[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 28 (Thursday, February 10, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7822-7823]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-02839]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XB789]


Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management 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 (EFP) application 
contains all of the required information and warrants further 
consideration. The EFP would allow commercial fishing vessels to fish 
outside fishery regulations in support of research conducted by the 
applicant. Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 
and Management Act and the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative 
Management Act require publication of this notification to provide 
interested parties the opportunity to comment on applications for 
proposed EFPs.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before February 25, 2022.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by any of the following 
methods:
     Email: [email protected]. Include in the subject line 
``CFRF Ventless Trap EFP.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura Deighan, Fishery Management 
Specialist, [email protected], (978) 281-9184.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation 
submitted a complete application for an EFP to conduct commercial 
fishing activities that the regulations would otherwise restrict to 
continue to provide distribution, abundance, and biological data on 
juvenile lobsters and Jonah crabs from times and areas with low 
coverage from traditional surveys. This EFP would exempt the 
participating vessels from the following Federal regulations:

                                          Table 1--Requested Exemptions
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               Citation                            Regulation                       Need for exemption
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50 CFR 697.21(c).....................  Gear specification requirements..  To allow for closed escape vents and
                                                                           smaller trap mesh and entrance heads.
Sec.   697.19........................  Trap limit requirements..........  To allow for three additional traps
                                                                           per fishing vessel for a total of up
                                                                           to 66 additional traps.
Sec.   697.19(j).....................  Trap tag requirements............  To allow for the use of untagged traps
                                                                           (though each modified trap will have
                                                                           the participating fisherman's
                                                                           identification attached).
Sec.   697.20(a), (d), (g), and        Possession restrictions..........  To allow for onboard biological
 (h)(1) and (2).                                                           sampling of undersized, v-notched,
                                                                           and egg-bearing lobsters and
                                                                           undersized and egg-bearing Jonah
                                                                           crabs and retention of up to 300
                                                                           legal and sublegal Jonah crabs per
                                                                           month for a molting study.
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    This project is a continuation of ongoing effort to collect data on 
juvenile lobster and Jonah crab abundance and distribution in areas and 
times of year with low or no coverage by traditional surveys. To date, 
this project has collected data from over 175,000 lobsters and 105,000 
Jonah crabs. The current EFP will expire April 5, 2022;

[[Page 7823]]

this EFP would cover a study period of April 1, 2022, through June 30, 
2023.
    The project includes 4 inshore vessels (Lobster Management Area 2) 
and 16 offshore vessels (Lobster Management Areas 1, 3, and 4). Each 
vessel would fish with 3 modified, ventless traps designed to capture 
juvenile lobsters, totaling 60 modified traps. The project team hopes 
to add 2 additional offshore vessels (Lobster Management Areas 1, 3, 4, 
and/or 5) in 2022, which would increase the total to 66 traps. The 
modified traps would adhere to the standard coast-wide survey gear for 
lobster and Jonah crab set by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries 
Commission and would be fished within standard Atlantic Large Whale-
compliant trawls. The traps would remain in the water up to 12 months 
and be hauled every 7 days by the inshore vessels and every 10 days by 
the offshore vessels.
    This study would take place during the regular fishing activity of 
the participating vessels, but catch from modified traps would remain 
separate from that of standard gear. Operators would collect data on 
size, sex, presence of eggs, and shell hardness for lobsters and Jonah 
crabs and v-notch and shell disease for lobsters. In addition to 
onboard sampling, three inshore and three offshore vessels would retain 
up to 50 Jonah crabs per month each, for a total of up to 300 crabs per 
month, for a molting study. Operators would return all other specimens 
from modified gear to the ocean once sampling is complete.
    The study is designed to inform management by addressing questions 
of changing reproduction and recruitment dynamics of lobster and 
develop a foundation of knowledge for the data-deficient Jonah crab 
fishery. The Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation would share data 
with the Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program, the Northeast 
Fisheries Science Center, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries 
Commission, and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management 
every 6 months.
    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: February 7, 2022.
Ngagne Jafnar Gueye,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-02839 Filed 2-9-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P