Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 82 / Friday, April 27, 2012 / Proposed Rules 25117 

for marking lobster trap lines that 

should be completed during 2013. The 

Councils intend to revisit the spiny 

lobster trap gear marking issue when the 

results of that study are available. The 

biological opinion, as amended, requires 

implementation of the terms and 

conditions regarding lobster trap line 

marking by August 6, 2017. 

Proposed Rule for Amendment 11 

A proposed rule that would 

implement measures outlined in 

Amendment 11 has been drafted. In 

accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act, NMFS is evaluating the proposed 

rule to determine whether it is 

consistent with the FMP, the MagnusonStevens Act, and other applicable law. 

If that determination is affirmative, 

NMFS will publish the proposed rule in 

the Federal Register for public review 

and comment. 

Consideration of Public Comments 

The Councils submitted Amendment 

11 for Secretarial review, approval, and 

implementation on April 05, 2012. 

NMFS’ decision to approve, partially 

approve, or disapprove Amendment 11 

will be based, in part, on consideration 

of comments, recommendations, and 

information received during the 

comment period on this notice of 

availability. 

Public comments received on or 

before June 26, 2012, will be considered 

by NMFS in its decision to approve, 

partially approve, or disapprove 

Amendment 11. All comments received 

by NMFS on Amendment 11 or the 

proposed rule for Amendment 11 during 

their respective comment periods will 

be addressed in a final rule. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. 

Dated: April 24, 2012. 

Emily H. Menashes, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–10248 Filed 4–26–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 120417417–2417–01] 

RIN 0648–BB35 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Northeast Multispecies 

Fishery; Exempted Fishery for the 

Southern New England Skate Bait 

Trawl Fishery 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Proposed rule, request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS proposes to modify the 

regulations implementing the Northeast 

(NE) Multispecies Fishery Management 

Plan (FMP) to allow vessels issued a 

Federal skate permit and a Skate Bait 

Letter of Authorization to fish for skates 

in a portion of southern New England 

from July through October of each year, 

outside of the NE multispecies days-atsea (DAS) program. This action would 

allow vessels to harvest skates in a 

manner that is consistent with the 

bycatch reduction objectives of the NE 

Multispecies FMP. 

DATES: Comments must be received no 

later than 5 p.m., eastern daylight time, 

on May 14, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: An environmental 

assessment (EA) was prepared for the 

Secretarial Amendment that describes 

the proposed action and other 

considered alternatives, and provides an 

analysis of the impacts of the proposed 

measures and alternatives. Copies of the 

Secretarial Amendment, including the 

EA and the Initial Regulatory Flexibility 

Analysis (IRFA), are available on 

request from Daniel Morris, Acting 

Regional Administrator, Northeast 

Regional Office, 55 Great Republic 

Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. These 

documents are also available online at 

http://www.nero.noaa.gov. 

You may submit comments, identified 

by FDMS docket number NOAA– 

NMFS–2012–0098, by any one of the 

following methods: 

• Written comments (paper, disk, or 

CD–ROM) should be sent to Paul J. 

Howard, Executive Director, New 

England Fishery Management Council, 

50 Water Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, 

MA 01950. Mark the outside of the 

envelope, ‘‘Comments on Skate Bait 

Exempted Fishery.’’ 

• Comments also may be sent via 

facsimile (fax) to (978) 465–3116. 

• Submit all electronic public 

comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking 

Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 

Instructions: Comments will be 

posted for public viewing as they are 

received. All comments received are a 

part of the public record and will 

generally be posted to http:// 

www.regulations.gov without change. 

All Personal Identifying Information (for 

example, name, address, etc.) 

voluntarily submitted by the commenter 

may be publicly accessible. Do not 

submit Confidential Business 

Information or otherwise sensitive or 

protected information. 

