[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 185 (Friday, September 24, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58352-58353]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-24022]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XZ24


Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; General Provisions for Domestic 
Fisheries; Issuance of an Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP)

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

ACTION:  Notification of issuance of a revised EFP to conduct exempted 
fishing.

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SUMMARY:  The Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, 
Northeast Region, NMFS, has issued a revised EFP in support of a drop 
chain small mesh net study conducted by the University of Rhode Island 
(URI). The study aims to reduce summer flounder discard mortality in 
the Loligo small-mesh fishery. The revised EFP includes an exemption 
for participating vessels from the Trimester III Loligo mesh size 
restrictions. This exemption is consistent with the goals and 
objectives of the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery 
Management Plan (FMP) and the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish 
FMP.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Sarah Heil, Fishery Management 
Specialist, (978) 281-9257.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 26, 2009, an EFP was issued to 
URI in support of a study that would test the effectiveness of a drop 
chain small mesh net in its ability to reduce catches of summer 
flounder in the small mesh fishery. The original EFP included 
exemptions from the summer flounder size restrictions specified at 50 
CFR 648.103, scup size restrictions at Sec.  648.124, scup possession 
limits at Sec.  648.125, and squid and butterfish possession 
restrictions at Sec.  648.25. The exemption from summer flounder size 
restrictions was granted to allow vessels to retain and land summer 
flounder for a delayed mortality monitoring period. The remaining 
exemptions were granted to allow incidental catch species to be 
temporarily retained for data collection purposes. Field work for this 
project began in April 2010, and 8 of the project's proposed 12 fishing 
trips have been completed. Research trips are conducted aboard two 
commercial fishing vessels, as normal fishing operations, using 
standard Loligo squid nets. Research trips conducted since April 2010 
have used experimental and control nets with a codend mesh size of 1 7/
8 in. (48 mm), consistent with the Loligo mesh size restrictions in 
place at the time.
    Amendment 10 to the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish FMP 
implemented an increase to the minimum mesh size for Loligo squid, from 
1 7/8 in. (48 mm) to 2 1/8 in. (54 mm), during Trimester I (January to 
April) and Trimester III (September to December), effective September 
13, 2010. This increase to the Loligo minimum mesh size was 
unanticipated at the time the original EFP application was submitted, 
and therefore, principal investigators did not request an exemption 
from Loligo mesh size restrictions. In addition, because the 2 1/8-in. 
(54-mm) minimum mesh size was not in place at the onset of field 
operations, research trips were completed using nets consistent with 
Loligo gear restrictions at that time.
    On September 8, 2010, NMFS received a request from Kathy Castro of 
URI for an exemption from the new

[[Page 58353]]

minimum mesh size for the Loligo fishery. This exemption was requested 
to allow completion of the project's remaining four research trips 
using the previous minimum mesh size of 1 7/8 in. (48 mm). A change to 
the nets used to conduct field sampling at this stage of the project 
would undermine data analysis in support of the project's objectives. 
Therefore, NMFS is reissuing the EFP in support of the drop chain study 
to facilitate the completion of the research project.
    The revised EFP includes an exemption from the Loligo Trimester III 
minimum mesh size of 2 1/8 in. (54 mm) at Sec.  648.23(3). An exemption 
from the Loligo mesh size restriction will allow the completion of the 
project's remaining research trips, using the previous minimum mesh 
size of 1 7/8 in. (48 mm). The exemption is within the scope and scale 
of the original approved EFP, and the overall impacts of research 
operations are unchanged from the initial review.
    The applicants may request minor modifications and extensions to 
the EFP throughout the course of research. EFP modifications and 
extensions may be granted without further public notice if they are 
deemed essential to facilitate completion of the proposed research and 
result in only a minimal change in the scope or impacts of the 
initially approved EFP request.

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

    Dated: September 21, 2010.
Carrie Selberg,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-24022 Filed 9-23-10; 8:45 am]
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