[Federal Register: March 28, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 61)]
[Notices]
[Page 16642-16643]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr28mr08-42]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XG69
Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific;
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Application for an Exempted Fishing
Permit
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; intent to issue the EFP; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the intent to issue exempted fishing permits
(EFPs) to Pacific whiting shoreside vessels and first receivers that
participate in a maximized retention and monitor program for the 2008
Pacific whiting shoreside fishery. EFPs are needed to allow vessels to
retain catch in excess of the cumulative limits and to retain
prohibited species until offloading. EFPs are also needed to allow
first receivers to possess catch from a vessel that is in excess of
cumulative limits and to used hopper type scales to derive accurate
catch weights prior to sorting. Issuance of the EFPs would allow NMFS
to collect catch data on incidentally caught species, including
salmonids listed under the Endangered Species Act, and would allow new
components of an overall monitoring program to be investigated before
implementation of a regulatory program.
DATES: Comments must be received by April 14, 2008.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by RIN 0648-XG69 by any
one of the following methods:
Fax: 206-526-6736, Attn: Becky Renko
Mail: D. Robert Lohn, Administrator, Northwest Region,
NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115-0070, Attn: Becky
Renko.
Instructions: All comments received are a part of the public record
and will generally be posted to http://www.regulations.gov without
change. All Personal Identifying Information (for example, name,
address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly
accessible. Do not submit Confidential Business Information or
otherwise sensitive or protected information. NMFS will accept
anonymous comments. Attachments to electronic comments will be accepted
in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats only.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Becky Renko or Gretchen Arentzen or
(206)526(6140.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This action is authorized by the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act provisions at 50 CFR
600.745 which states that EFPs may be used to authorize fishing
activities that would otherwise be prohibited. At the March 10-14,
2008, Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) meeting in
Sacramento, California, NMFS Northwest Region presented a proposal for
issuance of EFPs to vessels and first receivers participating in the
2008 Pacific whiting shoreside fishery. If issued, the EFPs would
provide for a maximized retention and monitoring program for the
Pacific whiting shoreside fishery. The proposed maximized retention and
monitoring program regulations are intended to allow for the Pacific
whiting shoreside fishery to be efficiently prosecuted while providing
accurate catch data such that the Endangered Species Act and Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act requirements for this
fishery are adequately met. An opportunity for Council discussion and
public testimony were provided during the Councils March 2008 meeting
in Sacramento, California.
The issuance of EFPs would allow approximately 40 vessels to delay
sorting of groundfish catch and to retain catch in excess of cumulative
trip limits and prohibited species catch until offloading. These
activities are otherwise prohibited by regulations at 50 CFR
660.306(a)(10) and 660.306(a)(2), respectively.
Issuance of the EFPs, to approximately 15 first receivers, will
allow first receivers to possess more than a single cumulative limit of
a particular species, per vessel, per applicable cumulative limit
period. The
[[Page 16643]]
possession of catch in excess of the cumulative limits is otherwise
prohibited by regulations at 50 CFR 660.306(a)(10). In addition, the
EFPs will include an allowance for first receivers to use hopper type
scales to derive an accurate total catch weight prior to sorting.
Regulations pertaining to sorting at Sec. 660.370(h)(6) and
prohibitions at Sec. 660.306(a)(7) require vessels to sort the catch
before weighing.
Issuance of these EFPs will allow for the collection of information
on the catch of salmon, non-whiting groundfish, and other non-
groundfish species incidentally taken with Pacific whiting. These data
are needed to monitor the attainment of the shore-based whiting
allocation while assuring that the fishery specifications (bycatch
limits, species allocations, OYs, and biological opinion thresholds)
are not exceeded. Because whiting flesh deteriorates rapidly once the
fish are caught, whiting must be minimally handled and immediately
chilled to maintain the flesh quality. Allowing Pacific whiting
shoreside vessels to retain unsorted catch will also enable whiting
quality to be maintained.
At the June 2007 Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) meeting,
the PFMC recommended that NMFS implement a maximized retention program
in Federal regulations that would allow full retention of Pacific
whiting catch by the vessels and delivered to first receivers on shore.
NMFS Northwest Region is in the process of transitioning the Pacific
whiting shoreside fishery from a maximized retention and monitoring
program conducted under a state-run EFP to a Federal regulatory
program. Though it was expected that the program would be in place at
the start of the 2008 fishing season, it will not be possible given the
complexity of the rulemaking and other workload priorities. The EFP, as
proposed, would be used to investigate the new components of the
overall monitoring program before regulatory implementation. The EFP
would be in effect until the effective date of the new Federal
maximized retention and monitoring program, later in 2008.
Proposed Federal regulations for a maximized retention and
monitoring program would require Pacific whiting shoreside vessels to
dump unsorted catch directly below deck and would allow unsorted catch
to be landed, providing that an electronic monitoring system (EMS) is
used on all fishing trips to verify retention of catch at sea. The EMS
is an effective tool for accurately monitoring catch retention and
identifying the time and location of discard events. The EFP would
include provisions for EMS, paid for by the vessels, similar to the
2007 EFP and similar to the proposed Federal regulatory program.
Proposed Federal regulations for a maximized retention and
monitoring program would also require first receivers to have on shore
monitoring conducted by catch monitors. Catch monitors would be third
party employees, paid for by industry, and trained to NMFS standards.
The EFP would include provisions for third party catch monitors from a
NMFS specified provider. Like the proposed Federal regulatory program,
catch monitors used under the EFP would be trained in techniques that
would be used for the verification of fish ticket data and in species
identification. Catch monitor duties would include overseeing the
sorting, weighing, and recordkeeping process, as well as gathering
information on incidentally caught salmon. Catch monitors would verify
the accuracy of electronic fish ticket data used to manage the Pacific
whiting shoreside fishery such that inaccurate or delayed information
does not result in any fishery specifications (bycatch limits, species
allocations, OYs, and biological opinion thresholds) being exceeded.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: March 25, 2008.
Alan D. Risenhoover
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. E8-6430 Filed 3-27-08; 8:45 am]
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