NMFS will accept anonymous 

comments (enter N/A in the required 

fields, if you wish to remain 

anonymous). You may submit 

attachments to electronic comments in 

Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or 

Adobe PDF file formats only. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Travis Ford, Fishery Management 

Specialist, 978–281–9233; fax 978–281– 

9135; email: travis.ford@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Current regulations, implemented 

under Framework Adjustment 9 (60 FR 

19364, April 18, 1995) and expanded 

under Amendment 7 to the FMP (61 FR 

27710, May 31, 1996), contain a NE 

multispecies fishing mortality and 

bycatch reduction measure that is 

applied to the Gulf of Maine (GOM), 

Georges Bank (GB), and Southern New 

England (SNE) Exemption Areas found 

in 50 CFR 648.80. A vessel may not fish 

in these areas unless it is fishing under 

a NE multispecies or a scallop DAS 

allocation, is fishing with exempted 

gear, is fishing under the Small Vessel 

Handgear (A or B) or Party/Charter 

permit restrictions, or is fishing in an 

exempted fishery. The procedure for 

adding, modifying, or deleting fisheries 

from the list of exempted fisheries is 

found in § 648.80. A fishery may be 

exempted by the Regional Administrator 

(RA), after consultation with the New 

England Fishery Management Council 

(Council), if the RA determines, based 

on available data or information, that 

the bycatch of regulated species is, or 

can be reduced to, less than 5 percent 

by weight of the total catch and that 

such exemption will not jeopardize the 

fishing mortality objectives of the FMP. 

Representatives from the NE 

multispecies sector fleet submitted an 

exempted fishery request to the RA on 

April 1, 2011. The petitioners requested 

that NMFS consider an exempted 

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25118 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 82 / Friday, April 27, 2012 / Proposed Rules 

fishery for trawl vessels using 6.5-inch 

mesh nets and targeting skate bait in a 

portion of SNE from June through 

November of each year (referred to in 

the EA and in this proposed rule as 

Alternative 2). Sector vessels targeting 

skate bait and fishing on a trip in SNE 

are currently required to declare a NE 

multispecies DAS trip. These vessels are 

charged a discard rate that is 

determined by the Northeast Fisheries 

Observer Program (NEFOP) and at-sea 

monitoring (ASM) discard data. The 

discard rate is based on the sector, area 

fished, and gear type, referred to as a 

discard stratum. Because ‘‘target 

species’’ is not part of each discard 

stratum, vessels that are targeting skate 

bait (and catching very little to no 

groundfish) are being charged the same 

discard rate as all other declared 

groundfish trips in that discard stratum. 

This has led to higher than observed 

discard rates of groundfish when 

targeting skate bait when compared to 

actual discard rates on observed skate 

bait trips. Forfeiting the value of 

discards at a higher rate than is actually 

occurring has imposed an economic 

burden on sector fishermen, as the 

discarded fish that are charged to the 

sector’s Annual Catch Entitlement 

(ACE) could otherwise be landed for 

sale. Reducing a sector’s ACE by a 

higher rate than is actually occurring 

has particularly adversely affected the 

sector’s ‘‘choke stocks,’’ i.e., fish for 

which the sector has a small amount of 

ACE, either because of a low catch 

history or a small annual catch limit 

(ACL) for the stock. 

NEFOP and ASM data were compiled 

and analyzed with reference to 

groundfish vessels targeting skate in the 

area and months requested for the 

exemption. A second alternative was 

assessed that reduced both the size of 

the exempted area and the requested 

season to July through October (referred 

to in the EA and in this proposed rule 

as Alternative 1). The data best 

supported Alternative 1, revealing that 

bycatch of regulated species (primarily 

winter flounder and windowpane 

flounder) was substantially reduced 

from the original proposal by reducing 

the area and contracting the time period. 

It is important to note that large portions 

of the original area requested by 

industry had no associated observer 

data, and thus could not be evaluated. 

Therefore, the size of the exemption 

area was reduced to cover only areas 

where ASM and NEFOP covered trips 

existed. 

For Alternative 1, all large mesh (6.5- 

inch mesh) DAS trips from 2010 to 2011 

were analyzed, and the data showed 

that no trips caught more than 5 percent 

groundfish. Therefore, there were no 

trips that caught over 5 percent NE 

multispecies that would be exempted 

under this action. The data indicate that 

Alternative 2 (the non-preferred 

alternative) would likely result in a 

higher percentage of groundfish catch in 

the months of June and November than 

in July through October. 

Exempted fisheries have a maximum 

allowable bycatch of 5 percent regulated 

groundfish under § 648.80(a)(8)(i). For 

the months of July through October, 

from 2006 to 2011, the average 

percentage of regulated groundfish catch 

for trips in the directed SNE skate bait 

fishery was 1.25 percent, well under the 

5 percent limit for an exempted fishery. 

