Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Application for an Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP), 19050-19052 [E8-7268]
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19050
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 68 / Tuesday, April 8, 2008 / Notices
technical questions that affect the level
of export controls applicable to
information systems equipment and
technology.
Dated: April 3, 2008.
Yvette Springer,
Committee Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. E8–7371 Filed 4–7–08; 8:45 am]
Wednesday, April 23
BILLING CODE 3510–JT–P
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; receipt of EFP
applications; intent to issue EFPs;
request for comments.
and their collaborators and (2) the
Recreational Fishing Alliance and
Golden Gate Fisherman’s Association.
An opportunity for public testimony
was provided during the Council
meeting. The Council recommended
that NMFS issue the EFPs and
forwarded the EFP applications to
NMFS with the contingency that all
applicants improve the data analysis
and reporting requirements detailed in
their applications. NMFS is worked
with the applicants and participants
who would be fishing under the EFPs to
resolve retention, data analysis and
monitoring issues affecting these EFPs
prior to their final application for EFPs.
All EFPs, if issued, would require that
all rockfish species are retained and that
prohibited rockfish species must be
surrendered to the State in which they
are landed. All vessels participating
under an EFP would be required to have
a human observer on board during every
trip conducted under the EFP.
NMFS announces the receipt
of two exempted fishing permit (EFP)
applications, and the intent to issue
EFPs for vessels participating in the EFP
fisheries. The EFPs are necessary to
allow activities that are otherwise
prohibited by Federal regulations. The
EFPs will be effective no earlier than
May 1, 2008, and would expire no later
than December 31, 2008, but could be
terminated earlier under terms and
conditions of the EFPs and other
applicable laws.
DATES: Comments must be received no
later than 5 p.m., local time on May 8,
2008.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments,
identified by 0648–XG92 by any one of
the following methods:
• Fax: 206–526–6736, Attn: Gretchen
Arentzen.
• Mail: D. Robert Lohn, Administrator,
Northwest Region, NMFS, 7600 Sand
Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115–0070,
Attn: Gretchen Arentzen.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To
request copies of the EFP applications,
contact Gretchen Arentzen (Northwest
Region, NMFS), phone: 206–526–6147,
fax: 206–526–6736.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This
action is authorized by the MagnusonStevens 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
November 2007 Pacific Fishery
Management Council (Council) meeting
in San Diego, California, NMFS and the
Council received applications for two
EFPs from: (1) The Nature Conservancy
Community Based Fishing Association
EFP
The Nature Conservancy (TNC)
submitted their final EFP application
package to NMFS on February 14, 2008,
along with their collaborators: City of
Morro Bay Harbor Department; Port San
Luis Commercial Fishermen’s
Association; Port San Luis Harbor
District; California Department of Fish
and Game; Morro Bay Commercial
Fishermen’s Organization, Inc.; and
Environmental Defense. The primary
purpose of the EFP is to test whether
establishing a cooperatively managed,
community based fishing association
that employs commercial trawl permits
to use longline, trap, pot, and hook-andline gear off the Central California coast,
under shared total catch amounts for
target and bycatch species, can provide
several important economic and
environmental performance benefits. In
addition, fishing under this EFP is
expected to provide valuable
information on how to structure a more
cost-effective monitoring system that
emphasizes individual accountability in
a rationalized fishery and also on the
costs of managing a rationalized fishery.
Since 2003, TNC and Environmental
Defense have been working on various
projects with participants in the bottom
trawl industry along the Central Coast of
California. In 2005, NMFS approved a
plan to protect more than 130,000
square miles (336,698 square km) of
marine waters off the West coast as
essential fish habitat (EFH) for
groundfish (71 FR 24601, May 11, 2006).
The plan prohibits fishing methods that
can cause long-term damage to the
ocean floor, such as bottom trawling,
Public Session
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
1. Welcome and Introduction.
2. Atomic Layer Deposition and
Cluster Tools.
3. History of U.S. Export Controls.
4. Census Data for Export Control.
5. Preliminary Discussion.
6. 4A003e: Equipment Performing
Analog-to-Digital Conversions.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
RIN 0648–XG92
Fisheries Off West Coast States and in
the Western Pacific; Pacific Coast
Groundfish Fishery; Application for an
Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP)
Thursday, April 24
AGENCY:
pwalker on PROD1PC71 with NOTICES
Closed Session
7. Discussion of matters determined to
be exempt from the provisions relating
to public meetings found in 5 U.S.C.
app. 2 §§ 10(a)(1) and 10(a)(3).
The open session will be accessible
via teleconference to 20 participants on
a first come, first serve basis. To join the
conference, submit inquiries to Ms.
Yvette Springer at
Yspringer@bis.doc.gov, no later than
April 16, 2008.
A limited number of seats will be
available for the public session.
Reservations are not accepted. To the
extent time permits, members of the
public may present oral statements to
the Committee. The public may submit
written statements at any time before or
after the meeting. However, to facilitate
distribution of public presentation
materials to Committee members, the
Committee suggests that public
presentation materials or comments be
forwarded before the meeting to Ms.
Springer.
The Assistant Secretary for
Administration, with the concurrence of
the delegate of the General Counsel,
formally determined on March 22, 2008,
pursuant to Section 10(d) of the Federal
Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5
U.S.C. app. 2 § (10)(d))), that the portion
of the meeting concerning trade secrets
and commercial or financial information
deemed privileged or confidential as
described in 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(4) and the
portion of the meeting concerning
matters the disclosure of which would
be likely to frustrate significantly
implementation of an agency action as
described in 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(9)(B) shall
be exempt from the provisions relating
to public meetings found in 5 U.S.C.
app. 2 §§ 10(a)(1) and 10(a)(3). The
remaining portions of the meeting will
be open to the public.
For more information, call Yvette
Springer at (202) 482–2813.
VerDate Aug<31>2005
16:09 Apr 07, 2008
Jkt 214001
SUMMARY:
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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 68 / Tuesday, April 8, 2008 / Notices
within much of this area. At roughly the
same time, TNC and Environmental
Defense purchased several limited entry
trawl permits (LEPs) from fishermen
that operated trawl vessels along the
central California coast. Under current
federal regulations, bottom trawl LEPs
cannot be converted to LEPs for
harvesting groundfish with other gear
types, such as hook and line and pot
gears. This issue was identified by TNC
when they purchased bottom trawl
permits, and they have been exploring
ways to mitigate the negative economic
effects of the bottom trawl LEP
purchases, while exploring a shift to
other harvest mechanisms. The
commercial fishery operating out of
Morro Bay and Port San Luis has been
much reduced in recent years, causing
economic hardship on these fishing
ports and the reduction of commercial
fishing infrastructure, including
processors and ice dealers.
In 2004, the Pacific Fishery
Management Council (Council) began
public scoping for development of a
trawl rationalization and individual
fishing quota (IFQ) program. As the
Council moves forward with planning
and analysis in drafting an
Environmental Impact Statement, it
would be useful to have practical
information on how rationalized
fisheries, fishing with individual quotas,
would operate in the Pacific coast
groundfish fishery. TNC developed a
proposal for working with central
California coast fishery participants to
form a community based fishing
association that would cooperatively
manage fishing operations to maintain
harvests within a total catch amount for
target and incidental species, rather
than under the cumulative trip limit
structure in current Pacific coast
groundfish regulations. Target species
with total catch amounts include:
sablefish, slope rockfish, longspine
thornyhead, shortspine thornyhead,
lingcod, chilipepper rockfish, splitnose
rockfish, spiny dogfish, Dover sole,
petrale sole, and other flatfish.
Incidental catch species with total catch
amounts include all of the overfished
species: canary rockfish, yelloweye
rockfish, widow rockfish, darkblotched
rockfish, Pacific ocean perch, cowcod,
and bocaccio. Catches would be closely
monitored by TNC and NMFS to ensure
total catch amounts are not exceeded.
