27542 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 94 / Wednesday, May 16, 2007 / Notices 

Atmospheric Administration, 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; issuance of permit. 

SUMMARY: This notice advises the public 

that an incidental take permit has been 

issued to the Grants Pass Irrigation 

District for the continued operation and 

maintenance of Savage Rapids Dam at 

Grants Pass, Oregon, and that the 

decision documents are available upon 

request. 

DATES: Permit 1607 was issued on May 

7, 2007, subject to certain conditions set 

forth therein, and took effect on May 7, 

2007. The permit expires on November 

1, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the 

decision documents or any of the other 

associated documents should be 

directed to the Habitat Conservation 

Division, NOAA’s National Marine 

Fisheries Service, 2900 NW Stewart 

Parkway, Roseburg, OR 97470. The 

documents are also available on the 

Internet at www.nwr.noaa.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ken 

Phippen, at phone number: (541) 957- 

3385, e-mail: ken.phippen@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

notice is relevant to the following 

species: 

Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch): 

threatened Southern Oregon and 

Northern California Coasts 

evolutionarily significant unit. 

Dated: May 10, 2007. 

Angela Somma, 

Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office 

of Protected Resources, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E7–9423 Filed 5–15–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XA32 

Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; 

General Provisions for Domestic 

Fisheries; Application for an Exempted 

Fishing Permit 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The Assistant Regional 

Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, 

Northeast Region, NMFS (Assistant 

Regional Administrator), has made a 

preliminary determination that an 

Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) 

application submitted by Dr. Pingguo 

He of the University of New Hampshire 

(UNH) contains all of the required 

information and warrants further 

consideration. The Assistant Regional 

Administrator has made a preliminary 

determination that the activities 

authorized under this EFP would be 

consistent with the goals and objectives 

of the Northeast (NE) Multispecies 

Fishery Management Plan (FMP). 

However, further review and 

consultation may be necessary before a 

final determination is made to issue an 

EFP. Therefore, NMFS announces that 

the Assistant Regional Administrator 

proposes to recommend that an EFP be 

issued that would allow one commercial 

fishing vessel to conduct fishing 

operations that are otherwise restricted 

by the regulations governing the 

fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States. The EFP would enable 

researchers to test an experimental 

whiting net that uses wheeled ground 

gear by granting exemption from the 

requirement to use a raised footrope 

trawl. Regulations under the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act require publication of 

this notification to provide interested 

parties the opportunity to comment on 

applications for proposed EFPs. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before May 31, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit written 

comments by any of the following 

methods: 

• Email: DA7–138@noaa.gov. Include 

in the subject line ‘‘Comments on 

wheeled whiting trawl EFP.’’

• Mail: Patricia A. Kurkul, Regional 

Administrator, NMFS, NE Regional 

Office, 1 Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, 

MA 01930. Mark the outside of the 

envelope ‘‘Comments on wheeled 

whiting trawl EFP, DA7–138.’’

• Fax: (978) 281–9135. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Douglas Potts, Fishery Management 

Specialist, 978–281–9341. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: An 

application for an EFP was submitted on 

May 2, 2007, by Dr. He of UNH and his 

industry partner Vincent Balzano, for a 

project funded under the Northeast 

Consortium. The primary goal of this 

study is to conduct feasibility and field 

testing of a trawl net equipped with a 

novel wheeled ground gear that may 

reduce the environmental impact on the 

seabed and reduce fuel consumption by 

the vessel. 

The EFP would exempt one vessel 

from the requirement to use a raised 

footrope trawl net as specified at 50 CFR 

648.80(a)(16) while conducting research 

trips in the Gulf of Maine (GOM) Grate 

Raised Footrope Trawl Whiting 

Exempted Fishery. 

Initial testing of this gear will be 

conducted on a beach by towing the 

ground gear between two rented beach 

vehicles. During these trials, video 

recordings and photographs will be 

taken to evaluate the gear’s rolling 

function and necessary initial 

adjustments and modifications will be 

made. 

At sea research trips would be 

conducted over four days between July 

1 and November 30, 2007. The 

experimental trawl net, with the 

exception of the ground gear, would 

conform to the requirements of this 

exempted fishery including a minimum 

2.5–inch (6.35 cm) mesh size and a 

properly installed finfish excluder 

device. During trials, observations of the 

gear would be made with an underwater 

camera system and acoustic monitoring 

instruments would be used to measure 

net geometry. 

The applicant may request minor 

modifications and extensions to the EFP 

throughout the year. EFP modifications 

and extensions may be granted without 

further notice if they are deemed 

essential to facilitate completion of the 

proposed research and have minimal 

impacts that do not change the scope or 

impact of the initially approved EFP 

request. Any fishing activity conducted 

outside the scope of the exempted 

fishing activity would be prohibited. 

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

Dated: May 11, 2007. 

James P. Burgess, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E7–9376 Filed 5–15–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[XRIN: 0648–XA29] 

New England Fishery Management 

Council; Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of a public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The New England Fishery 

Management Council’s (Council) Vessel 

Monitoring Systems (VMS)/Enforcement 

Committee will meet to consider actions 

affecting New England fisheries in the 

exclusive economic zone (EEZ). 


cprice-sewell on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 94 / Wednesday, May 16, 2007 / Notices 27543 

DATES: The meeting will be held on 

Monday, June 18, 2007, at 1 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at 

the Eastland Park Hotel, 157 High 

Street, Portland, ME 04101; telephone: 

(207) 775–5411. 

Council address: New England 

Fishery Management Council, 50 Water 

Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul 

J. Howard, Executive Director, New 

England Fishery Management Council; 

telephone: (978)465–0492. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The items 

of discussion in the committee’s agenda 

are as follows: 

1. Introduction: safety, regulation 

compliance, and familiarizing industry 

with the proper use of VMS. 

