[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 156 (Monday, August 15, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50071-50072]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-17464]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XC192]


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.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable 
Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Region, NMFS, has made a preliminary 
determination that an Exempted Fishing Permit application submitted by 
the Gulf of Maine Research Institute contains all of the required 
information and warrants further consideration. 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 30, 2022.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by the following method:
     Email: [email protected]. Include in the subject line 
``GMRI Third-Party DSM Pilot EFP.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Claire Fitz-Gerald, Fishery Policy 
Analyst, [email protected], (978) 281-9255.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) 
submitted a complete application for an Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) 
to pilot a third-party dockside monitoring (DSM) program in support of 
maximized retention electronic monitoring (MREM) for the Northeast 
multispecies fishery. The groundfish sector MREM program currently 
operates under an EFP and NMFS administers an accompanying DSM program 
to collect catch information. MREM will be implemented in regulation as 
part of Amendment 23 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management 
Plan during fishing year 2022. Measures implementing Amendment 23 were 
published in a proposed rule on February 28, 2022 (87 FR 11014). 
Amendment 23 was approved on behalf of the Secretary of Commerce on 
April 12, 2022; it will be implemented through a final rule in 2022, 
although the timing is uncertain. Amendment 23 aims to improve the 
reliability and accountability of catch reporting in the commercial 
groundfish fishery.
    NMFS will continue to administer the DSM program while we finalize 
program standards and requirements, after which we will transition the 
program in an industry-funded model and sectors will contract directly 
with third-party providers for DSM services. GMRI intends to support 
this transition by administering a DSM pilot program with contracted 
third-party providers to achieve two main objectives: To provide 
increased DSM capacity; and explore innovative alternatives to the 
existing DSM program. If approved, this EFP would exempt participants 
from the MREM DSM regulation included in the Amendment 23 proposed rule 
at 50 CFR 648.11(l)(10)(i)(D). The EFP would exempt vessels in the MREM 
program from the requirement to participate in either an independent 
third-party DSM program approved by NMFS or the DSM program operated by 
NMFS. We intend to align issuance of this EFP, if approved, with the 
implementation of Amendment 23. Given this, we are notifying the public 
of our intent to issue the EFP and soliciting comments now even though 
we have yet to publish the final rule with implementing regulations for 
Amendment 23.
    Under the EFP, GMRI and its contracted third-party providers would 
provide additional DSM capacity for fishing year 2022 by overseeing 
some offloads for MREM vessels. GMRI and its contracted third-party 
providers would coordinate with the Northeast Fisheries Science Center 
(NEFSC) to deploy DSM services as needed, and would collect data 
required under the MREM program. In particular, the DSM program is 
responsible for: Verifying that the fish hold is empty after offload; 
independently recording dealer-reported weights; and collecting 
biosamples with an emphasis on sub-legal groundfish. GMRI and its 
contracted third-party providers would give the information collected 
to NEFSC for data entry and quality assurance and control.
    The DSM pilot program would also explore innovative alternatives to 
existing protocols to collect catch information, and provide support to 
sectors, fishermen, and dealers. For example, innovations may include, 
but are not limited to, alternative program designs (e.g., subsampling) 
and technological solutions to data collection. GMRI would work with 
NMFS to identify innovations suitable for exploration and testing. The 
ultimate objective of the EFP would be to develop cost-effective and 
efficient DSM protocols to meet program standards and requirements that 
work across a variety of fishing and offload strategies.
    The third-party DSM EFP would start when Amendment 23 is 
implemented and would operate through the remainder of fishing year 
2022 (i.e., until April 30, 2023). NMFS expects approximately 12 
vessels to enroll in MREM during fishing year 2022. Participating 
vessels would land at the following ports, although this list may 
change if new vessels join the program: Portland ME, Gloucester MA, 
Boston MA, and New Bedford MA. Cumulatively, MREM vessels are expected 
to take 250-300 trips. GMRI would work closely with NMFS to deploy DSM 
staff to vessels and ensure full DSM coverage in accordance with 
program requirements. All other regulations and conditions would still 
apply, including adherence to vessels' approved sector operations 
plans, EM plans, and vessel monitoring plans.
    If approved, the applicant may request minor modifications and 
extensions to the EFP throughout the year as well as modifications 
resulting from changes to the regulations for the DSM program included 
in the Amendment 23 final rule. EFP modifications and extensions may be 
granted without further notice if they are deemed essential to 
facilitate completion of the proposed research

[[Page 50072]]

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: August 9, 2022.
Kelly Denit,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-17464 Filed 8-12-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P