[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 207 (Wednesday, October 27, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66070-66071]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-27174]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XZ46
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; General Provisions for Domestic
Fisheries; Application for Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP)
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notification of a proposal for an EFP to conduct experimental
fishing; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable
Fisheries, Northeast Region, NMFS (Assistant Regional Administrator),
is soliciting public comment on an EFP application submitted by Wallace
& Associates on behalf of Truex Enterprises. The proposed EFP would
extend a previously authorized EFP for an additional year to continue
testing the
[[Page 66071]]
safety and efficacy of harvesting surfclams and ocean quahogs from the
Atlantic surfclam and ocean quahog Georges Bank (GB) Closure Area using
a sampling protocol developed by State and Federal regulatory agencies
and endorsed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The
Assistant 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 Atlantic Surfclam and
Ocean Quahog regulations and Fishery Management Plan (FMP). However,
further review and consultation may be necessary before a final
determination is made to issue the EFP. The subject EFP would allow one
commercial fishing vessel to conduct fishing operations that are
otherwise restricted by the regulations governing the fisheries of the
Northeastern United States. The EFP would allow for an exemption from
the Atlantic surfclam and ocean quahog GB Closure Area. 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 must be received on or before November 12, 2010.
ADDRESSES: Comments on this notice may be submitted by e-mail. The
mailbox address for providing e-mail comments is [email protected].
Include in the subject line of the e-mail comment the following
document identifier: ``Comments on 2011 GB PSP Closed Area Exemption.''
Written comments should be sent to Patricia A. Kurkul, Regional
Administrator, NMFS, Northeast Regional Office, 55 Great Republic
Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside of the envelope
``Comments on 2011 GB PSP Closed Area Exemption.'' Comments may also be
sent via facsimile (fax) to (978) 281-9135.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anna Macan, Fishery Management
Specialist, phone 978-281-9165. Copies of supporting documents
referenced in this notice are available from Anna Macan, Fishery
Management Specialist, National Marine Fisheries Service, 55 Great
Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930, and are available via the
Internet at http://www.nero.noaa.gov/sfd/clams.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The applicant, Wallace & Associates, of
Cambridge, MD, requests on behalf of Truex Enterprises, a renewal of
their current EFP, which is due to expire on December 31, 2010, to
allow the catch and retention for sale of Atlantic surfclams from
within the Atlantic surfclam and ocean quahog GB Closure Area. The GB
Closure Area is located east of 69[deg]00' W. long. and south of
42[deg]20' N. lat and has been closed since May 25, 1990, due to the
presence of a toxin (saxotoxins) that cause Paralytic Shellfish
Poisoning (PSP). Due, in part, to the inability to test and monitor
this area for the presence of PSP, this closure was made permanent
through Amendment 12 to the FMP in 1999.
The primary goal of the proposed study is to test the efficacy of
the sampling protocol that was developed by State and Federal
regulatory agencies to test for presence of saxotoxins in shellfish,
and thus has been in a trial period through previous EFPs since 2006.
This protocol would facilitate the harvest of shellfish from waters
susceptible to Harmful Algal Blooms, which produce the saxotoxins, but
that are not currently under rigorous water quality monitoring programs
by either State or Federal management agencies. A copy of the protocol
is available from the NMFS Northeast Region Web site: http://www.nero.noaa.gov/sfd/clams.
The proposed project would continue to conduct a trial for the
sampling protocol in an exemption zone within the larger 1990 GB
Closure Area with one fishing vessel. The exemption zone would not
include any Northeast multispecies or essential fish habitat year-round
closure areas. This proposed exempted fishing activity would occur
during the 2011 calendar year, using surfclam quota allocated to Truex
Enterprises under the Federal individual transferable quota program.
The applicant has estimated a harvest of 200,000 bushels (1,606,250 L)
of surfclams from the exemption area. The exemption area has been
tested in cooperation with the FDA from 2006 to the present.
The applicant has obtained endorsements for the EFP and the
sampling protocol from the States of Rhode Island, New Jersey, and
Delaware, the States in which it intends to land and process the
product harvested under the EFP. Each State is responsible for
regulating the molluscan shellfish industry within its jurisdiction and
ensuring the safety of shellfish harvested within or entering its
borders. The sampling protocol and the pilot project that would be
authorized by this EFP have also since been endorsed by the executive
board of the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference.
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.
In accordance with NOAA Administrative Order (NAO) 216-6, a
Categorical Exclusion or other appropriate National Environmental
Policy Act document would be completed prior to the issuance of the
EFP. Further review and consultation may be necessary before a final
determination is made to issue the EFP. After publication of this
document in the Federal Register, the EFP, if approved, may become
effective following the public comment period.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: October 22, 2010.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-27174 Filed 10-26-10; 8:45 am]
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