Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Application for an Exempted Fishing Permit, 13856-13858 [2025-05261]
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Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 58 / Thursday, March 27, 2025 / Notices
—Next Meetings
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—Adjourn
Note (1): Other than starting time and
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practicable.
Note (2): Financial disclosure forms
are available for inspection at this
meeting, as per 50 CFR part 601.
The order of business may be adjusted
as necessary to accommodate the
completion of agenda items. The
meeting will begin on April 22, 2025, at
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interested parties should be aware that
discussions may start earlier or later
than indicated in the agenda, at the
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For any additional information on this
public hybrid meeting, please contact
Diana Martino, Caribbean Fishery
Management Council, 270 Muñoz
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Puerto Rico, 00918–1903, telephone:
(787) 226–8849.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: March 21, 2025.
Rey Israel Marquez,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2025–05219 Filed 3–26–25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Notice of Availability of Evaluation
Findings for Coastal Zone
Management Programs and National
Estuarine Research Reserve
Office for Coastal Management,
National Ocean Service, National
Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, Department of
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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AGENCY:
Notice is hereby given of the
availability of final evaluation findings
SUMMARY:
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17:43 Mar 26, 2025
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for the Sapelo Island National Estuarine
Research Reserve and six State and
Territory coastal management programs:
American Samoa, Hawaii, Mississippi,
New Hampshire, New York, and
Oregon, which were prepared pursuant
to sections 312 and 315 of the Coastal
Zone Management Act.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1458 and 1461(f);
15 CFR 921.40 and 923.133.
Keelin Kuipers,
Deputy Director, Office for Coastal
Management, National Ocean Service,
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2025–05158 Filed 3–26–25; 8:45 am]
Copies of these final
evaluation findings may be found at
https://coast.noaa.gov/czm/evaluations/
evaluation_findings/ or by
submitting a written request to
czma.evaluations@noaa.gov.
BILLING CODE 3510–08–P
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
[RTID 0648–XE730]
Michael Migliori, Manager, Evaluation
and Compliance, NOAA Office for
Coastal Management, by phone at (443)
332–8936 or email at Michael.Migliori@
noaa.gov.
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic
Zone Off Alaska; Application for an
Exempted Fishing Permit
ADDRESSES:
NOAA’s
Office for Coastal Management has
completed the coastal zone management
program final evaluation findings for the
States of Hawaii, Mississippi, New
Hampshire, New York, and Oregon and
the Territory of American Samoa. The
States and Territory were found to be
implementing and enforcing their
federally approved coastal zone
management programs, addressing the
national coastal management objectives
identified in Coastal Zone Management
Act section 303(2), and adhering to the
programmatic terms of their financial
assistance awards. In addition, NOAA’s
Office for Coastal Management has
completed the final evaluation findings
for Sapelo Island National Estuarine
Research Reserve. The reserve was
found to be adhering to the terms of the
reserves’ financial assistance awards
and to the programmatic requirements
of the Coastal Zone Management Act,
including the requirements of Coastal
Zone Management Act section 315(b)(2)
and its implementing regulations.
NOAA published notices in the
Federal Register for public meetings
and opportunities to submit public
comments on the evaluation of these
State and Territory coastal zone
management programs and the national
estuarine research reserve. See 88 FR
1057 (Jan. 6, 2023) (American Samoa);
88 FR 50267 (June 13, 2024) (Hawaii);
88 FR 22677 (Apr. 2, 2024)
(Mississippi); 88 FR 64887 (Sept. 20,
2023) (New Hampshire); 88 FR 3389
(Jan. 19, 2023) (New York); 88 FR 46778
(July 20, 2023) (Oregon); and 88 FR
85265 (Dec. 7, 2023) (Sapelo Island).
NOAA addressed the public comments
it received in the final evaluation
findings.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for
exempted fishing permit.
