[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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