Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; General Provisions for Domestic Fisheries; Application for Exempted Fishing Permits, 34832-34833 [2018-15724]
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34832
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 141 / Monday, July 23, 2018 / Notices
Program Standard Operating Policies
and Procedures.
DATES: The Citizen Science Operations
Committee meeting will be held on
Wednesday, August 8, 2018, from 1 p.m.
until 5 p.m. and on Thursday, August 9,
2018, from 8:30 a.m. until 3 p.m.
ADDRESSES:
Meeting address: The meeting will be
held at the Council office, 4055 Faber
Place Drive, Suite 201, N. Charleston,
SC 29405.
Council address: South Atlantic
Fishery Management Council, 4055
Faber Place Drive, Suite 201, N.
Charleston, SC 29405.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Amber Von Harten, Citizen Science
Program Manager, SAFMC; phone: (843)
302–8433 or toll free: (866) SAFMC–10;
fax: (843) 769–4520; email:
amber.vonharten@safmc.net.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
Council created a Citizen Science
Advisory Panel Pool in June 2017. The
Council appointed members of the
Citizen Science Advisory Panel Pool to
five Action Teams in the areas of
Volunteers, Data Management, Projects/
Topics Management, Finance, and
Communication/Outreach/Education to
develop recommendations on program
policies and operations for the Council’s
Citizen Science Program.
The Citizen Science Program
Blueprint, a framework document
outlining the organizational structure of
the Program, identified a Citizen
Science Operations was needed to
develop Standard Operations Policies
and Procedures (SOPPs) for the Citizen
Science Program. Recommendations
from the Citizen Science Action Teams
would be used to develop the SOPPs.
The Council appointed members to the
Citizen Science Operations Committee
in June 2018 and the Operations
Committee will meet to develop
Program SOPPs that will be reviewed by
the Council’s Citizen Science
Committee for adoption.
Items to be addressed during this
meeting:
1. Citizen Science Program Overview
2. Development of Citizen Science
Program SOPPs
3. Transition Plan for Citizen Science
Advisory Panel Pool and Action
Teams
4. Other Business
Special Accommodations
These meetings are physically
accessible to people with disabilities.
Requests for auxiliary aids should be
directed to the council office (see
ADDRESSES) 3 days prior to the meeting.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:59 Jul 20, 2018
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NOTE: The times and sequence specified in
this agenda are subject to change.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: July 18, 2018.
Rey Israel Marquez,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2018–15663 Filed 7–20–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
RIN 0648–XG350
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions;
General Provisions for Domestic
Fisheries; Application for Exempted
Fishing Permits
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
AGENCY:
The Acting 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. This
Exempted Fishing Permit would exempt
eight commercial fishing vessels from
limited access sea scallop regulations in
support of a study on seasonal bycatch
distribution and optimal scallop meat
yield on Georges Bank. 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 August 7, 2018.
ADDRESSES: You may submit written
comments by any of the following
methods:
• Email: nmfs.gar.efp@noaa.gov.
Include in the subject line ‘‘DA18–051
CFF Georges Bank Optimization Study
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
‘‘DA18–051 CFF Georges Bank
Optimization Study EFP.’’
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Shannah Jaburek, Fishery Management
Specialist, (978) 282–8456.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Coonamesset Farm Foundation (CFF)
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
submitted an exempted fishing permit
(EFP) application in support of a project
titled ‘‘Optimizing the Georges Bank
Scallop Fishery by Maximizing Meat
Yield and Minimizing Bycatch,’’ that
has been funded under the 2018
Atlantic Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside
(RSA) Program. The project will
evaluate seasonal distribution of
bycatch on the eastern part of Georges
Bank in relation to sea scallop meat
weight yield. Additional objectives
include testing of a modified scallop
dredge bag design to reduce flatfish
bycatch and collecting biological
samples to examine scallop meat quality
and yellowtail flounder liver disease.
Project investigators working on this
project would also work with New
Hampshire Fish and Game (NHFG) and
the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s
Association (AOLA) to tag female
lobsters.
