Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act Provisions; Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act Provisions; General Provisions for Domestic Fisheries; Application for Exempted Fishing Permits, 18395-18397 [2024-05262]
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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 50 / Wednesday, March 13, 2024 / Notices
renewed and renamed as ACES on
March 4, 2024.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
Committee was first established in May
2002 to advise the Under Secretary of
Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere
on matters relating to the U.S.
commercial remote sensing industry
and NOAA’s activities to carry out the
responsibilities of the Department of
Commerce set forth in the National and
Commercial Space Programs Act of 2010
(the Act), title 51 U.S.C. 60101 et seq.
(formerly the Land Remote Sensing
Policy Act of 1992, 15 U.S.C. 5621–
5625).
ACES will have a fairly balanced
membership consisting of no more than
25 members serving in a representative
or Special Government Employee
capacity. The members should represent
a variety of space policy, engineering,
technical, science, legal, and finance
professionals with significant expertise
in the commercial space industry. Each
candidate member shall be
recommended by the Director of
NOAA’s Office of Space Commerce
(OSC) and shall be appointed by the
Under Secretary or the OSC Director,
generally for a term of two years and
serve at the discretion of the Under
Secretary or OSC Director.
The Committee will function solely as
an advisory body, and in compliance
with provisions of the Federal Advisory
Committee Act. Copies of the
Committee’s revised Charter have been
filed with the appropriate committees of
the Congress and with the Library of
Congress.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jason Y. Kim, Chief of Staff, NOAA
Office of Space Commerce, 1401
Constitution Ave. NW, Room 68015,
Washington, DC 20230; telephone 202–
482–6125; email space.commerce@
noaa.gov.
Michael C. Morgan,
Assistant Secretary for Environmental
Observation and Prediction.
[FR Doc. 2024–05284 Filed 3–12–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
[RTID 0648–XD786]
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act
Provisions; Atlantic Coastal Fisheries
Cooperative Management 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 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
federally permitted fishing vessels to
fish outside fishery regulations in
support of exempted fishing activities
proposed by the Maine Department of
Marine Resources. Regulations under
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act and
SUMMARY:
18395
the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries
Cooperative Management Act require
publication of this notification to
provide interested parties the
opportunity to comment on applications
for proposed exempted fishing permits
(EFP).
DATES: Comments must be received on
or before March 28, 2024.
ADDRESSES: You may submit written
comments by the following method:
• Email: nmfs.gar.efp@noaa.gov.
Include in the subject line ‘‘MDMR 2024
On-demand EFP’’
All comments received are a part of
the public record and will generally be
posted for public viewing in https://
www.noaa.gov/organization/
information-technology/foia-readingroom without change. All personal
identifying information (e.g., name,
address), confidential business
information, or otherwise sensitive
information submitted voluntarily by
the sender will be publicly accessible.
NMFS will accept anonymous
comments (enter ‘‘anonymous’’ as the
signature if you wish to remain
anonymous).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Christine Ford, Fishery Management
Specialist, Christine.Ford@noaa.gov,
(978) 281–9185.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Maine
Department of Marine Resources
(MDMR) submitted a complete
application for an EFP to conduct
commercial fishing activities that the
regulations would otherwise restrict to
test alternative gear retrieval systems
that only use one traditional surface
buoy. This EFP would exempt the
participating vessels from the following
Federal regulations:
TABLE 1—REQUESTED EXEMPTIONS
CFR citation
Regulation
Need for exemption
50 CFR 697.21(b)(2) .......................
Gear marking requirements ...........
50 CFR 648.84(b) ...........................
Gear marking requirements ...........
For trial of trap/pot gear with no more than one surface marking on
trawls of more than three traps.
For trial of gillnet gear with no more than one surface marking.
TABLE 2—PROJECT SUMMARY
Project title ......................................
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Project Start ....................................
Project End .....................................
Project objectives ............................
Project location ...............................
Number of vessels ..........................
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17:33 Mar 12, 2024
Testing various acoustic on-demand fishing technologies that help minimize the risk of large whale entanglements in trap/pot and gillnet fishing gear in the Gulf of Maine.
Upon Issuance.
One year from the date of issuance.
