Notice2024-06501
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; General Provisions for Domestic Fisheries; Application for Exempted Fishing Permits
Primary source
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Published
March 27, 2024
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 a federally permitted fishing vessel to fish outside fishery regulations in support of exempted fishing activities. 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 89 Issue 60 (Wednesday, March 27, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 60 (Wednesday, March 27, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21238-21240]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-06501]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XD825]
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 a federally permitted fishing vessel
to fish outside fishery regulations in support of exempted fishing
activities. Regulations
[[Page 21239]]
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 April 11, 2024.
ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by the following method:
<bullet> Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b3ddded5c09dd4d2c19dd6d5c3f3dddcd2d29dd4dcc5"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="056b6863762b6264772b606375456b6a64642b626a73">[email protected]</span></a>. Include in the subject line
``Haddock Sink Gillnet Exploratory Fishing''.
All comments received are a part of the public record and will
generally be posted for public viewing in <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).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elise Scholl, Fishery Management
Specialist, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e9ac85809a8cc7ba8a81868585a987868888c78e869f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="dc99b0b5afb9f28fbfb4b3b0b09cb2b3bdbdf2bbb3aa">[email protected]</span></a>, (978) 281-9189.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This EFP would exempt the participating
vessel from the following Federal regulation:
Table 1--Requested Exemption
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CFR citation Regulation Need for exemption
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50 CFR 648.80(a)(3)(iv)(B)(1)... Minimum mesh size To deploy 6-inch
for Trip Gillnet (15.24 cm) mesh
Vessels in the gillnet gear in
Gulf of Maine. Gulf of Maine
Regulated Mesh
Area.
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Table 2--Project Summary
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Haddock sink gillnet
Project title fishing
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Project Start................................ April 2024.
Project End.................................. May 31, 2024.
Project objectives........................... To evaluate the efficacy
of 6-inch (15.24 cm)
mesh gillnet for haddock
without increasing the
catch of cod and
sublegal sized haddock.
Project location............................. Gulf of Maine.
Number of vessels............................ 1.
Number of trips.............................. 12.
Trip duration (days)......................... 3.
Total number of days......................... 36.
Gear type(s)................................. 6-inch (15.24 cm)
Gillnet.
Number of tows or sets....................... 16.
Duration of tows or sets..................... 24 hours.
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Project Narrative
The proposed EFP is a continuation of a project conducting
exploratory fishing in the Gulf of Maine (GOM) that mimics the
structure of the GOM Sink Gillnet Mesh Exemption originally approved
for sectors from fishing years 2010 through 2012. The objective of the
sector exemption was to increase haddock catch while avoiding the catch
of cod and sublegal sized haddock. In fishing year 2013, we did not
approve the exemption due to concerns regarding the status of the GOM
haddock stock, which at the time was subject to overfishing and
approaching an overfished condition.
In 2019, the Operational Assessment for GOM haddock determined that
the haddock stock was not overfished or subject to overfishing, and
that spawning stock biomass was above the biomass target. In 2020, the
current applicant proposed an EFP using 6-inch (15.24 cm) mesh gillnets
to increase haddock catch without an increased catch of cod or sublegal
haddock. The goal of the EFP was to collect data that could be used to
inform the efficacy of the 6-inch (15.24 cm) mesh gillnet, and possibly
lead to a defined geographic area of a future exemption area. We
approved this EFP for fishing years 2021-22 and 2022-23. The proposed
EFP would be unchanged from prior EFPs and would be the third year of
this project.
From the date of issuance through May 31, 2024, the participating
vessel would conduct up to 12 trips under the EFP in the GOM Regulated
Mesh Area (RMA) during which it would make up to 16 hauls with 6-inch
(15.24 cm) mesh gillnet gear. The maximum number of individual nets
that could be deployed is 75. Gillnets would be set for a soak of up to
24 hours, and would be actively tended by the vessel (i.e., the vessel
would not leave the fishing grounds while nets are deployed).
A northeast fisheries at-sea monitor or observer would be deployed
on all groundfish trips taken under the EFP. Allowable discards would
be discarded at-sea, while all other species would be retained, landed,
and processed per normal commercial fishing procedures. Monitors would
document all discards of allocated sub-legal catch.
While on EFP trips, the vessel may also occasionally deploy
longline and 6.5-inch (16.51 cm) mesh gillnet gear, in order to
generate catch composition data that could be used to compare the
catchability of the 6-inch (15.24 cm) mesh gear with other gears used
on a normal fishing trip. The gillnet gear would consist of 12 to 24
nets in a single string, while the longline gear would have between
1,000 and 2,400 hooks. All groundfish catch, including both discards
and landings, would be deducted from the appropriate sector allocation
and the EFP would not authorize catch above the sector allocation.
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.
[[Page 21240]]
Dated: March 22, 2024.
Everett Wayne Baxter,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-06501 Filed 3-26-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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