34832 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 141 / Monday, July 23, 2018 / Notices 

Program Standard Operating Policies 

and Procedures. 

DATES: The Citizen Science Operations 

Committee meeting will be held on 

Wednesday, August 8, 2018, from 1 p.m. 

until 5 p.m. and on Thursday, August 9, 

2018, from 8:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: 

Meeting address: The meeting will be 

held at the Council office, 4055 Faber 

Place Drive, Suite 201, N. Charleston, 

SC 29405. 

Council address: South Atlantic 

Fishery Management Council, 4055 

Faber Place Drive, Suite 201, N. 

Charleston, SC 29405. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Amber Von Harten, Citizen Science 

Program Manager, SAFMC; phone: (843) 

302–8433 or toll free: (866) SAFMC–10; 

fax: (843) 769–4520; email: 

amber.vonharten@safmc.net. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Council created a Citizen Science 

Advisory Panel Pool in June 2017. The 

Council appointed members of the 

Citizen Science Advisory Panel Pool to 

five Action Teams in the areas of 

Volunteers, Data Management, Projects/ 

Topics Management, Finance, and 

Communication/Outreach/Education to 

develop recommendations on program 

policies and operations for the Council’s 

Citizen Science Program. 

The Citizen Science Program 

Blueprint, a framework document 

outlining the organizational structure of 

the Program, identified a Citizen 

Science Operations was needed to 

develop Standard Operations Policies 

and Procedures (SOPPs) for the Citizen 

Science Program. Recommendations 

from the Citizen Science Action Teams 

would be used to develop the SOPPs. 

The Council appointed members to the 

Citizen Science Operations Committee 

in June 2018 and the Operations 

Committee will meet to develop 

Program SOPPs that will be reviewed by 

the Council’s Citizen Science 

Committee for adoption. 

Items to be addressed during this 

meeting: 

1. Citizen Science Program Overview 

2. Development of Citizen Science 

Program SOPPs 

3. Transition Plan for Citizen Science 

Advisory Panel Pool and Action 

Teams 

4. Other Business 

Special Accommodations 

These meetings are physically 

accessible to people with disabilities. 

Requests for auxiliary aids should be 

directed to the council office (see 

ADDRESSES) 3 days prior to the meeting. 

NOTE: The times and sequence specified in 

this agenda are subject to change. 

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

Dated: July 18, 2018. 

Rey Israel Marquez, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2018–15663 Filed 7–20–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XG350 

Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; 

General Provisions for Domestic 

Fisheries; Application for Exempted 

Fishing Permits 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The Acting Assistant Regional 

Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, 

Greater Atlantic Region, NMFS, has 

made a preliminary determination that 

an Exempted Fishing Permit application 

contains all of the required information 

and warrants further consideration. This 

Exempted Fishing Permit would exempt 

eight commercial fishing vessels from 

limited access sea scallop regulations in 

support of a study on seasonal bycatch 

distribution and optimal scallop meat 

yield on Georges Bank. Regulations 

under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

require publication of this notification 

to provide interested parties the 

opportunity to comment on applications 

for proposed Exempted Fishing Permits. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before August 7, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit written 

comments by any of the following 

methods: 

• Email: nmfs.gar.efp@noaa.gov. 

Include in the subject line ‘‘DA18–051 

CFF Georges Bank Optimization Study 

EFP.’’ 

• Mail: Michael Pentony, Regional 

Administrator, NMFS, Greater Atlantic 

Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great 

Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. 

Mark the outside of the envelope 

‘‘DA18–051 CFF Georges Bank 

Optimization Study EFP.’’ 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Shannah Jaburek, Fishery Management 

Specialist, (978) 282–8456. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Coonamesset Farm Foundation (CFF) 

submitted an exempted fishing permit 

(EFP) application in support of a project 

titled ‘‘Optimizing the Georges Bank 

Scallop Fishery by Maximizing Meat 

Yield and Minimizing Bycatch,’’ that 

has been funded under the 2018 

Atlantic Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside 

(RSA) Program. The project will 

evaluate seasonal distribution of 

bycatch on the eastern part of Georges 

Bank in relation to sea scallop meat 

weight yield. Additional objectives 

include testing of a modified scallop 

dredge bag design to reduce flatfish 

bycatch and collecting biological 

samples to examine scallop meat quality 

and yellowtail flounder liver disease. 

Project investigators working on this 

project would also work with New 

Hampshire Fish and Game (NHFG) and 

the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s 

Association (AOLA) to tag female 

lobsters. 

To enable this research, CFF is 

requesting exemptions for eight 

commercial fishing vessels from the 

Atlantic sea scallop days-at-sea (DAS) 

allocations at 50 CFR 648.53(b); crew 

size restrictions at § 648.51(c); observer 

program requirements at § 648.11(g); 

Closed Area II (CAII) scallop gear 

restrictions specified at § 648.81(b); and 

access area program requirements at 

§ 648.59(a)(1)-(3), (b)(2), (b)(4), and 

Closed Area II Scallop Access Area 

Seasonal Closure at § 648.60(d)(2). CFF 

has also requested that vessels be 

exempt from possession limits and 

minimum size requirements specified in 

part 648, subsections B and D through 

O for biological sampling, and § 697.20 

for lobster sampling and tagging 

purposes only. 

Participating vessels would conduct 

scallop dredging from August 2018 

through June 2019. Vessels would 

conduct a total of eight 7-day trips, for 

a total of 56 DAS. Closed Area II Access 

Area tows would take place in the 

central portion situated below the 

Closed Area II Habitat Closure Area, 

including the Atlantic Sea Closed Area 

II Scallop Access Area Seasonal Closure. 

