Notice2025-08619
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act Provisions; Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management 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 15, 2025
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 federally permitted fishing vessels to fish outside fishery regulations in support of exempted fishing activities proposed by New England Marine Monitoring. 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 EFPs.
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 93 (Thursday, May 15, 2025)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 93 (Thursday, May 15, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20625-20626]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-08619]
[[Page 20625]]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XE905]
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act
Provisions; 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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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 federally permitted fishing vessels
to fish outside fishery regulations in support of exempted fishing
activities proposed by New England Marine Monitoring. 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 EFPs.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 30, 2025.
ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#f19f9c9782df969083df949781b19f9e9090df969e87"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="fb95969d88d59c9a89d59e9d8bbb95949a9ad59c948d">[email protected]</span></a>, subject line ``NEMM On-demand EFP.''
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).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christine Ford, Fishery Management
Specialist, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#197a716b706a6d70777c377f766b7d5977767878377e766f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="dab9b2a8b3a9aeb3b4bff4bcb5a8be9ab4b5bbbbf4bdb5ac">[email protected]</span></a>, 978-281-9185.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: New England Marine Monitoring (NEMM)
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
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CFR citation Regulation Need for exemption
------------------------------------------------------------------------
50 CFR 697.21(b)(2)........... Gear marking For trial of trap/pot
requirements. gear with no more
than one surface
marking on trawls of
more than three
traps.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 2--Project Summary
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Project title................ Piloting Galvanic Timed Release Systems
to Reduce Entanglement Risks in the New
England Lobster Fishery.
Project start................ Upon Issuance.
Project end.................. 4/30/2026.
Project objectives........... To evaluate the operational feasibility
and conservation benefits of deploying
galvanic timed releases (GTRs) and Smart
Buoys as a strategy to reduce vertical
line entanglement risk in the lobster
fishery.
Project location............. Lobster Management Area 1 and all Maine
Lobster Conservation Zones (A-G).
Number of vessels............ Up to 10.
Number of trips.............. 330.
Trip duration (days)......... 1-2.
Total number of days......... Up to 660.
Gear type(s)................. Lobster traps.
Number of tows or sets....... Up to 2 per trip.
Duration of tows or sets..... Up to 5 days.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Project Narrative
This EFP would allow federally permitted vessels to conduct a
research initiative aimed at reducing vertical line entanglement risks
in the New England lobster trap/pot fishery. The project objectives are
to: (1) Reduce vertical line entanglement risks to North Atlantic right
whales while maintaining efficient fishing operations; (2) testing and
validating galvanic timed release-based pop-up gear as a cost-effective
alternative to acoustic release systems; (3) provide training to
fishers in the use of pop-up lobster gear and geolocation technology;
and (4) assess operational feasibility and performance of alternative
retrieval systems under commercial fishing conditions.
Participating vessels would replace one traditional surface marking
system with a galvanic timed release (GTR) pop-up system with a Smart
Buoy on the sea floor. GTR pop-up systems use metal GTR links
calibrated to dissolve over preset intervals, releasing a stowed line
after the preset soak time. Participants would use GTRs with
dissolution intervals between 12-120 hours, allowing for flexible
deployment strategies and trip durations. GTR performance would be
evaluated across the release intervals to assess suitability for
different deployment strategies. Smart Buoy data would be evaluated to
assess buoy surface time, position, and location, as well as remote
notice to the operator when a buoy surfaced. Each vessel would modify
two trap trawls by replacing one of the traditional vertical lines with
a GTR pop-up system and Smart Buoy, resulting in no additional vertical
lines in the water. Vessels would be required to use one traditional
surface marking on the other end of trap trawls of more than three
traps. For trap trawls of fewer than three traps, vessels would still
use one traditional surface marking, in addition to the on-demand
retrieval system; there would be no fully ropeless trawls. All
traditional marking systems would also have a Smart Buoy at the surface
to ensure tracking of the
[[Page 20626]]
gear. Other than gear markings, all trap trawls would be consistent
with the regulations of the management area where the vessel is fishing
and would be fished in accordance with the participating vessels'
standard operations (i.e., number and length of trips, soak times, trap
limits, etc.). Additionally, electronic monitoring systems, which
include onboard cameras and global positioning system (GPS) tracking,
will be installed on each participating vessel to document the setting
and retrieval of all GTR-equipped trawls.
NEMM researchers anticipate up to 660 total hauls of hybrid trawls.
Trap trawls would be consistent with Atlantic Large Whale Take
Reduction Plan regulations. Trawls would not exceed the maximum allowed
traps per trawl for the management area they are being fished in, and
would be fished for up to 5 days, depending on which preset GTR is
used.
NEMM has agreed to the following best management and risk-reduction
practices:
<bullet> Experimental buoy lines will be marked with unique white
and blue markings above the required regional markings;
<bullet> All vessels will provide mandatory, weekly gear loss and
conflict reports to the Principal Investigator (PI), and the PI will
provide monthly gear loss and conflict reports to us;
<bullet> After release, the on-demand vertical lines will be
retrieved as quickly as possible to minimize time in the water column;
<bullet> All vessels will record right whale sightings on data
sheets, and will notify NMFS via email (<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c8a6ade6babfe6bbbdbabeadb188a6a7a9a9e6afa7be"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="325c571c40451c41474044574b725c5d53531c555d44">[email protected]</span></a>), or NOAA
via phone (866-755-6622), or the U.S. Coast Guard (Channel 16);
<bullet> All vessels will adhere to a 10-knot (18.5 kilometers per
hour) speed limit when transiting dynamic management areas, transiting
areas closed to vertical lines, and/or when whales are observed;
<bullet> All vessels will adhere to current approach regulations
that create a 500-yard (457 meters (m)) buffer zone in the presence of
a surfacing right whale and will depart immediately at a safe and slow
speed. Hauling any fishing gear will cease once the entire string or
trawl is aboard the vessel, to accommodate the regulation, and be
redeployed only after it is reasonable to assume the whale left the
area; and
<bullet> Law enforcement will be able to inspect gear at any time
because one traditional surface-marking will be present at all times.
The PI will notify law enforcement agencies (NOAA Office of Law
Enforcement and Maine Marine Patrol) of project participants and
activities in advance of the project start date, including:
[cir] Materials related to the redeployment of alternative gear-
retrieval systems; and
[cir] Information necessary to continue relevant enforcement
operations with participant gear.
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: May 12, 2025.
Kelly Denit,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2025-08619 Filed 5-14-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on May 15, 2025.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.