No single month’s average NE 

multispecies catch exceeded 2 percent 

of the total catch. The vast majority of 

groundfish bycatch species in the skate 

bait fishery are SNE winter flounder and 

southern windowpane flounder. 

Following a recent assessment, SNE 

winter flounder is no longer 

experiencing overfishing but remains 

overfished. Recent information has 

changed the status of the Southern 

windowpane flounder stock, which was 

previously experiencing overfishing but 

not overfished; it is currently not 

overfished, is no longer experiencing 

overfishing, and was rebuilt in 2009. 

The discards expected from this 

exemption should not cause the ACL for 

these species to be exceeded. 

Further, because of the relationship 

between the skate bait fishery and the 

lobster fishery, this action is not likely 

to increase effort in the skate bait 

fishery. Although this action would 

exempt vessels targeting skate bait from 

the NE multispecies regulations, the 

demand for skate bait is dependent on 

the lobster fishery’s demand for bait. 

Consequently, this exemption is not 

expected to increase the demand for 

skate bait. Further, the skate bait fishery 

is controlled by a Total Allowable 

Landing (TAL) limit that prevents the 

overharvesting of skate bait. Because it 

would neither increase demand for 

skate bait nor significantly affect other 

regulated species, this action is not 

expected to jeopardize mortality 

objectives of any stock and would ease 

some of the burdens on vessels 

participating in the NE multispecies 

fishery. 

Proposed Measures 

Southern New England Skate Bait Trawl 

Exemption Area 

The RA has determined that an 

exempted skate bait trawl fishery in a 

specifically defined portion of SNE 

meets the exemption requirements in 

§ 648.80(a)(8)(i) because, based on the 

analysis of available data, the bycatch of 

regulated species by vessels targeting 

skate bait in a portion of SNE is less 

than 5 percent, by weight, of the total 

catch. Therefore, this rule proposes to 

implement an exempted fishery for 

eligible vessels when using 6.5-inch 

mesh trawl gear in a portion of SNE 

from July through October of each year. 

The area of this proposed exempted 

fishery would be referred to as the SNE 

Skate Bait Trawl Exemption Area. 

The SNE Skate Bait Trawl Exemption 

Area is defined by the straight lines 

connecting the following points in the 

order stated (copies of a chart depicting 

the area are available from the RA upon 

request): 

Point N. lat. W. long. 

SBT 1 ... Southeastern MA ......... 71/00′ 

SBT 2 ... 41/00′ ........................... 71/00′ 

SBT 3 ... 41/00′ ........................... 72/05′ 

SBT 4 ... Southern CT ................ 72/05′ 

As required by existing regulations, 

Vessels participating in the exempted 

skate fishery would need to hold a 

Federal skate permit and a valid Skate 

Bait Letter of Authorization (LOA) from 

the RA containing an exemption from 

the skate wing possession limits, which 

allows them to land whole skates for use 

as bait. A participating vessel may 

possess and land up to 20,000 lb (9,072 

kg) of whole skates of less than 23 

inches (59 cm) total length. In addition, 

vessels would be limited by the skate 

bait TAL that is divided into three 

seasons to help maintain a supply of 

bait throughout the fishing year. When 

90 percent of the seasonal quota is 

landed in either Season 1 or 2, or when 

90 percent of the annual skate bait TAL 

is landed, the RA would close the 

directed fishery by reducing the skate 

bait possession limit to the whole 

weight equivalent of the skate wing 

possession limit in effect at that time 

(either 5,902 lb (2,677 kg), 9,307 lb 

(4,222 kg), or 1,135 lb (515 kg)). 

Granting the SNE Skate Bait Trawl 

Exemption Area should result in a more 

accurate discard calculation for skate 

bait and NE multispecies DAS trips. 

Exempted skate bait trips would be 

exempt from NE multispecies 

regulations. Discards of regulated NE 

multispecies from skate bait trips would 

no longer be deducted from sector or 

common pool sub-ACLs that make up 

the commercial groundfish sub-ACL. 

Instead, the calculated discards would 

be deducted from the ‘‘other 

subcomponents’’ sub-ACL. 

