[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 105 (Wednesday, June 1, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33132-33134]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-11600]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XC059]


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 application contains all 
of the required information and warrants further consideration. The 
Exempted Fishing Permit 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 Exempted Fishing Permits.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before June 16, 2022.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by the following method:
     Email: [email protected]. Include in the subject line 
``NEFSC On-Demand Gear EFP.''

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center 
submitted a complete application for an Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) 
to conduct commercial fishing activities that the regulations would 
otherwise restrict to expand trials of on-demand fishing gear that uses 
one or no surface buoys and to test the ability of gear

[[Page 33133]]

marking systems to consistently locate gear. This EFP would exempt the 
participating vessels from the gear marking requirements at 50 CFR 
697.21(b)(2) to allow the use of trawls of more than three traps that 
have one or no surface markers.
    This project would be a continuation and expansion of the Center's 
trials of on-demand fishing systems aimed at reducing the entanglement 
risk to protected species, mainly the North Atlantic right whale, in 
the American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries. If granted, this permit 
would allow up to 100 vessels to replace up to 10 of their existing 
trawls with modified trawls that replace one or both vertical lines 
with acoustic on-demand systems or other alternatives to static buoy 
lines (including, but not limited to, spooled systems, buoy and stowed 
rope systems, lift bag systems, and grappling). The previous permit 
authorized gear trials on 5 vessels, and this project would expand the 
trial to up to 100 participating vessels at a time, for a total of up 
to 1,000 modified trawls, between the issue date and May 1, 2023.
    This project would include the opportunity for up to 30 of the 
participating vessels at a time to trial gear (up to 300 trawls) 
without static vertical lines in Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction 
Plan (ALWTRP) Restricted Areas. In recognition of industry's interest 
in grappling as a low-cost alternative to acoustic on-demand systems, 
this project would also allow up to 25 vessels to retrieve buoyless 
gear via grappling to enable the Center to collect data on the 
viability of grappling at a commercial scale.
    One of the goals of this project is to test the efficacy of on-
demand fishing gear and other alternatives to static buoy lines under a 
variety of oceanographic conditions. To achieve this goal, 
participation would not be limited to tightly prescribed and 
predetermined areas, but would occur in areas where fishermen are 
willing to participate and data collection will be useful. Priority 
would be given to participants who are seasonally excluded from fishing 
in certain areas and/or participants in offshore fisheries that have 
limited entanglement mitigation options available. This project would 
prioritize the following times and areas of interest (though many 
participants would likely use experimental gear in the months outside 
of a closure to gain familiarity with the systems):
     Lobster Management Area (LMA) 1, Restricted Area in the 
Gulf of Maine between October 1 and January 31;
     LMA 1, Massachusetts Bay Restricted Area or Massachusetts 
state waters, between February 1 and May 15 (with the exception of the 
area defined under 322 MA Regulation 12.05);
     LMA 1, areas in Downeast Maine where participants may 
trial gear as part of a Gear Innovation Plan that gains access to 
markets lost by the Monterey Bay Red-Listing;
     LMA 2, LMA 2/3 overlap, and LMA 3, Large South Island 
Closure between February 1 and April 30; and
     LMA 3, offshore areas, including in Groundfish Closed Area 
2, between May 1 and December 31.

Note that this permit would exempt participating vessels from the 
specified Federal regulations in Federal waters only. The Center is 
responsible for obtaining all required state authorizations for any 
activities in state waters.
    The second goal of this project is to trial gear marking systems 
(using GPS points or alternatively subsurface markings) to determine 
the ability to consistently relocate fishing gear and improve the 
ability to notify other fishermen, including those in the fixed and 
mobile fleet, that the gear is present. These systems are intended to 
prevent increases in gear conflicts despite the absence of surface 
markings.
    This EFP does not exempt the vessels from any requirements imposed 
by any state, the Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection 
Act, or any other applicable laws. Other than gear markings, the trawls 
would be consistent with the regulations of the management area where 
the vessel is fishing and would include no more than 50 traps per 
trawl. The trawls would be fished in accordance with the participating 
vessels' standard operations and all applicable regulations in terms of 
the number and length of trips, soak times, trap limits, etc. The 
Center would implement additional protocols to mitigate risks of 
impacts to whales or of gear conflicts:
     For all participants, fishing within and outside of the 
Restricted Areas, at all times:
    [cir] The Center would provide information on species 
identification and protocols to report live, dead, or entangled 
sightings of North Atlantic right whales;
    [cir] All vessels would provide mandatory, weekly gear loss 
reports;
    [cir] All vessels would retrieve on-demand vertical lines as 
quickly as possible to minimize time in the water column;
    [cir] Typical soak times would be no longer than 30 days, but are 
anticipated to be less than 14 days (weather permitting and without 
unforeseen circumstances);
    [cir] All vessels would adhere to current approach regulations--a 
500-yard (457.2-m) buffer zone created by a surfacing right whale--and 
must depart immediately at a safe and slow speed, in accordance with 
current regulations. Hauling any lobster gear would immediately cease, 
by either removal or resetting, to accommodate the regulation and be 
reinitiated only after it is reasonable to assume the whale has left 
the area;
    [cir] Vessels would operate within a 10-knot speed limit when 
transiting Restricted Areas or when whales are observed;
     For all participants fishing in the Restricted Areas, and 
for participants fishing outside the Restricted Areas, 
opportunistically:
    [cir] Smart buoy technology would be used to provide alerts to the 
fishermen and the Center within two hours of an unplanned release of a 
stowed line;
    [cir] Participants would record visual right whale sightings on 
data sheets when in the fishing area;
    [cir] Participants would use Trap Tracker or an equivalent 
application for retrieval and set positioning details, which would be 
available to Federal, State and corresponding enforcement personnel, as 
well as other fishermen. The Edge Tech Trap Tracker App uploads the 
location of subsurface gear to the cloud, which allows other users to 
see the location, similar to the way a surface buoy would, to reduce 
gear conflicts.
     For all participants in the Restricted Areas:
    [cir] On demand vertical lines will be marked with unique markings 
in addition to Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan regulations. 
Specifically, the Center worked with NMFS Atlantic Large Whale Take 
Reduction Team Coordinator for specific markings/color combinations 
unique to the proposed project, which will be provided to the Office of 
Law Enforcement; and
    [cir] All vessels would fly a unique flag for enforcement 
recognition.
    In addition, the following measures would be implemented to reduce 
potential gear conflicts:
     The Center will regularly provide the approximate location 
and intensity of fishing in restricted areas where trawls will not have 
any surface markers;
     Industry members that are fishing in areas identified as 
having trap gear without surface markings are encouraged to contact the 
Center for additional information on gear location; and

[[Page 33134]]

     Project participants and Center personnel will proactively 
communicate within local ports with mobile and fixed gear fleets on 
fishing effort and location under the EFP, with particular focus on 
restricted areas.
    The Center would provide training to ensure all participants 
achieve a sufficient level of experience with the gear prior to 
borrowing from their gear cache library. Center staff and engineering 
teams would oversee deployments. In some cases, a scientific observer 
may be on board, but they would not be required due to space and COVID 
considerations. Participants may use GoPro Systems (or equivalent or 
better) to record some or all of the gear retrievals for later review.
    The Center would provide standardized data collection sheets to all 
participants. These data may be included in analyses for a final report 
to determine the efficacy of the experiment, but individually-
identifiable data will only be made available with the express 
permission of the vessel owner. The results of this project would be 
used to inform future regulatory and National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA) analysis and to provide feedback to manufacturers of on-demand 
gear on improvements that would increase performance of on-demand 
systems under commercial fishery conditions. The ultimate goal of this 
project is to enable the continuation of one of the region's most 
valuable fisheries, while also meeting the requirements set forth by 
the ALWTRP and section 118(f) of the MMPA, specifically reducing the 
level of serious injury and mortality of North Atlantic right, 
humpback, and fin whales in commercial trap/pot fisheries.
    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: May 25, 2022.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-11600 Filed 5-31-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P