67708 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 219 / Monday, November 13, 2000 / Proposed Rules

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 600

[I.D. 110200A]

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. Captains

Bill Lee and Robert Fisher submitted an

application for the issuance of EFPs,

which warrants further consideration.

The EFPs would allow two commercial

vessels to conduct trawl net gear trials

with two modified nordmore-style

grates in a portion of the Gulf of Maine/

Georges Bank Regulated Mesh Area.

EFPs would allow for exemptions to the

gear restrictions, retention of catch

potentially in excess of the possession

limits for the purposes of data

collection, and exempt vessels from

Northeast Multispecies days-at-sea

(DAS) requirements. Commercial scale

gear trials would look at the interaction

of the modified nordmore-style grate

and trawl gear with groundfish species;

specifically, how the grate and the

escape chute, which have been designed

to release cod bycatch in the winter

flounder fishery, would perform under

commercial fishing conditions.

Regulations under the MagnusonStevens Act provisions require

publication of this notification to

provide interested parties the

opportunity to comment on the

proposed experimental fisheries.

DATES: Comments on this notification

must be received by November 28, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should

be sent to the 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: On

October 18, 2000, Captains Lee and

Fisher submitted an application to

conduct exempted experimental fishing

activities involving commercial gear

trials with two modified nordmore-style

grates assembled on standard Yankee

trawls (modified trawls). This shortterm investigation will provide

information on the modified trawl gear

performance and ability to selectively

target winter flounder (Pleuronectes

americanus) and reduce the rate of

bycatch of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua)

in the overall catch. The experiment

proposes to conduct preliminary gear

trials in the shallow waters of Ipswich

Bay through video observation of the

trawl and modified grate configuration

while under tow. The next stage of the

gear trials involves a series of 15-minute

tows with the grate angled at eight

different positions to test for bycatch

separation through the escape chute

mechanism positioned at the top of the

grate. The angle that produces the

greatest separation of cod from flounder

will be selected for the commercial scale

trials in deeper waters. The final phase

is designed to produce statistically valid

data on the rate of reduction of cod

bycatch as a result of the gear

modifications. Four 1-hour parallel tows

will be made on each of 4 consecutive

days in the following sequence: Day 1,

control net (standard trawl nets with

6.5-inch (16.5 cm) square codend)

towed against a second control net; Day

2, control and experimental net towed

in parallel; Day 3, switch the control

and experimental nets between the two

vessels; and Day 4, both vessels tow

experimental nets in parallel. This tow

sequence will be duplicated in two

different bottom habitats; one primarily

sand and the other mud. Therefore, a

total of 32 tows with both the

experimental and the control nets will

be performed in each of two test sites.

The entire experiment will require the

use of 22 days to complete all phases of

gear testing, from the preliminary tests

in shallow water to the commercial

scale testing in two deeper water sites.

Two nordmore-style grates have been

constructed for use in these gear trials.

One is made of plastic and the other of

steel. Both grates are approximately 40-

inches (101.6 cm) in width by 48-inches

(121.9 cm) in length. The openings of

the grate will lie horizontally and will

decrease in aperture from 10-inches

(25.4 cm) at the lowest bar spacing,

becoming progressively smaller in 2-

inch (5.1 cm) increments, until the fifth

bar from the bottom, where they remain

at the 2-inch bar spacing for the

remainder of the upper portion of the

grate. The modified nordmore-style

grates will be fitted into a standard

inshore Yankee trawl with a sweep

measuring 80 ft (24.38 m) at the top and

60 ft (18.28 m) at the bottom. Any

variability in vessel towing power and

efficiency will be alleviated through the

parallel gear testing sequence designed

to quantify this variability.