In the NE multispecies fishery, 

calculated discard rates for regulated 

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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 82 / Friday, April 27, 2012 / Proposed Rules 25119 

species are calculated over an entire 

discard stratum, i.e., sector, area, and 

gear type. Currently, when SNE skate 

bait vessels are fishing on declared 

groundfish trips, they are charged a 

calculated discard rate equivalent to 

trips targeting groundfish in the same 

discard stratum. For example, a skate 

bait vessel catching 20,000 pounds of 

skate is charged a groundfish discard 

rate as if that vessel caught 20,000 

pounds of groundfish and results in the 

resulting amount being deducted from 

the sector or common pool sub-ACL. 

The data analyzed from observed SNE 

skate bait trips, however, showed that 

skate bait trips averaged a catch of 

1.25% of multispecies (250 pounds). 

Calculating discards using this more 

accurate rate results in a lower 

deduction from the sub-ACL than 

applying the groundfish discard rate to 

20,000 pounds of catch. Granting this 

exemption would provide vessels the 

opportunity to catch the groundfish 

formerly counted as discarded. 

Conversely, because the lower 

multispecies discards observed on skate 

bait trips will no longer be included 

when determining the groundfish 

discard rate for targeted groundfish 

trips, the actual amounts discarded on 

declared groundfish trips will be more 

accurately reflected. The increase in the 

calculated discard rate for targeted 

groundfish trips is not expected to be 

significant. 

Classification 

NMFS has determined that this 

proposed rule is consistent with the 

FMP and preliminarily determined that 

the rule is consistent with the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act and 

other applicable laws. 

This proposed rule has been 

determined to be not significant for 

purposes of Executive Order 12866. 

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 603, an IRFA has 

been prepared, which describes the 

economic impacts that this proposed 

rule, if adopted, would have on small 

entities. A description of the reasons 

why this action is being considered, as 

well as the objectives of and legal basis 

for this proposed rule, can be found in 

the preamble to this proposed rule and 

are not repeated here. There are no 

Federal rules that duplicate, overlap, or 

conflict with the proposed rule. This 

proposed rule does not include any new 

reporting, recordkeeping or other 

compliance requirements. This action 

proposes to create a new skate bait trawl 

exemption area for trawl vessels 

targeting skate bait in SNE. 

This action was compared to two 

different alternatives for the exemption. 

Alternatives to the proposed exemption 

include exempting a larger portion of 

SNE for a longer period of time, from 

June through November, and a No 

Action alternative, which would 

continue to require vessels targeting 

skate bait in this area to be on a declared 

NE multispecies trip from July through 

October. 

Description and Estimate of the Number 

of Small Entities to Which This 

Proposed Rule Would Apply 

The Small Business Administration 

(SBA) defines a small commercial 

fishing entity as a firm with gross 

receipts not exceeding $4 million. In 

Rhode Island, there are two major 

dealers involved in the skate bait 

market. One reports supplying skate bait 

to 100 lobster businesses located in 

Point Judith, Wickford, Newport, 

Westerly, and Jamestown, RI, along with 

businesses scattered throughout 

Connecticut and Massachusetts. The 

company buys skate bait from 12–15 

vessels throughout the year. The lobster 

businesses supplied by the company 

employ between 2–4 crewmembers per 

vessel. The other major skate dealer in 

Rhode Island supplies local Newport, 

Sakonnet, and New Bedford, MA vessels 

and numerous offshore lobster vessels 

fishing in the Gulf of Maine. Skates are 

supplied to this dealer from draggers 

working out of Newport and Tiverton, 

RI, and New Bedford, MA. 

Due to direct, independent contracts 

between draggers and lobster vessels, 

landings of skates are estimated to be 

under-documented. While skate bait is 

always landed (rather than transferred at 

sea), it is not always reported because it 

can be sold directly to lobster vessels by 

non-federally permitted vessels, which 

are not required to report as dealers. A 

more complete description of the skate 

bait fishery can be found in Amendment 

3 to the NE Skate Complex FMP, 

available from the Council (http:// 

www.nefmc.org). 

