National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration June 17, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Region, NMFS (Assistant Regional Administrator), has made a preliminary determination that an Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) application contains all of the required information and warrants further consideration. This EFP would allow two commercial fishing vessels to fish outside of the limited access scallop days-at-sea (DAS) program in support of scallop incidental mortality research conducted by the Coonamessett Farm Foundation. It would also allow the vessels to fish in the Eastern and Western Areas of the Nantucket Lightship Closed Area. Additionally, the EFP would exempt participating vessels from the crew size restriction and reporting requirements, and would allow vessels to temporarily possess various species of fish for sampling purposes only. 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.