Notice2026-08817
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 6, 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 Commercial Fisheries Research 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 EFPs.
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 87 (Wednesday, May 6, 2026)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 87 (Wednesday, May 6, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24521-24522]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-08817]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XF672]
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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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 Commercial Fisheries Research 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 EFPs.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 21, 2026.
ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a3cdcec5d08dc4c2d18dc6c5d3e3cdccc2c28dc4ccd5"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="dfb1b2b9acf1b8beadf1bab9af9fb1b0bebef1b8b0a9">[email protected]</span></a>. Include in the subject line ``Bait Skate
Utilization in the LAGC Scallop Fishery.'' 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#0667756e6a637f2872747362636773466869676728616970"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="cbaab8a3a7aeb2e5bfb9beafaeaabe8ba5a4aaaae5aca4bd">[email protected]</span></a>, (978) 281-9252.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The applicant has 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
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
648.80(h)(3)(iii)(A).................. Vessels fishing in the Scallop Allowing Limited Access General Category
Dredge Fishery Exemption (LAGC) scallop vessels to possess bait
Areas may not fish for, skate (i.e., whole skates less than 23
possess, or land any species inches (58.4 centimeter (cm)) total
of fish other than scallops length) while dredging in the Northern
and monkfish.. Gulf of Maine (NGOM) Management Area,
Scallop Dredge Fishery Exemption
Areas, or the Mid-Atlantic Exemption
Area.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 2--Project Summary
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Project title..................... From Discards to Resource: Bait
Skate Utilization in the LAGC
Scallop Fishery.
Project start..................... Upon approval.
Project end....................... March 31, 2027.
Project objectives................ Quantifying bait skate bycatch and
identifying practical pathways for
its utilization by LAGC Atlantic
sea scallop vessels.
Project location.................. Georges Bank (GB), Gulf of Maine,
Southern New England (SNE), Mid-
Atlantic.
Number of vessels................. 12.
Number of trips................... 1,200.
Trip duration (days).............. 1-2 days.
Total number of days.............. 1,200-2,400.
Gear type(s)...................... Dredge.
Number of tows or sets............ 10-20 per trip.
Duration of tows or sets.......... 1-2 hours.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Project Narrative
The Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation (CFRF) is requesting
an EFP in support of a study that would evaluate the feasibility of
converting bait skate discards to landings in the LAGC Atlantic sea
scallop fishery by (1) quantifying bait skate bycatch, and (2)
identifying practical pathways for its utilization, including sale to
dealers and other vessels or retention for use in the lobster and/or
crab fishery. Allowing the landing of underutilized species that would
normally be discarded could allow scallop vessels to supplement their
income during times of reduced scallop abundance. These additional
[[Page 24522]]
landings would have a potential ex-vessel value of approximately
$425,700.
LAGC scallop vessels may dredge for scallops in the NGOM Management
Area, the GB/SNE Scallop Dredge Exemption Area, and the Mid-Atlantic
Exemption Area. In the NGOM and the GB/SNE Scallop Dredge Exemption
Area, LAGC vessels are prohibited from possessing any fish species
other than scallops and monkfish. This prohibition results in a high
rate of regulatory discards of skate. The skate bait resource (landing
whole skates less than 23 inches (58.4 cm) in total length for use as
bait) is considered underutilized. This study would evaluate the
feasibility of increasing utilization of the fishery by converting
regulatory discards to landings.
Based on NMFS' annual monitoring reports for fishing years 2020-
2024 and monitoring reports to date for fishing year 2025, the
percentage of the bait skate quota used has ranged from 16 percent of
the skate bait total allowable landings (TAL) in 2021 to 63 percent in
2024. Landings of bait skate in the 2025 fishing year so far have been
lower than those recorded in 2024. The requested exemption would allow
vessels fishing for scallops under an LAGC permit to land up to 1,419
lbs (644 kilograms (kg)) of whole skate, which is the trip limit for
vessels with a federal skate permit that are not fishing under a
monkfish, Northeast multispecies, or scallop day-at-sea (50 CFR
648.322(b)(4)). This EFP would authorize a maximum of 1,200 trips,
which could result in a maximum increase in landings of 1,702,800 lb
(772 metric ton (mt)) bait skate, or 15 percent of the fishing year
2025 bait skate TAL. Reaching 90 percent of the skate bait fishery
seasonal quota or 80 percent of the annual skate bait fishery TAL would
result in a trip limit reduction for the skate bait LOA fishery.
However, in the last 5 years of the skate bait fishery, these
additional landings would not have caused landings to reach the 80
percent of annual TAL threshold. This 1.7 million-lb (771 mt) increase
in bait skate landings is also a ceiling; depending on seasonal
variability of skate abundance, operators expect to catch between 200
and 800 lb (90.7 and 362.9 kg) of bait skate during experimental
fishing trips, well below the 1,419-lb (644 kg) trip limit. This
estimate aligns with bycatch estimates from observer data collected
over the past 5 years of the LAGC fishery. For observed trips between
2020 and 2025, skate bycatch varied seasonally, with median skate
bycatch ranging from 0 lb in April to 614 lb in September.
Participating vessels would record data on their fishing effort and
location; scallop and bait skate catch, landings, and discards;
utilization of bait skate (i.e., whether it was sold to a dealer, or
retained for immediate or later use in the crab/lobster fishery); the
ex-vessel value of landed and sold bait skate; and the vessel's home
and landing port locations. CFRF would then use this data to evaluate
the viability of a bait skate bycatch fishery for LAGC scallop vessels,
which has the potential to increase economic resilience for small
vessels while promoting efficient utilization of the historically
underutilized skate bait quota.
All 12 participating LAGC vessels would follow effort, trip limit,
and annual quota requirements under the current LAGC scallop fishery
regulations with no gear modifications. All vessels would hold valid
Federal skate permits and would be subject to all bait skate fishery
regulations. This EFP would not authorize transfers-at-sea of bait
catch between vessels. Allowing landings of skate bycatch that would
normally be discarded is not expected to alter vessels' number or
duration of trips.
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 1, 2026.
Kelly Denit,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2026-08817 Filed 5-5-26; 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 6, 2026.
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.