Economic Impacts of This Proposed 

Action 

Compared to the No Action 

alternative, the Preferred Alternative 

(Alternative 1) is expected to benefit the 

local fishing communities that have 

historically depended on the skate bait 

fishery in SNE. This exemption was 

requested by members of the NE 

multispecies fishing industry, 

specifically members of a sector in the 

SNE area. The cost of fishing for skate 

bait has become increasingly high 

primarily due to the deduction of 

calculated discards from each vessel’s 

sector ACE when fishing under a 

groundfish DAS. Thus, the proposed 

exemption will allow vessels to target 

skate bait outside of the DAS program, 

which will prevent the discards being 

deducted from their sector’s ACE at a 

higher rate than is actually occurring. 

The EA for this proposed action 

estimates that the exemption could save 

the fleet approximately $24,490 a year 

in discards and DAS alone. 

With the elimination of these low 

discard trips from the sector’s discard 

stratum, the overall discard rate for the 

sector will likely increase because skate 

bait trips that were observed were 

keeping the discard rate for trips 

targeting groundfish artificially low. 

While this change will result in an 

increase of the overall sector’s discard 

rate, the increase will not represent a 

significant cost to the SNE sector vessels 

that are not participating in the 

exemption. In addition, the calculated 

discard rates for both groundfish vessels 

and skate bait vessels will be more 

accurate as a result of the exemption; 

more accurate discards are not expected 

to have an economic effect on the 

fishing community as a whole. 

Economic Impacts of Alternatives to the 

Proposed Action 

The impacts of Alternative 2, which 

extends the exemption an additional 2 

months over a larger area, would be 

expected to be similar to the impacts of 

the Preferred Alternative, but the 

expanded area and time would allow 

more vessels a greater opportunity to 

participate in the exempted fishery. The 

EA for this action estimates that 

Alternative 2 would save the industry 

an additional $ 3,739.37 compared to 

Alternative 1. However, the months of 

June and November showed an 

increased number of trips that caught 

over 5 percent groundfish, and a large 

portion of the area could not be 

evaluated because there was no observer 

or ASM data available. Providing an 

exemption for trips that caught over 5 

percent groundfish, or areas where no 

data is available, would be contrary to 

the purpose and requirements of the 

Magnuson Stevens Conservation and 

Management Act and its implementing 

regulations. For these reasons, this 

alternative was not selected. 

The No Action Alternative would 

have a negative economic impact on 

SNE skate bait vessels relative to the 

preferred alternative. This exemption 

was requested because of the economic 

burden that the cost of DAS and 

calculated discards had on sector 

fishermen targeting skate bait. As 

described above it is estimated that this 

exemption could save the fleet 

approximately $24,490 a year in 

discards and DAS alone compared to 

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25120 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 82 / Friday, April 27, 2012 / Proposed Rules 

the No Action alternative. Under the No 

Action Alternative, sector fishermen 

targeting skate bait would continue 

fishing on DAS only to be charged a 

higher than observed groundfish discard 

rate for their trip targeting skate bait. 

The skate bait fishery is a valuable 

resource to those in SNE. The 

groundfish discards that are attributed 

to these trips come directly out of the 

vessel’s sector’s ACE, which takes away 

the opportunity to catch these fish in 

the future. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648 

Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

Dated: April 23, 2012. 

Alan D. Risenhoover, 

Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

For the reasons stated in the 

preamble, 50 CFR part 648 is proposed 

to be amended as follows: 

PART 648—FISHERIES OF THE 

NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES 

1. The authority citation for part 648 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. 

2. In § 648.14, paragraph (k)(5)(i) is 

revised to read as follows: 

§ 648.14 Prohibitions. 

* * * * * 

(k) * * * 

(5) * * * 

(i) Violate any of the provisions of 

§ 648.80, including paragraphs (a)(5), 

the Small-mesh Northern Shrimp 

Fishery Exemption Area; (a)(6), the 

Cultivator Shoal Whiting Fishery 

Exemption Area; (a)(9), Small-mesh 

Area 1/Small-mesh Area 2; (a)(10), the 

Nantucket Shoals Dogfish Fishery 

Exemption Area; (a)(11), the GOM 

Scallop Dredge Exemption Area; (a)(12), 

the Nantucket Shoals Mussel and Sea 

Urchin Dredge Exemption Area; (a)(13), 

the GOM/GB Monkfish Gillnet 

Exemption Area; (a)(14), the GOM/GB 

Dogfish Gillnet Exemption Area; (a)(15), 

the Raised Footrope Trawl Exempted 

Whiting Fishery; (a)(16), the GOM Grate 

Raised Footrope Trawl Exempted 

Whiting Fishery; (a)(18), the Great South 

Channel Scallop Dredge Exemption 

Area; (b)(3), exemptions (small mesh); 

