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

Issuing agencies

Abstract

The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Region (GARFO), 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 196 (Tuesday, October 13, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 196 (Tuesday, October 13, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64888-64889]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-20877]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XG116]


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.

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SUMMARY: The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable 
Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Region (GARFO), 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 October 28, 2026.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by email: 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#0a64676c79246d6b78246f6c7a4a64656b6b246d657c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="47292a21346920263569222137072928262669202831">[email&#160;protected]</span></a>. Include in the subject line ``MA DMF 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#96d5fee4ffe5e2fff8f3b8d0f9e4f2d6f8f9f7f7b8f1f9e0"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="afecc7ddc6dcdbc6c1ca81e9c0ddcbefc1c0cece81c8c0d9">[email&#160;protected]</span></a>, (978) 281-9185.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The MA DMF submitted a complete application 
for an EFP to conduct trials of on-demand fishing gear that use no 
surface buoys and to test the ability of gear marking systems to 
consistently locate gear. 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 surface
                                                    markings (fully
                                                    ropeless) on trawls
                                                    of more than three
                                                    traps.
------------------------------------------------------------------------


                        Table 2--Project Summary
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Project title...................  Testing on-demand fishing technologies
                                   that help minimize the risk of large
                                   whale entanglements in lobster trap
                                   fishing gear in Massachusetts coastal
                                   waters.
Project start...................  01//01/2027.
Project end.....................  05/15/2027.
Project objectives..............  Provide access and support for
                                   Massachusetts lobster trap fishers to
                                   fish during the closed season in the
                                   restricted areas. Mitigate the
                                   economic impact of seasonal fishing
                                   closures while continuing to reduce
                                   the risk of entanglement to
                                   endangered North Atlantic right
                                   whales. Collect data to help address
                                   technological and logistical issues
                                   associated with the implementation of
                                   on-demand gear fishing.
Project location................  Massachusetts Restricted Area; South
                                   Islands Restricted Area; Outer Cape
                                   Cod Lobster Management Area.
Number of vessels...............  Up to 50.
Number of trips.................  Up to 700.
Trip duration (days)............  1 day.
Total number of days............  Up to 700.
Gear type(s)....................  Trap/pot.
Number of tows or sets..........  Up to 20/trip; up to 14,000 total.
Duration of tows or sets........  Up to 7 days.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Project Narrative

    This EFP would allow federally permitted vessels to test on-demand 
gear in seasonal Restricted Areas that do not allow the use of 
persistent vertical lines under the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction 
Plan (ALWTRP). This project would allow up to 50 lobster trap vessels 
to replace up to 20 of their existing trawls with modified trawls in 
the ALWTRP Restricted Areas. Modified gear would replace both 
traditional end lines with one or two on-demand units; trawls would 
have no persistent vertical lines (fully ropeless). Participants would 
use privately owned on-demand gear purchased with their own funds or 
purchased through reimbursements provided by an on-demand grant program 
operated by MA DMF. Participants would only use the following on-demand 
systems: Sub Sea Sonics, Guardian, and EdgeTech. MA DMF will record 
each participant's brand of approved on-demand gear, and consult with 
them to confirm they know how to use the gear and marking system, 
either via training from the manufacturer, from participation in 
another EFP, or through training by MA DMF.
    The goals of this project are to provide Federal lobster permit 
holders in Massachusetts with access to seasonal Restricted Areas, to 
test the efficacy of methods that alert other fishers to the presence 
of gear on the bottom, and to provide policy makers with information 
about the operational benefits and constraints of fishing without 
vertical lines. The project objectives are to:

[[Page 64889]]

