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Notice2025-05261

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Application for an Exempted Fishing Permit

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Published
March 27, 2025

Issuing agencies

Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Abstract

This notice announces NMFS' receipt of an application and the public comment period for an exempted fishing permit (EFP) from North Pacific Fisheries Research Foundation. If issued, this permit would allow the applicant to develop and test salmon excluders to optimize salmon escapement under summer pollock fishing conditions in the Bering Sea pollock fishery. In order to facilitate testing of salmon excluders, this EFP would exempt participating vessels from complying with certain regulations, described below under Exemptions. Field testing would be conducted in July and August during the fishery's "B' season. Effective dates of the EFP would be from June 30, 2025 to September 1, 2025. This experiment would test salmon excluder designs that aim to optimize salmon escapement and thus promote the objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

Full Text

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 58 (Thursday, March 27, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 58 (Thursday, March 27, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13856-13858]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-05261]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XE730]


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Application 
for an Exempted Fishing Permit

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for exempted fishing permit.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces NMFS' receipt of an application and the 
public comment period for an exempted fishing permit (EFP) from North 
Pacific Fisheries Research Foundation. If issued, this permit would 
allow the applicant to develop and test salmon excluders to optimize 
salmon escapement under summer pollock fishing conditions in the Bering 
Sea pollock fishery. In order to facilitate testing of salmon 
excluders, this EFP would exempt participating vessels from complying 
with certain regulations, described below under Exemptions. Field 
testing would be conducted in July and August during the fishery's ``B' 
season. Effective dates of the EFP would be from June 30, 2025 to 
September 1, 2025. This experiment would test salmon excluder designs 
that aim to optimize salmon escapement and thus promote the objectives 
of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
(Magnuson-Stevens Act).

DATES: Comments on this EFP application must be submitted to NMFS on or 
before April 11, 2025. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council 
(Council) will consider the application at its meeting from March 31, 
2025 through April 7, 2025.

ADDRESSES: The Council meeting will be held virtually. The agenda for 
the Council meeting is available at <a href="http://www.npfmc.org">http://www.npfmc.org</a>. In addition 
to submitting public comments during the Council meeting through the 
Council website, you may submit your

[[Page 13857]]

comments, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2025-0024, by either of the following 
methods:
    <bullet> Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Visit <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> and type [NOAA-NMFS-2025-0024] in the Search box. 
Click on the ``Comment'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter 
or attach your comments.
    <bullet> Mail: Submit written comments to Gretchen Harrington, 
Assistant Regional Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries Division, 
Alaska Region NMFS, Attn: Records Office. Mail comments to P.O. Box 
21668, Juneau, AK 99802-1668.
    <bullet> Fax: [(907) 586-7465]; Attn: [Gretchen Harrington].
    Instructions: Comments sent by any other method, to any other 
address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, 
may not be considered by NMFS. All comments received are a part of the 
public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on 
<a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</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 
``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to remain anonymous).
    Electronic copies of the EFP application and the basis for a 
categorical exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act are 
available from <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> or from the NMFS Alaska 
Region website at <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/region/alaska">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/region/alaska</a>.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Maggie Chan, (907) 586-7228 or 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#fab79b9d9d939fd499929b94ba94959b9bd49d958c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="014c60666668642f6269606f416f6e60602f666e77">[email&#160;protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS manages the groundfish fisheries in the 
exclusive economic zone of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) 
under the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Groundfish of the BSAI 
Management Area (BSAI FMP). The Council prepared the BSAI FMP under the 
authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. 
Regulations governing the BSAI groundfish fisheries appear at 50 CFR 
parts 600 and 679. The FMP and the EFP-implementing regulations at 
Sec.  600.745(b) and Sec.  679.6 allow the NMFS Regional Administrator 
to authorize, for limited experimental purposes, fishing that would 
otherwise be prohibited. Procedures for issuing EFPs are contained in 
the implementing regulations.

Background and Need for Exempted Fishing Permit

    In the Bering Sea pollock fishery, the majority of pollock trawl 
vessels use salmon excluder devices on a regular basis as part of the 
overall effort by the fishery to reduce salmon bycatch under the 
Chinook Prohibited Species Catch (PSC) limits and bycatch avoidance 
incentive program. However, the salmon excluders currently used in the 
fishery were developed in winter conditions with a focus on minimizing 
Chinook salmon bycatch. The predominant salmon species caught as 
bycatch in the Bering Sea pollock fishery are Chinook salmon in winter 
months and chum salmon in summer months. This EFP is focused on 
developing salmon excluders specific to summer pollock fishing 
conditions where chum salmon is the primary salmon species encountered 
as bycatch in the pollock fishery.
    Conditions differ between summer and winter pollock fishing, 
including the species composition of bycatch, amount of daylight, 
pollock schooling behavior, duration of tows, etc. These seasonal 
fishery differences could be important when developing a salmon 
excluder specifically designed to work in summer pollock fishing 
conditions and focusing on reducing chum salmon bycatch. An EFP is 
needed to facilitate development and testing of salmon excluders 
specifically designed for summer pollock fishing conditions. Exemptions 
from certain regulations, as described below, are needed for the 
proposed EFP to meet the needs of the experimental design focused on 
minimizing chum salmon bycatch in summer months.

Exempted Fishing Permit

    On March 11, 2025, Mr. John Gauvin, under contract with North 
Pacific Fisheries Research Foundation, submitted an application for an 
EFP to develop and test salmon excluders in the Bering Sea pollock 
fishery during summer fishing conditions, when chum salmon are the 
primary salmon species encountered as bycatch. The purpose and goal of 
this proposed EFP is to assess the performance of salmon excluder 
designs, including effects on pollock catch rates and salmon bycatch.
    The proposed EFP aims to test salmon excluder devices on two 
catcher vessels and one catcher/processor, in different horsepower 
classes in the Bering Sea pollock fishery. All vessels will use pelagic 
trawls for pollock fishing in Alaska. Gear and fishing operations will 
be conducted in compliance with current management regulations with the 
exception of the modifications exempted under the EFP.
    Following the practice that the Council and NMFS have approved for 
past EFP experiments dedicated to salmon bycatch reduction (65 FR 
55223, September 13, 2000), the EFP applicant requests that groundfish 
and salmon catches not count against each EFP vessel's apportionment of 
the groundfish Total Allowable Catches (TACs) or Chinook salmon PSC 
limits.
    Approximately 97 to 99 percent of the groundfish harvested is 
expected to be pollock. The EFP applicant expects a total of 3,000 
metric tons (mt) of groundfish (primarily pollock) would be taken over 
the duration of the EFP. The harvest specifications published in 2024 
(89 FR 17287, March 11, 2024) identify that for 2025, the Bering Sea 
pollock acceptable biological catch (ABC) level is 2,401,000 mt, and 
the Bering Sea pollock TAC is 1,325,000 mt. Up to 3,000 mt of pollock 
would be allowed to be harvested under the proposed EFP without 
accruing against the Bering Sea pollock TAC. The 3,000 mt of pollock 
equates to 0.12 percent of the 2025 Bering Sea pollock ABC, 0.23 
percent of the Bering Sea pollock TAC, and 0.28 percent of the 
difference between the ABC and the TAC.
    Very little groundfish incidental catch occurs in the pollock 
fishery. The majority of these other species harvested under the EFP 
likely would be Pacific cod, skates, flatfish, halibut, and jellyfish. 
The amount of groundfish harvest under the EFP and by the commercial 
groundfish fisheries is not expected to cause the ABCs for any 
groundfish species to be exceeded because other groundfish TACs are set 
with a sufficient difference between ABC and TAC to accommodate EFP 
fishing catch of groundfish species other than pollock.
    The incidental take of salmon during the experiment is crucial for 
determining the effectiveness of the excluder device. Chinook salmon is 
under PSC limits (see Sec.  679.21(f)), and any taken during the 
experiment would be counted but would not accrue toward the Chinook 
salmon PSC limits. However, the EFP applicants expect minimal amounts 
of Chinook as bycatch because encounters with Chinook salmon is 
extremely rare in summer when fishing under the EFP will occur.
    Due to interannual variability of bycatch rates and differences in 
locations between the pollock fishery and EFP fishing locations, it is 
challenging to predict how many additional chum salmon might be caught 
as a result of this EFP. The applicant estimates that chum bycatch