Open area tows would be conducted on 

the western and southern boundaries of 

Closed Area II. The applicant also 

requested to conduct tows inside the 

Closed Area II Habitat Closure Area. 

This area remains closed to bottomtending mobile gear to protect sensitive 

benthic habitat under Omnibus Habitat 

Amendment II. Consequently, NMFS 

does not intend to support the 

applicant’s request to access the Habitat 

Closure Area. 

There is a potential for gear conflict 

with lobster gear in the central portion 

of Closed Area II. In an effort to help 

mitigate gear interactions, CFF would 


amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES1
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 141 / Monday, July 23, 2018 / Notices 34833 

distribute the time and location of 

stations to the lobster industry, work 

only during daylight hours, post an 

extra lookout to avoid gear, and actively 

avoid tangling in stationary gear. The 

project would work in cooperation in 

with NHFG and AOLA to tag lobsters 

with the primary goal of documenting 

their movement on and off Georges 

Bank. The applicant states that data 

from the tagging project could also help 

answer questions of lobster discard 

mortality in the scallop fishery. 

All tows would be conducted with 

two 15-foot (4.6-m) turtle deflector 

dredges for a duration of 30 minutes 

using an average tow speed of 4.8 knots. 

One dredge would be rigged with a 7- 

row apron and twine top hanging ratio 

of 2:1, while the other dredge would be 

rigged with a 5-row, extended link 

apron and 1.5:1 twine top hanging ratio. 

Both dredge frames would be rigged 

with identical rock and tickler chain 

configurations, 10-inch (25.4-cm) twine 

top, and 4-inch (10.2-cm) ring bag. Gear 

comparison data will help improve 

efforts to reduce scallop dredge bycatch. 

Dredge gear would conform to scallop 

gear regulations. 

For all tows, the entire sea scallop 

catch would be counted into baskets 

and weighed. One basket from each 

dredge would be randomly selected, and 

the scallops would be measured in 5- 

milimeter increments to determine size 

selectivity. All finfish catch would be 

sorted by species and then counted and 

measured. Weight, sex, and 

reproductive state would be determined 

for a random subsample (n=10) of 

yellowtail, winter, and windowpane 

flounders. Lobsters would be measured, 

sexed, and evaluated for damage and 

shell disease. No catch would be 

retained for longer than needed to 

conduct sampling, and no finfish or 

lobsters would be landed for sale. All 

catch estimates for the project are listed 

in Table 1, below. 

TABLE 1—COONAMESSETT FARM FOUNDATION GEORGES BANK SCALLOP RESEARCH PROJECT

Common name Scientific name 

Estimated 

weight 

(lb) * 

Estimated 

weight 

(kg) 

Sea Scallop ...................................... Placopecten magellanicus ......................................................................... 33,103 15, 015 

Yellowtail Flounder .......................... Limanda ferruginea ................................................................................... 1,097 498 

Winter Flounder ............................... Pseudopleuronectes americanus .............................................................. 1,605 728 

Windowpane Flounder ..................... Scophthalmus aquosus ............................................................................. 5,656 2,566 

Summer Flounder ............................ Paralichthys dentatus ................................................................................ 1,886 855 

Fourspot Flounder ........................... Paralichthys oblongus ............................................................................... 148 67 

American Plaice ............................... Hippoglossoides platessoides ................................................................... 180 82 

Grey Sole ......................................... Glyptocephalus cynoglossus ..................................................................... 24 11 

Haddock ........................................... Melanogrammus aeglefinus ...................................................................... 116 53 

Atlantic Cod ..................................... Gadus morhua ........................................................................................... 199 90 

Monkfish ........................................... Lophius americanus .................................................................................. 16,839 7,638 

Spiny Dogfish ................................... Squalus acanthias ..................................................................................... 173 78 

Barndoor Skates .............................. Dipturus laevis ........................................................................................... 2,217 1,006 

NE Skate Complex (excluding 

barndoor skate).

Leucoraja erinacea, Leucoraja ocellata .................................................... 127,055 57,631 

American lobster .............................. Homarus americanus ................................................................................ 1,000 ** 

* Weights estimated using catch from a similar 2016 project. 

** Number of individual animals estimated to be caught. 

The applicant states that the 

exemptions are necessary to allow them 

to conduct experimental dredge towing 

without being charged DAS, as well as 

deploy gear in areas that are currently 

closed to scallop fishing. Participating 

vessels need crew size waivers to 

accommodate science personnel. 

Exemptions from possession limits 

would allow researchers to sample 

finfish and lobster catch that exceeds 

possession limits or prohibitions. The 

project would be exempt from the sea 

scallop observer program requirements 

because activities conducted on the trip 

are not consistent with normal fishing 

operations. Researchers from CFF will 

accompany each trip taken under the 

EFP. The goal of the proposed work is 

to provide information on spatial and 

temporal patterns in bycatch rates in the 

scallop fishery, with the objective of 

identifying mechanisms to mitigate 

bycatch. The data collected would 

enhance understanding of bycatch and 

scallop yield as they relate to access and 

open area management. 

If approved, 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: July 18, 2018. 

Jennifer M. Wallace, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2018–15724 Filed 7–20–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

United States Patent and Trademark 

Office 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request; Third-Party 

Submissions and Protests 

The United States Patent and 

Trademark Office (USPTO) will submit 

to the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) for clearance the following 

proposal for collection of information 

under the provisions of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act. 

Agency: United States Patent and 

Trademark Office, Commerce. 

Title: Third-Party Submissions and 

Protests. 

OMB Control Number: 0651–0062. 

Form Number(s): 

• PTO/SB/429 

Type of Request: Regular. 

Number of Respondents: 1,450 

responses. 


amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES1