[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 68 (Wednesday, April 8, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19747-19748]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-07392]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XX047]
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; General Provisions for Domestic
Fisheries; Application for Exempted Fishing Permits
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable
Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Region, NMFS, has made a preliminary
determination that an exempted fishing permit application submitted by
the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen's Alliance contains all of the
required information and warrants further consideration. This exempted
fishing permit would require participants to use electronic monitoring
systems on 100 percent of sector trips for catch accounting in the
Northeast multispecies fishery; additionally, vessels would be
authorized to access portions of Northeast multispecies closed areas.
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 exempted fishing permits.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 23, 2020.
ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by either of the following
methods:
Email: [email protected]. Include in the subject line
``AUDIT-MODEL EM EFP.''
Mail: Michael Pentony, Regional Administrator, NMFS,
Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great Republic Drive,
Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside of the envelope ``AUDIT-MODEL EM
EFP.''
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Claire Fitz-Gerald, Fishery Policy
Analyst, 978-281-9255.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Northeast multispecies (groundfish) sectors
must implement and fund an at-sea monitoring (ASM) program, and the
Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan regulations allow
sectors to use electronic monitoring (EM) to satisfy this monitoring
requirement, provided that NMFS deems the technology sufficient for
catch monitoring. NMFS recently notified the Council of its intent to
allow sectors to submit EM plans instead of, or in addition to, ASM
plans as part of the fishing year 2021 and 2022 sector operations plans
approval process. For the 2020 fishing year, lessons learned through
this exempted fishing permit (EFP) will allow NMFS to continue
developing standards and requirements for the groundfish EM program.
Project partners include the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen's Alliance,
The Nature Conservancy, the Maine Coast Fishermen's Association, and
fishermen.
If approved, this EFP would build on previous EFPs issued to the
project partners in support of the audit-model EM program for
groundfish sectors. The first EFP was issued in fishing year 2017;
participating vessels were required to use EM on 100 percent of sector
trips and groundfish discards were calculated based on the video
footage. Vessels were exempted from their sector's ASM requirements.
Thirteen vessels using a variety of gear types (e.g. hook, benthic
longline, sink gillnet, bottom trawl) participated in the project and
completed a total of 81 trips. The EFP was renewed in fishing year
2018. We developed and implemented a protocol for verifying, or
auditing, vessels' self-reported discards from the electronic vessel
trip report (eVTR) against video footage. Vessels were also granted
exemptions to fish in closed areas during certain times of the year. A
total of 258 trips suitable for quota monitoring were completed during
fishing year 2018. In fishing year 2019, we renewed the EFP again and
reduced the targeted level of audit to 50 percent of trips based on a
statistical analysis of EFP trips from fishing years 2017 and 2018.
EVTRs were used to calculate discards for trips that were not selected
for audit.
The project partners have submitted a renewal request for fishing
year 2020. The proposed participant list includes 15 vessels, all of
which participated in this EFP in fishing year 2019. Together, these
vessels are expected to take a total of 590 trips. The project partners
expect that additional vessels may join the project during fishing year
2020.
Vessels participating in this EFP would be exempt from the
regulations requiring them to adhere to their sector's ASM program, and
instead would be required to use EM on 100 percent of groundfish trips.
Camera systems would be used in lieu of human at-sea monitors, and in
addition to Northeast Fishery Observer Program (NEFOP) observers.
Vessels would adhere to a vessel-specific monitoring plan detailing at-
sea catch handling protocols. Vessels would submit haul-level eVTRs
with count and weight estimates for all groundfish discards. In fishing
year 2020, individual vessels may test different catch handling and
reporting methodologies (e.g., volumetric sampling, sub-trip level
eVTR), with our approval. Vessels would not be exempt from any other
standard reporting and monitoring requirements.
The discard estimates provided in the eVTR would be used for catch
accounting, and all catch of allocated groundfish would be deducted
from the appropriate sector's allocation. The EM service provider would
review the video footage and produce an EM summary report identifying,
counting, and generating weight estimates for all groundfish discards.
The provider would submit this report to NMFS. We would compare the
eVTR and EM summary report to ensure the submissions match within an
established tolerance. If the trips do not match, the eVTR would not be
used for catch accounting for that trip. For trips that carry a NEFOP
observer, the NEFOP data would be used for catch accounting.
In fishing year 2019, we targeted an audit level of 50 percent of
trips. In fishing year 2020, we intend to develop performance-based
audit standards and may adjust the targeted audit level for vessels up
or down in an effort to test a performance-based audit. Developing and
implementing a performance-based audit selection process would
incentivize accurate reporting on eVTRs and good catch handling
practices. Following the EM service provider's review of selected
trips, the Northeast Fisheries Science Center would conduct a secondary
review of the EM summary reports for a subset of trips, consistent with
previous years.
Because participating vessels would be fully monitored and
accountable, project partners requested exemptions to access closed
areas, to incentivize participation and create additional fishing
opportunities for healthy stocks.
[[Page 19748]]
Vessels would be allowed to use hook gear and sink gillnets in Closed
Area II from April 16 through January 31, hook gear (i.e., jig
machines, handgear, benthic longlines) in the Western Gulf of Maine
Closure Area, jig gear (i.e., jig machines and handgear) in the Cashes
Ledge Closure Area, excluding the Ammen Rock Habitat Management Area,
and benthic longlines in the Fippinnies Ledge portion of the Cashes
Ledge Closure Area (west of 69[deg]09.1' W). All catch of allocated
groundfish would be deducted from the appropriate sector's allocation.
Table 1--Estimates of Groundfish Catch in Closed Areas
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WGOM closure WGOM closure Cashes ledge Cashes ledge
(lb) (mt) closure (lb) closure (mt) CAII (lb) CAII (mt)
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American Plaice......................................... .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ..............
Atlantic Halibut........................................ .............. .............. 651 0 305 0
Atlantic Wolffish....................................... 87 0 318 0 10 0
CC/GOM Yellowtail Flounder.............................. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ..............
GB East Cod............................................. .............. .............. .............. .............. 25,500 12
GB East Haddock......................................... .............. .............. .............. .............. 25,100 11
GB West Cod............................................. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ..............
GB West Haddock......................................... .............. .............. .............. .............. 5,401 2
GB Winter Flounder...................................... .............. .............. .............. .............. 1,015 0
GB Yellowtail Flounder.................................. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ..............
GOM Cod................................................. 6,322 3 16,888 8 .............. ..............
GOM Haddock............................................. 39,242 18 79,271 36 .............. ..............
GOM Winter Flounder..................................... 7 0 5 0 .............. ..............
N. Windowpane Flounder.................................. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ..............
Ocean Pout.............................................. .............. .............. .............. .............. 3 0
Pollock................................................. 17,630 8 19,861 9 13,633 6
Redfish................................................. 11 0 .............. .............. .............. ..............
S. Windowpane Flounder.................................. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ..............
SNE/MA Winter Flounder.................................. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ..............
SNE/MA Yellowtail Flounder.............................. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ..............
White Hake.............................................. 121 0 200 0 58 0
Witch Flounder.......................................... .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ..............
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If approved, the applicant may request minor modifications and
extensions to the EFP throughout the year. EFP modifications and
extensions may be granted without further notice if they are deemed
essential to facilitate completion of the proposed research and have
minimal impacts that do not change the scope or impact of the initially
approved EFP request. Any fishing activity conducted outside the scope
of the exempted fishing activity would be prohibited.
(Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.)
Dated: April 3, 2020.
H[eacute]l[egrave]ne M.N. Scalliet,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-07392 Filed 4-7-20; 8:45 am]
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