Notice2022-04393
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; General Provisions for Domestic Fisheries; Application for Exempted Fishing Permits
Primary source
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Published
March 2, 2022
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
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 four commercial surfclam and ocean quahog vessels to conduct at-sea paralytic shellfish poisoning testing in the Closed Area II scallop access area in statistical area 562. 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.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 41 (Wednesday, March 2, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 41 (Wednesday, March 2, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11692-11693]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-04393]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XB836]
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 application contains all
of the required information and warrants further consideration. The
Exempted Fishing Permit would allow four commercial surfclam and ocean
quahog vessels to conduct at-sea paralytic shellfish poisoning testing
in the Closed Area II scallop access area in statistical area 562.
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 March 17, 2022.
ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by the following method:
<bullet> Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#dab4b7bca9f4bdbba8f4bfbcaa9ab4b5bbbbf4bdb5ac"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="0b65666d78256c6a79256e6d7b4b65646a6a256c647d">[email protected]</span></a>. Include in the subject line
``Sea Watch Surfclam EFP.''
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura Hansen, Fishery Management
Specialist, 978-281-9225, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6824091d1a09462009061b0d062806070909460f071e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="377b56424556197f5659445259775958565619505841">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Sea Watch is requesting exemption from the
Georges Bank Closed Area specified at 50 CFR 648.76(a)(4). The proposed
project would conduct at-sea testing for paralytic shellfish poisoning
(PSP) in the Georges Bank Closed Area II Scallop Access area.
This Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) would allow two commercial
surfclam and ocean quahog vessels, using
[[Page 11693]]
hydraulic clam dredge gear, to conduct at-sea PSP testing in the Closed
Area II Scallop Access Area in statistical area 562. The participating
vessels are already certified for at-sea testing and are currently
operating in the area opened on Georges Bank in 2012.
In 2008, before the open area of Georges Bank was approved, we
issued an EFP for a single vessel with a harvest of 176,000 bushels
(bu) of surfclams and 80,000 bu of ocean quahogs to determine if at-sea
PSP testing was feasible in that area. The project now under
consideration was designed to align with the original EFP that was
issued to open the area of Georges Bank.
Vessels would take up to 60 trips to collect data on the presence,
or lack thereof, of PSP-contaminated shellfish in the area. The project
would also collect data on clam densities, shell size and landings per
unit effort. No less than 10 percent of the trips would be covered by
observers paid for by Sea Watch. Vessels would land up to 4,800 bu of
surfclams or ocean quahogs per trip and all landings would be counted
against the vessel's annual Individual Fishing Quota allocation. All
landings would be handled under the current PSP protocol in place as
mandated by the Food and Drug Administration and the Interstate
Shellfish Sanitation Conference. A positive PSP result from any one
sample would deem the area unacceptable for harvest. The vessel Captain
would immediately report all positive screening test results, by
telephone or email, to the Authority within the intended state of
landing, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Shellfish Specialist,
and the processor. The FDA would notify us and permitted vessels would
stop fishing in the affected area(s).
Participating vessels would adhere to all seasonal groundfish
closures in Closed Area II and would not retain any scallops while on
EFP trips. Additionally, vessels must also adhere to all other
requirements at Sec. 648.76(a)(4)(i).
If approved, Sea Watch may request minor modifications and
extensions to the EFP throughout the study. 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: February 25, 2022.
Ngagne Jafnar Gueye,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-04393 Filed 3-1-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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