National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration April 27, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Northeast Region, NMFS (Assistant Regional Administrator) has made a preliminary determination that the subject Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) application contains all the required information and warrants further consideration. The Assistant Regional Administrator has also made a preliminary determination that the activities authorized under the EFP would be consistent with the goals and objectives of the Northeast (NE) Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP). However, further review and consultation may be necessary before a final determination is made to issue the EFP. Therefore, NMFS announces that the Assistant Regional Administrator proposes to issue an EFP that would allow four vessels to conduct fishing operations that are otherwise restricted by the regulations governing the fisheries of the Northeastern United States. The EFP would allow for exemptions from the NE multispecies rolling closure area restrictions and the NE multispecies minimum mesh size requirements. The applicant proposes to conduct a study of an inclined separation panel, a bycatch reduction device, in order to examine the effectiveness of this type of gear at separating the catch of Atlantic cod, and other roundfish, from flatfish. The EFP would allow these exemptions for four commercial vessels for a combined total of 23 days at sea. All experimental work would be monitored by Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences (Manomet) personnel. 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 EFPs.

This rule establishes the second and third trimester season quotas for large coastal sharks (LCS); small coastal sharks (SCS); and pelagic, blue, and porbeagle sharks based on over- or underharvests from the 2004 second semi-annual season. In addition, this rule establishes the opening and closing dates for the LCS fishery based on adjustments to the trimester quotas. This action could affect all commercial fishermen in the Atlantic commercial shark fishery. This action is necessary to ensure that the landings quotas in the Atlantic commercial shark fishery represent the latest landings data.