Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 28 / Thursday, February 10, 2022 / Notices 7823 

this EFP would cover a study period of 

April 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023. 

The project includes 4 inshore vessels 

(Lobster Management Area 2) and 16 

offshore vessels (Lobster Management 

Areas 1, 3, and 4). Each vessel would 

fish with 3 modified, ventless traps 

designed to capture juvenile lobsters, 

totaling 60 modified traps. The project 

team hopes to add 2 additional offshore 

vessels (Lobster Management Areas 1, 3, 

4, and/or 5) in 2022, which would 

increase the total to 66 traps. The 

modified traps would adhere to the 

standard coast-wide survey gear for 

lobster and Jonah crab set by the 

Atlantic States Marine Fisheries 

Commission and would be fished 

within standard Atlantic Large Whalecompliant trawls. The traps would 

remain in the water up to 12 months 

and be hauled every 7 days by the 

inshore vessels and every 10 days by the 

offshore vessels. 

This study would take place during 

the regular fishing activity of the 

participating vessels, but catch from 

modified traps would remain separate 

from that of standard gear. Operators 

would collect data on size, sex, presence 

of eggs, and shell hardness for lobsters 

and Jonah crabs and v-notch and shell 

disease for lobsters. In addition to 

onboard sampling, three inshore and 

three offshore vessels would retain up to 

50 Jonah crabs per month each, for a 

total of up to 300 crabs per month, for 

a molting study. Operators would return 

all other specimens from modified gear 

to the ocean once sampling is complete. 

The study is designed to inform 

management by addressing questions of 

changing reproduction and recruitment 

dynamics of lobster and develop a 

foundation of knowledge for the datadeficient Jonah crab fishery. The 

Commercial Fisheries Research 

Foundation would share data with the 

Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics 

Program, the Northeast Fisheries 

Science Center, the Atlantic States 

Marine Fisheries Commission, and the 

Rhode Island Department of 

Environmental Management every 6 

months. 

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: February 7, 2022. 

Ngagne Jafnar Gueye, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2022–02839 Filed 2–9–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XB733] 

Determination of Overfishing or an 

Overfished Condition 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This action serves as a notice 

that NMFS, on behalf of the Secretary of 

Commerce (Secretary), has found that 

Gulf of Mexico gag is now subject to 

overfishing and overfished; Bering Sea 

snow crab is now overfished; Atlantic 

mackerel is still subject to overfishing 

and overfished; and Georges Bank 

winter flounder, Southern New 

England/Mid-Atlantic winter flounder, 

and Atlantic Coast bluefish are still 

overfished. NMFS, on behalf of the 

Secretary, notifies the appropriate 

regional fishery management council 

(Council) whenever it determines that a 

stock or stock complex is subject to 

overfishing, overfished, or approaching 

an overfished condition. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kathryn Frens, (301)–427–8523. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant 

to section 304(e)(2) of the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens 

Act), 16 U.S.C. 1854(e)(2), NMFS, on 

behalf of the Secretary, must notify 

Councils, and publish a notice in the 

Federal Register, whenever it 

determines that a stock or stock 

complex is subject to overfishing, 

overfished, or approaching an 

overfished condition. 

NMFS has determined that Gulf of 

Mexico gag is now subject to overfishing 

and overfished. The Gulf of Mexico gag 

determination is based on the most 

recent assessment, completed in 2021 

and using data through 2019, which 

indicates that this stock is subject to 

overfishing because the fishing 

mortality rate is above the threshold, 

and overfished because the stock 

biomass is below the threshold. NMFS 

has notified the Gulf of Mexico Fishery 

Management Council of the requirement 

to end overfishing on and to rebuild this 

stock. 

NMFS has determined that Bering Sea 

snow crab is now overfished. This 

determination is based on the most 

recent assessment, completed in 

2021and using data through 2021, 

which indicates that this stock is 

overfished because the mature male 

biomass is below the threshold. NMFS 

has notified the North Pacific Fishery 

Management Council of the requirement 

to rebuild this stock. 

NMFS has determined that Atlantic 

mackerel is still subject to overfishing 

and overfished. This determination is 

based on the most recent assessment, 

completed in 2020 and using data 

through 2019, which indicates that this 

stock is subject to overfishing because 

the fishing mortality rate is above the 

threshold, and overfished because the 

stock biomass is below the threshold. 

NMFS continues to work with the New 

England Fishery Management Council 

to end overfishing and to rebuild this 

stock. 

NMFS has determined that Georges 

Bank winter flounder, Southern New 

England/Mid-Atlantic winter flounder, 

and Atlantic Coast bluefish are still 

overfished. The two winter flounder 

determinations are based on the most 

recent assessments, completed in 2020 

and using data through 2019, which 

indicate that these stocks are overfished 

because the biomasses are below their 

respective thresholds. NMFS continues 

to work with the New England Fishery 

Management Council to rebuild these 

stocks. The Atlantic Coast bluefish 

determination is based on the most 

recent assessment, completed in 2021 

and using data through 2019, which 

indicates that this stock is overfished 

because the biomass is below the 

threshold. NMFS continues to work 

with the Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council to rebuild this 

stock. 

Dated: February 7, 2022. 

Ngagne Jafnar Gueye, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2022–02857 Filed 2–9–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Telecommunications and 

Information Administration 

Recruitment of First Responder 

Network Authority Board Member 

AGENCY: National Telecommunications 

and Information Administration, U.S. 

Department of Commerce. 


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