[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 17 (Monday, January 27, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4638-4640]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-01301]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XX031]
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 contains all
of the required information and warrants further consideration. The
Exempted Fishing Permit would allow commercial fishing vessels to use
dredge fishing gear with a forward facing camera within the Great South
Channel Habitat Management Area to characterize habitat substrate types
where dredge fishing occurs, and conduct compensation fishing that
would support research conducted by the Coonamessett Farm Foundation.
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 February 11, 2020.
ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by any of the following
methods:
Email: [email protected]. Include in the subject line
``CFF Great South Channel HMA Clam 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 ``Comments on
CFF Great South Channel HMA EFP.''
[[Page 4639]]
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura Hansen, Fishery Management
Specialist, 978-281-9225.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 9, 2018, we approved the New
England Fishery Management Council's Omnibus Essential Fish Habitat
Amendment 2 that created the Great South Channel Habitat Management
Area (GSC HMA). The Council also initiated a follow-up action in
December of 2018 that approved limited exemption areas within the HMA
for the surfclam fishery, and explicitly mentioned potential research
in other parts of the HMA that could provide data necessary to support
expanded exemptions in the future.
In an effort to address some of the Council's research priorities
for the GSC HMA, Coonamessett Farm Foundation (CFF) has developed a
multi-phase research project that would attempt to:
1. Characterize substrate types where surfclam and mussel fishing
occurs within the GSC HMA;
2. Track spatiotemporal habitat change and benthic macrofauna
distribution in an active fishing ground; and
3. Determine spatiotemporal occurrence of Atlantic cod and other
species within the HMA that are subjected or adjacent to commercial
clam and mussel dredging activities.
CFF submitted a complete application for an EFP on November 8,
2019, to enable research in support of the objective 1 (identified
above). The exemptions would authorize participating vessels to fish
with dredge gear in portions of the GSC HMA in order to characterize
substrate types where surfclam and mussel fishing occurs, and to enable
compensation fishing, which would fund research associated with
objectives 2 and 3.
Under this EFP, five vessels targeting surfclams and mussels would
fish with dredge-mounted, forward-facing cameras to characterize
substrate types where surfclam and mussel fishing occurs within the GSC
HMA. CFF contends that this information will support future
consideration of HMA dredge emeption areas. A portion of the funds
generated from these trips would be used to support future data
collection using cameras to examine the habitat impacts of dredging,
conduct habitat mapping and analysis, and research the presence of
juvenile cod in the GSC HMA. If this EFP is approved, CFF has indicated
their intention to broaden the scope of where they may fish with clam
and mussel dredges once the initial phase of fishing is complete.
Additional dredge fishing in the GSC HMA would entail a new EFP. We
would evaluate future EFP applications on its own merits, which would
include the utility of the information gathered from the first phase of
dredge fishing before considering additional exemptions.
Figure 1 shows Rose and Crown and Davis Bank, the 24 km\2\ phase 1
study area within Rose and Crown, and two reference points within the
study area where fishing would not occur. CFF estimates that up to 120
clam fishing trips and 27 mussel fishing trips would be taken within
the Rose and Crown study area. Clam and mussel trips are typically day
trips, and effort would be constrained spatially within the 24 km\2\
area and temporally to one year. CFF states that every dredge would be
fitted with at least one forward viewing GoPro camera with lights. CFF
plans to record 100 percent of each dredge tow, provided there are no
equipment losses or malfunctions. Vessel crew would document retained
catch of clams, estimate the volume of total bycatch by bushel for
mussels and other species such as crab, weight for individual fish
species, and bushel counts for cobble and rocks. A camera would be set
up to take video and time lapse frames of the deck pile as it is
picked. CFF stated that crew would take estimates of the catch on every
tow through a visual estimate and a more thorough sampling of the catch
would occur when CFF staff are on board. CFF staff would be on board
for approximately 10 percent of EFP trips. Catch estimates for clam and
other species are provided in Table 1. The catch estimates were based
on experimental trips taken in the HMA from December 2018-April 2019.
CFF would take some samples of blue mussels back to a lab for age and
disease analysis. All other catch above a possession limit or below a
minimum size would be discarded as soon as possible following data
collection. All catch landed for sale would be accounted for in
accordance with standard commercial catch accounting procedures, and
applied against the applicable quota.
[[Page 4640]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN27JA20.037
Table 1--Estimated Catch for EFP Trips
[Bushel = bu]
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Species Number Weight (lb) Weight (kg)
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Atlantic Surfclam............................ 200,000 bu....................... 3,333,333 1,511,974
Mussel....................................... 5,000 bu......................... 83,333 37,799
Winter Flounder.............................. 540.............................. 76 34
Windowpane Flounder.......................... 540.............................. 199 90
Skate (Misc.)................................ 1,000............................ 8,000 3,629
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If approved, the applicant may request minor modifications and
extensions to the EFP throughout the study period. 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: January 22, 2020.
Karyl K. Brewster-Geisz,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-01301 Filed 1-24-20; 8:45 am]
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