[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 107 (Thursday, June 4, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30475-30476]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-14873]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 051298A]


Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Atlantic Shark Fisheries; 
Exempted Fishing Permits (EFPs)

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Applications for EFPs; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the receipt of five applications for EFPs. If 
granted, these EFPs would authorize, over a period of 1 year, 
collections for public display of a limited number of sharks from the 
large coastal and prohibited species groups from Federal waters in the 
Atlantic Ocean.

DATES: Written comments on the applications must be received on or 
before June 19, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Rebecca Lent, Chief, Highly Migratory 
Species Management Division (F/SF1), NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, 
Silver Spring, MD 20910. The applications and related documents and 
copies of the regulations under which exempted fishing permits are 
subject may also be requested from this address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Margo Schulze, 301-713-2347; fax: 301-
713-1917.


[[Page 30476]]


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: These EFPs are requested under the authority 
of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 
U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) and regulations at 50 CFR 600.745 concerning 
scientific research activity, exempted fishing, and exempted 
educational activity.
    NMFS issued an EFP to Dynasty Marine Associates, Inc., in Marathon, 
FL, effective March 3, 1998, for the collection of a maximum of 3 
sandbar sharks, 19 nurse sharks, 22 lemon sharks, 14 sand tiger sharks, 
and 10 bull sharks for the purposes of public display. Dynasty Marine 
Associates, Inc., now intends to collect an additional 17 sandbar 
sharks, 10 tiger sharks, and 20 scalloped hammerhead sharks for public 
display by using a single hook and line as well as a short longline not 
consisting of more than 50 hooks. Fishing will occur in the Florida Bay 
and in the Atlantic Ocean off the middle Florida Keys area, off New 
Jersey, and off Maryland. Issuance of an EFP is necessary, according to 
the applicant, because the commercial season for large coastal sharks 
is closed for long periods of time. The applicant also requested that 
the EFP authorize collection of Atlantic sharpnose sharks, managed 
under the small coastal management unit; however, as the commercial 
season for small coastal sharks has not closed to date, this species 
may be possessed legally by obtaining a Federal commercial shark 
permit, and an EFP is not required.
    Shore Lab, Inc., in Brandon, FL, intends to collect 12 sand tiger 
sharks for public display and education by using 10 bucket rigs, each 
of which includes a single hook and crab line that allows a shark to 
swim in a horizontal arc around the swivel line. Fishing will occur in 
the Atlantic Ocean off New Jersey. Issuance of an EFP is necessary, 
according to the applicant, because possession of sand tiger sharks is 
prohibited.
    The New Jersey State Aquarium, in Camden, NJ, intends to collect a 
maximum of four tiger sharks, five sandbar sharks, four dusky sharks, 
and five sand tiger sharks for public display and research by rod and 
reel as well as by a short longline consisting of no more than 50 
hooks. Fishing will occur in the Atlantic Ocean from Massachusetts to 
Florida. Issuance of an EFP is necessary, according to the applicant, 
because the commercial season for large coastal sharks is closed for 
long periods of time and because possession of sand tiger sharks is 
prohibited. The applicant also requested that the EFP authorize 
collection of Atlantic thresher and mako sharks, managed under the 
pelagics management unit; however, as the commercial season for pelagic 
sharks has not closed to date, these species may be possessed legally 
by obtaining a Federal commercial shark permit, and an EFP is not 
required.
    The National Aquarium in Baltimore, Inc., in Baltimore, MD, intends 
to collect a maximum of five sandbar sharks, one dusky shark, and one 
sand tiger shark for public display and research by two bottom set 
longlines, each approximately 400 meters in length and consisting of no 
more than 40 hooks. Fishing will occur in the Atlantic Ocean off New 
Jersey. Issuance of an EFP is necessary, according to the applicant, 
because the commercial season for large coastal sharks is closed for 
long periods of time and because possession of sand tiger sharks is 
prohibited. The applicant also intends to tag and release captured 
sharks, collect blood samples for hematological analyses, and return to 
the Delaware Bay five captive sandbar sharks and possibly one sand 
tiger shark.
    Eric Pederson and Grady Sullivan, in Marathon, FL, intend to 
collect a maximum total of 40 sharks for public display by rod and 
reel, cast net, and single hook block lines. Shark species collected 
may include bull sharks, sand tiger sharks, lemon sharks, sandbar 
sharks, blacktip sharks, tiger sharks, and nurse sharks. Fishing will 
occur in Federal waters off New York, Virginia, North Carolina, South 
Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, as well as in the Chesapeake Bay. 
Issuance of an EFP is necessary, according to the applicant, because 
the commercial season for large coastal sharks is closed for long 
periods of time and because possession of sand tiger sharks is 
prohibited. The applicant also requested an EFP to collect sawfish; 
however, as NMFS does not regulate sawfish at this time, no EFP is 
necessary to collect this species in Federal waters.
    The proposed collections for public display involve activities 
otherwise prohibited by regulations implementing the Fishery Management 
Plan for Sharks of the Atlantic Ocean. The applicants require 
authorization to fish for and to possess large coastal sharks outside 
the Federal commercial seasons and to fish for and to possess 
prohibited species.
    Based on a preliminary review, NMFS finds that these applications 
warrant further consideration. A final decision on issuance of EFPs 
will depend on the submission of all required information, NMFS' review 
of public comments received on the applications, conclusions of any 
environmental analyses conducted pursuant to the National Environmental 
Policy Act, and on any consultations with any appropriate Regional 
Fishery Management Councils, states, or Federal agencies.

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

    Dated: May 29, 1998.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 98-14873 Filed 6-3-98; 8:45 am]
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