28142 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 99 / Tuesday, May 22, 2001 / Proposed Rules

indicating that the designation may be

warranted. A copy of the petition is

available upon request (see ADDRESSES).

NMFS will conduct a review to

determine if the petitioned action to

designate critical habitat is warranted.

The determination will be made on the

best available scientific data and the

economic impacts of any such

designation. A notice of finding will be

published in the Federal Register and,

if the action is warranted, a regulation

to implement the action will be

proposed.

Bowhead whale stocks were severely

depleted by commercial whaling in

previous centuries. Estimates of historic

bowhead abundance vary but today the

Western Arctic stock is estimated at

approximately 8000 whales. Many

individuals in this population migrate

annually from wintering grounds in the

Bering Sea north into the Beaufort Sea

where the whales spend the summer. It

is this summering area that the

petitioners recommend for critical

habitat designation.

Bowhead whales encounter potential

threats from several human activities in

the area including subsistence harvest,

fishery interactions and industrial

development. A subsistence harvest of

bowhead whales continues today with

Alaska and Canada Natives taking an

average of 49 whales (including those

struck and lost) each year between 1994

and 1996. The subsistence harvest is

considered sustainable and the

population of the Western Arctic stock

has increased in recent years. No

records of a bowhead whale mortality

related to fishery interaction exist but

the whales are known to occasionally

become entangled in fishing gear.

The petitioners assert that action is

needed to halt the degradation of

bowhead habitat in the Beaufort sea.

The petitioners cite the future

proliferation of oil and gas development

and associated industrial activity as the

main threat to the bowheads’ habitat.

Further, they cite increases in noise,

vessel traffic, seismic exploration,

drilling and construction as having the

potential to elevate threats to bowhead

whales in the region. The petitioners

assert that such activity also brings a

greater risk of pollution from oil spills,

waste (toxic and non-toxic) and noise

proliferation.

NMFS intends to hold public

meetings on this petition and will

inform the petitioners and public as to

their location and time in a following

notice. NMFS will also keep the

petitioners and public informed as to

the progress of the review. At this time

NMFS is soliciting information and

comments concerning the petition to

ensure that the review is complete and

is based on the best available

information. We request that the

information and comments be

accompanied by (1) supporting

documentation such as maps, biological

references or reprints of pertinent

publications and (2) the name, address

and associations, institution, or business

that the person represents.

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1531, et seq.

Dated: May 17, 2001.

William T. Hogarth,

Acting Administrator for Fisheries, National

Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 01–12876 Filed 5–21–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 600

[I.D. 050901C]

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.

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the

Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS

(Regional Administrator), has made a

preliminary determination that the

subject exempted fishing permit (EFP)

application contains all the required

information and warrants further

consideration. The Regional

Administrator has also made a

preliminary determination that the

activities authorized under the EFP

would be consistent with the goals and

objectives of the Northeast Multispecies

Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and

within the scope of earlier analyses of

the impacts. However, further review

and consultation may be necessary

before a final determination is made to

issue an EFP. Therefore, NMFS

announces that the Regional

Administrator intends to issue an EFP

that would allow one federally

permitted groundfish vessel to conduct

a composite mesh selectivity study with

codend covers having a mesh size

smaller than authorized under current

regulations to target mixed-groundfish

species, primarily yellowtail flounder,

winter flounder (blackback), summer

flounder (fluke), American plaice (dab)

and Atlantic cod. The EFP may also

allow access to seasonal area closures in

the Gulf of Maine (GOM). The Manomet

Center for Conservation Sciences

(Manomet) submitted an EFP

application to determine the selective

efficiency of experimental codends and

intends 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 document

must be received on or before June 6,

2001.

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:

Allison Ferreira, Fishery Management

Specialist, 978–281–9103.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Manomet

submitted an industry cooperative

proposal on April 20, 2001, for one EFP

to conduct a composite codend mesh

selectivity study to address bycatch and

discard of incidental catch and sublegal

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 extending east from the New

Hampshire shoreline at 43° N. lat./

70.75° W. long. to 43° N. lat./69° W.

long., then following the 69° W. long.

line north to the 44° N. lat./69° W. long.

point, and then extending west along

the 44° N. lat. to the Maine coastline

(44° N. lat./69.154° W. long). The

permanent Western GOM closure would

not be included in the study area.

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,

one made of 6.5-inch (16.51-cm) square

mesh on the top half and 6.5-inch

(16.51-cm) diamond mesh on the bottom

half, and the other made of 6.5-inch

(16.51-cm) square mesh on the top half

and 6-inch (15.24-cm) diamond mesh on

the bottom half; and (2) two industrystandard codends, one made entirely of

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 99 / Tuesday, May 22, 2001 / Proposed Rules 28143

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 obtain

information on the selective efficiency

of the four codend configurations. To

obtain this information, the length

frequency of the population sampled, as

well as that of the population retained

by each codend type, need to be known.

To accomplish this, a 1 7/8-inch (4.78-

cm) codend would be used to cover

each of 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 speciesspecific mesh selectivity curves. That is,

the research would 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 would be determined for each

important target species. Manomet

would also collect behavioral

information on the reactions and escape

responses of key species to fishing gear

by means of underwater video recording

during fishing operations.

The field trials would begin on or

about June 1, 2001, and continue for up

to 6 months in order to allow sufficient

time to undertake the experimental

work under optimum conditions (i.e.,

good weather or times of high fish

concentration). The applicant

anticipates that no more than 10 tows

per codend type would be required, for

a maximum of 40 tows. These

commercial gear trials would operate in

the designated study area outside the

Western GOM Year Round Closure

Area. However, the principal

investigator may decide that access to

the GOM seasonal closure areas is

needed, if efforts to obtain the necessary

fish samples outside of these areas are

unsuccessful. Should access to these

areas be necessary, the GOM seasonal

closures that may correspond in time

and location with the proposed study

area are as follows: Rolling Closure Area

IV (June 1 to June 30), the Cashes Ledge

Closure Area (July 1 to October 31),

Rolling Closure Area V (October 1 to

November 30), and possibly the Cashes

Ledge Conditional Closure Area

(November 1 to November 30).

The experimental sampling design

(use of double codend) is intended to

minimize the number of tows required

to yield the necessary amount of catch

information. It is estimated that a

minimum of 10 tows (1 hour in length)

per codend are required to produce

satisfactory selectivity curve results.

The target species are yellowtail

flounder, winter flounder (blackback),

summer flounder (fluke), American

plaice (dab) and Atlantic cod. The main

incidental species are expected to be

skates, smooth and spiny dogfish,

sculpin, sea raven and sea robin. During

the course of the experimental fishery,

the participating vessel would be

instructed to conduct normal fishing

operations. Therefore, the vessel could

only retain fish for commercial sale in

the amount allowed under its Federal

fisheries permits and Days-at-Sea

allocations. The catch would be

separated into those fish retained inside

the codend and those captured in the

codend cover. All fish would be

measured and weighed by NMFScertified observers, and all sub-legal fish

would be returned to the sea

immediately after processing. No

undersized fish would be retained on

board the vessel. All data would be

entered into NMFS logbooks and

submitted to NMFS at the completion of

the program. In addition, videotape

recordings of fish behavior would

continue throughout the gear trials.

One EFP would be issued to a

federally permitted Northeast

multispecies vessel to exempt it from

the gear restrictions and, if necessary,

the GOM seasonal closure areas of the

FMP..

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

Dated: May 15, 2001.

Bruce C. Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 01–12871 Filed 5–21–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S