AGENCY:
This notice announces NMFS’
receipt of an application and the public
comment period for an exempted
fishing permit (EFP) from North Pacific
Fisheries Research Foundation. If
issued, this permit would allow the
applicant to develop and test salmon
excluders to optimize salmon
escapement under summer pollock
fishing conditions in the Bering Sea
pollock fishery. In order to facilitate
testing of salmon excluders, this EFP
would exempt participating vessels
from complying with certain
regulations, described below under
Exemptions. Field testing would be
conducted in July and August during
the fishery’s ‘‘B’ season. Effective dates
of the EFP would be from June 30, 2025
to September 1, 2025. This experiment
would test salmon excluder designs that
aim to optimize salmon escapement and
thus promote the objectives of the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act
(Magnuson-Stevens Act).
DATES: Comments on this EFP
application must be submitted to NMFS
on or before April 11, 2025. The North
Pacific Fishery Management Council
(Council) will consider the application
at its meeting from March 31, 2025
through April 7, 2025.
ADDRESSES: The Council meeting will be
held virtually. The agenda for the
Council meeting is available at https://
www.npfmc.org. In addition to
submitting public comments during the
Council meeting through the Council
website, you may submit your
SUMMARY:
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Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 58 / Thursday, March 27, 2025 / Notices
comments, identified by NOAA–NMFS–
2025–0024, by either of the following
methods:
• Electronic Submission: Submit all
electronic public comments via the
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Visit
https://www.regulations.gov and type
[NOAA–NMFS–2025–0024] in the
Search box. Click on the ‘‘Comment’’
icon, complete the required fields, and
enter or attach your comments.
• Mail: Submit written comments to
Gretchen Harrington, Assistant Regional
Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries
Division, Alaska Region NMFS, Attn:
Records Office. Mail comments to P.O.
Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802–1668.
• Fax: [(907) 586–7465]; Attn:
[Gretchen Harrington].
Instructions: Comments sent by any
other method, to any other address or
individual, or received after the end of
the comment period, may not be
considered by NMFS. All comments
received are a part of the public record
and will generally be posted for public
viewing on https://www.regulations.gov
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 ‘‘N/
A’’ in the required fields if you wish to
remain anonymous).
Electronic copies of the EFP
application and the basis for a
categorical exclusion under the National
Environmental Policy Act are available
from https://www.regulations.gov or
from the NMFS Alaska Region website
at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/
region/alaska.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Maggie Chan, (907) 586–7228 or
Maggie.chan@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS
manages the groundfish fisheries in the
exclusive economic zone of the Bering
Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) under
the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for
Groundfish of the BSAI Management
Area (BSAI FMP). The Council prepared
the BSAI FMP under the authority of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801
et seq. Regulations governing the BSAI
groundfish fisheries appear at 50 CFR
parts 600 and 679. The FMP and the
EFP-implementing regulations at
§ 600.745(b) and § 679.6 allow the
NMFS Regional Administrator to
authorize, for limited experimental
purposes, fishing that would otherwise
be prohibited. Procedures for issuing
EFPs are contained in the implementing
regulations.
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Background and Need for Exempted
Fishing Permit
In the Bering Sea pollock fishery, the
majority of pollock trawl vessels use
salmon excluder devices on a regular
basis as part of the overall effort by the
fishery to reduce salmon bycatch under
the Chinook Prohibited Species Catch
(PSC) limits and bycatch avoidance
incentive program. However, the salmon
excluders currently used in the fishery
were developed in winter conditions
with a focus on minimizing Chinook
salmon bycatch. The predominant
salmon species caught as bycatch in the
Bering Sea pollock fishery are Chinook
salmon in winter months and chum
salmon in summer months. This EFP is
focused on developing salmon
excluders specific to summer pollock
fishing conditions where chum salmon
is the primary salmon species
encountered as bycatch in the pollock
fishery.
Conditions differ between summer
and winter pollock fishing, including
the species composition of bycatch,
amount of daylight, pollock schooling
behavior, duration of tows, etc. These
seasonal fishery differences could be
important when developing a salmon
excluder specifically designed to work
in summer pollock fishing conditions
and focusing on reducing chum salmon
bycatch. An EFP is needed to facilitate
development and testing of salmon
excluders specifically designed for
summer pollock fishing conditions.
Exemptions from certain regulations, as
described below, are needed for the
proposed EFP to meet the needs of the
experimental design focused on
minimizing chum salmon bycatch in
summer months.
Exempted Fishing Permit
On March 11, 2025, Mr. John Gauvin,
under contract with North Pacific
Fisheries Research Foundation,
submitted an application for an EFP to
develop and test salmon excluders in
the Bering Sea pollock fishery during
summer fishing conditions, when chum
salmon are the primary salmon species
encountered as bycatch. The purpose
and goal of this proposed EFP is to
assess the performance of salmon
excluder designs, including effects on
pollock catch rates and salmon bycatch.
The proposed EFP aims to test salmon
excluder devices on two catcher vessels
and one catcher/processor, in different
horsepower classes in the Bering Sea
pollock fishery. All vessels will use
pelagic trawls for pollock fishing in
Alaska. Gear and fishing operations will
be conducted in compliance with
current management regulations with
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13857
the exception of the modifications
exempted under the EFP.
Following the practice that the
Council and NMFS have approved for
past EFP experiments dedicated to
salmon bycatch reduction (65 FR 55223,
September 13, 2000), the EFP applicant
requests that groundfish and salmon
catches not count against each EFP
vessel’s apportionment of the
groundfish Total Allowable Catches
(TACs) or Chinook salmon PSC limits.
Approximately 97 to 99 percent of the
groundfish harvested is expected to be
pollock. The EFP applicant expects a
total of 3,000 metric tons (mt) of
groundfish (primarily pollock) would be
taken over the duration of the EFP. The
harvest specifications published in 2024
(89 FR 17287, March 11, 2024) identify
that for 2025, the Bering Sea pollock
acceptable biological catch (ABC) level
is 2,401,000 mt, and the Bering Sea
pollock TAC is 1,325,000 mt. Up to
3,000 mt of pollock would be allowed
to be harvested under the proposed EFP
without accruing against the Bering Sea
pollock TAC. The 3,000 mt of pollock
equates to 0.12 percent of the 2025
Bering Sea pollock ABC, 0.23 percent of
the Bering Sea pollock TAC, and 0.28
percent of the difference between the
ABC and the TAC.
Very little groundfish incidental catch
occurs in the pollock fishery. The
majority of these other species harvested
under the EFP likely would be Pacific
cod, skates, flatfish, halibut, and
jellyfish. The amount of groundfish
harvest under the EFP and by the
commercial groundfish fisheries is not
expected to cause the ABCs for any
groundfish species to be exceeded
because other groundfish TACs are set
with a sufficient difference between
ABC and TAC to accommodate EFP
fishing catch of groundfish species other
than pollock.
The incidental take of salmon during
the experiment is crucial for
determining the effectiveness of the
excluder device. Chinook salmon is
under PSC limits (see § 679.21(f)), and
any taken during the experiment would
be counted but would not accrue toward
the Chinook salmon PSC limits.
However, the EFP applicants expect
minimal amounts of Chinook as bycatch
because encounters with Chinook
salmon is extremely rare in summer
when fishing under the EFP will occur.
Due to interannual variability of
bycatch rates and differences in
locations between the pollock fishery
and EFP fishing locations, it is
challenging to predict how many
additional chum salmon might be
caught as a result of this EFP. The
applicant estimates that chum bycatch
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Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 58 / Thursday, March 27, 2025 / Notices
categorical exclusion for this action (see
during this EFP would be in the range
of 150–1,500 fish.
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Exemptions
To meet the proposed EFP’s objective,
exemptions would be necessary from
regulations for salmon bycatch
management, closure areas, and TACs
for groundfish, and PSC limits for the
pollock fishery. This will include
exemptions to regulations such as, but
not limited to:
• 50 CFR 679.22(a)(5): prohibits
Catcher/Processor from directed fishing
in Catcher Vessel Operational Area
(CVOA) for pollock during the B season
unless it is directed fishing for Pollock
CDQ,
• § 679.21(a)(2)(i): requirement to
minimize catch of prohibited species,
• § 679.2 ‘‘Authorized fishing gear’’,
paragraph (14): definition of pelagic
trawl, and
• Other regulations as identified
through Council consultation, public
comments, or partner agencies.
All EFP vessels will comply with
observer requirements at § 679.50.
Participating EFP catchers vessels in the
trawl EM category will comply with
regulations at § 679.51(g) and will work
with NMFS on sampling procedures
that allow for EFP data collection.
Permit Conditions, Review, and Effects
If issued, the exempted fishing permit
would contain several conditions.
Within 6 months of the end of EFP
fishing, the applicant would be required
to submit to NMFS a final report that
describes how well EFP objectives were
accomplished, including a summary of
the vessels participating, any problems
and successes, and the total catch of
each groundfish species in metric tons
and the total number of each salmon
species caught during EFP fishing. The
Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC)
reviewed a draft EFP application that
was submitted on September 1, 2024
and supports this application with
several modifications. All AFSCrecommended modifications have been
addressed by the applicants in their
final EFP application. In addition to
modifications, the AFSC offered
additional feedback and items to
consider, and this feedback has been
incorporated in the final EFP
application submitted to NMFS.
The activities that would be
conducted under this EFP involve the
development and testing of salmon
excluders in order to minimize salmon
bycatch, particularly chum salmon, and
is limited in size, magnitude, and
duration with no potential for
significant individual or cumulative
impacts, as detailed in the draft
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17:43 Mar 26, 2025
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review and submit to NMFS written
data, views, or arguments with respect
In accordance with §§ 679.6 and
to the taking or to other activities
600.745, NMFS has determined that the proposed in the application, or to
application warrants further
request a hearing in connection with the
consideration and has forwarded the
action to be taken thereon. The
application to the Council to initiate
documents are available on the internet
consultation. The Council is scheduled
at: https://apps.nmfs.noaa.gov/preview/
to consider the EFP application during
preview_open_for_comment.cfm.
its April 2025 meeting, which will be
DATES: Written comments on the RRMP
held virtually. The applicant has been
must be received at the appropriate
invited to speak in support of the
address (see ADDRESSES section) no later
application.
than 5 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on
April 28, 2025.
Public Comments
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
Interested persons may comment on
on the permit application by the
the application during the April 2025
following methods:
Council meeting during public
• Email: Submit to joel.casagrande@
testimony or the Federal eRulemaking
noaa.gov
and include ‘‘Permit 1474–2R’’
Portal (see ADDRESSES) until [insert date
in the subject line.
15 days after date of publication in the
• Mail: Submit written comments to
FEDERAL REGISTER], when the comment
the National Marine Fisheries Service,
period ends. Information regarding the
West Coast Region, California Coastal
meeting is available at the Council’s
Office, 777 Sonoma Avenue, Room 325,
website at https://www.npfmc.org.
Santa Rosa, California 95404; Attention:
Copies of the application and
Joel Casagrande.
categorical exclusion are available for
FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joel
review from NMFS (see ADDRESSES).
Casagrande, 707–575–6016,
Comments may also be submitted
directly to NMFS (see ADDRESSES) by the joel.casagrande@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
end of the comment period (see DATES).
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
ESA-Listed Species Covered in This
Dated: March 24, 2025.
Notice
ADDRESSES).
Karen H. Abrams,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2025–05261 Filed 3–26–25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
Background
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
[RTID 0648–XE729]
Endangered and Threatened Species;
Take of Anadromous Fish
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for
an enhancement permit.
AGENCY:
Notice is hereby given that
NMFS has received one enhancement
permit renewal application (permit
14741–2R) from the Monterey Peninsula
Water Management District (District) to
implement their revised Carmel River
Rescue Rearing and Management Plan
(RRMP). The application and RRMP
have been submitted per the
Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973,
as amended. NMFS is furnishing this
notice in order to allow other agencies,
Tribes, and the public an opportunity to
SUMMARY:
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Fmt 4703
Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss):
Threatened, South-Central California
Coast (S–CCC) Distinct Population
Segment.
Sfmt 4703
The District has applied for an
enhancement permit under section
10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA for a period of 10
years that would allow take of juvenile
and adult S–CCC steelhead pursuant to
an RRMP, which was developed with
technical assistance from NMFS. The
objective of the District’s program is to
assist with the restoration, conservation,
and maintenance of the steelhead
population in the Carmel River
watershed as mitigation for
environmental impacts caused by
diversion of surface and subsurface
streamflow in the lower 24 miles of the
mainstem Carmel River in Monterey
County, California. The program which
was initiated in 1997, was necessary to
ensure compliance with California
Environmental Quality Act from the
environmental impacts of California
American Water Company’s water
withdrawals.
The RRMP will be implemented as an
enhancement program at the Sleepy
Hollow Rearing Facility (Facility);
actions taken pursuant to the permit are
designed to enhance survival of S–CCC
steelhead that are subject to annual low-
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 58 (Thursday, March 27, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13856-13858]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-05261]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XE730]
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Application
for an Exempted Fishing Permit
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for exempted fishing permit.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This notice announces NMFS' receipt of an application and the
public comment period for an exempted fishing permit (EFP) from North
Pacific Fisheries Research Foundation. If issued, this permit would
allow the applicant to develop and test salmon excluders to optimize
salmon escapement under summer pollock fishing conditions in the Bering
Sea pollock fishery. In order to facilitate testing of salmon
excluders, this EFP would exempt participating vessels from complying
with certain regulations, described below under Exemptions. Field
testing would be conducted in July and August during the fishery's ``B'
season. Effective dates of the EFP would be from June 30, 2025 to
September 1, 2025. This experiment would test salmon excluder designs
that aim to optimize salmon escapement and thus promote the objectives
of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act
(Magnuson-Stevens Act).
DATES: Comments on this EFP application must be submitted to NMFS on or
before April 11, 2025. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council
(Council) will consider the application at its meeting from March 31,
2025 through April 7, 2025.
ADDRESSES: The Council meeting will be held virtually. The agenda for
the Council meeting is available at https://www.npfmc.org. In addition
to submitting public comments during the Council meeting through the
Council website, you may submit your
[[Page 13857]]
comments, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2025-0024, by either of the following
methods:
Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Visit https://www.regulations.gov and type [NOAA-NMFS-2025-0024] in the Search box.
Click on the ``Comment'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter
or attach your comments.
Mail: Submit written comments to Gretchen Harrington,
Assistant Regional Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries Division,
Alaska Region NMFS, Attn: Records Office. Mail comments to P.O. Box
21668, Juneau, AK 99802-1668.
Fax: [(907) 586-7465]; Attn: [Gretchen Harrington].
Instructions: Comments sent by any other method, to any other
address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period,
may not be considered by NMFS. All comments received are a part of the
public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on
https://www.regulations.gov 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
``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to remain anonymous).
