[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 10 (Friday, January 15, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3996-3997]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-00911]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XY117]


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone off Alaska; Application 
for an Exempted Fishing Permit

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for exempted fishing permit.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces NMFS' receipt of an application and the 
public comment period for an exempted fishing permit (EFP) from the 
Alaska Seafood Cooperative. If issued, this permit would allow the 
applicant to test methods to minimize bycatch of halibut using an 
excluder device in the North Pacific's Amendment 80 flatfish fishery. 
The objective of this EFP, if issued, would be to develop a halibut 
excluder design that avoids high target species losses with more 
significant reductions in halibut bycatch. Field testing would be 
conducted between August 2021 and December 2022. This experiment would 
have the potential to promote the objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

DATES: Comments on this EFP application must be submitted to NMFS on or 
before February 12, 2021. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council 
(Council) will consider the application at its meeting from February 1, 
2021 through February 12, 2021.

ADDRESSES: The Council meeting will be held virtually. The agenda for 
the Council meeting is available at http://www.npfmc.org. In addition 
to submitting public comments during the Council meeting through the 
Council website, you may submit your comments, identified by NOAA-NMFS-
2020-0156, by either of the following methods:
    <bullet> Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to 
www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2020-0156, click the 
``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or 
attach your comments.
    <bullet> Mail: Submit written comments to Glenn Merrill, Assistant 
Regional Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries Division, Alaska Region 
NMFS, Attn: Records Office. Mail comments to P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 
99802-1668.
    Instructions: Comments sent by any other method, to any other 
address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, 
may not be considered. All comments received are a part of the public 
record and will generally be posted for public viewing on 
www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying 
information (e.g., name, address) submitted voluntarily by the sender 
will be publicly accessible. NMFS will accept anonymous comments (enter 
``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to remain anonymous).
    Electronic copies of the EFP application and the basis for a 
categorical exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act may 
be obtained from www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Megan Mackey, 907-586-7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS manages the domestic groundfish 
fisheries in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) management area 
under the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the BSAI Management 
Area (FMP), which the Council prepared under the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). 
Regulations governing the BSAI groundfish fisheries appear at 50 CFR 
parts 600 and 679. The FMP and the implementing regulations at 
Sec. Sec.  600.745(b) and 679.6 allow the NMFS Regional Administrator 
to authorize, for limited testing and experimental purposes, fishing or 
target or incidental harvest of species managed under an FMP that would 
otherwise be prohibited. Procedures for issuing EFPs are contained in 
the implementing regulations.

Background and Need for Exempted Fishing Permit

    Flatfish fishing is a significant component of the Bering Sea 
groundfish fishery, annually producing approximately 200,000 metric 
tons of sole, founders, and plaice. Amendment 80, implemented in 2008, 
allocates BSAI yellowfin sole, flathead sole, rock sole, Atka mackerel, 
and Aleutian Islands Pacific ocean perch to trawl catcher processor 
sector, and allows qualified vessels to form cooperatives. Prior to 
2008, halibut prohibited species catch bycatch tended to constrain 
harvest of much of the total allowable flatfish catches. Bycatch or 
incidental catch include fish species that are not targeted but are 
caught and discarded. Certain species taken incidentally in Alaska's 
groundfish fisheries are called Prohibited Species Catch (PSC). Since 
2008, the Amendment 80 sector has been able to make significant 
improvements to reduce halibut and other bycatch and has increased 
target fish yields. This has been achieved because the new management 
program allows fishermen to fish when and where it makes most sense and 
to make better use of bycatch reduction tools like sharing information 
to avoid bycatch ``hot spots,'' bycatch avoidance agreements, and gear 
modifications.
    In 2015, following the sector's success under Amendment 80 and in 
response to a decline in halibut biomass in the Bering Sea, the Council 
approved a 25 percent reduction in the sector's halibut bycatch 
mortality cap, which is the total amount of permitted halibut bycatch. 
To help prevent a return to leaving a large fraction of flatfish un-
harvested, the Council approved and NMFS implemented halibut deck 
sorting on November 14, 2019 (84 FR 55044; October 15, 2019). Through 
this new program, savings in halibut mortality from deck sorting have 
been significant. However, over the last two fishing years (possibly 
due to warming sea temperatures and lack of the cold pool thermal front 
that tended to spatially separate flatfish from halibut), encounter 
rates for halibut by the Amendment 80 fleet have increased. The sector 
is concerned that its ability to continue to fish for flatfish and 
other groundfish could be impacted by increasing rates of halibut 
bycatch.
    Over the last two decades, Bering Sea flatfish trawlers have been 
developing and using halibut excluders, which are modifications to the 
intermediate section of the trawl intended to allow halibut to escape 
while retaining sufficient levels of target species for operational 
efficiency. The design of these excluders has been refined over time, 
but now that halibut bycatch rates have increased in recent years, the 
sector is interested in further refinement and testing of excluder 
design.
    An initial analysis by the EFP applicant of current halibut 
excluder designs indicates current excluders are resulting in high loss 
rates of target fish and less reduction in halibut bycatch than what 
might be achieved through an improved design. This includes results 
from a 2006 EFP that was issued to

[[Page 3997]]

evaluate the effectiveness of a halibut excluder in the Gulf of Alaska 
trawl cod fishery, which noted higher than desirable escapement rates 
of the target species. Therefore, an excluder design that avoids high 
target species losses with more significant reduction in halibut 
bycatch would be an improvement and could foster wider adoption of 
these devices among the fleet. This EFP proposes a collaborative study 
with the Alaska Seafood Cooperative and Amendment 80 fishermen of 
halibut excluders in the Bering Sea flatfish trawl fishery to conduct 
field testing to explore improved designs.

