National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration April 12, 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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 warrant further consideration. The Exempted Fishing Permit would allow commercial fishing vessels to land Atlantic halibut under the minimum size limit and in excess of the possession limit. This EFP is required to support an Atlantic halibut study by the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, School for Marine Science and Technology, and The Nature Conservancy to improve future halibut stock assessments. 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.

The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Region, NMFS (Assistant Regional Administrator), has made a preliminary determination that three exempted fishing permit applications contain all of the required information and warrant further consideration. These exempted fishing permits would authorize five commercial fishing vessels to test the economic viability of using hook gear to selectively target pollock and haddock in the Western Gulf of Maine and Cashes Ledge Closure Areas (excluding the Cashes Ledge Habitat Management Area), and to temporarily retain undersized catch for measurement and data collection. 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.

The Acting Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Region, NMFS, has made a preliminary determination that an exempted fishing permit application submitted by The Nature Conservancy contains all of the required information and warrants further consideration. This exempted fishing permit would allow participants to use electronic monitoring systems in lieu of at- sea monitors in support of a study to develop electronic monitoring for catch monitoring in the groundfish fishery. 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.

The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Region, NMFS, has made a preliminary determination that an exempted fishing permit application submitted by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute contains all of the required information and warrants further consideration. The exempted fishing permit would allow the use of electronic monitoring to support testing a maximized retention model in the groundfish fishery. 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.

NMFS proposes small-mesh multispecies specifications for fishing years 2018-2020 and corrects a regulatory error from a previous rulemaking action. The specifications are intended to establish allowable catch limits for each stock within the fishery to control overfishing while allowing optimum yield. This action also informs the public of the proposed fishery specifications and regulatory correction, and provides an opportunity for comment.