Notice2023-12290
Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act Provisions; General Provisions for Domestic Fisheries; Application for Exempted Fishing Permits
Primary source
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Published
June 9, 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 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 88 Issue 111 (Friday, June 9, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 111 (Friday, June 9, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37863-37864]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-12290]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XD075]
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 26, 2023.
ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by the following method:
<bullet> Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#036d6e65702d6462712d666573436d6c62622d646c75"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="224c4f44510c4543500c474452624c4d43430c454d54">[email protected]</span></a>. Include in the subject line
``CFRF Ventless Trap EFP.''
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura Deighan, Fishery Management
Specialist, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5519342027347b11303c323d343b153b3a34347b323a23"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7f331e0a0d1e513b1a1618171e113f11101e1e51181009">[email protected]</span></a>, (978) 281-9184.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation
submitted a complete application for an Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP)
to conduct commercial fishing activities that the regulations would
otherwise restrict. The EFP would continue to provide distribution,
abundance, and biological data on juvenile lobsters and Jonah crabs
from times and areas with low coverage from traditional surveys. This
EFP would exempt the participating vessels from the following Federal
regulations:
[[Page 37864]]
Table 1--Requested Exemptions
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Citation Regulation Need for exemption
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50 CFR 697.21(c)........................ Gear specification To allow for closed escape vents and
requirements. smaller trap mesh and entrance heads.
Sec. 697.19........................... Trap limit requirements.... To allow for 3 additional traps per
fishing vessel, for a total of 66
additional traps.
Sec. 697.19(j)........................ Trap tag requirements...... To allow for the use of untagged traps
(though each modified trap will have the
participating fisherman's identification
attached).
Sec. 697.20(a), (d), (g), and (h)(1) Possession restrictions.... To allow for onboard biological sampling
and (2). of undersized, v-notched, and egg-
bearing lobsters and undersized and egg-
bearing Jonah crabs and retention of up
to 300 legal and sublegal Jonah crabs
per month for a molting study.
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This project would continue an ongoing effort to collect data on
juvenile lobster and Jonah crab abundance and distribution in areas and
times of the year with low or no coverage by traditional surveys. To
date, this project has collected data from over 200,000 lobsters and
120,000 Jonah crabs. The current EFP will expire on June 30, 2023. The
EFP under consideration would authorize research trips from July 1,
2023, through June 30, 2024.
The project would include 5 inshore vessels (Lobster Management
Area 2) and 17 offshore vessels (Lobster Management Areas 1 and 3) and
may include an additional vessel to increase the offshore coverage
(Lobster Management Areas 4 and 5). Each vessel would fish with 3
modified, ventless traps designed to capture juvenile lobsters,
totaling up to 69 modified traps. The modified traps would adhere to
the standard coast-wide survey gear for lobster and Jonah crab set by
the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and would be fished
with standard Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan-compliant
trawls. The traps would remain in the water for up to 12 months and be
hauled every 7 days by the inshore vessels and every 10 days by the
offshore vessels.
This study would take place during the regular fishing activity of
the participating vessels, but catch from modified traps would remain
separate from that of standard gear. Operators would collect data on
size, sex, presence of eggs, and shell hardness for lobsters and Jonah
crabs and v-notch and shell disease for lobsters. In addition to
onboard sampling, 3 inshore and 3 offshore vessels would retain up to
50 Jonah crabs per month each, for a total of up to 300 crabs per
month, for a molting study. Operators would return all other specimens
from modified gear to the ocean once sampling is complete.
The study is designed to inform management by addressing questions
about changing reproduction and recruitment dynamics of lobster and to
develop a foundation of knowledge for the data-deficient Jonah crab
fishery. The Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation would share data
with the Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program, the Northeast
Fisheries Science Center, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries
Commission, and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management
every six months.
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.
All comments received are a part of the public record and will
generally be posted for public viewing at <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/organization/information-technology/foia-reading-room">https://www.noaa.gov/organization/information-technology/foia-reading-room</a> 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).
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: June 5, 2023.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-12290 Filed 6-8-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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