Notice2026-08600
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; General Provisions for Domestic Fisheries; Application for Exempted Fishing Permits
Primary source
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Published
May 4, 2026
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 Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (MA DMF). 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 91 Issue 85 (Monday, May 4, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 85 (Monday, May 4, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23971-23972]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-08600]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XF738]
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 Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries
(MA DMF). 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 May 19, 2026.
ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by the following method:
<bullet> Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#d1bfbcb7a2ffb6b0a3ffb4b7a191bfbeb0b0ffb6bea7"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="640a0902174a0305164a010214240a0b05054a030b12">[email protected]</span></a>. Include in the subject line
``MA DMF herring genomics 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: Ashley Trudeau, Fishery Resource
Management Specialist, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b7d6c4dfdbd2ce99c3c5c2d3d2d6c2f7d9d8d6d699d0d8c1"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="aecfddc6c2cbd780dadcdbcacbcfdbeec0c1cfcf80c9c1d8">[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 648.201(d)(1)............ No harvest in Area To allow harvest
1A during January- in Area 1A during
May. April and May.
Sec. 648.202(a)(1)............ Restriction on To allow use of
midwater trawling midwater trawl in
from June 1 to Area 1A during
September 30 in June-September.
Area 1A.
Sec. 648.80(a)(3)(vi)......... Restrictions on To allow use of
fishing in Gulf small mesh bottom
of Maine (GOM) trawl in GOM and
and Georges Bank GB Regulated Mesh
(GB) Exemption Areas.
Areas.
Sec. 648.81(d)(1)............. Seasonal gear To allow use of
restrictions in small mesh bottom
GOM Cod trawl during
Protection April-November in
Closures. GOM Cod
Protection
Closure Areas,
excluding year-
round groundfish
closed areas.
Sec. 648.11, but not to Monitoring Sampling trips
include Sec. 648.11(m)(2). coverage. will be non-
representative of
the herring
fishery and could
negatively affect
Northeast
Fisheries
Observer Program
data quality. As
stated in Sec.
648.11(m)(2), the
participating
vessels are still
required to
submit pre-trip
notifications.
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[[Page 23972]]
Project Narrative
MA DMF is requesting the renewal of an EFP in support of a
continuing study developing a genomic tool to evaluate the population
structure of Atlantic herring. During the first year of sampling, two
trips were taken to spawning areas in the GOM, and three trips were
made to GB and the Great South Channel. Additional herring samples were
acquired from tuna fishermen who had captured herring with hook and
line. Sampling in the study's first year captured approximately 400 lb
(181.4 kg) of herring and did not obtain the target sample size (970 lb
(440.0 kg)), so a second year of sampling is requested to meet study
objectives. The current system of herring management sets area-specific
annual catch limits (ACL) that are based on estimates of spawning
component abundance and seasonal mixing rates. These estimates have not
been updated since implementation of the Atlantic Herring Fishery
Management Plan in 2000. This study is intended to improve scientific
understanding of the contributions of genetically distinct sub-
populations to herring stocks in U.S. waters and, therefore, may allow
fisheries managers to update area-specific ACLs to reflect their
spawning components.
This EFP would authorize 3 fishing vessels to retain a total of
3,000 adult herring (approximately 970 lb (440.4 kg)) from 5 spawning
grounds during the spring and fall spawning seasons. The vessel
sampling Eastern GOM and Western GOM areas would primarily use midwater
trawl gear with the option of switching to purse seine or bottom trawl.
The two vessels fishing Jeffreys Ledge, the Great South Channel, and GB
would use small-mesh bottom trawl gear. Spring sampling under the EFP
issued for the first year of sampling will take place in April and May.
A second round of fall sampling would occur under this renewed EFP from
August to November. These vessels are expected to take 15 total trips,
and trips to some nearby spawning areas may be combined. During each
trip, the project team plans to conduct short, 5-60-minute tows to
catch and retain 150-300 adult herring from each area sampled. Once the
net is retrieved, the crew will retain herring and discard all other
catch. If more than 150 herring are captured, the crew would continue
to retain herring until they have no more space in their insulated
cooler. The cooler would hold a maximum of approximately 300 herring,
and any further captures would then be discarded.
After sampling, the research team would use low-coverage, whole-
genome sequencing to identify a panel of small genetic differences that
can reliably differentiate between herring sub-populations. Through a
peer-reviewed publication on their genomic tool and their findings
regarding Atlantic herring genomic population structure, the research
team may enable fishery managers to update area-specific ACLs to
support the sustainable harvest of each spawning component.
Genomic tools require relatively small sample sizes. The project
team has already harvested approximately 400 lb (181.4 kg) of Atlantic
herring in the first year of Fall sampling. In their Spring, 2025 and
Fall, 2026 sampling, they propose to harvest an additional 570 lb
(258.5 kg) of Atlantic herring over 15 sampling trips, which is less
than 9 percent of the 6,600-lb (2993.7-kg) possession limit associated
with an Open Access Category D Permit. Because the project requires
sampling spawning herring, vessels would sample during the areas' fall
spawning closures. The project team would work with knowledgeable
captains who are skilled at capturing herring, so only a single tow is
expected to take place per area sampled on most trips. Although the MA
DMF plans to conduct tows between 30 and 60 minutes, vessel operators
would plan to capture sufficient samples with the least amount of
fishing effort possible, including tows as short as 5 minutes.
Technologies such as net-mounted echosounders, for example, would be
used to identify herring entering the net and, therefore, signal
operators to end the tow. Because of the low amount of fishing effort
that this sampling would require, discards of incidentally captured
species are expected to be relatively low, around 10,000 lb (4,535.9
kg) total over 15 trips. Based on observer data from the same areas and
gears, the highest volume of bycatch is expected to be of silver hake,
with expected discards of around 7,000 lb (3,175.1 kg).
The applicants state that the exemption allowing vessels to fish in
GOM Cod Protection Closure Areas is necessary for sampling herring in
the Jeffreys Ledge spawning area. Based on existing observer data and
the project team's knowledge of herring spawning locations, they are
expecting to cause nearly-zero Atlantic cod bycatch mortality during
their sampling. Based on observer data collected from vessels fishing
in the same statistical areas using the same gear, the research team
expects this sampling to catch a total of 4.4 lb (2.0 kg) cod. During
the first year of sampling, no cod were captured. In addition, the
research team expects to catch herring in deeper water and softer
substrate than where cod are abundant and/or spawning. Finally, the
research team has previously measured a 93-percent survival rate for
cod captured using short tows with bottom trawl gear (Zemeckis et al.,
2019). Therefore, although a very small amount of cod catch is
possible, the applicant suggests that cod would be returned to the
water as soon as possible and would be very likely to survive.
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: April 29, 2026.
Kelly Denit,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2026-08600 Filed 5-1-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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