Provide access, training, and support to fishers in the Gulf of Maine to test acoustic on-demand fishing and
gear geolocation technology. Data collected will help provide feedback to manufacturers to adapt to the
specific needs of Maine fishers involved in fixed gear fleets. This work is important to reduce the risk associated with vertical lines to the endangered North Atlantic right whale in the Gulf of Maine.
Trap/pot: Lobster Management Area 1 and all Maine Lobster Conservation Zones (A, B, C, D, E, F, G).
Gillnet: Statistical Areas 513, 514, 515.
50 (up to 45 trap/pot; up to 5 gillnet).
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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 50 / Wednesday, March 13, 2024 / Notices
TABLE 2—PROJECT SUMMARY—Continued
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
Number of trips, trip duration
(days), total number of days,
number of tows or sets, and duration of tows or sets.
Gear type(s) ....................................
See project narrative.
Trap/pot and anchored gillnet.
Project Narrative
This EFP would allow federally
permitted vessels to test alternative
gears to reduce entanglement risk to
protected species, mainly the North
Atlantic right whale, in trap/pot and
sink gillnet fisheries. There are two
components to this EFP, a gear library
component, which is an assortment of
devices and technologies to retrieve
gear, and a gear geolocation component.
For the gear library component,
participating vessels would replace one
traditional surface marking with a
spring-tag or timed-release retrieval
system, a buoy and stowed-rope system,
or a lift-bag system. A spring-tag
retrieval system uses a low breaking
strength (<1,700 pounds (lb) (<771
kilograms (kg))) buoy line that releases
a stowed retrieval line of greater
breaking strength when subjected to
tension (>75 lb (>34 kg)). A timedrelease retrieval system releases a
stowed line after a programmed pre-set
soak time. A buoy and stowed-rope
system or a lift-bag system uses an
acoustic trigger sent from the vessel to
release the retrieval system, once the
vessel is in close proximity to the gear.
Each vessel would modify two trawls or
strings by replacing one of the
traditional vertical lines with one of the
available on-demand retrieval systems,
resulting in no additional vertical lines
in the water. Vessels would be required
to use one traditional surface marking
on the other end of trap trawls of more
than three traps and on all gillnet gear.
For trap trawls of fewer than three traps,
vessels would still use one traditional
surface marking, in addition to the ondemand retrieval system; therefore,
there would be no fully ropeless trawls.
Other than gear markings, all trap trawls
and gillnet strings would be consistent
with the regulations of the management
area where the vessel is fishing and
would be fished in accordance with the
participating vessels’ standard
operations (i.e., number and length of
trips, soak times, trap limits, etc.).
The gear geolocation component of
this project will include a subset (up to
10) of the trap/pot vessels participating
in the gear library component. Vessels
would use acoustic positioning systems
from any of the five available
manufacturers (Teledyne Benthos,
Ropeless Systems, Ashored, Nova
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:33 Mar 12, 2024
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Robotics, and Advanced Navigation),
and would modify up to three trawls by
replacing one of the traditional vertical
lines with either a buoy and stowedrope system or a lift-bag system to
communicate with the acoustic
positioning systems. The trawls would
be set at different distances apart,
within a density slightly greater than
common gear densities, allowed to soak
no longer than one hour each, and then
be retrieved in rapid succession. The
focus of this component would be
testing the acoustic positioning systems
to determine the extent of difference
between acoustic geolocation and
surface buoy or surface GPS geolocation,
as well as testing the performance of the
different acoustic positioning systems in
an environment where multiple acoustic
signals are being transmitted
simultaneously. Up to 10 discrete
single-day gear geolocation trials would
be conducted within the fishing year.
These trials would increase trap/pot
effort via short soaks and high rate of
retrieval. However, catch per unit effort
would be reduced. Any legal catch
would be kept for sale.
MDMR researchers anticipate up to
5,200 total hauls of hybrid trap/pot
trawls or gillnet strings for the gear
library component, and up to an
additional 150 retrievals of hybrid trap/
pot trawls for the gear geolocation
component. Trap trawls would be
consistent with Atlantic Large Whale
Take Reduction Plan (ALWTRP)
regulations. Trawls would not exceed 50
traps per trawl and the gear library
component trawls would soak for
approximately 3 days (and not more
than 30 days). Gillnets would be
consistent with ALWTRP and Harbor
Porpoise Take Reduction Plan (HPTRP)
regulations. Gillnets would use 15–30.5
centimeters (cm) mesh, would not
exceed 3,200 meters (m), and would
soak for a period of approximately 24
hours (and not more than 30 days).