To enable this research, CFF is
requesting exemptions for eight
commercial fishing vessels from the
Atlantic sea scallop days-at-sea (DAS)
allocations at 50 CFR 648.53(b); crew
size restrictions at § 648.51(c); observer
program requirements at § 648.11(g);
Closed Area II (CAII) scallop gear
restrictions specified at § 648.81(b); and
access area program requirements at
§ 648.59(a)(1)-(3), (b)(2), (b)(4), and
Closed Area II Scallop Access Area
Seasonal Closure at § 648.60(d)(2). CFF
has also requested that vessels be
exempt from possession limits and
minimum size requirements specified in
part 648, subsections B and D through
O for biological sampling, and § 697.20
for lobster sampling and tagging
purposes only.
Participating vessels would conduct
scallop dredging from August 2018
through June 2019. Vessels would
conduct a total of eight 7-day trips, for
a total of 56 DAS. Closed Area II Access
Area tows would take place in the
central portion situated below the
Closed Area II Habitat Closure Area,
including the Atlantic Sea Closed Area
II Scallop Access Area Seasonal Closure.
Open area tows would be conducted on
the western and southern boundaries of
Closed Area II. The applicant also
requested to conduct tows inside the
Closed Area II Habitat Closure Area.
This area remains closed to bottomtending mobile gear to protect sensitive
benthic habitat under Omnibus Habitat
Amendment II. Consequently, NMFS
does not intend to support the
applicant’s request to access the Habitat
Closure Area.
There is a potential for gear conflict
with lobster gear in the central portion
of Closed Area II. In an effort to help
mitigate gear interactions, CFF would
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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 141 / Monday, July 23, 2018 / Notices
distribute the time and location of
stations to the lobster industry, work
only during daylight hours, post an
extra lookout to avoid gear, and actively
avoid tangling in stationary gear. The
project would work in cooperation in
with NHFG and AOLA to tag lobsters
with the primary goal of documenting
their movement on and off Georges
Bank. The applicant states that data
from the tagging project could also help
answer questions of lobster discard
mortality in the scallop fishery.
All tows would be conducted with
two 15-foot (4.6-m) turtle deflector
dredges for a duration of 30 minutes
using an average tow speed of 4.8 knots.
One dredge would be rigged with a 7row apron and twine top hanging ratio
of 2:1, while the other dredge would be
rigged with a 5-row, extended link
apron and 1.5:1 twine top hanging ratio.
Both dredge frames would be rigged
with identical rock and tickler chain
configurations, 10-inch (25.4-cm) twine
top, and 4-inch (10.2-cm) ring bag. Gear
comparison data will help improve
efforts to reduce scallop dredge bycatch.
Dredge gear would conform to scallop
gear regulations.
For all tows, the entire sea scallop
catch would be counted into baskets
and weighed. One basket from each
dredge would be randomly selected, and
the scallops would be measured in 5milimeter increments to determine size
selectivity. All finfish catch would be
sorted by species and then counted and
measured. Weight, sex, and
reproductive state would be determined
for a random subsample (n=10) of
yellowtail, winter, and windowpane
flounders. Lobsters would be measured,
sexed, and evaluated for damage and
shell disease. No catch would be
retained for longer than needed to
conduct sampling, and no finfish or
lobsters would be landed for sale. All
catch estimates for the project are listed
in Table 1, below.
TABLE 1—COONAMESSETT FARM FOUNDATION GEORGES BANK SCALLOP RESEARCH PROJECT
Estimated
weight
(lb) *
Common name
Scientific name
Sea Scallop ......................................
Yellowtail Flounder ..........................
Winter Flounder ...............................
Windowpane Flounder .....................
Summer Flounder ............................
Fourspot Flounder ...........................
American Plaice ...............................
Grey Sole .........................................
Haddock ...........................................
Atlantic Cod .....................................
Monkfish ...........................................
Spiny Dogfish ...................................
Barndoor Skates ..............................
NE Skate Complex (excluding
barndoor skate).
Placopecten magellanicus .........................................................................
Limanda ferruginea ...................................................................................
Pseudopleuronectes americanus ..............................................................
Scophthalmus aquosus .............................................................................
Paralichthys dentatus ................................................................................
Paralichthys oblongus ...............................................................................
Hippoglossoides platessoides ...................................................................
Glyptocephalus cynoglossus .....................................................................
Melanogrammus aeglefinus ......................................................................
Gadus morhua ...........................................................................................
Lophius americanus ..................................................................................
Squalus acanthias .....................................................................................
Dipturus laevis ...........................................................................................
Leucoraja erinacea, Leucoraja ocellata ....................................................
American lobster ..............................
Homarus americanus ................................................................................
Estimated
weight
(kg)
33,103
1,097
1,605
5,656
1,886
148
180
24
116
199
16,839
173
2,217
127,055
15, 015
498
728
2,566
855
67
82
11
53
90
7,638
78
1,006
57,631
1,000 **
amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES1
* Weights estimated using catch from a similar 2016 project.
** Number of individual animals estimated to be caught.
The applicant states that the
exemptions are necessary to allow them
to conduct experimental dredge towing
without being charged DAS, as well as
deploy gear in areas that are currently
closed to scallop fishing. Participating
vessels need crew size waivers to
accommodate science personnel.
Exemptions from possession limits
would allow researchers to sample
finfish and lobster catch that exceeds
possession limits or prohibitions. The
project would be exempt from the sea
scallop observer program requirements
because activities conducted on the trip
are not consistent with normal fishing
operations. Researchers from CFF will
accompany each trip taken under the
EFP. The goal of the proposed work is
to provide information on spatial and
temporal patterns in bycatch rates in the
scallop fishery, with the objective of
identifying mechanisms to mitigate
bycatch. The data collected would
enhance understanding of bycatch and
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:59 Jul 20, 2018
Jkt 244001
scallop yield as they relate to access and
open area management.
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: July 18, 2018.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2018–15724 Filed 7–20–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
PO 00000
Frm 00011
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark
Office
Submission for OMB Review;
Comment Request; Third-Party
Submissions and Protests
The United States Patent and
Trademark Office (USPTO) will submit
to the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for clearance the following
proposal for collection of information
under the provisions of the Paperwork
Reduction Act.
Agency: United States Patent and
Trademark Office, Commerce.
Title: Third-Party Submissions and
Protests.
OMB Control Number: 0651–0062.
Form Number(s):
• PTO/SB/429
Type of Request: Regular.
Number of Respondents: 1,450
responses.
E:\FR\FM\23JYN1.SGM
23JYN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 141 (Monday, July 23, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34832-34833]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-15724]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XG350
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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Acting 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. This
Exempted Fishing Permit would exempt eight commercial fishing vessels
from limited access sea scallop regulations in support of a study on
seasonal bycatch distribution and optimal scallop meat yield on Georges
Bank. 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 August 7, 2018.
ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by any of the following
methods:
Email: [email protected]. Include in the subject line
``DA18-051 CFF Georges Bank Optimization Study 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 ``DA18-051 CFF
Georges Bank Optimization Study EFP.''
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shannah Jaburek, Fishery Management
Specialist, (978) 282-8456.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Coonamesset Farm Foundation (CFF) submitted
an exempted fishing permit (EFP) application in support of a project
titled ``Optimizing the Georges Bank Scallop Fishery by Maximizing Meat
Yield and Minimizing Bycatch,'' that has been funded under the 2018
Atlantic Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program. The project will
evaluate seasonal distribution of bycatch on the eastern part of
Georges Bank in relation to sea scallop meat weight yield. Additional
objectives include testing of a modified scallop dredge bag design to
reduce flatfish bycatch and collecting biological samples to examine
scallop meat quality and yellowtail flounder liver disease. Project
investigators working on this project would also work with New
Hampshire Fish and Game (NHFG) and the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen's
Association (AOLA) to tag female lobsters.
To enable this research, CFF is requesting exemptions for eight
commercial fishing vessels from the Atlantic sea scallop days-at-sea
(DAS) allocations at 50 CFR 648.53(b); crew size restrictions at Sec.
648.51(c); observer program requirements at Sec. 648.11(g); Closed
Area II (CAII) scallop gear restrictions specified at Sec. 648.81(b);
and access area program requirements at Sec. 648.59(a)(1)-(3), (b)(2),
(b)(4), and Closed Area II Scallop Access Area Seasonal Closure at
Sec. 648.60(d)(2). CFF has also requested that vessels be exempt from
possession limits and minimum size requirements specified in part 648,
subsections B and D through O for biological sampling, and Sec. 697.20
for lobster sampling and tagging purposes only.
Participating vessels would conduct scallop dredging from August
2018 through June 2019. Vessels would conduct a total of eight 7-day
trips, for a total of 56 DAS. Closed Area II Access Area tows would
take place in the central portion situated below the Closed Area II
Habitat Closure Area, including the Atlantic Sea Closed Area II Scallop
Access Area Seasonal Closure. Open area tows would be conducted on the
western and southern boundaries of Closed Area II. The applicant also
requested to conduct tows inside the Closed Area II Habitat Closure
Area. This area remains closed to bottom-tending mobile gear to protect
sensitive benthic habitat under Omnibus Habitat Amendment II.
Consequently, NMFS does not intend to support the applicant's request
to access the Habitat Closure Area.
There is a potential for gear conflict with lobster gear in the
central portion of Closed Area II. In an effort to help mitigate gear
interactions, CFF would
[[Page 34833]]
distribute the time and location of stations to the lobster industry,
work only during daylight hours, post an extra lookout to avoid gear,
and actively avoid tangling in stationary gear. The project would work
in cooperation in with NHFG and AOLA to tag lobsters with the primary
goal of documenting their movement on and off Georges Bank. The
applicant states that data from the tagging project could also help
answer questions of lobster discard mortality in the scallop fishery.
All tows would be conducted with two 15-foot (4.6-m) turtle
deflector dredges for a duration of 30 minutes using an average tow
speed of 4.8 knots. One dredge would be rigged with a 7-row apron and
twine top hanging ratio of 2:1, while the other dredge would be rigged
with a 5-row, extended link apron and 1.5:1 twine top hanging ratio.
Both dredge frames would be rigged with identical rock and tickler
chain configurations, 10-inch (25.4-cm) twine top, and 4-inch (10.2-cm)
ring bag. Gear comparison data will help improve efforts to reduce
scallop dredge bycatch. Dredge gear would conform to scallop gear
regulations.
For all tows, the entire sea scallop catch would be counted into
baskets and weighed. One basket from each dredge would be randomly
selected, and the scallops would be measured in 5-milimeter increments
to determine size selectivity. All finfish catch would be sorted by
species and then counted and measured. Weight, sex, and reproductive
state would be determined for a random subsample (n=10) of yellowtail,
winter, and windowpane flounders. Lobsters would be measured, sexed,
and evaluated for damage and shell disease. No catch would be retained
for longer than needed to conduct sampling, and no finfish or lobsters
would be landed for sale. All catch estimates for the project are
listed in Table 1, below.
Table 1--Coonamessett Farm Foundation Georges Bank Scallop Research Project
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Estimated
Common name Scientific name weight (lb) * weight (kg)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sea Scallop................................ Placopecten magellanicus........... 33,103 15, 015
Yellowtail Flounder........................ Limanda ferruginea................. 1,097 498
Winter Flounder............................ Pseudopleuronectes americanus...... 1,605 728
Windowpane Flounder........................ Scophthalmus aquosus............... 5,656 2,566
Summer Flounder............................ Paralichthys dentatus.............. 1,886 855
Fourspot Flounder.......................... Paralichthys oblongus.............. 148 67
American Plaice............................ Hippoglossoides platessoides....... 180 82
Grey Sole.................................. Glyptocephalus cynoglossus......... 24 11
Haddock.................................... Melanogrammus aeglefinus........... 116 53
Atlantic Cod............................... Gadus morhua....................... 199 90
Monkfish................................... Lophius americanus................. 16,839 7,638
Spiny Dogfish.............................. Squalus acanthias.................. 173 78
Barndoor Skates............................ Dipturus laevis.................... 2,217 1,006
NE Skate Complex (excluding barndoor skate) Leucoraja erinacea, Leucoraja 127,055 57,631
ocellata.
-------------------------------
American lobster........................... Homarus americanus................. 1,000 **
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Weights estimated using catch from a similar 2016 project.
** Number of individual animals estimated to be caught.
The applicant states that the exemptions are necessary to allow
them to conduct experimental dredge towing without being charged DAS,
as well as deploy gear in areas that are currently closed to scallop
fishing. Participating vessels need crew size waivers to accommodate
science personnel. Exemptions from possession limits would allow
researchers to sample finfish and lobster catch that exceeds possession
limits or prohibitions. The project would be exempt from the sea
scallop observer program requirements because activities conducted on
the trip are not consistent with normal fishing operations. Researchers
from CFF will accompany each trip taken under the EFP. The goal of the
proposed work is to provide information on spatial and temporal
patterns in bycatch rates in the scallop fishery, with the objective of
identifying mechanisms to mitigate bycatch. The data collected would
enhance understanding of bycatch and scallop yield as they relate to
access and open area management.
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: July 18, 2018.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2018-15724 Filed 7-20-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
