[Federal Register: March 10, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 47)]
[Notices]
[Page 12707-12708]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr10mr08-31]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XF69
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; General Provisions for Domestic
Fisheries; Application for Exempted Fishing Permit
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS (Regional
Administrator) has made a preliminary determination that the subject
Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) application from the Gulf of Maine
Research Institute (GMRI) that would exempt Atlantic herring (herring)
vessels from the Management Area 1A (Area 1A) herring trawl gear
restriction period contains all the required information and warrants
further consideration. The 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
Herring Fishery Management Plan (FMP). However, further review and
consultation may be necessary before a final determination is made.
DATES: Comments on this document must be received on or before March
25, 2008.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted by e-mail. The mailbox address for
providing e-mail comments is herring.efp@noaa.gov. Include in the
subject line of the e-mail comment the following document identifier:
``Comments on GMRI herring EFP.'' Written comments should be sent to
Patricia A. Kurkul, Regional Administrator, NMFS, Northeast Regional
Office, 1 Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside of
the envelope, ``Comments on GMRI herring EFP.'' Comments may also be
sent via facsimile (fax) to (978) 281-9135.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ryan Silva, Cooperative Research
Program Specialist, phone: 978-281-9326, fax: 978-281-9135.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Pending final approval by NOAA's Grants Management Division, the
Science Director for NMFS's Northeast Fisheries Science Center has
preliminarily selected an Atlantic Herring Research Set Aside (RSA)
proposal submitted by GMRI to conduct a study entitled: ``Effects of
Fishing on Herring Aggregations,'' which would assess the effects of
midwater trawling on herring aggregations. GMRI proposes to survey a
herring aggregation using acoustic sonar prior to, during, and
following trawl fishing pressure. Due to concern that other fishing
vessels, particularly other herring midwater trawl vessels, fishing in
the study area could interfere with the survey, GMRI submitted an EFP
application to conduct its research during the herring midwater trawl
gear restriction period, as specified at 50 CFR 648.202(a) and detailed
below, thereby ensuring midwater trawl vessels will not be fishing in
the study area.
Amendment 1 to the FMP implemented a provision that vessels fishing
for herring may not use, deploy, or fish with midwater trawl gear in
Area 1A from June 1 through September 30. This measure was implemented
due to concern about the potential impacts of midwater trawl fishing on
the inshore Gulf of Maine (GOM) herring resource and other bycatch
species. These concerns relate primarily to the importance of herring
as a forage species for other fish, marine mammals, and seabirds, and
the localized impact that midwater trawl fishing effort may have on
schools of herring in nearshore areas. Additional concern was expressed
by purse seine and weir fishers that midwater trawl gear may disperse
herring schools and prevent herring schools from coming inshore,
thereby limiting fishing opportunities for these respective gear types.
Finally, data suggest there may be differences in the species
composition of bycatch and mortality of bycatch between purse seine and
midwater trawl gear. Therefore, restricting midwater trawl gear in Area
1A from June through October is intended to: (1) Increase herring
availability as forage for various fish, marine mammal, and seabird
species; (2) improve fishing opportunities for purse seine and weir
fishers; and (3) reduce bycatch and bycatch mortality resulting from
midwater trawling in Area 1A. Technical reviewers and panelists for
[[Page 12708]]
the 2008/2009 Herring RSA Program noted that the proposed research
would provide important information that would improve the
understanding of midwater trawling effects on herring aggregations.
GMRI requests that a single vessel or paired vessels perform, under
sonar surveillance, midwater trawling for up to four nights using
standard midwater trawl gear in Area 1A between June 1 and September
30, 2008. Vessels would conduct five or fewer tows per night, with each
tow lasting 2 to 4 hr. All trawling operations would be monitored by
GMRI staff. All herring caught during the survey would be deducted from
GMRI's Area 1A Herring RSA Program compensation allocation of 1,350 mt.
Vessels conducting the survey would not be allowed to exceed their Area
1A compensation allocation while fishing under the EFP. Project
investigators propose that sonar data prior to, during, and following
trawl fishing pressure will illuminate the effect of midwater trawling
on herring aggregations.
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. The applicant may place requests for 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 minimal
so as not to change the scope or impact of the initially approved EFP
request.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: March 5, 2008.
Emily H. Menashes
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E8-4645 Filed 3-7-08; 8:45 am]
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