    <bullet> Provide participants with additional fishing opportunities 
through access to seasonal Restricted Areas;
    <bullet> Collect data on the deployment and retrieval of on-demand 
gear, usage of gear location marking systems, and any occurrences of 
gear conflicts or gear deployment failures;
    <bullet> Provide support and training for participating fishers on 
the use of on-demand technologies;
    <bullet> Trial gear location marking systems that promote 
interoperability for fishers and reduce the potential for gear 
conflict;
    <bullet> Collect timing data on hauling efficiency of on-demand 
versus traditional fishing gear; and
    <bullet> Provide feedback to on-demand manufacturers to increase 
performance under commercial fishery conditions.
    This permit would only exempt vessels from the specified Federal 
regulations in Federal waters. It would not exempt the vessels from any 
requirements imposed by any state, the Endangered Species Act, the 
Marine Mammal Protection Act, or any other applicable laws. The 
applicant would be responsible for obtaining all required state 
authorizations. Other than gear markings, all trap/pot 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 (number and length of trips, soak times, 
trap limits, etc.).
    Participants would be required to virtually mark the location of 
each end of their trawls using the gear-marking technology associated 
with the on-demand system they were fishing. This may include gear 
marking applications designed by the respective manufacturers to mark 
gear when set using GPS-based locations and visually remove the mark 
from applications when the gear is moved or retrieved. Set and haul 
information would be integrated into the ER Buoy gear location cloud-
based database so that participants would have access to all set on-
demand gear within 5 miles (8.05 kilometers). MA DMF would also have 
access to all on-demand set locations through the RMW Hub enforcement 
and manager platform.
    MA DMF would provide standardized data collection sheets to all 
participants. Data deemed confidential, including but not limited to 
on-demand specific deployment locations and catch information, may be 
collected but will not be made public.
    MA DMF proposes the following best practices and risk reduction 
measures:
    <bullet> All vessels would report all right whale sightings to NMFS 
via <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a5cbc08bd7d28bd6d0d7d3c0dce5cbcac4c48bc2cad3"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6e000b401c19401d1b1c180b172e00010f0f40090118">[email&#160;protected]</span></a> or NOAA (866-755-6622) or the U.S. Coast 
Guard (Channel 16) and record sightings on data sheets;
    <bullet> All vessels would retrieve on-demand vertical lines as 
quickly as possible to minimize time in the water column;
    <bullet> If any large whale species came within 500 yards (457.2 
meters) of a participating vessel during hauling, fishing would 
immediately cease, by either removal or resetting, and be reinitiated 
only after it was reasonable to assume the whale(s) had left the area;
    <bullet> All vessels would provide mandatory, weekly gear loss 
reports; MA DMF would provide monthly gear conflict/loss reports to 
GARFO;
    <bullet> All vessels would operate within a 10-knot (18.52-km) 
speed limit when transiting Restricted Areas or when whales are 
observed;
    <bullet> RMW hub, the ER Buoy app, or an equivalent application 
will be utilized for identifying any on-demand gear currently set 
within the work areas;
    <bullet> Stowed hauling lines in on-demand units will contain a 
unique colored marking consisting of 12'' of yellow twine above each 
regional ALWTRP marking;
    <bullet> A unique flag will be flown by each vessel within ALWTRP 
vertical line closure areas for enforcement recognition;
    <bullet> All participants would carry a MA DMF scientist on a 
subset of trips to collect additional data and oversee trial 
performance;
    <bullet> No floating groundline would be used on research trawls, 
including where otherwise legally allowed between the first trap and 
anchor or on-demand unit; and
    <bullet> Law enforcement agencies will be notified of project 
participants and activities in advance of the project start date.
    Under the previous EFP (#25048), 2 vessels participated, completing 
15 total trips. Both vessels used Sub Sea Sonics on-demand gear, with 
differing success. Some release failures occurred due to a dead 
battery, tablet or release unit malfunctions. Retrieval success ranged 
from 100 percent at <70 fathoms down to approximately 50 percent at 
greater depths. Both vessels worked with the manufacturer to resolve 
issues. While some issues persist, they are being addressed by the 
manufacturer. All on-demand units were retrieved. No gear conflicts 
were reported by the participants; both participants expressed interest 
in continuing to trial on-demand 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: October 8, 2026.
Shannon Bettridge,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2026-20877 Filed 10-9-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P


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