval-project-exempted-fishing-permit/.

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

[[Page 2596]]


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). Each fall, some 
right whales travel from their feeding areas in the waters off New 
England and Canada to the shallow, coastal waters of North Carolina, 
South Carolina, Georgia, and northeastern Florida. 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.
    NMFS previously issued an EFP to the applicant through a pilot 
project for ASBRS research similar to this in 2020 (85 FR 42831; July 
15, 2020). That EFP pilot project found a 99 percent black sea bass pot 
gear retrieval success rate when handled by project personnel.
    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), area and seasonal closures at 50 CFR 622.183 
(622.183(a)(1)(ii)(E), 622.183(a)(2)(vii)(E), and 622.183(b)(6)), black 
sea bass pot configuration restrictions and requirements at 50 CFR 
622.189 (622.189(b), 622.189(e)(1), and 622.189(g)) and Atlantic large 
whale gear marking requirements at 50 CFR 229.32 (229.32(c)(1), 
229.32(c)(2)(ii), and 229(c)(2)(iv)).
    The applicant seeks an EFP to determine the following: If the ASBRS 
gear would continue to 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; if bycatch rates for the 
modified black sea bass pot fishing configuration are greater than 
those for the traditional single pots; and if the harvest of black sea 
bass in the preferred inshore areas that are currently closed, would 
still yield enough catch to offset the cost of ASBRS fishing gear and 
modifications. If granted, the project would allow for expansion of 
gear testing from the initial pilot project off Georgia to include 
additional fishers off North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida 
during the seasonal black sea bass pot closure to examine basic 
functionality, reliability, and feasibility of ropeless fishing gear 
and alternative rigging configurations.
    Under the EFP, the applicant would collect data through an ongoing 
collaborative effort among different ASBRS manufacturers and fishery 
industry partners. If granted, the EFP would be effective from the date 
of issuance through August 31, 2024. 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 are assumed to be receiving grant funding and/or self-
funding the work. These fishers would be allowed to keep and sell all 
catch lawfully harvested by black sea bass pots. The proposed EFP 
testing area would occur in offshore Federal waters of North Carolina, 
South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida out to a depth of 65 meters. The 
inshore water depth for testing in Federal waters would not be less 
than 20 meters. Sampling would occur from November 15 through April 30 
of each year in water depths of 20 to 65 meters. The testing would not 
occur in any special management zones listed in 50 CFR 622.182 or in 
the North Atlantic Right Whale Critical Habitat Area.
    Up to 11 different black sea bass pot designs would be fished as 
singles and as four pot trawls in inshore areas. This would be done 
during the black sea bass pot closure period each year (November 15 
through April 30), to compare against control pots fished under the 
previous EFP to yield data relative to the time expended to retrieve 
and rebait traditional traps pursuant to the current regulations. Using 
the ASBRS, the applicant would utilize virtual gear marking of the pots 
(marking of gear deployment location with chart plotters, 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.
    Participating permitted commercial fishers would deploy 
experimental gear for up to 10 days each year in supervised field 
trials and additional unsupervised fishing trials, not to exceed 2,000 
gear hauls per vessel over the length of the EFP, to evaluate the 
performance of ASBRS with both the experimental and standard black sea 
bass pot configurations. Each deployment under the EFP would be limited 
to 35 total pots per vessel, with an average soak time of 90 minutes 
per configuration. Some overnight sampling would occur for acoustic 
releases.

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 a design of 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.

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 pursuant to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan 
and other Federal regulations, and would have weak links with a maximum

[[Page 2597]]

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).

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 agencies of the 
affected states, 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: January 11, 2022.
Ngagne Jafnar Gueye,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-00737 Filed 1-14-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P