If issued, this EFP would allow TNC
to temporarily convert bottom trawl
LEPs into longline, trap, pot, and hook
and line gear LEPs. It would also allow
TNC and designated vessels to land
some groundfish species in excess of
trip limits so that they may structure
their fishing operation to better meet the
VerDate Aug<31>2005
16:09 Apr 07, 2008
Jkt 214001
needs of the community based fishing
association. If the EFP is issued, no
more than six vessels would participate
in the EFP at any time. Vessels would
be fishing between 36° N. lat. and
34°27.00′ N. lat. with longline, trap, pot
and hook and line gear, and would be
subject to the non-trawl Rockfish
Conservation Area (RCA) in that region.
All fish harvested under this EFP would
be landed in Morro Bay or Port San
Luis, California. Any groundfish species
for which there is not a specified total
catch amount would be subject to the
open access trip limits applicable
during the cumulative limit period in
which fish are landed, and for the area
between 36° N. lat. and 34°27.00′ N. lat.
Without an EFP, these activities are
otherwise prohibited by Federal
regulations and TNC would not be able
to test the usefulness of a community
based fishing association and gear
switching mechanisms to mitigate the
impact of trawl effort reduction on
communities and promote conservation
of fishing resources.
Data collected during this project are
expected to have a broader significance
to the management of the Pacific coast
groundfish fishery by providing insight
into the challenges and successes of
managing a community based fishing
association under a rationalized fishery,
as well as informing fishery monitoring
provisions that would need to
accompany an IFQ program for which
individual accountability is a key
component.
Recreational Chilipepper EFP
The Recreational Fishing Alliance
(RFA) and the Golden Gate Fishermen’s
Association submitted their final EFP
application package to NMFS on
February 14, 2008. The primary purpose
of the EFP is to do an area-based
recreational fishing study to test if hook
and line fishing gear can be used to
access underutilized chilipepper
rockfish seaward of the non-trawl RCA
while keeping bycatch of overfished
species low.
Because the Pacific coast groundfish
fishery is a mixed stock fishery, catch of
healthy stocks is constrained in order to
reduce the catch of rebuilding
groundfish species. Chilipepper rockfish
are an underutilized species, and there
has been increasing interest in recent
years in developing fisheries to target
chilipepper rockfish. This EFP would
test development of a selective
recreational target fishery in depths
seaward of 150–fm (274–m) off
California, between 40°10.00′ N. lat. and
34°27.00′ N. lat. (the North Central and
South Central regions).
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19051
The RFA developed a proposal for a
self-funding EFP fishery, where
individual anglers would pay for an
offshore chilipepper rockfish trip on a
charter passenger fishing vessel that
would operate throughout the year.
Approximately 20 vessels would
participate in this fishery, however only
a few boats would fish at any one time
in order to meet requirements for
observer coverage. For every trip taken
in the EFP fishery, each passenger
would be subject to a 10 groundfish
total bag limit for any groundfish
species. Total catch of the target species,
chilipepper rockfish, would be limited
on each trip by the 10 fish bag limit per
angler. Total catch of incidentally
caught species, particularly overfished
rockfish species, would be limited by
total catch amounts for the entire EFP
fishery. Incidental catch species with
total catch amounts include all of the
overfished species: canary rockfish,
yelloweye rockfish, widow rockfish,
darkblotched rockfish, Pacific ocean
perch, cowcod, and bocaccio. Catches
would be closely monitored by the RFA
and NMFS to ensure total catch
amounts for these overfished species are
not exceeded.
If issued, this EFP would allow
recreational fishing for chilipepper
rockfish seaward of 150–fm (274–m)
between 40°10.00′ N. lat. and 34°27.00′
N. lat. It would also passengers aboard
the EFP charter fishing vessel to be
exempt from recreational sub-bag limits
for any groundfish species, such as
bocaccio, and it would also allow
passengers to retain and land overfished
species, such as canary rockfish,
yelloweye rockfish, and cowcod,
because they would be required to
retain all rockfish for catch accounting
and conservation purposes. Without an
EFP, these activities are otherwise
prohibited by Federal regulations and
the RFA would not be able to test a new
market for offshore recreational fishing
opportunities for underutilized species.
Data collected during this project are
expected to have a broader significance
to the management of the Pacific coast
groundfish fishery by testing if a
sustainable fishing opportunity could be
provided in an offshore recreational
fishery for chilipepper rockfish. Catch
composition data and illustration of
impacts to overfished species would be
the primary measure of success for the
recreational hook and line fishery that
would be conducted under this EFP. If
successful, and the EFP demonstrates
that bycatch is avoided targeting
chilipepper rockfish using hook and
line gear seaward of 150–fm (274–m), it
may be possible in the future that some
of the central California recreational
E:\FR\FM\08APN1.SGM
08APN1
19052
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 68 / Tuesday, April 8, 2008 / Notices
fishing effort can be shifted offshore,
where there are fewer interactions with
overfished canary rockfish.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: April 2, 2008.
Emily H. Menashes
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E8–7268 Filed 4–7–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–S
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND
COMMUNITY SERVICE
RIN 0648–XG97
Fisheries of the South Atlantic; South
Atlantic Fishery Management Council
(Council)—Meeting of the Shrimp
Review Panel
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice.
pwalker on PROD1PC71 with NOTICES
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: The South Atlantic Fishery
Management Council will hold a
meeting of its Shrimp Review Panel via
conference call.
DATES: The conference call will take
place at 2 p.m. on April 24, 2008.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held
via conference call. The public may call
in to listen by calling toll free 866–256–
9295.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kim
Iverson, Public Information Officer,
South Atlantic Fishery Management
Council, 4055 Faber Place Drive, Suite
201, North Charleston, S.C., 29405;
phone 843/571–4366 or toll free 866/
SAFMC–10; FAX 843/769–4520; email:
kim.iverson@safmc.net.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
Council will convene a meeting of its
Shrimp Review Panel via conference
call to address the condition of the pink
shrimp stock. Amendment 6 to the
Fishery Management Plan for the
Shrimp Fishery of the South Atlantic
Region established a proxy for a
minimum stock size threshold as a
parent stock size capable of producing
maximum sustainable yield the
following year. The Panel will convene
to review the current status of the pink
shrimp stock and determine whether
action by the Council is required at this
time. The Panel will prepare a report
with its recommendations for review by
the Council’s Scientific and Statistical
Committee and the Shrimp Committee
to determine if management action is
needed.
16:09 Apr 07, 2008
Jkt 214001
Dated: April 2, 2008.
Tracey L. Thompson
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E8–7265 Filed 4–7–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–S
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
VerDate Aug<31>2005
Special Accommodations
These meetings are physically
accessible to people with disabilities.
Requests for auxiliary aids should be
directed to the council office (see
ADDRESSES) three days prior to the
meetings.
Proposed Information Collection;
Comment Request
Corporation for National and
Community Service.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: The Corporation for National
and Community Service (hereinafter the
‘‘Corporation’’), as part of its continuing
effort to reduce paperwork and
respondent burden, conducts a preclearance consultation program to
provide the general public and federal
agencies with an opportunity to
comment on proposed and/or
continuing collections of information in
accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA95) (44
U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). This program
helps to ensure that requested data can
be provided in the desired format,
reporting burden (time and financial
resources) is minimized, collection
instruments are clearly understood, and
the impact of collection requirement on
respondents can be properly assessed.
Currently, the Corporation is
soliciting comments concerning its
revised Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of
Service Application Instructions using
the Corporation’s Electronic Application
System, eGrants. Completion of the
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service
Application Instructions is required for
funding considerations.
Copies of the information collection
requests can be obtained by contacting
the office listed in the address section
of this notice.
DATES: Written comments must be
submitted to the individual and office
listed in the ADDRESSES section by June
9, 2008.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments,
identified by the title of the information
collection activity, by any of the
following methods:
(1) By mail sent to: Corporation for
National and Community Service,
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
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Georgia State Office; Attention Ms.
Rochelle Barry, State Program Director,
Suite 902; 75 Piedmont Avenue, NE.,
Atlanta, GA 30303.
(2) By hand delivery or by courier to
the mail address given in paragraph (1)
above, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Monday through Friday, except Federal
holidays.
(3) By fax to: (404) 331–2898,
Attention Ms. Rochelle Barry, State
Program Director.
(4) Electronically through the
Corporation’s e-mail address system:
mlkgrants@cns.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Rochelle Barry, (404) 331–4646, ext. 2 or
by e-mail at mlkgrants@cns.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The OMB
is particularly interested in comments
which:
• Evaluate whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary
for the proper performance of the
functions of the Corporation, including
whether the information will have
practical utility;
• Evaluate the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information,
including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used;
• Propose ways to enhance the
quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
• Propose ways to minimize the
burden of the collection of information
on those who are to respond, including
through the use of appropriate
automated, electronic, mechanical, or
other technological collection
techniques or other forms of information
technology, e.g., permitting electronic
submissions of responses.
Description
The purpose of these Martin Luther
King, Jr. Day of Service Grants is to
mobilize more Americans to observe the
Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday
as a day of service in communities and
to bring people together around the
common focus of service to others. The
Corporation will award these funds to
eligible applicants who will in turn
subgrant to eligible local organizations
or fund separate events to plan and
carry out service activities.
Background
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of
Service Grant application is completed
by applicant organizations interested in
supporting an MLK Day of Service
Program. The application is completed
electronically by using the Corporation’s
web-based system, eGrants.
E:\FR\FM\08APN1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 68 (Tuesday, April 8, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19050-19052]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-7268]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XG92
Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific;
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Application for an Exempted Fishing
Permit (EFP)
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; receipt of EFP applications; intent to issue EFPs;
request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS announces the receipt of two exempted fishing permit
(EFP) applications, and the intent to issue EFPs for vessels
participating in the EFP fisheries. The EFPs are necessary to allow
activities that are otherwise prohibited by Federal regulations. The
EFPs will be effective no earlier than May 1, 2008, and would expire no
later than December 31, 2008, but could be terminated earlier under
terms and conditions of the EFPs and other applicable laws.
DATES: Comments must be received no later than 5 p.m., local time on
May 8, 2008.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by 0648-XG92 by any one
of the following methods:
Fax: 206-526-6736, Attn: Gretchen Arentzen.
Mail: D. Robert Lohn, Administrator, Northwest Region,
NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115-0070, Attn: Gretchen
Arentzen.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request copies of the EFP
applications, contact Gretchen Arentzen (Northwest Region, NMFS),
phone: 206-526-6147, fax: 206-526-6736.
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 November 2007
Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) meeting in San Diego,
California, NMFS and the Council received applications for two EFPs
from: (1) The Nature Conservancy and their collaborators and (2) the
Recreational Fishing Alliance and Golden Gate Fisherman's Association.
An opportunity for public testimony was provided during the Council
meeting. The Council recommended that NMFS issue the EFPs and forwarded
the EFP applications to NMFS with the contingency that all applicants
improve the data analysis and reporting requirements detailed in their
applications. NMFS is worked with the applicants and participants who
would be fishing under the EFPs to resolve retention, data analysis and
monitoring issues affecting these EFPs prior to their final application
for EFPs.
All EFPs, if issued, would require that all rockfish species are
retained and that prohibited rockfish species must be surrendered to
the State in which they are landed. All vessels participating under an
EFP would be required to have a human observer on board during every
trip conducted under the EFP.
Community Based Fishing Association EFP
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) submitted their final EFP application
package to NMFS on February 14, 2008, along with their collaborators:
City of Morro Bay Harbor Department; Port San Luis Commercial
Fishermen's Association; Port San Luis Harbor District; California
Department of Fish and Game; Morro Bay Commercial Fishermen's
Organization, Inc.; and Environmental Defense. The primary purpose of
the EFP is to test whether establishing a cooperatively managed,
community based fishing association that employs commercial trawl
permits to use longline, trap, pot, and hook-and-line gear off the
Central California coast, under shared total catch amounts for target
and bycatch species, can provide several important economic and
environmental performance benefits. In addition, fishing under this EFP
is expected to provide valuable information on how to structure a more
cost-effective monitoring system that emphasizes individual
accountability in a rationalized fishery and also on the costs of
managing a rationalized fishery.
Since 2003, TNC and Environmental Defense have been working on
various projects with participants in the bottom trawl industry along
the Central Coast of California. In 2005, NMFS approved a plan to
protect more than 130,000 square miles (336,698 square km) of marine
waters off the West coast as essential fish habitat (EFH) for
groundfish (71 FR 24601, May 11, 2006). The plan prohibits fishing
methods that can cause long-term damage to the ocean floor, such as
bottom trawling,
[[Page 19051]]
within much of this area. At roughly the same time, TNC and
Environmental Defense purchased several limited entry trawl permits
(LEPs) from fishermen that operated trawl vessels along the central
California coast. Under current federal regulations, bottom trawl LEPs
cannot be converted to LEPs for harvesting groundfish with other gear
types, such as hook and line and pot gears. This issue was identified
by TNC when they purchased bottom trawl permits, and they have been
exploring ways to mitigate the negative economic effects of the bottom
trawl LEP purchases, while exploring a shift to other harvest
mechanisms. The commercial fishery operating out of Morro Bay and Port
San Luis has been much reduced in recent years, causing economic
hardship on these fishing ports and the reduction of commercial fishing
infrastructure, including processors and ice dealers.
In 2004, the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) began
public scoping for development of a trawl rationalization and
individual fishing quota (IFQ) program. As the Council moves forward
with planning and analysis in drafting an Environmental Impact
Statement, it would be useful to have practical information on how
rationalized fisheries, fishing with individual quotas, would operate
in the Pacific coast groundfish fishery. TNC developed a proposal for
working with central California coast fishery participants to form a
community based fishing association that would cooperatively manage
fishing operations to maintain harvests within a total catch amount for
target and incidental species, rather than under the cumulative trip
limit structure in current Pacific coast groundfish regulations. Target
species with total catch amounts include: sablefish, slope rockfish,
longspine thornyhead, shortspine thornyhead, lingcod, chilipepper
rockfish, splitnose rockfish, spiny dogfish, Dover sole, petrale sole,
and other flatfish. Incidental catch species with total catch amounts
include all of the overfished species: canary rockfish, yelloweye
rockfish, widow rockfish, darkblotched rockfish, Pacific ocean perch,
cowcod, and bocaccio. Catches would be closely monitored by TNC and
NMFS to ensure total catch amounts are not exceeded.
If issued, this EFP would allow TNC to temporarily convert bottom
trawl LEPs into longline, trap, pot, and hook and line gear LEPs. It
would also allow TNC and designated vessels to land some groundfish
species in excess of trip limits so that they may structure their
fishing operation to better meet the needs of the community based
fishing association. If the EFP is issued, no more than six vessels
would participate in the EFP at any time. Vessels would be fishing
between 36[deg] N. lat. and 34[deg]27.00' N. lat. with longline, trap,
pot and hook and line gear, and would be subject to the non-trawl
Rockfish Conservation Area (RCA) in that region. All fish harvested
under this EFP would be landed in Morro Bay or Port San Luis,
California. Any groundfish species for which there is not a specified
total catch amount would be subject to the open access trip limits
applicable during the cumulative limit period in which fish are landed,
and for the area between 36[deg] N. lat. and 34[deg]27.00' N. lat.