2. Presentation by NOAA’s Office for 

Law Enforcement: the capabilities and 

limitations of VMS as an enforcement 

tool. 

3. Comments and recommendations 

from the public, VMS users, state 

agencies and the Coast Guard. The 

committee has received the following 

requests: 

a. Safe harbor protocol, to suspend a 

fishing trip due to storms or other 

emergencies; 

b. Produce a laminated sheet of 

emergency contacts; 

c. Declaration in/out of a fishery 

while at sea, rather than in port; 

d. Change polling frequency, to be 

based on fishery declaration; 

e. Closed area transit declaration, to 

minimize gear stowage requirements; 

f. Completion of the days-at-sea (DAS) 

web page by NMFS; 

g. Inform fishermen of existing safety 

features on their VMS units by vendors. 

h. Examine polling outages, frequency 

and duration, by vendor. 

i. Improve safety by consistently 

applying the minimum landing limit to 

once per 24 hours across all fisheries. 

j. Develop an updated VMS program 

to eliminate inconsistent or duplicative 

regulations, and increase flexibility and 

improve administration of industry 

reporting requirements. 

4. Industry and law enforcement 

dialog on VMS usage and how it can be 

improved. 

5. Other business. 

Although non-emergency issues not 

contained in this agenda may come 

before this group for discussion, those 

issues may not be the subject of formal 

action during this meeting. Action will 

be restricted to those issues specifically 

identified in this notice and any issues 

arising after publication of this notice 

that require emergency action under 

section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act, provided the public has been 

notified of the Council’s intent to take 

final action to address the emergency. 

Special Accommodations 

This meeting is physically accessible 

to people with disabilities. Requests for 

sign language interpretation or other 

auxiliary aids should be directed to Paul 

J. Howard (see ADDRESSES) at least 5 

days prior to the meeting date. 

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

Dated: May 11, 2007. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E7–9373 Filed 5–15–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[XRIN: 0648–XA30] 

Fisheries of the South Atlantic; 

Southeastern Data, Assessment, and 

Review (SEDAR); greater amberjack; 

red snapper. 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of SEDAR Workshops for 

South Atlantic greater amberjack and 

red snapper. 

SUMMARY: The SEDAR assessments of 

the South Atlantic stocks of greater 

amberjack and red snapper will consist 

of a series of three workshops: a Data 

Workshop, an Assessment Workshop, 

and a Review Workshop. This is the 

fifteenth SEDAR. See SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION. 

DATES: The Data Workshop will take 

place July 9–13, 2007; the Assessment 

Workshop will take place October 22–

26, 2007; the Review Workshop will 

take place January 28–February 1, 2008. 

See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. 

ADDRESSES: The Data Workshop will be 

held at the Francis Marion Hotel, 387 

King Street, Charleston, SC 29103; 

telephone: (843) 722–0600. The 

Assessment Workshop will be held at 

the Center for Coastal Fisheries and 

Habitat Research Beaufort Laboratory, 

101 Piver’s Island Road, Beaufort, NC 

28516. The Review Workshop will be 

held at the Holiday Inn Brownstone, 

1707 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, NC 

27605; telephone: (919) 828–0811. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John 

Carmichael, SEDAR Coordinator, 4055 

Faber Place Drive, Suite 201, North 

Charleston, SC 29405; telephone: (843) 

571–4366. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Gulf 

of Mexico, South Atlantic, and 

Caribbean Fishery Management 

Councils, in conjunction with NOAA 

Fisheries and the Atlantic and Gulf 

States Marine Fisheries Commissions 

have implemented the SEDAR process, 

a multi-step method for determining the 

status of fish stocks in the Southeast 

Region. SEDAR includes three 

workshops: (1) Data Workshop, (2) 

Stock Assessment Workshop and (3) 

Review Workshop. The product of the 

Data Workshop is a data report which 

compiles and evaluates potential 

datasets and recommends which 

datasets are appropriate for assessment 

analyses. The product of the Stock 

Assessment Workshop is a stock 

assessment report which describes the 

fisheries, evaluates the status of the 

stock, estimates biological benchmarks, 

projects future population conditions, 

and recommends research and 

monitoring needs. The assessment is 

independently peer reviewed at the 

Review Workshop. The product of the 

Review Workshop is a Consensus 

Summary documenting Panel opinions 

regarding the strengths and weaknesses 

of the stock assessment and input data. 

Participants for SEDAR Workshops are 

appointed by the Gulf of Mexico, South 

Atlantic, and Caribbean Fishery 

Management Councils and NOAA 

Fisheries Southeast Regional Office and 

Southeast Fisheries Science Center. 

Participants include data collectors and 

database managers; stock assessment 

scientists, biologists, and researchers; 

constituency representatives including 

fishermen, environmentalists, and 

NGO’s; International experts; and staff 

of Councils, Commissions, and state and 

federal agencies. 

SEDAR 15 Workshop Schedule: 

July 9–13, 2007; SEDAR 15 Data 

Workshop 

July 9, 2007: 1 p.m. - 8 p.m.; July 3–12, 

2007: 8 a.m. - 8 p.m.; July 13, 2007: 8 

a.m. - 1 p.m. 

An assessment data set and associated 

documentation will be developed 

during the Data Workshop. Participants 

will evaluate all available data and 

select appropriate sources for providing 

information on life history 

characteristics, catch statistics, discard 

estimates, length and age composition, 

and fishery dependent and fishery 

independent measures of stock 

abundance. 


cprice-sewell on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES