Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 67 / Wednesday, April 8, 2015 / Notices 18821 

Fishery Management Council (Council), 

1164 Bishop St., Suite 1400, Honolulu, 

HI 96813, tel 808–522–8220, 

www.wpcouncil.org. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bob 

Harman, Sustainable Fisheries, NMFS 

Pacific Islands Regional Office, 808– 

725–5170. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

204(e) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act) authorizes the 

Secretary of State, with the concurrence 

of the Secretary of Commerce 

(Secretary) and in consultation with the 

Council, to negotiate and enter into a 

Pacific Insular Area fishery agreement 

(PIAFA). A PIAFA would allow foreign 

fishing within the U.S. Exclusive 

Economic Zone (EEZ) adjacent to 

American Samoa, Guam, or the 

Northern Mariana Islands with the 

concurrence of, and in consultation 

with, the Governor of the Pacific Insular 

Area to which the PIAFA applies. 

Before entering into a PIAFA, the 

appropriate Governor, with the 

concurrence of the Council, must 

develop a 3-year MCP providing details 

on uses for any funds collected by the 

Secretary under the PIAFA. 

The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires 

payments received under a PIAFA to be 

deposited into the United States 

Treasury and then conveyed to the 

Treasury of the Pacific Insular Area for 

which funds were collected. In the case 

of violations by foreign fishing vessels 

in the EEZ around any Pacific Insular 

Area, amounts received by the Secretary 

attributable to fines and penalties 

imposed under the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act, including sums collected from the 

forfeiture and disposition or sale of 

property seized subject to its authority, 

shall be deposited into the Treasury of 

the Pacific Insular Area adjacent to the 

EEZ in which the violation occurred, 

after direct costs of the enforcement 

action are subtracted. The government 

may use funds deposited into the 

Treasury of the Pacific Insular Area for 

fisheries enforcement and for 

implementation of an MCP. 

An MCP must be consistent with the 

Council’s fishery ecosystem plans, must 

identify conservation and management 

objectives (including criteria for 

determining when such objectives are 

met), and must prioritize planned 

marine conservation projects. Although 

no foreign fishing is being considered at 

this time, at its 160th meeting held June 

24–27, 2014, in Honolulu, the Council 

reviewed and approved the MCP for 

American Samoa and recommended its 

submission to the Secretary for 

approval. On March 16, 2015, the 

Governor of American Samoa submitted 

the MCP to NMFS, the designee of the 

Secretary, for review and approval. 

The American Samoa MCP contains 

six conservation and management 

objectives, listed below. Please refer to 

the MCP for planned projects and 

activities designed to meet each 

objective, the evaluative criteria, and 

priority rankings. 

MCP Objectives 

1. Maximize social and economic 

benefits through sustainable fisheries 

development. 

2. Support quality scientific research 

to assess and manage fisheries. 

3. Promote an ecosystem approach in 

fisheries management, reduce waste in 

fisheries and minimize interactions 

between fisheries and protected species. 

4. Recognize the importance of island 

culture and traditional fishing in 

managing fishery resources and foster 

opportunities for participation. 

5. Promote education and outreach 

activities and regional collaboration 

regarding fisheries conservation. 

6. Encourage development of 

technologies and methods to achieve the 

most effective level of enforcement and 

to ensure safety at sea. 

This notice announces that NMFS has 

determined that the American Samoa 

MCP satisfies the requirements of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act and approves 

the MCP for the 3-year period from 

April 1, 2015, through March 31, 2018. 

This MCP supersedes the one approved 

for the period August 11, 2012, through 

August 10, 2015 (77 FR 58813, 

September 24, 2012). 

Dated: April 3, 2015. 

Alan D. Risenhoover, 

Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2015–08070 Filed 4–7–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XD885 

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 Assistant Regional 

Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, 

Greater Atlantic Region, NMFS 

(Assistant Regional Administrator), 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 allow 

up to three commercial fishing vessels 

to conduct exploratory fishing in yearround groundfish closed areas (Closed 

Areas I and II) for the purposes of 

obtaining fisheries dependent catch 

information. This research is being 

conducted by Atlantic Trawlers Fishing, 

Inc. 

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 exempted 

fishing permits. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before April 23, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit written 

comments by any of the following 

methods: 

• Email nmfs.gar.efp@noaa.gov. 

Include in the subject line ‘‘Comments 

on Exploratory Closed Area Fishing 

EFP.’’ 

• Mail: John K. Bullard, Regional 

Administrator, NMFS, NE Regional 

Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, 

Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside 

of the envelope ‘‘Comments on Closed 

Area Exploratory Fishing EFP.’’ 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Brett Alger, Fisheries Management 

Specialist, 978–675–2153, brett.alger@

noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In a 2014 

proposed rule for Northeast 

Multispecies Sectors that would have 

allowed vessels using selective trawl 

gear into portions of year-round Georges 

Bank (GB) groundfish closed areas (CAs) 

I and II, we announced interest in 

gathering catch data from these areas 

through exempted fishing permits 

(EFPs) (79 FR 14639, March 17, 2014). 

Because many of these areas have been 

closed to groundfish bottom trawling for 

nearly 20 years, fisheries dependent 

data collected through an EFP would 

help inform whether to allow 

conditional access to CAs I and II to 

sector vessels through the sector 

exemption process. Data from vessels 

operating under an EFP may be used to 

characterize catch rates of target and 

non-target species in the CAs, as well as 

help inform industry on the economic 

feasibility of industry-funded 

monitoring for trips into CAs I and II. 

In April 2014, we announced our 

intention to issue an EFP to Atlantic 

Trawlers Fishing, Inc. (79 FR 23940, 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
18822 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 67 / Wednesday, April 8, 2015 / Notices 

April 29, 2014). In May 2014, an EFP 

was issued that authorized vessels to 

fish inside portions of groundfish CA I 

and CA II during specified times of the 

fishing year. For more details on the 

original application and objectives of 

this EFP, reference last year’s notice or 

visit http://

www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/

mediacenter/2014/EFPsgroundfish_

closed_areas.html. Additionally, for 

preliminary catch information from 

Atlantic Trawlers Fishing, Inc., visit 

http://

www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/

aps/monitoring/nemultispecies.html. 

Due to several factors, including catch 

rates, time and area access to CAs I and 

II, and weather, only 12 trips were taken 

under the EFP in fishing year 2014. 

Because there were a limited amount of 

trips and, therefore, not enough 

information to make a determination on 

whether or not to approve access to CAs 

I and II through the sector exemption 

process, we did not approve access for 

sectors in fishing year 2014. 

Additionally, we did not propose to 

allow sector vessels access to CAs I and 

II for fishing year 2015 (80 FR 12380, 

March 19, 2015), however, Atlantic 

Trawlers Fishing, Inc., has requested an 

EFP renewal for fishing year 2015 to 

continue collecting data under the same 

exemptions as their previous EFP. 

Atlantic Trawlers Fishing, Inc., seeks 

to address five objectives as follows: (1) 

Generate data on the composition of 

catch, including presence and absence 

of target (e.g., GB haddock) and nontarget species; (2) test the effectiveness 

of utilizing gear comparable to the 

Canadian haddock fishery on GB (e.g., 

haddock separator trawl with 5.1-inch 

(13-cm) square mesh codend) to 

improve haddock selectivity, catch 

ratios, and improved annual catch limit 

(ACL) utilization rates; (3) collect data 

to examine the economic feasibility of 

an industry funded monitoring program 

for CA trips; (4) test the effectiveness of 

providing access to portions of the 

existing CAs for improving utilization 

rates of GB haddock; and (5) collect 

information from CAs I and II so that we 

may conduct analyses to determine 

whether fishing can be allowed at a 

level of observer coverage of less than 

100 percent, should an exemption be 

considered and approved. 

To fulfill these objectives, three 

vessels would be allowed to use nets 

with either a haddock separator trawl or 

a Ruhle trawl, fitted with either a 6-inch 

(15.2-cm) diamond mesh codend 

(currently allowed in the fishery) or a 

5.1-inch (13-cm) square mesh codend 

(not currently allowed in the fishery). 

The applicant claims that the 5.1-inch 

(13-cm) square mesh codend will 

improve their ability to target legal-size 

haddock while maintaining the ability 

to filter out small non-target catch, 

including sub-legal haddock. 

Preliminary results indicate that the two 

codends have similar selectivity 

characteristics, but additional replicates 

are needed. In addition, for sampling 

purposes, vessels would be authorized 

to temporarily retain sub-legal fish, and 

fish in excess of possession limits. All 

undersized fish and fish in excess of 

possession limits would be discarded as 

soon as practicable following data 

collection. All three vessels would be 

accompanied by a technician with an atsea monitor certification and equipped 

with echo sounders that operate on 

multiple frequencies, which provide the 

capability of revealing fish size 

distribution and bottom hardness. 

For CA I, vessels would have access 

from May 1, 2015, through February 15, 

2016, but would not be given access to 

areas within CA I that are existing 

Habitat Management Areas. 

Additionally, vessels would not be 

given access to areas that are Habitat 

Management Area alternatives 

contained in the Council’s draft 

Omnibus Habitat Amendment as of 

April 30, 2015. We have raised concerns 

about spawning of groundfish in CA I 

from January 1 to February 15, but 

Atlantic Trawlers Fishing, Inc., has 

requested access for this period to 

collect information to address questions 

about spawning fish. 

For CA II, vessels would have access 

from May 1, 2015, through June 15, 

2015, and then from November 1, 2015, 

through February 15, 2016, but would 

not be given access to areas within CA 

II that are existing Habitat Management 

Areas. Additionally, vessels would not 

be given access to areas that are Habitat 

Management Area alternatives 

contained in the Council’s draft 

Omnibus Habitat Amendment as of 

April 30, 2015. Similar to CA I, we have 

raised concerns about spawning of 

groundfish in CA II from January 1 to 

February 15, but Atlantic Trawlers 

Fishing, Inc., has requested access for 

this period to collect information to 

address questions about spawning fish. 

The dates for CA II access reflect an 

agreement between sector trawl 

fishermen and the lobster industry to 

avoid gear conflicts. Atlantic Trawlers 

Fishing, Inc., would not access portions 

of CA II from June 15 through November 

1, the time period that the lobster 

industry is allowed access. 

Atlantic Trawlers Fishing, Inc., 

requests issuance of the EFP for the 

entire fishing year in order to use a 

smaller mesh codend throughout the 

year, but access to the closed areas 

would be for only portions of the year. 

Fishing effort under the EFP would be 

heavily dependent upon operational 

decisions dictating whether to fish 

within CAs I and II, as compared to 

outside the areas. As previously 

described, Atlantic Trawlers Fishing, 

Inc., has stated that the directed 

haddock fishery is highly dynamic and 

requires a high degree of mobility. If 

approved, the three participating vessels 

would focus on the directed haddock 

fishery throughout the study period, and 

make tows both inside and outside the 

CAs on the same trip. Vessel tow 

duration would vary from 30 minutes to 

3 hours, and tow time and speed would 

be at the discretion of the vessel 

operator. However, in order to conduct 

statistical comparisons between meshes 

or areas, the vessels would be required 

to conduct some tows in a specific 

sequence and for a specified amount of 

time. While this may be disruptive to 

the commercial enterprise, it would 

ensure that codend comparison data are 

representative of the fishery and can be 

used to inform any potential future 

management decisions. Trawling would 

occur up to 18 hours per fishing day, an 

average trip would last seven days (five 

days fishing and two days steaming), 

and there would be an average of three 

trips total, per month. Under the EFP in 

fishing year 2014, this would have 

resulted in approximately 72 trips, 

however, Atlantic Trawlers Fishing, 

Inc., only took the 12 trips. Under the 

renewed EFP, vessels would be limited 

to the remaining amount of trips (i.e., 

60), but anticipate taking far fewer than 

that amount. 

All legal sized fish will be landed and 

sold with all proceeds retained by the 

vessel owner. All three vessels are 

members of the Sustainable Harvest 

Sector (SHS) and all catch of allocated 

stocks (e.g., haddock, cod) would be 

accounted for under the annual catch 

entitlements (ACEs) of the SHS. If the 

SHS exceeds its ACE for an allocated 

stock, it would need to lease in 

additional ACE in order to continue 

fishing. 

If approved, Atlantic Trawlers 

Fishing, Inc., 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. 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 67 / Wednesday, April 8, 2015 / Notices 18823 

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

Dated: April 3, 2015. 

Emily H. Menashes, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2015–08056 Filed 4–7–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XD882 

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of 

Mexico, and South Atlantic; SnapperGrouper Fishery off the South Atlantic 

States; Amendment 36 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare 

a draft environmental impact statement 

(DEIS); request for comments; notice of 

scoping meetings. 

SUMMARY: NMFS, Southeast Region, in 

collaboration with the South Atlantic 

Fishery Management Council (Council), 

intends to prepare a DEIS to describe 

and analyze a range of alternatives for 

management actions to be included in 

Amendment 36 to the Fishery 

Management Plan (FMP) for the 

Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South 

Atlantic Region (Amendment 36). 

Amendment 36 will consider 

alternatives to implement special 

management zones (SMZs). The purpose 

of this NOI is to solicit public comments 

on the scope of issues to be addressed 

in the DEIS and to announce scoping 

meetings. 

DATES: Written comments on the scope 

of issues to be addressed in the DEIS 

will be accepted until May 8, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on the NOI identified by ‘‘NOAA– 

NMFS–2015–0050’’ by either of the 

following methods: 

• Electronic submissions: Submit 

electronic comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to www.

regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;

D=NOAA-NMFS-2015-0050, click the 

‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon, complete the 

required fields, and enter or attach your 

comments. 

• Mail: Submit written comments to 

Rick DeVictor, NMFS Southeast 

Regional Office (SERO), 263 13th 

Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701. 

Instructions: Comments sent by any 

other method, to any other address or 

individual, or received after the end of 

the comment period, may not be 

considered by NMFS. All comments 

received are a part of the public record 

and will generally be posted for public 

viewing on www.regulations.gov 

without change. All personal identifying 

information (e.g., name, address, etc.), 

confidential business information, or 

otherwise sensitive information 

submitted voluntarily by the sender will 

be publicly accessible. NMFS will 

accept anonymous comments (enter ‘‘N/ 

A’’ in the required fields if you wish to 

remain anonymous). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rick 

DeVictor, NMFS SERO, telephone: 727– 

824–5305, or email: rick.devictor@

noaa.gov. Kim Iverson, Public 

Information Officer, South Atlantic 

Fisheries Management Council, 4055 

Faber Place Drive,Suite 201, North 

Charleston, SC 29405; telephone: 843– 

571–4366, or email: kim.iverson@

safmc.net. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 1983, 

the Council and NMFS established a 

procedure under the FMP for the 

Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South 

Atlantic Region for designation of SMZs 

to protect artificial reef habitats. The 

procedure includes the development of 

recommendations to establish an SMZ 

by a monitoring team, a review of the 

recommendations by the Council, and 

submittal of the recommendations to the 

NMFS Southeast Regional 

Administrator (RA). The RA reviews the 

Council’s recommendations and may 

propose regulations in accordance with 

the recommendations or take no action. 

The Council and NMFS have used the 

procedure to establish artificial reef 

SMZs in the South Atlantic region. The 

SMZs protect artificial reef habitat by 

prohibiting the use of gear types such as 

fish traps and bottom longlines. 

Through Amendment 36, the Council 

is considering modifications to the SMZ 

process and framework procedures to 

include the consideration of SMZs that 

would protect locations where snappergrouper fish species are likely to spawn 

and natural habitats that support 

spawning fish. Protecting locations 

where fish spawn and protecting natural 

habitats that support spawning fish will 

likely enhance stock productivity and 

may act as an effective strategy when 

managing a sustainable fish population. 

In the amendment, the Council is also 

considering the implementation of 

SMZs to protect spawning snappergrouper species in the South Atlantic 

region. The measures in Amendment 36 

would prohibit fishing for, harvest, and/ 

or possession of species in the snappergrouper fishery management unit yearround in the proposed SMZs; fishing for 

other species would be allowed in 

accordance with the current regulations. 

Some of the sites being considered in 

Amendment 36 were recommended for 

protection by a Marine Protected Area 

(MPA) Expert Workgroup that was 

formed by the Council in 2012. The 

MPA Expert Workgroup is comprised of 

scientists and fishermen with 

experience studying snapper-grouper 

fish species and observing fish in 

spawning condition. 

NMFS previously published NOIs to 

notify the public that the Council and 

NMFS are considering the establishment 

of spatial management areas. NMFS 

published an NOI to prepare a DEIS for 

the Comprehensive Ecosystem-Based 

Amendment 3 (CE–BA 3) on May 23, 

2012 (77 FR 30506). One proposed 

action in CE–BA 3 was to modify 

existing MPAs or to establish new ones; 

however, that action was moved to 

Regulatory Amendment 17. An NOI for 

Regulatory Amendment 17 was 

published on December 4, 2013 (78 FR 

72867). Through Regulatory 

Amendment 17, the Council intended to 

further reduce bycatch mortality of 

speckled hind and warsaw grouper and 

increase protection to their habitat. 

However, at their June 2014 meeting, 

the Council decided not to proceed 

further with the development of 

Regulatory Amendment 17. 

NMFS, in collaboration with the 

Council, will develop a DEIS to describe 

and analyze alternatives to address the 

management needs described above 

including the ‘‘no-action’’ alternative. In 

accordance with NOAA’s 

Administrative Order 216–6, Section 

5.02(c), Scoping Process, NMFS, in 

collaboration with the Council, has 

identified preliminary environmental 

issues as a means to initiate discussion 

for scoping purposes only. The public is 

invited to attend scoping meetings 

(dates and addresses below) and provide 

written comments on the preliminary 

issues, which are identified as actions 

and alternatives in the Amendment 36 

scoping document. These preliminary 

issues may not represent the full range 

of issues that will eventually be 

evaluated in the DEIS. A copy of the 

Amendment 36 scoping document is 

available at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/

sustainable_fisheries/s_atl/sg/

index.html. 

After the DEIS associated with 

Amendment 36 is completed, it will be 

filed with the Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). After filing, the EPA will 

publish a notice of availability of the 

DEIS for public comment in the Federal 

Register. The DEIS will have a 45-day 

comment period. This procedure is 

pursuant to regulations issued by the 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES