41622 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 130 / Thursday, July 6, 2000 / Proposed Rules

Services, Inc., (202) 857–3800, 1231

20th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036.

Provisions of the Regulatory

Flexibility Act of 1980 do not apply to

this proceeding.

Members of the public should note

that from the time a Notice of Proposed

Rule Making is issued until the matter

is no longer subject to Commission

consideration or court review, all ex

parte contacts are prohibited in

Commission proceedings, such as this

one, which involve channel allotments.

See 47 CFR 1.1204(b) for rules

governing permissible ex parte contacts.

For information regarding proper

filing procedures for comments, see 47

CFR 1.415 and 1.420.

Federal Communications Commission.

Barbara A. Kreisman,

Chief, Video Services Division, Mass Media

Bureau.

[FR Doc. 00–17104 Filed 7–5–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–U

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 600

[I.D. 062800A]

Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions;

General Provisions for Domestic

Fisheries; Applications for Exempted

Fishing Permits (EFPs)

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notification of a proposal for

EFPs to conduct experimental fishing;

request for comments.

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the

Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS

(Regional Administrator), has made a

preliminary determination to issue EFPs

to conduct experimental fishing

operations otherwise restricted by the

regulations governing the fisheries of

the Northeastern United States. The

Maine Department of Marine Resources

(MEDMR) submitted an application for

the issuance of EFPs to conduct

experimental fishing with a maximum

of 30 commercial fishing vessels, which

warrants further consideration. The

EFPs would allow commercial vessels to

fish for, retain, and land silver hake

(whiting) with mesh smaller than

currently allowed in a portion of the

Gulf of Maine/Georges Bank Regulated

Mesh Area. These experiments would

continue investigations designed to

demonstrate the effectiveness of a

bycatch reduction device (separator

grate) assembled on small mesh silver

hake (whiting) trawls with a raised

footrope configuration. Although the

number of trips would be capped at 40

1-day trips per vessel, it is anticipated

that participation would be dictated by

two interrelated factors: market value of

whiting at the dock and the availability

of the whiting at sea. Approximately 34

vessels were authorized to participate in

last year’s experiment from July 1–

November 31, 1999, although

enrollment periods fluctuated due to the

factors identified above. Regulations

under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery

Conservation and Management Act

provisions require publication of this

notification to provide interested parties

the opportunity to comment on the

proposed experimental fisheries.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be

received by July 21, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should

be sent to Patricia A. Kurkul, Regional

Administrator, NMFS, Northeast

Regional Office, 1 Blackburn Drive,

Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside

of the envelope ‘‘Comments on

Proposed EFP Proposal.’’ Comments

may also be sent via facisimile (fax) to

(978) 281–9135. Comments will not be

accepted if submitted via e-mail or the

Internet.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Bonnie Van Pelt, Fishery Management

Specialist, 978–281–9244.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

MEDMR submitted an application to

continue the experimental whiting

separator trawl fishery (Separator Trawl

Fishery) in the Small Mesh Northern

Shrimp Area, a portion of the Gulf of

Maine/Georges Bank Regulated Mesh

Area. This will provide an additional

opportunity to collect information on

the effectiveness of the separator grate

in combination with the raised footrope

trawl configuration (with roller frames),

in an effort to show that the separator

trawl fishery results in a low bycatch

fishery. Although this would be the

sixth consecutive year of the

experiment, data from previous years

are sparse and inclusive, owing in part

to three factors: low abundances of

whiting in the experimental fishery

area, declining market value of whiting,

and patchy vessel participation. While

monthly percent average bycatch of

regulated multispecies was reported at

less than 5 percent for sea sampling

trips conducted during the 1999

experiment, there were only 11 sea

sampling trips taken over the course of

the entire season (July though

November), with the majority (6 trips)

monitoring the at-sea bait transfer

fishing activity. As a result, there were

insufficient data from the 1999

experimental fishery to demonstrate that

the 5 percent bycatch criteria for

establishing exempted fishing status

could be met for the entire fishery (food

and bait fishery components).

