[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 60 (Wednesday, March 27, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21238-21240]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-06501]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XD825]


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.

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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 a federally permitted fishing vessel 
to fish outside fishery regulations in support of exempted fishing 
activities. Regulations

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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 EFPs.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 11, 2024.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by the following method:
     Email: [email protected]. Include in the subject line 
``Haddock Sink Gillnet Exploratory Fishing''.
    All comments received are a part of the public record and will 
generally be posted for public viewing in 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).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elise Scholl, Fishery Management 
Specialist, [email protected], (978) 281-9189.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This EFP would exempt the participating 
vessel from the following Federal regulation:

                      Table 1--Requested Exemption
------------------------------------------------------------------------
          CFR citation                Regulation      Need for exemption
------------------------------------------------------------------------
50 CFR 648.80(a)(3)(iv)(B)(1)...  Minimum mesh size   To deploy 6-inch
                                   for Trip Gillnet    (15.24 cm) mesh
                                   Vessels in the      gillnet gear in
                                   Gulf of Maine.      Gulf of Maine
                                                       Regulated Mesh
                                                       Area.
------------------------------------------------------------------------


                        Table 2--Project Summary
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                  Haddock sink gillnet
                Project title                           fishing
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Project Start................................  April 2024.
Project End..................................  May 31, 2024.
Project objectives...........................  To evaluate the efficacy
                                                of 6-inch (15.24 cm)
                                                mesh gillnet for haddock
                                                without increasing the
                                                catch of cod and
                                                sublegal sized haddock.
Project location.............................  Gulf of Maine.
Number of vessels............................  1.
Number of trips..............................  12.
Trip duration (days).........................  3.
Total number of days.........................  36.
Gear type(s).................................  6-inch (15.24 cm)
                                                Gillnet.
Number of tows or sets.......................  16.
Duration of tows or sets.....................  24 hours.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Project Narrative

    The proposed EFP is a continuation of a project conducting 
exploratory fishing in the Gulf of Maine (GOM) that mimics the 
structure of the GOM Sink Gillnet Mesh Exemption originally approved 
for sectors from fishing years 2010 through 2012. The objective of the 
sector exemption was to increase haddock catch while avoiding the catch 
of cod and sublegal sized haddock. In fishing year 2013, we did not 
approve the exemption due to concerns regarding the status of the GOM 
haddock stock, which at the time was subject to overfishing and 
approaching an overfished condition.
    In 2019, the Operational Assessment for GOM haddock determined that 
the haddock stock was not overfished or subject to overfishing, and 
that spawning stock biomass was above the biomass target. In 2020, the 
current applicant proposed an EFP using 6-inch (15.24 cm) mesh gillnets 
to increase haddock catch without an increased catch of cod or sublegal 
haddock. The goal of the EFP was to collect data that could be used to 
inform the efficacy of the 6-inch (15.24 cm) mesh gillnet, and possibly 
lead to a defined geographic area of a future exemption area. We 
approved this EFP for fishing years 2021-22 and 2022-23. The proposed 
EFP would be unchanged from prior EFPs and would be the third year of 
this project.
    From the date of issuance through May 31, 2024, the participating 
vessel would conduct up to 12 trips under the EFP in the GOM Regulated 
Mesh Area (RMA) during which it would make up to 16 hauls with 6-inch 
(15.24 cm) mesh gillnet gear. The maximum number of individual nets 
that could be deployed is 75. Gillnets would be set for a soak of up to 
24 hours, and would be actively tended by the vessel (i.e., the vessel 
would not leave the fishing grounds while nets are deployed).
    A northeast fisheries at-sea monitor or observer would be deployed 
on all groundfish trips taken under the EFP. Allowable discards would 
be discarded at-sea, while all other species would be retained, landed, 
and processed per normal commercial fishing procedures. Monitors would 
document all discards of allocated sub-legal catch.
    While on EFP trips, the vessel may also occasionally deploy 
longline and 6.5-inch (16.51 cm) mesh gillnet gear, in order to 
generate catch composition data that could be used to compare the 
catchability of the 6-inch (15.24 cm) mesh gear with other gears used 
on a normal fishing trip. The gillnet gear would consist of 12 to 24 
nets in a single string, while the longline gear would have between 
1,000 and 2,400 hooks. All groundfish catch, including both discards 
and landings, would be deducted from the appropriate sector allocation 
and the EFP would not authorize catch above the sector allocation.
    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.


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    Dated: March 22, 2024.
Everett Wayne Baxter,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-06501 Filed 3-26-24; 8:45 am]
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