[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 234 (Tuesday, December 5, 2000)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 75911-75912]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-30820]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 600

[I.D. 112700D]


Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; General Provisions for Domestic 
Fisheries; Application 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.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS 
(Regional Administrator), has made a preliminary determination to issue 
EFPs that would allow two vessels to conduct fishing operations 
otherwise restricted by the regulations governing the fisheries of the 
Northeastern United States. The Manomet Center for Conservation 
Sciences (Manomet) submitted a complete application for the issuance of 
EFPs to two commercial fishing vessels, which warrants further 
consideration. The EFPs would allow two federally permitted groundfish 
vessels to conduct composite mesh selectivity studies with small-mesh 
codend covers to target mixed groundfish species--primarily yellowtail 
flounder, winter flounder (blackback), summer flounder (fluke), 
American plaice (dab) and cod, and may also allow access to seasonal 
area closures in the Gulf of Maine (GOM). The study is intended to 
determine the selective efficiency of each experimental codend and will 
attempt to correlate fish behavior with these findings. 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 EFPs.

DATES: Comments on this action must be received at the appropriate 
address or fax number (see ADDRESSES) on or before December 20, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to Patricia Kurkul, Regional 
Administrator, NMFS, Northeast Regional Office, 1 Blackburn Drive, 
Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside of the envelope ``Comments on 
EFP Proposal.'' Comments may also be sent via facsimile (fax) to (978) 
281-9135.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bonnie Van Pelt, Fishery Management 
Specialist, 978-281-9244.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Manomet submitted an industry cooperative 
proposal on November 6, 2000, for two EFPs to conduct composite codend 
mesh selectivity studies to address bycatch and discard of incidental 
catch and sub-legal sized fish in the mixed-groundfish fisheries of the 
Northeast. The study would be conducted in that portion of the GOM/
Georges Bank Regulated Mesh Area that extends east from the New 
Hampshire shoreline at 43 deg. N. lat. to 43 deg. N. lat./70 deg. W. 
long., then following the 70 deg. W. long. line south to the 42 deg. N. 
lat. line, and then extending west to the Cape Cod shoreline.
    This industry collaborative study involves Manomet, the 
Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, and the Maine Department of 
Marine Resources as co-principal investigators, and proposes to field 
test two composite mesh combinations against two industry-standard 
codend mesh sizes as follows: (1) Two composite codends made of 6.5-
inch (16.51-cm) square mesh on the top half, one with 6.5-inch (16.51-
cm) diamond mesh on the bottom half and the other with 6-inch (15.24-
cm) diamond mesh on the bottom half, and (2) Two industry-standard 
codends, one made entirely of 6-inch (15.24-cm) diamond mesh and one 
made entirely of 6.5-inch (16.51-cm) square mesh.
    The purpose of the study is to compare the length frequencies (size 
classes) of the catch retained by the two industry-standard codends and 
the two composite mesh codend combinations. To accomplish this, 1-7/8 
inch (4.78-cm) codends will be used to cover the four test codends in 
order to retain for analysis fish that pass through the larger-mesh 
codends. The catch data for each sample (tow) would be used to prepare 
species-specific mesh selectivity curves. That is, the research will 
determine the size of each fish species retained by each of the codends 
tested versus the fish that are excluded by the codends. Data would be 
pooled for each of the codends tested and the selective efficiency of 
each codend will be determined for each important target species. 
Manomet will also conduct a detailed behavioral analysis to ascertain 
the presence/absence of species-specific behavioral patterns that may 
explain observed differences in the selective efficiency of the 
experimental composite codend mesh.
    The field trials would take place over a period of approximately 5 
days, with a total sample size of 40 tows. The 40 tows will consist of 
10 tows for each of four codend mesh sizes (standard and composite 
mesh), at eight tows per day. These commercial gear trials would 
operate in the designated study area outside the Western GOM Year Round 
Closure Area beginning in December 2000, until the 40 tows are 
obtained. However, the principal investigator may decide that access to 
the GOM seasonal closure areas is necessary to catch the desired 
species at the appropriate time, in order to achieve the optimal 
sample. This would only occur as a last resort, in the event that the 
required species cannot be caught outside of these areas. Should access 
to these areas be necessary, the GOM seasonal closures that may 
correspond in time and location with the proposed study are as follows: 
Rolling Closure Area I (March 1- March 31), Rolling Closure Area II 
(April 1- April 30), Rolling Closure Area III (May 1 - May 31), and 
Rolling Closure Area VI (February 1 - February 28).
    The experimental sampling design (use of double codend) is intended 
to greatly minimize the number of tows necessary to yield the necessary 
amount of catch information; a minimum of 10 tows (1 hour in length) is 
required for satisfactory selectivity curve results. The target species 
are yellowtail flounder, winter flounder (blackback), summer flounder 
(fluke), American plaice (dab) and cod. The main incidental species are 
expected to be skates, smooth and spiny dogfish, sculpins, sea raven 
and sea robin. Any sub-legal sized fish would be processed by the 
researcher (e.g., measured) and returned immediately to the water. 
During the experimental trials, participating vessels would be 
instructed to conduct normal fishing operations. Therefore, the vessels 
may only retain fish for commercial sale in the amount allowed under 
their respective Federal fishery permits and Days-at-Sea allocations. 
Catch would be sampled on each trip by NMFS-certified observers and all 
data, including the weight and length of all fish caught, would be 
entered into NMFS logbooks and submitted to the Northeast Fisheries 
Science Center upon completion of a trip.
    Manomet will train up to five commercial fishers as sea samplers 
for use during the course of this

[[Page 75912]]

experiment. It is hoped that the newly trained sea samplers would be 
available to support other programs at the completion of the proposed 
experiment.
    EFPs would be issued to two participating federally permitted 
Northeast multispecies vessels to exempt them from the gear 
restrictions and, if necessary, the GOM seasonal area closures of the 
Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan, found at 50 CFR part 
648, subpart F.

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

    Dated: November 28, 2000.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 00-30820 Filed 12-4-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S