Notice2024-11913
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; General Provisions for Domestic Fisheries; Application for Exempted Fishing Permits
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
May 31, 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 application contains all of the required information and warrants further consideration. The exempted fishing permit would allow federally permitted fishing vessels to fish outside fishery regulations in support of exempted fishing activities proposed by the Coonamessett Farm Foundation. 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 89 Issue 106 (Friday, May 31, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 106 (Friday, May 31, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47134-47135]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-11913]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XE005]
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 federally permitted fishing vessels
to fish outside fishery regulations in support of exempted fishing
activities proposed by the Coonamessett Farm Foundation. 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 June 14, 2024.
ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by the following method:
<bullet> Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#94faf9f2e7baf3f5e6baf1f2e4d4fafbf5f5baf3fbe2"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="2d43404b5e034a4c5f03484b5d6d43424c4c034a425b">[email protected]</span></a>. Include in the subject line
``Investigation of baiting practices on catch and bycatch in gillnets
and design of an effective outreach program to minimize seabird
bycatch''.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anjali Bhardwaj, Fishery Management
Specialist, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#f4959a9e95989dda969c95869083959eb49a9b9595da939b82"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="0766696d666b6e29656f66756370666d476968666629606871">[email protected]</span></a>, 978-281-9293.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The applicant submitted a complete
application for an exempted fishing permit (EFP) to conduct commercial
fishing activities that the regulations would otherwise restrict. This
EFP would exempt the participating vessels from the following Federal
regulations:
[[Page 47135]]
Table 1--Requested Exemptions
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CFR citation Regulation Need for exemption
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50 CFR 648.11, but not to Monitoring The three vessels
include 648.11(l)(3). Coverage. participating in
this EFP have
limited deck space
and/or life raft
capacity and cannot
accommodate both an
observer and a
project scientist.
As stated in
648.11(l)(3), the
participating
vessels are still
required to submit
pre-trip
notifications.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 2--Project Summary
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Project title..................... Investigation of baiting practices
on catch and bycatch in gillnets
and design of an effective outreach
program to minimize seabird
bycatch.
Project start..................... July 1, 2024.
Project end....................... October 15, 2024.
Project objectives................ Investigate differences in levels of
shearwater bycatch during spiny
dogfish sets utilizing different
gillnet baiting strategies.
Project location.................. Georges Bank.
Number of vessels................. 3.
Number of trips................... 40 total, up to 15 per vessel.
Trip duration (days).............. 1.
Total number of days.............. 20 (each trip includes 2 vessels).
Gear type(s)...................... Gillnet.
Number of tows or sets............ 1 set per trip.
Duration of tows or sets.......... 1 hour.
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Project Narrative
The Coonamesset Farm Foundation, Inc. (CFF) is requesting an EFP in
support of a study aimed at better understanding how demersal gillnet
baiting practices influence shearwater bycatch off the coast of Cape
Cod. In the subject fishery, vessels harvest and process skates, and
then use the skate racks to bait gillnets that are deployed to target
dogfish, which can result in bycaught seabirds. This EFP would be for
the first year of a 2-year study.
Under the EFP, three participating vessels would be exempt from
Northeast Fishery Observer Program monitoring coverage due to limited
vessel space and safety equipment needed to accommodate CFF personnel
during research trips. No other exemptions are needed to perform this
project. Vessels will target dogfish using 6.5-inch (16.5-centimeter)
mesh gillnets set in strings consisting of 12 nets each. Of the 12
nets, half will utilize either forward baiting (baiting nets before
setting) or after baiting (baiting nets after setting), and the
remaining nets will not include bait. CFF intends to use retained and
discarded catch weights to assess the effect that different baiting
treatments have on catch. Any entangled seabird will be documented in
detail. CFF intends to use cameras to quantify behavior and abundance
of seabird species in the study area using cameras. The results will
determine if high levels of seabird bycatch correlate with specific
gillnet baiting strategies.
CFF, or contracted scientific personnel, will accompany trips under
the EFP. Legal catch will be landed for sale. 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 may be
posted for public viewing 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: May 24, 2024.
Karen H. Abrams,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-11913 Filed 5-30-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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