Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 188 / Friday, September 29, 2023 / Notices 67253 

Dated: September 26, 2023. 

Rey Israel Marquez, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–21464 Filed 9–28–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XB844] 

Pacific Island Fisheries; Experimental 

Fishing Permit 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; amendment of permit. 

SUMMARY: NMFS issued an amended 

experimental fishing permit (EFP) to the 

Hawaii Longline Association (HLA) on 

September 20, 2023 to evaluate the risk 

of seabird interactions in the Hawaii 

shallow-set longline fishery when 

setting fishing gear 1 hour before and 1 

hour after local sunset and using tori 

lines instead of required blue-dyed bait 

and strategic offal discharge as seabird 

mitigation measures. The intent of the 

EFP is to conduct a preliminary 

evaluation of potential alternative 

effective methods of discouraging 

seabird interactions while providing 

operational flexibility during setting in 

the shallow-set longline fishery. The 

amendment will extend the expiration 

date to August 24, 2024 and modify the 

list of vessels authorized under the EFP. 

All other terms and conditions of the 

EFP are unchanged. The amended EFP 

invalidates and replaces the EFP issued 

by NMFS to HLA on January 24, 2023. 

DATES: The EFP is authorized from 

March 24, 2022, through August 24, 

2024. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of the EFP, HLA’s 

application, and supporting documents 

are available at https://

www.regulations.gov/docket/NOAANMFS-2021-0128. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Heather Nelson, Sustainable Fisheries, 

NMFS Pacific Islands Regional Office, 

tel (808) 725–5179. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS is 

issuing an amended EFP to the HLA 

under the authority of the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens 

Act), the Fishery Ecosystem Plan for 

Pelagic Fisheries of the Western Pacific 

(FEP), and regulations at 50 CFR 665.17. 

Under the EFP, HLA will conduct a 

pilot test of tori lines (bird scaring 

streamers) as replacement seabird 

mitigation measures to discourage 

seabird interactions during setting in the 

Hawaii shallow-set longline fishery. The 

purpose of the experiment is to test new 

ways to mitigate seabird interactions 

that also increase operational flexibility 

during setting. HLA will use no more 

than one vessel at any given time to test 

tori lines as an alternate seabird 

mitigation measure to currently required 

blue-dyed bait, strategic offal discharge, 

and night setting measures (50 CFR 

665.815(a)(2) & (4)). 

On March 18, 2022, under the 

authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, 

the FEP, and regulations at 50 CFR 

665.17, NMFS issued an EFP to the HLA 

to evaluate the risk of seabird 

interactions in the Hawaii shallow-set 

longline fishery when setting fishing 

gear one hour before and one hour after 

local sunset and using tori lines instead 

of required blue-dyed bait and strategic 

offal discharge as seabird mitigation 

measures. The EFP was authorized from 

March 24, 2022, through September 24, 

2023. On January 24, 2023, NMFS 

issued an amended EFP which 

authorized the participation of a new 

vessel, the F/V Vui Vui II under the EFP 

and approved the tori line design 

submitted to NMFS by HLA. All other 

terms and conditions of the EFP 

remained the same. This EFP 

invalidated and replaced the EFP issued 

by NMFS to HLA on March 24, 2022. 

In a letter to NMFS dated June 13, 

2023 HLA notified NMFS that no 

fishing effort occurred under the EFP 

due to unforeseen circumstances, 

including a delay in obtaining electronic 

monitoring equipment and crew 

shortages, and that none of the 

authorized vessels will participate in 

the trial. HLA requested a permit 

modification to authorize the 

participation of the F/V’s Queen 

Diamond (Official No. 964927), Queen 

Diamond II (Official No. 949947), Lady 

Luck (Official No. 905580), and Lucky 

Lady (Official No. 616365) in place of 

the authorized vessels, and to extend 

the expiration date of the EFP through 

August 2024. 

The requested vessels are of the same 

type, with a similar length and weight 

as the previously authorized vessels. No 

experimental fishing has occurred under 

the current permit, and the proposed 

extension is an extension of time to 

conduct the experimental fishing 

contemplated by the 2022 permit, rather 

than an extension that would allow for 

more effort than what was originally 

considered (80 fishing sets). 

The project is limited in scale (only 4 

vessels, setting a combined total of 80 

sets with no more than 1 vessel 

operating at any given time), proposes a 

minor change in fishing operations that 

does not have the potential to change 

the overall effects of the fishery, and 

will be effective for no longer than 11 

months. All other regulatory 

requirements would remain in effect for 

participating vessels, including seabird 

mitigation requirements at 50 CFR 

665.815(a)(2) for strategic offal discharge 

during hauling, and 50 CFR 665.815(b) 

for short-tailed albatross handling 

techniques. 

In addition, gear configurations and 

operations under the EFP would be 

compliant with international seabird 

mitigation requirements under the 

Western and Central Pacific Fisheries 

Commission and the Inter-American 

Tropical Tuna Commission. More 

information about the EFP may be found 

in the December 15, 2021 notice, and in 

HLA’s EFP application (see ADDRESSES). 

The amended EFP is effective through 

August 24, 2024, unless revoked, 

suspended, or modified earlier. 

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

Dated: September 25, 2023. 

Jennifer M. Wallace, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–21329 Filed 9–28–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XD414] 

Pacific Fishery Management Council; 

Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of public online meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Pacific Fishery 

Management Council’s (Pacific Council) 

ad-hoc Klamath River Fall Chinook 

Workgroup (Workgroup) will hold two 

online meetings. 

DATES: The online meetings will be held 

Thursday, October 26, 2023, from 9 a.m. 

until 3 p.m., Pacific Daylight Time, or 

until business for the day concludes. 

The second meeting will be held 

Monday, November 20, 2023, from 9 

a.m. until 3 p.m., Pacific Standard Time, 

or until for the day business concludes. 

ADDRESSES: These meetings will be held 

online. Specific meeting information, 

including directions on how to join the 

meeting and system requirements will 


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