All catch brought on board the vessels

will be sorted and measured and

returned to the sea immediately. It is

estimated that the average maximum

catch rate would be 6,720 to 8,400 lb

(3,048 to 3,810 kg), based on a total

towing time of 84 hours and a maximum

average catch rate of 80 to 100 lb (36.3

to 45.4 kg) per 4-hour tow. Projections

for average catch rates in the

experimental net under experimental

towing conditions are 5,040 lb (2,286

kg) based 84-hours total tow time,

assuming that approximately 80 percent

of the cod escape and that the catch

composition on the bottom is 50 percent

flounder and 50 percent cod and the

total catch retained is 60 lb (27.2 kg)--

50 lb flounder, 10 lb cod. The current

net design has about a 20 percent

bycatch of all other incidental species,

including crabs, lobsters, whiting, and

hake.

All data will be recorded by a

biologist who will perform statistical

analyses on significance demonstrating

the ability of the experimental net

configuration to separate cod bycatch

from the targeted catch, flounder. A

report and a short video to show the

grate under construction and

functioning in the water will be

supplied to the Northeast Consortium. It

is projected that this study may lead to

other studies to further refine and

develop a modified trawl net that will

selectively fish for flatfish, while

avoiding roundfish species (i.e., cod and

monkfish) in soft mud and sandy

bottom habitats.

EFPs would be issued to two

participating vessels in accordance with

the conditions stated therein, and will

exempt vessels from the gear restrictions

and DAS requirements of the Fishery

Management Plan for the Northeast

Multispecies Fishery.

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

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 219 / Monday, November 13, 2000 / Proposed Rules 67709

Dated: November 6, 2000.

Bruce Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 00–28951 Filed 11–09–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE: 3510–22–S

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 600

[I.D. 102500A]

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 denial of a

proposal for EFPs.

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the

Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS

(Regional Administrator), has denied

the request to issue EFPs to conduct

fishing operations otherwise restricted

by the regulations governing the

fisheries of the Northeastern United

States due to enforcement difficulties. A

delegation of the City of Gloucester,

composed of representatives of the

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the

Gloucester Mayor’s Office, local

industry, the Gloucester Fisheries

Commission, and the Massachusetts

Fisheries Recovery Commission,

requested the issuance of EFPs to

conduct a 3-month pilot study

beginning October 1, 2000. The EFPs

would have allowed commercial vessels

to enter Gloucester Harbor with

overages of haddock to seek refuge from

unsafe weather conditions related to

wind and sea state.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Bonnie Van Pelt, Fishery Management

Specialist, 978-281-9244.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August

29, 2000, NMFS published notification

of an application for an EFP to address

safety issues associated with haddock

trip limits (65 FR 52404). The EFP

would have allowed commercial vessels

to enter Gloucester Harbor with

overages of haddock when unsafe

conditions caused by wind or sea state

prevent the vessels from remaining at

sea. A more detailed description of the

proposed EFP pilot program was

contained in that notice and is not

repeated here.

The Joint Enforcement Oversight and

Advisory Panel (Enforcement

Committee), consisting of members of

the NMFS Office of Enforcement, the

U.S. Coast Guard, and the

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, met

on September 21, 2000, to discuss the

EFP pilot program application. The

Enforcement Committee passed a

motion that was carried forward to the

New England Fishery Management

Council (Council) that the pilot program

not be approved in its current form due

to the difficulty in adequately enforcing

the EFP conditions. The Council agreed

that the pilot program should not be

pursued in its current form and advised

NMFS not to approve the pilot program.

Therefore, because of the enforcement

concerns, and the recommendation of

the Council, the Regional Administrator

has denied the EFP application.

Additionally, because projections of

the total allowable catch (TAC) target for

haddock indicate that the haddock

target TAC will not be harvested by the

end of the current fishing year (April 30,

2001), the Regional Administrator has

recently suspended the daily trip limits

for haddock through February 28, 2001

(65 FR 63549, October 24, 2000), while

maintaining the per trip maximum

possession limit, as authorized under 50

CFR 648.86(a)(iii)(B). Eliminating the

daily trip limit for haddock during the

period when weather-related sea

conditions have historically been the

worst also eliminates the need for

vessels fishing for haddock to wait out

hazardous weather conditions at sea and

relieves the need for the proposed EFP.

Dated: November 6, 2000.

Bruce C. Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 00–28954 Filed 11–09–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S