[[Page 13858]]

during this EFP would be in the range of 150-1,500 fish.

Exemptions

    To meet the proposed EFP's objective, exemptions would be necessary 
from regulations for salmon bycatch management, closure areas, and TACs 
for groundfish, and PSC limits for the pollock fishery. This will 
include exemptions to regulations such as, but not limited to:
    <bullet> 50 CFR 679.22(a)(5): prohibits Catcher/Processor from 
directed fishing in Catcher Vessel Operational Area (CVOA) for pollock 
during the B season unless it is directed fishing for Pollock CDQ,
    <bullet> Sec.  679.21(a)(2)(i): requirement to minimize catch of 
prohibited species,
    <bullet> Sec.  679.2 ``Authorized fishing gear'', paragraph (14): 
definition of pelagic trawl, and
    <bullet> Other regulations as identified through Council 
consultation, public comments, or partner agencies.
    All EFP vessels will comply with observer requirements at Sec.  
679.50. Participating EFP catchers vessels in the trawl EM category 
will comply with regulations at Sec.  679.51(g) and will work with NMFS 
on sampling procedures that allow for EFP data collection.

Permit Conditions, Review, and Effects

    If issued, the exempted fishing permit would contain several 
conditions. Within 6 months of the end of EFP fishing, the applicant 
would be required to submit to NMFS a final report that describes how 
well EFP objectives were accomplished, including a summary of the 
vessels participating, any problems and successes, and the total catch 
of each groundfish species in metric tons and the total number of each 
salmon species caught during EFP fishing. The Alaska Fisheries Science 
Center (AFSC) reviewed a draft EFP application that was submitted on 
September 1, 2024 and supports this application with several 
modifications. All AFSC-recommended modifications have been addressed 
by the applicants in their final EFP application. In addition to 
modifications, the AFSC offered additional feedback and items to 
consider, and this feedback has been incorporated in the final EFP 
application submitted to NMFS.
    The activities that would be conducted under this EFP involve the 
development and testing of salmon excluders in order to minimize salmon 
bycatch, particularly chum salmon, and is limited in size, magnitude, 
and duration with no potential for significant individual or cumulative 
impacts, as detailed in the draft categorical exclusion for this action 
(see ADDRESSES).
    In accordance with Sec. Sec.  679.6 and 600.745, NMFS has 
determined that the application warrants further consideration and has 
forwarded the application to the Council to initiate consultation. The 
Council is scheduled to consider the EFP application during its April 
2025 meeting, which will be held virtually. The applicant has been 
invited to speak in support of the application.

Public Comments

    Interested persons may comment on the application during the April 
2025 Council meeting during public testimony or the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal (see ADDRESSES) until [insert date 15 days after date of 
publication in the Federal Register], when the comment period ends. 
Information regarding the meeting is available at the Council's website 
at <a href="http://www.npfmc.org">http://www.npfmc.org</a>. Copies of the application and categorical 
exclusion are available for review from NMFS (see ADDRESSES). Comments 
may also be submitted directly to NMFS (see ADDRESSES) by the end of 
the comment period (see DATES).
    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: March 24, 2025.
Karen H. Abrams,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2025-05261 Filed 3-26-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P


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