A separate component of last year’s

experiment was to conduct a series of

gear trials with a raised footrope trawl

configuration that has proved successful

in reducing bycatch of flatfish species in

small mesh experimental whiting

fisheries in Cape Cod Bay,

Massachusetts. While there were only

twenty tows total conducted during last

year’s supplemental gear trials, these

demonstrated that the raised footrope

trawl could be successfully transferred

to nets with roller frames (typically a

chain sweep is used), and yielded

promising results in demersal finfish

bycatch reduction. Furthermore,

increased cod end mesh size and grate

bar spacing combinations tested by

participating vessels in the Separator

Trawl Fishery showed a considerable

decrease in bycatch of small fish, while

the addition of the raised footrope trawl

showed an additional decrease in

bycatch of small flatfish, whiting and

red hake. Therefore, in order to gather

sufficient data on the separator grate’s

ability (with and without the raised

footrope trawl) to reduce bycatch of

regulated species consistent with the

requirement of an exempted fishery, as

well as to determine whether the fishery

as a whole can reach its economic

potential, a continuation of the

experiment is necessary.

Participants in the Separator Trawl

Fishery will be required to elect either

a food fishery or bait fishery component

designation. However, the MEDMR has

stated that the primary focus of this

year’s fishery will be on the bait fishery,

specifically to provide bait for the tuna

fishery. As in years past, participants

may designate only one fishery

component at a time for a minimum

enrollment of 7 days. In order to ensure

that the conservation priorities for

whiting are continually met, the

MEDMR has proposed that program

participants be limited to landing up to

2,500 lb (1,134 kg) of whiting per trip

and be allowed a maximum of 40 1-day

trips per vessel. As an additional control

measure, the MEDMR has proposed that

participation be capped at 30 vessels.

Participants will be required to submit

timely catch and bycatch information in

the form of specialized logbooks

provided by MEDMR and through the

completion of the NMFS’ vessel trip

reports required of all commercial

fishers. NMFS will continue to look at

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 130 / Thursday, July 6, 2000 / Proposed Rules 41623

logbook compliance issues—consistency

in reporting and/or completeness of

reports, when considering eligibility for

enrollment into the program or

continued participation once enrolled.

The MEDMR proposes to continue

testing cod end/grate spacing

combinations to reduce the bycatch of

demersal finfish species, whiting and

red hake as follows: cod end mesh sizes

of 2 inch knotless square and 2–1/4 inch

diamond mesh, and grate bar spacing of

40 mm and 50 mm. In addition, based

on the promising findings from previous

gear work, all participating vessels will

be required to have a raised footrope

trawl with 36 inch (0.91 m) dropper

chains. The objective of this year’s

experiment is to reveal the optimal cod

end/grate spacing, dropper chain length

and ground gear configurations that

would be the most effective in reducing

bycatch and more selective in catching

the appropriate sized whiting in

accordance with whiting resource

management strategies. The MEDMR

also indicates they plan to use the

information gained through the

experimental gear work to formulate a

request for a framework action in hopes

of expanding future whiting fishing

opportunities in the Gulf of Maine with

small mesh.

The MEDMR intends to provide sea

sampling coverage to monitor fishing

activity and gear performance

throughout the course of the

experiment, at an estimated frequency

of two trips per week. Because of the

importance of sufficient sea sampling,

the Regional Administrator is

considering whether her approval of the

fishery should be conditional, with

possible withdrawal of approval if the

actual level of coverage does not meet

the specified level. Periodic reports on

the fishery will be required to ensure

that the MEDMR continues to meet the

required level of observer coverage. The

Regional Administrator seeks comment

on this issue.

EFPs would be issued to the

participating vessels in accordance with

the conditions stated therein, and will

exempt vessels from the mesh size,

days-at-sea, and other gear restrictions

of the Northeast Multispecies Fishery

Management Plan.

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

Dated: June 29, 2000.

Bruce C. Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 00–17112 Filed 7–5–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F