[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 97 (Friday, May 17, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43380-43383]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-10850]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XD965]


Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
Provisions; 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 federally permitted commercial 
fishing vessels to fish outside fishery regulations in support of 
exempted fishing activities proposed by the NOAA Northeast Fisheries 
Science Center (NEFSC). 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 June 3, 2024.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by the following method:
     Email: [email protected]. Include in the subject line 
``NEFSC On-Demand Gear EFP.''
    All comments received are a part of the public record and may be 
posted for public viewing 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: Christine Ford, Fishery Management 
Specialist, [email protected], (978) 281-9185.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NOAA NEFSC submitted a complete 
application for an EFP to conduct

[[Page 43381]]

commercial fishing activities that the regulations would otherwise 
restrict, to continue trials of on-demand fishing gear that use one or 
no surface buoys and to test the ability of gear marking systems to 
consistently locate gear. This EFP would exempt the participating 
vessels from the following Federal regulations:

                                          Table 1--Requested Exemptions
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
             CFR citation                              Regulation                        Need for exemption
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
50 CFR 697.21(b).....................  Gear marking requirements.................  For trial of trap/pot gear
                                                                                    with no more than one
                                                                                    surface marking on trawls of
                                                                                    more than three traps, and
                                                                                    trial of trap/pot gear with
                                                                                    no surface marking on trawls
                                                                                    of three or fewer traps.
50 CFR 648.84(b).....................  Gear marking requirements.................  For trial of gillnet gear
                                                                                    with no more than one
                                                                                    surface marking.
50 CFR 648.264(a)....................  Gear marking requirements.................  For trial of red crab trap/
                                                                                    pot gear with no more than
                                                                                    one surface marking on
                                                                                    trawls.
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                                            Table 2--Project Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Project title.......................................  Development and trials of on-demand fishing systems in
                                                       fixed gear fisheries.
Project start.......................................  08/22/2024.
Project end.........................................  12/31/2025.
Project objectives..................................  To expand the trials of on-demand fishing systems with
                                                       additional participants and fisheries to ensure testing
                                                       has been conducted adequately across the breadth of
                                                       regional commercial fishing conditions, with the aim of
                                                       sustaining the fixed gear fishing industry, while
                                                       reducing the entanglement risk to the critically
                                                       endangered North Atlantic Right Whale.
Project location....................................  Areas open to trap/pot and gillnet fishing in the Gulf of
                                                       Maine, Georges Bank, southern New England, and mid-
                                                       Atlantic.
Number of vessels...................................  Lobster: up to 180, including up to 5 using grappling;
                                                      Gillnet & other trap/pot: up to 20.
Number of trips.....................................  Up to 15,000 trips (200 vessels making an average of 1.5
                                                       trips per week) for trap/pot vessels; Up to 1,600 trips
                                                       (20 vessels making an average of 1.5 trips per week) for
                                                       gillnet vessels.
Trip duration (days)................................  Lobster: Ranging from 1-14 days depending on the fishing
                                                       area.
                                                      Gillnet & other trap/pot: Variable based on fishery,
                                                       target species, and fishing location, but within the
                                                       range of standard commercial fishing trips.
Gear type(s)........................................  Trap/pot and anchored-fixed gillnet.
Number of tows or sets..............................  Lobster: Overall lobster fleet research effort will be
                                                       capped at 1,800 modified trap trawls actively fished. The
                                                       number of on-demand units actively fished per vessel will
                                                       vary by season and fishing operation.
                                                      Gillnet & other trap/pot: Combined research effort for
                                                       these fisheries will be capped at 200 on-demand units
                                                       actively fishing.
Duration of tows or sets............................  Lobster: Variable, but expected to be 14 days or less.
                                                       Will not exceed 30 days, as required by regulation.
                                                      Gillnet & other trap/pot: Typical commercial soak times.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Project Narrative

    This project is a continuation and broadening of the NEFSC's 
efforts to trial on-demand fishing systems (also known as ropeless) 
aimed at reducing the entanglement risk to protected species, mainly 
the North Atlantic right whale, in trap/pot and gillnet fisheries. The 
NEFSC's existing EFP will expire on August 21, 2024, and authorizes on-
demand gear trials on up to 195 trap/pot vessels and up to 5 gillnet 
vessels. As of March 2024, the NEFSC had collected data from 1,268 
hauls of on-demand gear in Federal waters under its current EFP. Of 
these, 587 hauls took place in Lobster Management Area (LMA) 1, 199 in 
LMA 2, 437 in LMA 3, 19 in LMA Outer Cape, and 26 in the gillnet 
fishery. Between August 2023 and March 2024, the NEFSC reported four 
instances of gear loss not associated with gear conflict, and three 
assumed instances of gear conflict. For the assumed gear conflict 
instances, two likely involved groundfish trawlers, while the other may 
have involved discarded tilefish gear. The NEFSC has continued to 
conduct outreach to encourage use of the Trap Tracker app by non-
participating vessels. As of March 2024, approximately 44 fixed-gear 
and 6 mobile-gear vessels are using Trap Tracker.
    This project would allow up to 180 lobster trap vessels to replace 
up to 10 of their existing trawls (up to 1,800 trawls total) with 
modified trawls, including in Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan 
(ALWTRP) Restricted Areas. It would also allow up to 20 total gillnet, 
red crab trap, and black sea bass pot vessels to replace up to 10 of 
their existing strings/trawls (up to 200 strings/trawls) with modified 
strings/trawls; these gear types would not be allowed in the ALWTRP 
Restricted Areas. Modified gear would replace one or both traditional 
end lines with acoustic on-demand systems and other alternatives to 
static buoy lines (including, but not limited to, spooled systems, buoy 
and stowed-rope systems, lift-bag systems, and grappling).
    The ultimate goal of this project is to enable the continuation of 
some of the region's most valuable and historically significant 
fisheries while also meeting the requirements set forth by the ALWTRP 
and section 118(f) of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, specifically 
reducing the level of serious injury and mortality of North Atlantic 
right, humpback, and fin whales in commercial fisheries. To achieve 
this, the project includes objectives to test the efficacy of fully on-
demand trawls/strings and the adequacy of gear marking systems that use 
data hubs and visualization platforms to share on-demand gear 
locations. The project is intended to address challenges and data needs 
associated with on-demand gear, including:
     Collecting data on location accuracy and gear conflict 
concerns, comparative timing of on-demand vs. traditional fishing 
modalities, refining hauling failures, and gathering industry feedback 
about usability and safety;
     Conducting data analysis on gear durability, manufacturer-
specific performance reports and recommendations, and initiation of a 
list of criteria that could be used to

[[Page 43382]]

certify or type approve innovative gear technologies;
     Continuing to evaluate the reliability of new innovative 
gears as they come on the market and work with manufacturers and 
industry to pilot test gears;
     Expanding experimental fishing in Restricted Areas in ways 
that make sense, focusing on safety (protected species and fishermen) 
and equity (fishermen and manufacturers) to assess the feasibility and 
efficiency of fishing fully on-demand trawls/strings; and
     Expanding communication efforts to participants, the 
broader fishing community, managers, and partners.
    To ensure that on-demand fishing and gear marking technologies are 
adequately tested across the breadth of regional commercial fishing 
conditions, the NEFSC requests the flexibility to test on-demand gear 
across the geographic range of the Federal American lobster and Jonah 
crab fishery, including testing fully on-demand gear (no persistent 
vertical lines) in ALWTRP Restricted Areas. It also requests the 
opportunity to trial on-demand gillnet and other trap/pot gear across 
the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, southern New England, and the mid-
Atlantic. 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 5 vessels to retrieve up to 30 trawls via grappling. 
Although no grappling trials have occurred to date, four vessels/
operators have expressed interest in participating in the study. Unlike 
what is authorized under the existing EFP, no grappling would be 
allowed in the ALWTRP Restricted Areas. To cover a greater area and 
target areas where data is needed, NEFSC has requested the flexibility 
to have greater than 200 participants during the permit period (with 
only 200 fishing at one time). It would provide requested modifications 
to the active participants, general locations, and technologies to be 
tested 1 month in advance. Priority would be given to participants who 
are seasonally excluded from fishing in certain areas and/or in 
offshore fisheries with limited entanglement mitigation options.
    This permit would only exempt vessels from the specified Federal 
regulations in Federal waters. It would 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. The 
applicant would be responsible for obtaining all required State 
authorizations. Other than gear markings, all trap/pot trawls and 
gillnet strings would be consistent with the regulations of the 
management area where the vessel is fishing and would be fished in 
accordance with the participating vessels' standard operations (number 
and length of trips, soak times, trap limits, etc.).
    The use of on-demand lobster trap gear in the ALWTRP Restricted 
Areas is limited to gear without any persistent vertical lines. The 
NEFSC's existing EFP allows vessels to modify up to 20 trawls each, but 
caps effort to 300 total trawls in the Restricted Areas. If necessary 
due to a high level of interest and limited capacity, the NEFSC may 
require a demonstrated history of fishing within ALWTRP Restricted 
Areas as a condition for participation in on-demand trials in those 
areas.
    In the first phase of participation, staff from the NEFSC and the 
gear manufacturers would provide training to ensure the system is 
working as intended and all participants have sufficient experience 
with the gear before borrowing from the gear cache library. In the 
second phase, participating vessels would rig an on-demand system to 
one end of a standard trawl or string and fish it as a hybrid (with 1 
traditional surface marking) for at least 10 hauls per system. In phase 
three, participants would fish the gear as part of normal fishing 
operations, including fishing fully on-demand gear and fully on-demand 
trap trawls in the ALTWRP Restricted Areas. In some cases, a scientific 
observer may be on board, and/or GoPro Systems (or equivalent) may 
record gear retrievals. The NEFSC would provide standardized data 
collection sheets to all participants, but individually-identifiable 
data will only be made public with the express permission of the vessel 
owner.
    The NEFSC also plans to include targeted geolocation studies in 
areas with limited trawling and/or dredging to test new location-
marking systems on the seafloor and automated location-marking when 
gear is set and retrieved. This EFP would support efforts to improve 
gear-marking and gear-conflict avoidance technologies, including 
testing the amount of effort to mark sub-surface gear location in the 
Trap Tracker app (vs. surface location where the gear is deployed) and 
other sub-surface gear marking technologies. This EFP would also test 
the use of the EarthRanger platform that displays gear locations from 
various gear-marking technologies. The NEFSC would demonstrate and 
encourage adoption of these technologies with non-participant vessels.
    The NEFSC proposes the following best practices and risk reduction 
measures:
     All vessels would report all right whale sightings to NMFS 
via [email protected] or NOAA (866-755-6622) or the U.S. Coast 
Guard (Channel 16) and record sightings on data sheets;
     All vessels would retrieve on-demand vertical lines as 
quickly as possible to minimize time in the water column;
     All vessels would adhere to current approach regulations--
a 500-yard (457.2-meter) 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 removal) to accommodate the regulation and be 
reinitiated only after it is reasonable to assume the whale has left 
the area;
     All vessels would provide mandatory, weekly gear loss 
reports;
     All vessels would operate within a 10-knot speed limit 
when transiting Restricted Areas or when whales are observed;
     For fully on-demand gear without traditional surface 
markings, participants would use the Trap Tracker or an equivalent 
technology for retrieval and set positioning details, which would be 
available to Federal, State, and corresponding enforcement personnel, 
as well as other fishermen;
     For fully on-demand gear without traditional surface 
markings, on-demand vertical lines would be marked with unique yellow/
black/orange marks above the regional markings, in addition to ALWTRP 
regulations (per agreement with the NMFS Atlantic Large Whale Take 
Reduction Team Coordinator);
     When fishing in ALWTRP Restricted Areas, vessels would 
check real-time right whale sightings information (such as Right Whale 
Sightings Advisories and Whale ALERT) before setting any gear and avoid 
areas of high right whale abundance, and all vessels would be 
recommended to follow this process when setting gear outside the ALWTRP 
Restricted Areas;
     Enforcement will be provided with and trained on the Trap 
Tracker app (for seeing subsea marked gear) prior to the start of the 
trials;
     A unique flag will be flown by each vessel for enforcement 
recognition; and
     The NEFSC would continue to provide regular updates to the 
Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO), the New England and 
Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils, the Atlantic States Marine 
Fisheries Commission, and constituents on project developments and 
performance.
    Vessels fishing fully on-demand lobster trawls in ALWTRP Restricted

[[Page 43383]]

Areas would be required to follow additional practices:
     All participants would carry a NEFSC scientist on a subset 
of trips to collect additional data and oversee trial performance;
     Stowed hauling lines in on-demand units would contain 
unique colored identification marks consisting of orange marks above 
each regional ALWTRP marking;
     No floating groundline would be used on research trawls, 
including where otherwise legally allowed between the first trap and 
anchor or on-demand unit;
     If any large whale species came within 500 yards (457.2 
meters) of a participating vessel during hauling, fishing would 
immediately cease, by either removal or resetting, and be reinitiated 
only after it was reasonable to assume the whale(s) had left the area; 
and
     Participants will be provided with information on species 
identification as well as protocols to report live, dead, or entangled 
sightings of all large whale species. All whale sightings would be 
recorded on data sheets.
    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 13, 2024.
Kelly Denit,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-10850 Filed 5-16-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P