Electronic copies of the EFP application and the basis for a
categorical exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act are
available from https://www.regulations.gov or from the NMFS Alaska
Region website at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/region/alaska.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Maggie Chan, (907) 586-7228 or
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS manages the groundfish fisheries in the
exclusive economic zone of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI)
under the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Groundfish of the BSAI
Management Area (BSAI FMP). The Council prepared the BSAI FMP under the
authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Regulations governing the BSAI groundfish fisheries appear at 50 CFR
parts 600 and 679. The FMP and the EFP-implementing regulations at
Sec. 600.745(b) and Sec. 679.6 allow the NMFS Regional Administrator
to authorize, for limited experimental purposes, fishing that would
otherwise be prohibited. Procedures for issuing EFPs are contained in
the implementing regulations.
Background and Need for Exempted Fishing Permit
In the Bering Sea pollock fishery, the majority of pollock trawl
vessels use salmon excluder devices on a regular basis as part of the
overall effort by the fishery to reduce salmon bycatch under the
Chinook Prohibited Species Catch (PSC) limits and bycatch avoidance
incentive program. However, the salmon excluders currently used in the
fishery were developed in winter conditions with a focus on minimizing
Chinook salmon bycatch. The predominant salmon species caught as
bycatch in the Bering Sea pollock fishery are Chinook salmon in winter
months and chum salmon in summer months. This EFP is focused on
developing salmon excluders specific to summer pollock fishing
conditions where chum salmon is the primary salmon species encountered
as bycatch in the pollock fishery.
Conditions differ between summer and winter pollock fishing,
including the species composition of bycatch, amount of daylight,
pollock schooling behavior, duration of tows, etc. These seasonal
fishery differences could be important when developing a salmon
excluder specifically designed to work in summer pollock fishing
conditions and focusing on reducing chum salmon bycatch. An EFP is
needed to facilitate development and testing of salmon excluders
specifically designed for summer pollock fishing conditions. Exemptions
from certain regulations, as described below, are needed for the
proposed EFP to meet the needs of the experimental design focused on
minimizing chum salmon bycatch in summer months.
Exempted Fishing Permit
On March 11, 2025, Mr. John Gauvin, under contract with North
Pacific Fisheries Research Foundation, submitted an application for an
EFP to develop and test salmon excluders in the Bering Sea pollock
fishery during summer fishing conditions, when chum salmon are the
primary salmon species encountered as bycatch. The purpose and goal of
this proposed EFP is to assess the performance of salmon excluder
designs, including effects on pollock catch rates and salmon bycatch.
The proposed EFP aims to test salmon excluder devices on two
catcher vessels and one catcher/processor, in different horsepower
classes in the Bering Sea pollock fishery. All vessels will use pelagic
trawls for pollock fishing in Alaska. Gear and fishing operations will
be conducted in compliance with current management regulations with the
exception of the modifications exempted under the EFP.
Following the practice that the Council and NMFS have approved for
past EFP experiments dedicated to salmon bycatch reduction (65 FR
55223, September 13, 2000), the EFP applicant requests that groundfish
and salmon catches not count against each EFP vessel's apportionment of
the groundfish Total Allowable Catches (TACs) or Chinook salmon PSC
limits.
Approximately 97 to 99 percent of the groundfish harvested is
expected to be pollock. The EFP applicant expects a total of 3,000
metric tons (mt) of groundfish (primarily pollock) would be taken over
the duration of the EFP. The harvest specifications published in 2024
(89 FR 17287, March 11, 2024) identify that for 2025, the Bering Sea
pollock acceptable biological catch (ABC) level is 2,401,000 mt, and
the Bering Sea pollock TAC is 1,325,000 mt. Up to 3,000 mt of pollock
would be allowed to be harvested under the proposed EFP without
accruing against the Bering Sea pollock TAC. The 3,000 mt of pollock
equates to 0.12 percent of the 2025 Bering Sea pollock ABC, 0.23
percent of the Bering Sea pollock TAC, and 0.28 percent of the
difference between the ABC and the TAC.
Very little groundfish incidental catch occurs in the pollock
fishery. The majority of these other species harvested under the EFP
likely would be Pacific cod, skates, flatfish, halibut, and jellyfish.
