Notice2025-09792
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; General Provisions for Domestic Fisheries; Application for Exempted Fishing Permits
Primary source
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Published
May 30, 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 the Coonamessett Farm Foundation, Inc. (CFF). 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 90 Issue 103 (Friday, May 30, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 103 (Friday, May 30, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Page 23035]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-09792]
[[Page 23035]]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XE943]
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 federally permitted fishing vessels
to fish outside fishery regulations in support of exempted fishing
activities proposed by the Coonamessett Farm Foundation, Inc. (CFF).
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.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before June 16, 2025.
ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by the following method:
<bullet> Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#8fe1e2e9fca1e8eefda1eae9ffcfe1e0eeeea1e8e0f9"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="0d63606b7e236a6c7f23686b7d4d63626c6c236a627b">[email protected]</span></a>. Include in the subject line
``Investigation of baiting practices on seabird bycatch in gillnets.''
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: Ashley Trudeau, Fishery Resource
Management Specialist, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#0564766d69607c2b71777061606470456b6a64642b626a73"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="8eeffde6e2ebf7a0fafcfbeaebeffbcee0e1efefa0e9e1f8">[email protected]</span></a>, 978-281-9252.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The applicant 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
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CFR citation Regulation Need for exemption
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50 CFR 648.11, but not to Monitoring The vessels
include Sec. 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 Sec.
648.11(l)(3), the
participating
vessels are still
required to submit
pre-trip
notifications.
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Project Narrative
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 issued for the second year of a 2-
year study. In the project's first year, experimental fishing produced
preliminary findings that baiting after gillnet deployment increased
target catch while reducing seabird bycatch. In this second year of
sampling, the project team proposes to conduct additional trials to
ensure collection of a balanced dataset, with additional trials
comparing the effects of baiting before and after deployment.
Sampling for this study would begin on July 1, 2025, and end by
November 15, 2025. Under the EFP, five participating vessels would be
exempt from Northeast Fishery Observer Program monitoring coverage due
to limited space on vessels and life rafts 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-
cm) 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. The vessels are expected to spend
approximately 25 days on the water on Georges Bank, southeast of Cape
Cod, with approximately two vessels fishing per day. A maximum of 50
vessel trips will be taken, with 1 gillnet set per trip and a soak time
ranging from 45 minutes to 3 hours. 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. The results may help researchers
determine if high levels of seabird bycatch correlate with specific
gillnet baiting strategies.
CFF, or contracted scientific personnel, will accompany vessels on
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.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: May 20, 2025.
Kelly Denit,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2025-09792 Filed 5-29-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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