50182 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 156 / Friday, August 12, 2011 / Notices 

NMFS finds this application warrants 

further consideration. Possible 

conditions the agency may impose on 

this permit, if it is indeed granted, 

include but are not limited to, a 

prohibition of conducting research 

within marine protected areas, marine 

sanctuaries, or special management 

zones, without additional authorization. 

Additionally, NMFS would prohibit the 

possession of Nassau or goliath grouper. 

A report on the research would be due 

at the end of the collection period, to be 

submitted to NMFS and reviewed by the 

Council. 

A final decision on issuance of the 

EFP will depend on NMFS’s review of 

public comments received on the 

application, consultations with the 

affected states, the Council, and the U.S. 

Coast Guard, as well as a determination 

that it is consistent with all applicable 

laws. 

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

Dated: August 8, 2011. 

Emily H. Menashes, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2011–20611 Filed 8–11–11; 8:45 am] 

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XA596 

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of 

Mexico, and South Atlantic; Reef Fish 

Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico; 

Exempted Fishing Permit 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of receipt of an 

application for an exempted fishing 

permit; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces the receipt 

of an application for an exempted 

fishing permit (EFP) for a collaborative 

effort among personnel from Texas Tech 

University, Texas A&M—Corpus Christi, 

and a commercial fishing organization, 

Shareholders Alliance. If granted, the 

EFP would authorize the applicants to 

collect and retain limited numbers of 

specimens that would otherwise be 

prohibited from possession and 

retention. This study, to be conducted 

in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of 

the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf), is intended to 

more closely monitor populations of red 

snapper and other reef fish to compare 

relative catch rates and discards 

between vessels that possess varying 

amounts of red snapper allocation under 

the current Gulf red snapper individual 

fishing quota (IFQ) program. 

DATES: Comments must be received no 

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

September 12, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on the application by any of the 

following methods: 

• E-mail: Steve.Branstetter@noaa.gov. 

Include in the subject line of the e-mail 

comment the following document 

identifier: ‘‘TTU_EFP’’. 

• Mail: Steve Branstetter, Southeast 

Regional Office, NMFS, 263 13th 

Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701. 

The application and related 

documents are available for review 

upon written request to any of the above 

addresses. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Steve Branstetter, 727–824–5305; email: Steve.Branstetter@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The EFP is 

requested under the authority of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act (16 

U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), and regulations at 

50 CFR 600.745(b) concerning exempted 

fishing. 

The described research is part of an 

ongoing Cooperative Research Program 

Cooperative Agreement (No. 

NA10NMF4540110) funded by NMFS. 

The research is intended to involve 

commercial fishermen in the collection 

of fundamental fisheries information. 

Resource collection efforts support the 

development and evaluation of fisheries 

management and regulatory options. 

The proposed collection for scientific 

research involves activities that could 

otherwise be prohibited by regulations 

at 50 CFR part 622, as they pertain to 

reef fish managed by the Gulf of Mexico 

Fishery Management Council (Council). 

The applicants require authorization 

through the EFP to collect these 

Council-managed species that may be 

taken as part of the normal fishing 

activities of the commercial sector of the 

Gulf reef fish fishery. The applicant 

would be conducting this research in 

cooperation with a commercial fishing 

organization, Shareholders Alliance, 

and would involve as many as 30 vessel 

owners associated with that 

organization. Observers from Texas 

Tech University and Texas A&M— 

Corpus Christi, would document the 

catch and bycatch of red snapper and 

other reef fish during normal 

commercial fishing operations in the 

Gulf. 

The objective of the study is to 

compare the discard rate of red snapper 

and the bycatch rates of other fish 

species in the red snapper commercial 

handline component of the Gulf reef 

fish fishery between fishermen with 

high and low amounts of quota 

allocation in both the eastern and 

western Gulf. By tagging discarded fish, 

and examining the return rates for 

recaptured tagged fish, the intent of the 

research is to estimate the delayed 

mortality rate, and long-term survival, of 

fish discarded in the commercial sector 

using vertical line gear in the Gulf reef 

fish fishery based on depth of capture. 

Information learned from this study is 

intended to help fishermen reduce 

discard mortality rates using new 

methodologies such as descender hooks 

to return fish to depth during fishing 

operations. In addition, sampling for 

age, growth, and size composition of the 

catch and bycatch would be conducted, 

providing additional information that 

can be used to assess the health of stock. 

Additionally, the goal of the research 

is to improve the scientific knowledge 

of red snapper and other reef fish taken 

from state and Federal waters of the 

Gulf and to use that knowledge to 

support fishery management decisions. 

The EFP, if approved, would authorize 

the take of as many as 1,000 Federallymanaged red snapper or other reef fish 

through July 31, 2012. Such fish, 

collected as biological samples, would 

be exempt from size limit regulations, 

and would not count against an 

individual fishermen’s specific red 

snapper IFQ allocation. 

NMFS finds this application warrants 

further consideration. Possible 

conditions the agency may impose on 

this permit, if it is indeed granted, 

include but are not limited to, a 

prohibition of conducting research 

within marine protected areas, marine 

sanctuaries, or special management 

zones, without additional authorization. 

Additionally, NMFS would prohibit the 

possession of Nassau or goliath grouper. 

A report on the research would be due 

at the end of the collection period, to be 

submitted to NMFS and reviewed by the 

Council. 

A final decision on issuance of the 

EFP will depend on NMFS’s review of 

public comments received on the 

application, consultations with the 

affected states, the Council, and the U.S. 

Coast Guard, as well as a determination 

that the EFP is consistent with all 

applicable laws. 

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

Dated: August 8, 2011. 

Emily H. Menashes, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2011–20596 Filed 8–11–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

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