Exempted Fishing Permit

    On June 2, 2020, Mr. John Gauvin of the Alaska Seafood Cooperative 
submitted an application for an EFP to develop and test a halibut 
excluder in the Amendment 80 flatfish fishery. The objectives of this 
proposed EFP are as follows:
    <bullet> Collect escapement rate data on a halibut excluder design.
    <bullet> Employ appropriate data collections methods to 
statistically estimate excluder performance.
    <bullet> Conduct excluder testing in two different target flatfish 
fisheries (yellowfin sole and flathead/mid-shelf flatfish) to get a 
broader range of results versus testing in just one fishery.
    <bullet> Collect caudal fin clips from a sample of halibut 
encountered during field testing for a pilot study of sex ratios of 
bycaught halibut.
    <bullet> Draft EFP reports to effectively communicate key results 
for excluder testing and pilot study of sex ratios.
    <bullet> Conduct outreach meetings of key results on halibut 
excluder performance tailored to the information needs of flatfish 
fishermen and gear manufacturers interested in the improvement of 
halibut excluders.
    Field testing would be conducted on the 261-foot (79.5 meter) 
factory trawler, The North Star, using twin trawl nets in the yellowfin 
sole and flathead sole fisheries. This would involve one trip with 60 
to 70 total tows, occurring sometime between August 2021 and December 
2022. To address potential differences in catch rates, the excluder 
device would be switched from one side to the other at the half way 
point for each part of the EFP testing (i.e., halfway through the tows 
in the yellowfin target; same for the tows in the flathead target). 
This would allow a separate analysis of excluder performance in each 
net, which would help to identify differences in catch rates for 
halibut and target species between sides.
    To understand the effects of the excluder, halibut catch and 
groundfish total catch data would be collected from each side of the 
twin trawl separately. Catch would be brought on board from the two 
nets separately and in conjunction with usual observer deck sorting, 
after which the contents of each net would be placed into separate 
tanks. Crew members would collect all halibut that make it to the 
factory (i.e., are not sorted on deck) for purposes of measuring each 
of these fish and recording the length data before discarding them 
using the same conveyor belt pathway that is normally used.
    The project manager for the field testing trip would collect up to 
100 caudal fins from a random sample of halibut from both the deck and 
the factory, storing them for later testing to determine sex ratios. 
This should not disturb the normal workflow of observer desk sorting 
and data collection. Testing would be done in conjunction with 
researchers from the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC). 
This will help to provide data on the sex ratio of halibut taken as 
bycatch, which is a data gap identified by the IPHC.

Exemptions

    Two exemptions are necessary to conduct this experiment. First, an 
exemption would be necessary from the requirement to minimize catch of 
prohibited species at Sec.  679.21(a)(2)(i) in the event higher than 
average catch of halibut is encountered during field testing.
    Second would be an exemption from Sec.  679.21(a)(2)(ii) regarding 
careful handling and immediate release of prohibited species catch. 
This will allow the collection of caudal fin clips from a sample of the 
halibut encountered. This will also allow crew members to collect and 
measure the halibut that make it to the factory, recording length data 
before releasing the fish via the standard conveyor belt pathway.

Permit Conditions, Review, and Effects

    The applicant would be required to submit to NMFS a report of the 
EFP results six months after completion of field testing. The report 
would include the halibut excluder device designs tested in the 
experiment; how the tests were conducted, including operational 
variables tested (such as towing speeds, water conditions, target catch 
rates); performance of the device in terms of halibut bycatch 
reduction, target catch escapement, handling, and maintenance; and the 
total catch of each groundfish species and Pacific halibut in metric 
tons during EFP fishing. The activities that would be conducted under 
this EFP are not expected to have a significant impact on the human 
environment, as detailed in the categorical exclusion prepared for this 
action (see ADDRESSES).
    In accordance with Sec. Sec.  679.6 and 600.745, NMFS has 
determined that the application warrants further consideration and has 
forwarded the application to the Council to initiate consultation. The 
Council is scheduled to consider the EFP application during its 
February 2021 meeting, which will be held virtually. The EFP 
application will also be provided to the Council's Scientific and 
Statistical Committee for review at the February Council meeting. The 
applicant has been invited to speak in support of the application.

Public Comments

    Interested persons may comment on the application during the 
February 2021 Council meeting during public testimony or the Federal e-
Rulemaking Portal (see ADDRESSES) until February 12, 2021 when the 
comment period ends. Information regarding the meeting is available at 
the Council's website at http://www.npfmc.org. Copies of the 
application and categorical exclusion are available for review from 
NMFS (see ADDRESSES). Comments may also be submitted directly to NMFS 
(see ADDRESSES) by the end of the comment period (see DATES).

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

    Dated: January 12, 2021.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-00911 Filed 1-14-21; 8:45 am]
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