The amount of groundfish harvest under the EFP and by the commercial
groundfish fisheries is not expected to cause the ABCs for any
groundfish species to be exceeded because other groundfish TACs are set
with a sufficient difference between ABC and TAC to accommodate EFP
fishing catch of groundfish species other than pollock.
The incidental take of salmon during the experiment is crucial for
determining the effectiveness of the excluder device. Chinook salmon is
under PSC limits (see Sec. 679.21(f)), and any taken during the
experiment would be counted but would not accrue toward the Chinook
salmon PSC limits. However, the EFP applicants expect minimal amounts
of Chinook as bycatch because encounters with Chinook salmon is
extremely rare in summer when fishing under the EFP will occur.
Due to interannual variability of bycatch rates and differences in
locations between the pollock fishery and EFP fishing locations, it is
challenging to predict how many additional chum salmon might be caught
as a result of this EFP. The applicant estimates that chum bycatch
[[Page 13858]]
during this EFP would be in the range of 150-1,500 fish.
Exemptions
To meet the proposed EFP's objective, exemptions would be necessary
from regulations for salmon bycatch management, closure areas, and TACs
for groundfish, and PSC limits for the pollock fishery. This will
include exemptions to regulations such as, but not limited to:
50 CFR 679.22(a)(5): prohibits Catcher/Processor from
directed fishing in Catcher Vessel Operational Area (CVOA) for pollock
during the B season unless it is directed fishing for Pollock CDQ,
Sec. 679.21(a)(2)(i): requirement to minimize catch of
prohibited species,
Sec. 679.2 ``Authorized fishing gear'', paragraph (14):
definition of pelagic trawl, and
Other regulations as identified through Council
consultation, public comments, or partner agencies.
All EFP vessels will comply with observer requirements at Sec.
679.50. Participating EFP catchers vessels in the trawl EM category
will comply with regulations at Sec. 679.51(g) and will work with NMFS
on sampling procedures that allow for EFP data collection.
Permit Conditions, Review, and Effects
If issued, the exempted fishing permit would contain several
conditions. Within 6 months of the end of EFP fishing, the applicant
would be required to submit to NMFS a final report that describes how
well EFP objectives were accomplished, including a summary of the
vessels participating, any problems and successes, and the total catch
of each groundfish species in metric tons and the total number of each
salmon species caught during EFP fishing. The Alaska Fisheries Science
Center (AFSC) reviewed a draft EFP application that was submitted on
September 1, 2024 and supports this application with several
modifications. All AFSC-recommended modifications have been addressed
by the applicants in their final EFP application. In addition to
modifications, the AFSC offered additional feedback and items to
consider, and this feedback has been incorporated in the final EFP
application submitted to NMFS.
The activities that would be conducted under this EFP involve the
development and testing of salmon excluders in order to minimize salmon
bycatch, particularly chum salmon, and is limited in size, magnitude,
and duration with no potential for significant individual or cumulative
impacts, as detailed in the draft categorical exclusion for this action
(see ADDRESSES).
In accordance with Sec. Sec. 679.6 and 600.745, NMFS has
determined that the application warrants further consideration and has
forwarded the application to the Council to initiate consultation. The
Council is scheduled to consider the EFP application during its April
2025 meeting, which will be held virtually. The applicant has been
invited to speak in support of the application.
Public Comments
Interested persons may comment on the application during the April
2025 Council meeting during public testimony or the Federal eRulemaking
Portal (see ADDRESSES) until [insert date 15 days after date of
publication in the Federal Register], when the comment period ends.
Information regarding the meeting is available at the Council's website
at https://www.npfmc.org. Copies of the application and categorical
exclusion are available for review from NMFS (see ADDRESSES). Comments
may also be submitted directly to NMFS (see ADDRESSES) by the end of
the comment period (see DATES).
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: March 24, 2025.
Karen H. Abrams,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2025-05261 Filed 3-26-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