To ensure broad participation and
target areas where data is needed,
MDMR has requested the flexibility to
modify the participant vessel list and
would submit modifications to the
active participants list one month in
advance. MDMR and the gear
manufacturers will distribute gear and
train all participants on its use.
Scientific observers may accompany the
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participants on up to two trips per
vessel, within budget and safety
limitations. MDMR would provide
standardized data collection sheets to
all participants, but individually
identifiable data will only be made
public with the express permission of
the vessel owner. Additionally, MDMR
has requested an EFP Interactive Voice
Response (IVR) reporting waiver for
those trap/pot vessels not typically
subject to IVR reporting; the applicant
states that this requirement is a barrier
to fishermen recruitment to this project,
and is duplicative of the required eVTR
reporting.
The project objectives are to: (1)
Collect data on deployments and
retrievals of various acoustic on-demand
fishing gears within the trap/pot and
gillnet fisheries in the Gulf of Maine; (2)
provide support and training to fishers
on various on-demand technologies; (3)
assess fishing areas that may be best
suited for adopting the tested retrieval
systems; (4) increase familiarity within
the trap/pot and gillnet fisheries with
on-demand gear; (5) provide feedback to
on-demand fishing gear manufacturers
to increase performance under
commercial fishery conditions; (6) trial
gear geolocation and marking systems
that promote interoperability for fishers
and management; and (7) compare the
relative precision of various gear
geolocation technologies to improve
understanding of how transitioning to
acoustic technologies may impact
fishing behavior.
MDMR has proposed the following
best management and risk reduction
practices:
• Experimental buoy lines would be
marked with unique white and blue
markings above the required regional
markings;
• All vessels would provide
mandatory, weekly gear loss and
conflict reports to the Principal
Investigator (PI), and the PI would
provide monthly gear loss and conflict
reports to the NOAA Greater Atlantic
Regional Fisheries Office;
• After release, the on-demand
vertical lines would be retrieved as
quickly as possible to minimize time in
the water column;
• All vessels would record right
whale sightings on data sheets, and
would notify NMFS via email
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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 50 / Wednesday, March 13, 2024 / Notices
(ne.rw.survey@noaa.gov), or NOAA via
phone (866–755–6622), or the U.S.
Coast Guard (Channel 16);
• All vessels would adhere to a 10knot speed limit when transiting
dynamic management areas, transiting
areas closed to vertical lines, and/or
when whales are observed;
• All vessels would adhere to current
approach regulations that create a 500yard (1,500-feet (ft)) buffer zone in the
presence of a surfacing right whale and
would depart immediately at a safe and
slow speed. Hauling any fishing gear
would cease once the entire string or
trawl was aboard the vessel, to
accommodate the regulation, and be
redeployed only after it was reasonable
to assume the whale left the area; and
• Law enforcement would be able to
inspect gear at any time because one
traditional surface-marking would be
present at all times. The PI would notify
law enforcement agencies (NOAA Office
of Law Enforcement (OLE) and Maine
Marine Patrol) of project participants
and activities in advance of the project
start date, including:
Æ Materials related to the
redeployment of alternative gearretrieval systems, most relevant to the
spring-tagline retrieval system; and
Æ Information necessary to continue
relevant enforcement operations with
participant gear.
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: March 7, 2024.
Everett Wayne Baxter,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024–05262 Filed 3–12–24; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
RTID 0648–XD796
Marine Mammals and Endangered
Species; File No. 27671
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
AGENCY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:33 Mar 12, 2024
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Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; receipt of application.
Notice is hereby given that
the Northwest Fisheries Science Center,
Marine Forensic Laboratory, 2725
Montlake Blvd. East, Seattle, WA 98112
(Kevin Werner, Ph.D., Responsible
Party), has applied in due form for a
permit to receive, import, and export
marine mammal and protected species
parts for scientific research.
DATES: Written, telefaxed, or email
comments must be received on or before
April 12, 2024.
ADDRESSES: The application and related
documents are available for review by
selecting ‘‘Records Open for Public
Comment’’ from the ‘‘Features’’ box on
the Applications and Permits for
Protected Species (APPS) home page,
https://apps.nmfs.noaa.gov, and then
selecting File No. 27671 from the list of
available applications. These documents
are also available upon written request
via email to NMFS.Pr1Comments@
noaa.gov.
Written comments on this application
should be submitted via email to
NMFS.Pr1Comments@noaa.gov. Please
include File No. 27671 in the subject
line of the email comment.
Those individuals requesting a public
hearing should submit a written request
via email to NMFS.Pr1Comments@
noaa.gov. The request should set forth
the specific reasons why a hearing on
this application would be appropriate.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Malcolm Mohead or Jennifer Skidmore,
(301) 427–8401.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
subject permit is requested under the
authority of the Marine Mammal
Protection Act of 1972, as amended
(MMPA; 16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.), the
regulations governing the taking and
importing of marine mammals (50 CFR
part 216), the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531
et seq.), the regulations governing the
taking, importing, and exporting of
endangered and threatened species (50
CFR parts 222–226), and the Fur Seal
Act of 1966, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1151
et seq.).
The applicant proposes to receive,
import, and export samples from up to
100 individual animals from each
species of all cetaceans, pinnipeds
(excluding walrus), sea turtles (in
water), coral, and individual species of
fish and abalone listed under the ESA
including: black and white abalone,
Pacific and Atlantic salmonids, sawfish,
sturgeon, sharks, grouper, rockfish,
guitarfish, and totoaba. Receipt, import,
SUMMARY:
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18397
and export is requested worldwide.
Sources of samples may include animal
strandings in foreign countries, foreign
and domestic subsistence harvests,
captive animals, other authorized
persons or collections, incidentally
bycaught animals, transfers from law
enforcement, and marine mammals that
died incidental to commercial fishing
operations in the U.S. and foreign
countries, where such take is legal.
Samples would be archived at the
Marine Forensics Laboratories in either
Charleston, South Carolina, Seattle,
Washington, and Ashland, Oregon.
Samples would be used for research,
supporting law enforcement actions,
and outreach and education. No live
takes from the wild would be
authorized. The requested duration of
the permit is 5 years.
In compliance with the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), an initial
determination has been made that the
activity proposed is categorically
excluded from the requirement to
prepare an environmental assessment or
environmental impact statement.
Concurrent with the publication of
this notice in the Federal Register,
NMFS is forwarding copies of the
application to the Marine Mammal
Commission and its Committee of
Scientific Advisors.
Dated: March 7, 2024.
Julia Marie Harrison,
Chief, Permits and Conservation Division,
Office of Protected Resources, National
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024–05261 Filed 3–12–24; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Office of the Secretary
Board of Visitors, National Defense
University; Notice of Federal Advisory
Committee Meeting
Office of the Chairman Joint
Chiefs of Staff, Department of Defense
(DoD).
ACTION: Notice of Federal advisory
committee meeting.
AGENCY:
The DoD is publishing this
notice to announce that the following
Federal Advisory Committee meeting of
the Board of Visitors, National Defense
University (BoV NDU) will take place.
DATES: Thursday, April 18, 2024 from
9:00 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. Eastern Time
(ET).
SUMMARY:
Marshall Hall, Building 62,
Room 155, the National Defense
ADDRESSES:
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 50 (Wednesday, March 13, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18395-18397]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-05262]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XD786]
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act
Provisions; Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management 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 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 federally permitted fishing vessels
to fish outside fishery regulations in support of exempted fishing
activities proposed by the Maine Department of Marine Resources.
Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act and the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative
Management Act require publication of this notification to provide
interested parties the opportunity to comment on applications for
proposed exempted fishing permits (EFP).
DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 28, 2024.
ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by the following method:
Email: [email protected]. Include in the subject line
``MDMR 2024 On-demand EFP''
All comments received are a part of the public record and will
generally be posted for public viewing in https://www.noaa.gov/organization/information-technology/foia-reading-room without change.
All personal identifying information (e.g., name, address),
confidential business information, or otherwise sensitive information
submitted voluntarily by the sender will be publicly accessible. NMFS
will accept anonymous comments (enter ``anonymous'' as the signature if
you wish to remain anonymous).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christine Ford, Fishery Management
Specialist, [email protected], (978) 281-9185.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Maine Department of Marine Resources
(MDMR) submitted a complete application for an EFP to conduct
commercial fishing activities that the regulations would otherwise
restrict to test alternative gear retrieval systems that only use one
traditional surface buoy. This EFP would exempt the participating
vessels from the following Federal regulations:
Table 1--Requested Exemptions
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CFR citation Regulation Need for exemption
------------------------------------------------------------------------
50 CFR 697.21(b)(2)........... Gear marking For trial of trap/pot
requirements. gear with no more
than one surface
marking on trawls of
more than three
traps.
50 CFR 648.84(b).............. Gear marking For trial of gillnet
requirements. gear with no more
than one surface
marking.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 2--Project Summary
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Project title..................... Testing various acoustic on-demand
fishing technologies that help
minimize the risk of large whale
entanglements in trap/pot and
gillnet fishing gear in the Gulf of
Maine.
Project Start..................... Upon Issuance.
Project End....................... One year from the date of issuance.
Project objectives................ Provide access, training, and
support to fishers in the Gulf of
Maine to test acoustic on-demand
fishing and gear geolocation
technology. Data collected will
help provide feedback to
manufacturers to adapt to the
specific needs of Maine fishers
involved in fixed gear fleets. This
work is important to reduce the
risk associated with vertical lines
to the endangered North Atlantic
right whale in the Gulf of Maine.
Project location.................. Trap/pot: Lobster Management Area 1
and all Maine Lobster Conservation
Zones (A, B, C, D, E, F, G).
Gillnet: Statistical Areas 513, 514,
515.
Number of vessels................. 50 (up to 45 trap/pot; up to 5
gillnet).
[[Page 18396]]
Number of trips, trip duration See project narrative.
(days), total number of days,
number of tows or sets, and
duration of tows or sets.
Gear type(s)...................... Trap/pot and anchored gillnet.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Project Narrative
This EFP would allow federally permitted vessels to test
alternative gears to reduce entanglement risk to protected species,
mainly the North Atlantic right whale, in trap/pot and sink gillnet
fisheries. There are two components to this EFP, a gear library
component, which is an assortment of devices and technologies to
retrieve gear, and a gear geolocation component.
For the gear library component, participating vessels would replace
one traditional surface marking with a spring-tag or timed-release
retrieval system, a buoy and stowed-rope system, or a lift-bag system.
A spring-tag retrieval system uses a low breaking strength (<1,700
pounds (lb) (<771 kilograms (kg))) buoy line that releases a stowed
retrieval line of greater breaking strength when subjected to tension
(>75 lb (>34 kg)). A timed-release retrieval system releases a stowed
line after a programmed pre-set soak time. A buoy and stowed-rope
system or a lift-bag system uses an acoustic trigger sent from the
vessel to release the retrieval system, once the vessel is in close
proximity to the gear. Each vessel would modify two trawls or strings
by replacing one of the traditional vertical lines with one of the
available on-demand retrieval systems, resulting in no additional
vertical lines in the water. Vessels would be required to use one
traditional surface marking on the other end of trap trawls of more
than three traps and on all gillnet gear. For trap trawls of fewer than
three traps, vessels would still use one traditional surface marking,
in addition to the on-demand retrieval system; therefore, there would
be no fully ropeless trawls. Other than gear markings, all trap trawls
and gillnet strings would be consistent with the regulations of the
management area where the vessel is fishing and would be fished in
accordance with the participating vessels' standard operations (i.e.,
number and length of trips, soak times, trap limits, etc.).
The gear geolocation component of this project will include a
subset (up to 10) of the trap/pot vessels participating in the gear
library component. Vessels would use acoustic positioning systems from
any of the five available manufacturers (Teledyne Benthos, Ropeless
Systems, Ashored, Nova Robotics, and Advanced Navigation), and would
modify up to three trawls by replacing one of the traditional vertical
lines with either a buoy and stowed-rope system or a lift-bag system to
communicate with the acoustic positioning systems. The trawls would be
set at different distances apart, within a density slightly greater
than common gear densities, allowed to soak no longer than one hour
each, and then be retrieved in rapid succession. The focus of this
component would be testing the acoustic positioning systems to
determine the extent of difference between acoustic geolocation and
surface buoy or surface GPS geolocation, as well as testing the
performance of the different acoustic positioning systems in an
environment where multiple acoustic signals are being transmitted
simultaneously. Up to 10 discrete single-day gear geolocation trials
would be conducted within the fishing year. These trials would increase
trap/pot effort via short soaks and high rate of retrieval. However,
catch per unit effort would be reduced. Any legal catch would be kept
for sale.
MDMR researchers anticipate up to 5,200 total hauls of hybrid trap/
pot trawls or gillnet strings for the gear library component, and up to
an additional 150 retrievals of hybrid trap/pot trawls for the gear
geolocation component. Trap trawls would be consistent with Atlantic
Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (ALWTRP) regulations. Trawls would not
exceed 50 traps per trawl and the gear library component trawls would
soak for approximately 3 days (and not more than 30 days). Gillnets
would be consistent with ALWTRP and Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan
(HPTRP) regulations. Gillnets would use 15-30.5 centimeters (cm) mesh,
would not exceed 3,200 meters (m), and would soak for a period of
approximately 24 hours (and not more than 30 days).
To ensure broad participation and target areas where data is
needed, MDMR has requested the flexibility to modify the participant
vessel list and would submit modifications to the active participants
list one month in advance. MDMR and the gear manufacturers will
distribute gear and train all participants on its use. Scientific
observers may accompany the participants on up to two trips per vessel,
within budget and safety limitations. MDMR would provide standardized
data collection sheets to all participants, but individually
identifiable data will only be made public with the express permission
of the vessel owner. Additionally, MDMR has requested an EFP
Interactive Voice Response (IVR) reporting waiver for those trap/pot
vessels not typically subject to IVR reporting; the applicant states
that this requirement is a barrier to fishermen recruitment to this
project, and is duplicative of the required eVTR reporting.
The project objectives are to: (1) Collect data on deployments and
retrievals of various acoustic on-demand fishing gears within the trap/
pot and gillnet fisheries in the Gulf of Maine; (2) provide support and
training to fishers on various on-demand technologies; (3) assess
fishing areas that may be best suited for adopting the tested retrieval
systems; (4) increase familiarity within the trap/pot and gillnet
fisheries with on-demand gear; (5) provide feedback to on-demand
fishing gear manufacturers to increase performance under commercial
fishery conditions; (6) trial gear geolocation and marking systems that
promote interoperability for fishers and management; and (7) compare
the relative precision of various gear geolocation technologies to
improve understanding of how transitioning to acoustic technologies may
impact fishing behavior.
MDMR has proposed the following best management and risk reduction
practices:
Experimental buoy lines would be marked with unique white
and blue markings above the required regional markings;
All vessels would provide mandatory, weekly gear loss and
conflict reports to the Principal Investigator (PI), and the PI would
provide monthly gear loss and conflict reports to the NOAA Greater
Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office;
After release, the on-demand vertical lines would be
retrieved as quickly as possible to minimize time in the water column;
All vessels would record right whale sightings on data
sheets, and would notify NMFS via email
[[Page 18397]]
([email protected]), or NOAA via phone (866-755-6622), or the U.S.
Coast Guard (Channel 16);
All vessels would adhere to a 10-knot speed limit when
transiting dynamic management areas, transiting areas closed to
vertical lines, and/or when whales are observed;
All vessels would adhere to current approach regulations
that create a 500-yard (1,500-feet (ft)) buffer zone in the presence of
a surfacing right whale and would depart immediately at a safe and slow
speed. Hauling any fishing gear would cease once the entire string or
trawl was aboard the vessel, to accommodate the regulation, and be
redeployed only after it was reasonable to assume the whale left the
area; and
Law enforcement would be able to inspect gear at any time
because one traditional surface-marking would be present at all times.
The PI would notify law enforcement agencies (NOAA Office of Law
Enforcement (OLE) and Maine Marine Patrol) of project participants and
activities in advance of the project start date, including:
[cir] Materials related to the redeployment of alternative gear-
retrieval systems, most relevant to the spring-tagline retrieval
system; and
[cir] Information necessary to continue relevant enforcement
operations with participant gear.
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: March 7, 2024.
Everett Wayne Baxter,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-05262 Filed 3-12-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
