Notice2023-03171
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; General Provisions for Domestic Fisheries; Application for Exempted Fishing Permits
Primary source
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Published
February 15, 2023
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 (EFP) application contains all of the required information and warrants further consideration. The EFP 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 require publication of this notification to provide interested parties the opportunity to comment on applications for proposed EFPs.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 31 (Wednesday, February 15, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 31 (Wednesday, February 15, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9871-9872]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-03171]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XC408]
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 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 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 March 2, 2023.
ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by any of the following
methods:
<bullet> Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#deb0b3b8adf0b9bfacf0bbb8ae9eb0b1bfbff0b9b1a8"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="630d0e05104d0402114d060513230d0c02024d040c15">[email protected]</span></a>. Include in the subject line
``High-Volume Intelligent Discard Chute EM EFP.''
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Samantha Tolken, Fishery Management
Specialist, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#7320121e121d071b125d271c1f18161d331d1c12125d141c05"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="9dcefcf0fcf3e9f5fcb3c9f2f1f6f8f3ddf3f2fcfcb3faf2eb">[email protected]</span></a>, 978-675-2176.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The applicant submitted a complete
application for an EFP to conduct commercial fishing activities that
the regulations would otherwise restrict. This EFP would exempt the
participating vessels from the following Federal regulations:
Table 1--Requested Exemptions
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Citation Regulation Need for exemption
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50 CFR 648.80(a)(3)(i)................ Gulf of Maine Regulated Mesh Conduct fishing with the use of 4.5-inch
Area Minimum Mesh Size and (11.4-cm) diamond mesh intended to
Gear Restrictions. facilitate the catch of redfish and 5.1-
inch (13-cm) square mesh intended to
facilitate the catch of haddock, in
order to expand the predictive
capabilities of the Artificial
Intelligence (AI) program under varying
catch compositions.
50 CFR 648.80(a)(4)(i)................ Georges Bank Regulated Mesh Conduct fishing with the use of 4.5-inch
Area Minimum Size and Gear (11.4-cm) diamond mesh intended to
Restrictions. facilitate the catch of redfish and 5.1-
inch (13-cm) square mesh intended to
facilitate the catch of haddock, in
order to expand the predictive
capabilities of the AI program under
varying catch compositions.
50 CFR 648.81(a)(5)................... Closed Area II Closure Area... Conduct fishing in the non-habitat
management area of Closed Area II
Closure Area from April 16 through
January 31 to vary the areas fished and
catch compositions to expand the
capability of the AI program and
improve predictive power.
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Table 2--Project Summary
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Project title..................... High-Volume Audit (HVA) Electronic
Monitoring (EM) for Groundfish
Vessels Testing an Intelligent
Discard Chute.
Applicant......................... A.I.S. Inc.
Project objectives................ To develop and pilot an innovative
solution for electronic monitoring
(EM) based on wireless video
transfer, edge-based AI processing
via intelligent discard chute, and
web-based video review to
incentivize fleet adoption for high-
volume groundfish trawl vessels.
Application date.................. 2/8/2023.
Project period.................... 5/1/2023-4/30/2024.
Project location.................. Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank.
Number of vessels................. 4.
Number of trips................... 130.
Trip duration (days).............. 7-10 days.
[[Page 9872]]
Total number of days.............. 1,300.
Gear type(s)...................... Bottom trawl.
Number of tows or sets............ 20-25 per trip.
Duration of tows or sets.......... 30 minutes-2 hours.
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Project Narrative
The subject application would study the feasibility of deploying an
intelligent discard chute with integrated artificial intelligence (AI)
technology for catch accounting onboard high-volume groundfish trawl
vessels. The project would determine the optimal design and workflow to
minimize costs and maximize precision and accuracy of electronic
monitoring (EM) data for size, species, and weight of regulatory
discards. This research could significantly reduce the cost of EM
programs for large, high-volume groundfish vessels if the intelligent
discard chute and AI prove to be an accurate and reliable source for
catch accounting. This information could also be used to develop a
future High-Volume Audit (HVA) EM program for high-volume vessels,
which could incentivize EM adoption in the region.
The subject application would allow up to four high-volume trawl
sector vessels enrolled in the Audit Model EM program additional
exemptions from 50 CFR 648.80(a)(3)(i) and (a)(4)(i) to conduct fishing
using codends with diamond mesh as small as 4.5 inches (11.4 cm) to
increase the catch of redfish in the Sector Redfish Exemption Area and
conduct fishing using codends with square mesh as small as 5.1 inches
(13 cm) to increase the catch of haddock in the Gulf of Maine and
Georges Bank. The use of different mesh sizes and gears, leading to
various catch compositions, will improve and expand the predictive
capabilities of the AI program and the intelligent discard chute on
high-volume vessels.
Additionally, vessels would be exempt from the non-habitat
management area portion of the Closed Area II Closure Area, from April
16 through January 31, at 50 CFR 648.81(a)(5). This will allow vessel
access to an additional fishing area, where catch compositions may
differ. The opportunity to encounter varying catch composition will be
used to further expand the AI program capabilities and predicative
powers.
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: February 9, 2023.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-03171 Filed 2-14-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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