(b)(5), the SNE Monkfish and Skate 

Trawl Exemption Area; (b)(6), the SNE 

Monkfish and Skate Gillnet Exemption 

Area; (b)(8), the SNE Mussel and Sea 

Urchin Dredge Exemption Area; (b)(9), 

the SNE Little Tunny Gillnet Exemption 

Area; (b)(11), the SNE Scallop Dredge 

Exemption Area; or (b)(12), the SNE 

Skate Bait Trawl Exemption Area. Each 

violation of any provision in § 648.80 

constitutes a separate violation. 

* * * * * 

3. In § 648.80, paragraph (b)(2)(vi) is 

revised, and paragraph (b)(12) is added 

to read as follows: 

§ 648.80 NE Multispecies regulated mesh 

areas and restrictions on gear and methods 

of fishing. 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(2) * * * 

(vi) Other restrictions and 

exemptions. A vessel is prohibited from 

fishing in the SNE Exemption Area, as 

defined in paragraph (b)(10) of this 

section, except if fishing with exempted 

gear (as defined under this part) or 

under the exemptions specified in 

paragraphs (b)(3), (b)(5) through (9), 

(b)(11), (b)(12), (c), (e), (h), and (i) of this 

section; or if fishing under a NE 

multispecies DAS; or if fishing on a 

sector trip; or if fishing under the Small 

Vessel or Handgear A permit specified 

in § 648.82(b)(5) and (6), respectively; or 

if fishing under a Handgear B permit 

specified in § 648.88(a); or if fishing 

under a scallop state waters exemption 

specified in § 648.54; or if fishing under 

a scallop DAS in accordance with 

paragraph (h) of this section; or if 

fishing under a General Category scallop 

permit in accordance with paragraphs 

(b)(11)(i)(A) and (B) of this section; or if 

fishing pursuant to a NE multispecies 

open access Charter/Party or Handgear 

permit specified in § 648.88; or if fishing 

as a charter/party or private recreational 

vessel in compliance with the 

regulations specified in § 648.89. Any 

gear on a vessel, or used by a vessel, in 

this area must be authorized under one 

of these exemptions or must be stowed 

as specified in § 648.23(b). 

* * * * * 

(12) SNE Skate Bait Trawl Exemption 

Area. Vessels issued an open access 

skate permit and a skate bait Letter of 

Authorization as specified in 

§ 648.322(c) that have declared out of 

the DAS program as specified in 

§ 648.10, or that have used up their DAS 

allocations, may fish in the SNE Skate 

Bait Trawl Exemption Area as defined 

under paragraph (b)(12)(i) of this 

section, when not under a NE 

multispecies or scallop DAS, provided 

the vessel complies with the 

requirements specified in paragraph 

(b)(1)(ii) of this section. 

(i) Area definition. The SNE Skate 

Bait Trawl Exemption Area is defined 

by the straight lines connecting the 

following points in the order stated 

(copies of a chart depicting the area are 

available from the Regional 

Administrator upon request): 

SNE SKATE BAIT TRAWL EXEMPTION

AREA

[July 1 through October 31] 

Point N. lat. W. long. 

SBT 1 ... Southeastern MA ......... 71/00′ 

SBT 2 ... 41/00′ ........................... 71/00′ 

SBT 3 ... 41/00′ ........................... 72/05′ 

SBT 4 ... Southern CT ................ 72/05′ 

(ii) Requirements. (A) A vessel fishing 

in the SNE Skate Bait Trawl Exemption 

Area specified in this paragraph (b)(12) 

may not fish for, possess on board, or 

land any NE regulated species. 

(B) Vessels must use trawl gear, as 

specified in § 648.80(b)(2)(i). 

(C) Vessels must possess an active 

skate bait letter of authorization issued 

by the Regional Administrator, as 

specified in § 648.322(c) and fish 

pursuant to the terms of authorization. 

(D) Fishing may only occur from July 

1 through October 31 of each fishing 

year. 

* * * * * 

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