[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 111 (Friday, June 9, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37863-37864]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-12290]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XD075]


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 26, 2023.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by the following method:
     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 Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) 
to conduct commercial fishing activities that the regulations would 
otherwise restrict. The EFP would 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:

[[Page 37864]]



                                          Table 1--Requested Exemptions
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Citation                           Regulation                      Need for exemption
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50 CFR 697.21(c)........................  Gear specification           To allow for closed escape vents and
                                           requirements.                smaller trap mesh and entrance heads.
Sec.   697.19...........................  Trap limit requirements....  To allow for 3 additional traps per
                                                                        fishing vessel, for a total of 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 (h)(1)    Possession restrictions....  To allow for onboard biological sampling
 and (2).                                                               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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    This project would continue an ongoing effort to collect data on 
juvenile lobster and Jonah crab abundance and distribution in areas and 
times of the year with low or no coverage by traditional surveys. To 
date, this project has collected data from over 200,000 lobsters and 
120,000 Jonah crabs. The current EFP will expire on June 30, 2023. The 
EFP under consideration would authorize research trips from July 1, 
2023, through June 30, 2024.
    The project would include 5 inshore vessels (Lobster Management 
Area 2) and 17 offshore vessels (Lobster Management Areas 1 and 3) and 
may include an additional vessel to increase the offshore coverage 
(Lobster Management Areas 4 and 5). Each vessel would fish with 3 
modified, ventless traps designed to capture juvenile lobsters, 
totaling up to 69 modified 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 
with standard Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan-compliant 
trawls. The traps would remain in the water for 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, 3 inshore and 3 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 
about changing reproduction and recruitment dynamics of lobster and to 
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 six 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.
    All comments received are a part of the public record and will 
generally be posted for public viewing at https://www.noaa.gov/organization/information-technology/foia-reading-room 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 ``anonymous'' as the signature if 
you wish to remain anonymous).
    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: June 5, 2023.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-12290 Filed 6-8-23; 8:45 am]
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