[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 107 (Monday, June 4, 2001)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 29922-29924]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-13971]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 600

[I.D. 052301A]


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: 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 Multispecies Fishery Management Plan 
(Multispecies FMP). However, further review and consultation may be 
necessary before a final determination is made to issue EFPs. 
Therefore, NMFS announces that the Regional Administrator proposes to 
issue EFPs that would allow up to seven vessels to conduct fishing 
operations otherwise restricted by the regulations governing the 
fisheries of the Northeastern United States. EFPs would allow for 
exemptions to gear restrictions and to the Day-at-Sea (DAS)

[[Page 29923]]

requirements of the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan 
(Multispecies FMP). The experiment proposes to compare two experimental 
trawl net configurations (diamond and square codend mesh sizes, finfish 
excluder devise (grate bar spacings) and raised footrope trawl)) to 
selectively fish for silver hake or whiting (Merluccius bilinearis), 
while maintaining low levels of regulated multispecies bycatch.
    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 19, 
2001.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to Patricia A. 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: The Maine Division of Marine Resources 
(MEDMR) submitted an application for EFPs on April 9, 2001, with final 
revisions received on May 9, 2001. The EFPs would facilitate the 
collection of data on experimental gear performance for use in 
addressing whiting conservation issues (juvenile whiting bycatch) and 
reductions in regulated multispecies bycatch in the Gulf of Maine 
whiting fishery (Maine whiting fishery). The study also intends to 
present the findings of the data from the experiment to the New England 
Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) for its consideration when 
evaluating year four default measures and long-term management options 
for the whiting resource.
    The experiment would occur within a portion of the Gulf of Maine/
Georges Bank Regulated Mesh Area (GOM/GB RMA), well within the Northern 
Shrimp Small Mesh Exemption Area; specifically, the three 10-minute 
squares north of 43 deg.30' latitude and between 69 deg. W. longitude 
and 70 deg.30' W. longitude. The experimental fishing area would 
exclude any seasonal or year-round closures overlapping it in time or 
area and would operate for three months, beginning in early July 
through the end of September 2001. Field testing of the proposed gear 
modification through the initial gear trials would take place for 
approximately a month beginning in July 2001, while the commercial gear 
trials would begin in August 2001 and extend through September 2001, to 
allow for weather contingencies and to capture seasonal variability in 
target species distribution and abundance.
    The experiment intends to build on previous gear studies (i.e, a 
gear testing component of the traditional Separator Trawl Whiting 
Experimental Fishery) that were conducted to test and assess gear 
selectivity factors designed to address bycatch issues in the Maine 
whiting fishery. The main purpose of the three-phase study is as 
follows: (1) To obtain better video footage of the gear and its 
interactions with fish and habitat (singular and combined effects); (2) 
to test 2-1/2-inch (6.35-cm) diamond cod end mesh and 2-1/4-inch (5.72-
cm) square cod end mesh with 2-inch (50-mm) grate bar spacings in 
combination with 42-inch (106.68-cm) dropper chains on a raised 
footrope trawl net configuration, against control nets of 1-3/4-inch 
(4.45-cm) codend mesh and 1.6-inch (40-mm) grate bar spacing; and (3) 
sea trials of the most efficient gear combinations under commercial 
fishing conditions with members of industry providing feedback on gear 
performance (the focus being to develop the industry's acceptance of 
the gear for general use in the whiting fishery).
    Two vessels would participate in the initial gear testing phase 
that proposes to test the two experimental gear combinations against a 
control trawl net; while one combination may fish more effectively for 
flatfish, the other may exclude smaller silver hake. The remaining five 
vessels would participate in the final phase of the experiment to 
ensure that the gear combinations perform the same under commercial 
conditions, as when tested against the control trawl net. The sea trial 
phase would also provide opportunities for commercial fishers to gain 
familiarity with the chosen gear's selective properties under normal 
fishing operations. A component of the experiment will video record the 
gear performance under tow including gear interactions with fish and 
habitat.
    The entire field work will require 260 total hours of towing; 
initial gear trials would entail 60 total hours trawling activity (10 
days paired towing with 6-half hour tows per day for each of two 
vessels), followed by 200 total hours of towing during the commercial 
sea trials phase (4 days each for 5 vessels towing an average of 10 
hours per day). Projected whiting landings from MEDMR sea sampling data 
during July and August 1999, are estimated at upper catch rates of 
between 15,800 lb and 26,400 lb of whiting per trip (based upon an 
average catch per unit effort of between 790 lb and 1,320 lb per trip). 
Lower catch rates are estimated at 42 lb/trip or 860 lb total catch for 
the 20 total commercial gear trial trips. These catch levels are well 
within the possession/landing limits for vessels using small mesh 
within the GOM/GB RMA. Thus, the experimental gear trials are expected 
to have very little incremental impact on the whiting resource.
    Participants may retain whiting and Atlantic herring (Clupea 
harengus) for commercial sale up to the applicable landing limits 
during the initial testing phase, while whiting, and to a lesser 
extent, red hake (Urophycis chuss) and Atlantic herring will be the 
target species during the commercial sea trial phase. MEDMR sea 
sampling data from the September 1999 directed whiting fishery indicate 
that the incidental catch species (red hake and herring included) 
comprise approximately 36% of the total whiting catch (0.36 lb per 
pound of whiting).
    Historically, the Maine whiting fishery, through its use of the 
separator trawl (the control gear in this experiment), has experienced 
low levels of regulated species bycatch. However, one of the objectives 
of the experiment is to demonstrate that the proposed gear combinations 
of separator grate, mesh size and raised footrope trawl configuration 
can selectively fish for whiting, while avoiding impacts on regulated 
finfish species. The applicant notes that the proportion of bycatch to 
the total catch (percent bycatch) may exceed acceptable levels when 
target species catch rates are low. Nonetheless, the applicant expects 
that the average bycatch levels will not exceed acceptable thresholds.
    Each commercial trial trip will have a MEDMR sea sampler on board 
and the catch will be measured according to NMFS sea sampling 
methodology and recorded on NMFS logbooks. Any sub-legal sized fish 
would be processed by the sea samplers (e.g., measured) and returned 
immediately to the water.
    The applicant plans to conduct public outreach meetings to present 
the gear research findings to the remainder of the fleet that did not 
participate in the experimental fishery. It is intended that the 
results of this gear work will be the basis for a request to the NEFMC 
for a Maine whiting fishery within an appropriate area and under 
certain gear restrictions.
    EFPs would exempt up to seven vessels from the DAS requirements and 
gear restrictions of the Multispecies FMP found at 50 CFR part 648, 
subpart F.


[[Page 29924]]


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

    Dated: May 29, 2001.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries,National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 01-13971 Filed 6-1-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S