Notice2022-11600
Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act Provisions; General Provisions for Domestic Fisheries; Application for Exempted Fishing Permits
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Published
June 1, 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 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.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 105 (Wednesday, June 1, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 105 (Wednesday, June 1, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33132-33134]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-11600]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XC059]
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 16, 2022.
ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by the following method:
<bullet> Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#cfa1a2a9bce1a8aebde1aaa9bf8fa1a0aeaee1a8a0b9"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="88e6e5eefba6efe9faa6edeef8c8e6e7e9e9a6efe7fe">[email protected]</span></a>. Include in the subject line
``NEFSC On-Demand Gear EFP.''
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura Deighan, Fishery Management
Specialist, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#84c8e5f1f6e5aac0e1ede3ece5eac4eaebe5e5aae3ebf2"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a7ebc6d2d5c689e3c2cec0cfc6c9e7c9c8c6c689c0c8d1">[email protected]</span></a>, (978) 281-9184.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center
submitted a complete application for an Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP)
to conduct commercial fishing activities that the regulations would
otherwise restrict to expand trials of on-demand fishing gear that uses
one or no surface buoys and to test the ability of gear
[[Page 33133]]
marking systems to consistently locate gear. This EFP would exempt the
participating vessels from the gear marking requirements at 50 CFR
697.21(b)(2) to allow the use of trawls of more than three traps that
have one or no surface markers.
This project would be a continuation and expansion of the Center's
trials of on-demand fishing systems aimed at reducing the entanglement
risk to protected species, mainly the North Atlantic right whale, in
the American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries. If granted, this permit
would allow up to 100 vessels to replace up to 10 of their existing
trawls with modified trawls that replace one or both vertical lines
with acoustic on-demand systems or other alternatives to static buoy
lines (including, but not limited to, spooled systems, buoy and stowed
rope systems, lift bag systems, and grappling). The previous permit
authorized gear trials on 5 vessels, and this project would expand the
trial to up to 100 participating vessels at a time, for a total of up
to 1,000 modified trawls, between the issue date and May 1, 2023.
This project would include the opportunity for up to 30 of the
participating vessels at a time to trial gear (up to 300 trawls)
without static vertical lines in Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction
Plan (ALWTRP) Restricted Areas. 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 25 vessels to retrieve buoyless
gear via grappling to enable the Center to collect data on the
viability of grappling at a commercial scale.
One of the goals of this project is to test the efficacy of on-
demand fishing gear and other alternatives to static buoy lines under a
variety of oceanographic conditions. To achieve this goal,
participation would not be limited to tightly prescribed and
predetermined areas, but would occur in areas where fishermen are
willing to participate and data collection will be useful. Priority
would be given to participants who are seasonally excluded from fishing
in certain areas and/or participants in offshore fisheries that have
limited entanglement mitigation options available. This project would
prioritize the following times and areas of interest (though many
participants would likely use experimental gear in the months outside
of a closure to gain familiarity with the systems):
<bullet> Lobster Management Area (LMA) 1, Restricted Area in the
Gulf of Maine between October 1 and January 31;
<bullet> LMA 1, Massachusetts Bay Restricted Area or Massachusetts
state waters, between February 1 and May 15 (with the exception of the
area defined under 322 MA Regulation 12.05);
<bullet> LMA 1, areas in Downeast Maine where participants may
trial gear as part of a Gear Innovation Plan that gains access to
markets lost by the Monterey Bay Red-Listing;
<bullet> LMA 2, LMA 2/3 overlap, and LMA 3, Large South Island
Closure between February 1 and April 30; and
<bullet> LMA 3, offshore areas, including in Groundfish Closed Area
2, between May 1 and December 31.
Note that this permit would exempt participating vessels from the
specified Federal regulations in Federal waters only. The Center is
responsible for obtaining all required state authorizations for any
activities in state waters.
The second goal of this project is to trial gear marking systems
(using GPS points or alternatively subsurface markings) to determine
the ability to consistently relocate fishing gear and improve the
ability to notify other fishermen, including those in the fixed and
mobile fleet, that the gear is present. These systems are intended to
prevent increases in gear conflicts despite the absence of surface
markings.