Without an EFP, these activities are otherwise prohibited by Federal
regulations and TNC would not be able to test the usefulness of a
community based fishing association and gear switching mechanisms to
mitigate the impact of trawl effort reduction on communities and
promote conservation of fishing resources.
Data collected during this project are expected to have a broader
significance to the management of the Pacific coast groundfish fishery
by providing insight into the challenges and successes of managing a
community based fishing association under a rationalized fishery, as
well as informing fishery monitoring provisions that would need to
accompany an IFQ program for which individual accountability is a key
component.
Recreational Chilipepper EFP
The Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) and the Golden Gate
Fishermen's Association submitted their final EFP application package
to NMFS on February 14, 2008. The primary purpose of the EFP is to do
an area-based recreational fishing study to test if hook and line
fishing gear can be used to access underutilized chilipepper rockfish
seaward of the non-trawl RCA while keeping bycatch of overfished
species low.
Because the Pacific coast groundfish fishery is a mixed stock
fishery, catch of healthy stocks is constrained in order to reduce the
catch of rebuilding groundfish species. Chilipepper rockfish are an
underutilized species, and there has been increasing interest in recent
years in developing fisheries to target chilipepper rockfish. This EFP
would test development of a selective recreational target fishery in
depths seaward of 150-fm (274-m) off California, between 40[deg]10.00'
N. lat. and 34[deg]27.00' N. lat. (the North Central and South Central
regions).
The RFA developed a proposal for a self-funding EFP fishery, where
individual anglers would pay for an offshore chilipepper rockfish trip
on a charter passenger fishing vessel that would operate throughout the
year. Approximately 20 vessels would participate in this fishery,
however only a few boats would fish at any one time in order to meet
requirements for observer coverage. For every trip taken in the EFP
fishery, each passenger would be subject to a 10 groundfish total bag
limit for any groundfish species. Total catch of the target species,
chilipepper rockfish, would be limited on each trip by the 10 fish bag
limit per angler. Total catch of incidentally caught species,
particularly overfished rockfish species, would be limited by total
catch amounts for the entire EFP fishery. Incidental catch species with
total catch amounts include all of the overfished species: canary
rockfish, yelloweye rockfish, widow rockfish, darkblotched rockfish,
Pacific ocean perch, cowcod, and bocaccio. Catches would be closely
monitored by the RFA and NMFS to ensure total catch amounts for these
overfished species are not exceeded.
If issued, this EFP would allow recreational fishing for
chilipepper rockfish seaward of 150-fm (274-m) between 40[deg]10.00' N.
lat. and 34[deg]27.00' N. lat. It would also passengers aboard the EFP
charter fishing vessel to be exempt from recreational sub-bag limits
for any groundfish species, such as bocaccio, and it would also allow
passengers to retain and land overfished species, such as canary
rockfish, yelloweye rockfish, and cowcod, because they would be
required to retain all rockfish for catch accounting and conservation
purposes. Without an EFP, these activities are otherwise prohibited by
Federal regulations and the RFA would not be able to test a new market
for offshore recreational fishing opportunities for underutilized
species.
Data collected during this project are expected to have a broader
significance to the management of the Pacific coast groundfish fishery
by testing if a sustainable fishing opportunity could be provided in an
offshore recreational fishery for chilipepper rockfish. Catch
composition data and illustration of impacts to overfished species
would be the primary measure of success for the recreational hook and
line fishery that would be conducted under this EFP. If successful, and
the EFP demonstrates that bycatch is avoided targeting chilipepper
rockfish using hook and line gear seaward of 150-fm (274-m), it may be
possible in the future that some of the central California recreational
[[Page 19052]]
fishing effort can be shifted offshore, where there are fewer
interactions with overfished canary rockfish.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: April 2, 2008.
Emily H. Menashes
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E8-7268 Filed 4-7-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S