This EFP does 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. Other than gear markings, the trawls
would be consistent with the regulations of the management area where
the vessel is fishing and would include no more than 50 traps per
trawl. The trawls would be fished in accordance with the participating
vessels' standard operations and all applicable regulations in terms of
the number and length of trips, soak times, trap limits, etc. The
Center would implement additional protocols to mitigate risks of
impacts to whales or of gear conflicts:
<bullet> For all participants, fishing within and outside of the
Restricted Areas, at all times:
[cir] The Center would provide information on species
identification and protocols to report live, dead, or entangled
sightings of North Atlantic right whales;
[cir] All vessels would provide mandatory, weekly gear loss
reports;
[cir] All vessels would retrieve on-demand vertical lines as
quickly as possible to minimize time in the water column;
[cir] Typical soak times would be no longer than 30 days, but are
anticipated to be less than 14 days (weather permitting and without
unforeseen circumstances);
[cir] All vessels would adhere to current approach regulations--a
500-yard (457.2-m) 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 either removal or resetting, to accommodate the regulation and be
reinitiated only after it is reasonable to assume the whale has left
the area;
[cir] Vessels would operate within a 10-knot speed limit when
transiting Restricted Areas or when whales are observed;
<bullet> For all participants fishing in the Restricted Areas, and
for participants fishing outside the Restricted Areas,
opportunistically:
[cir] Smart buoy technology would be used to provide alerts to the
fishermen and the Center within two hours of an unplanned release of a
stowed line;
[cir] Participants would record visual right whale sightings on
data sheets when in the fishing area;
[cir] Participants would use Trap Tracker or an equivalent
application for retrieval and set positioning details, which would be
available to Federal, State and corresponding enforcement personnel, as
well as other fishermen. The Edge Tech Trap Tracker App uploads the
location of subsurface gear to the cloud, which allows other users to
see the location, similar to the way a surface buoy would, to reduce
gear conflicts.
<bullet> For all participants in the Restricted Areas:
[cir] On demand vertical lines will be marked with unique markings
in addition to Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan regulations.
Specifically, the Center worked with NMFS Atlantic Large Whale Take
Reduction Team Coordinator for specific markings/color combinations
unique to the proposed project, which will be provided to the Office of
Law Enforcement; and
[cir] All vessels would fly a unique flag for enforcement
recognition.
In addition, the following measures would be implemented to reduce
potential gear conflicts:
<bullet> The Center will regularly provide the approximate location
and intensity of fishing in restricted areas where trawls will not have
any surface markers;
<bullet> Industry members that are fishing in areas identified as
having trap gear without surface markings are encouraged to contact the
Center for additional information on gear location; and
[[Page 33134]]
<bullet> Project participants and Center personnel will proactively
communicate within local ports with mobile and fixed gear fleets on
fishing effort and location under the EFP, with particular focus on
restricted areas.
The Center would provide training to ensure all participants
achieve a sufficient level of experience with the gear prior to
borrowing from their gear cache library. Center staff and engineering
teams would oversee deployments. In some cases, a scientific observer
may be on board, but they would not be required due to space and COVID
considerations. Participants may use GoPro Systems (or equivalent or
better) to record some or all of the gear retrievals for later review.
The Center would provide standardized data collection sheets to all
participants. These data may be included in analyses for a final report
to determine the efficacy of the experiment, but individually-
identifiable data will only be made available with the express
permission of the vessel owner. The results of this project would be
used to inform future regulatory and National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) analysis and to provide feedback to manufacturers of on-demand
gear on improvements that would increase performance of on-demand
systems under commercial fishery conditions. The ultimate goal of this
project is to enable the continuation of one of the region's most
valuable fisheries, while also meeting the requirements set forth by
the ALWTRP and section 118(f) of the MMPA, specifically reducing the
level of serious injury and mortality of North Atlantic right,
humpback, and fin whales in commercial trap/pot fisheries.
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 25, 2022.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-11600 Filed 5-31-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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