[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 47 (Thursday, March 11, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11515-11516]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-5259]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XU32
Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific;
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Application for an Exempted Fishing
Permit
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; intent to issue exempted fishing permits, request for
comment.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the intent to issue exempted fishing permits
(EFPs) to Pacific whiting shoreside vessels and first receivers that
participate in a maximized retention and monitor program for the 2010
Pacific whiting shoreside fishery. EFPs are needed to allow vessels to
retain catch in excess of the cumulative limits and to retain
prohibited species until offloading. EFPs are also needed to allow
first receivers to possess Pacific whiting deliveries with prohibited
species, to possess catch that is in excess of cumulative limits, and
to use hopper type scales to derive accurate catch weights prior to
sorting. Issuance of the EFPs would allow NMFS to collect catch data on
incidentally caught species, including salmonids listed under the
Endangered Species Act, and would allow new components of an overall
monitoring program to continue to be investigated before implementation
of a regulatory program.
DATES: Comments must be received by March 26, 2010.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by RIN 0648-XU32, by any
one of the following methods:
E-mail: whitingEFP@noaa.gov. Include 0648-XU32 in the
subject line of the message.
Fax: 206-526-6736, Attn: Becky Renko
Mail: Barry A. Thom, Acting Regional Administrator,
Northwest Region, NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115-0070,
Attn: Becky Renko.
Instructions: Attachments to e-mail comments will be accepted in
Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats only.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Becky Renko or Kevin Duffy at (206)
526-6140.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This action is authorized by the Magnuson
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act provisions at 50 CFR
600.745 which states that EFPs may be used to authorize fishing
activities that would otherwise be prohibited in order to collect data
among other activities. NMFS Northwest Region sent a letter to the
Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) that included a proposal
for issuance of EFPs to vessels and first receivers participating in
the 2010 Pacific whiting shoreside fishery. The Council considered the
EFP activity at their November 2009 meeting. If issued, the EFPs would
provide for a maximized retention and monitoring program for the
Pacific whiting shoreside fishery. The maximized retention and
monitoring program requirements specified in the EFP are intended to
allow for the Pacific whiting shoreside fishery to be efficiently
prosecuted while providing accurate catch data such that the Endangered
Species Act and Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management
Act requirements for this fishery are adequately met.
The issuance of EFPs would allow approximately 40 vessels to delay
sorting of groundfish catch and to retain catch in excess of cumulative
trip limits and prohibited species catch until offloading. These
activities are otherwise prohibited by regulations at 50 CFR
660.306(a)(10) and 50 CFR 660.306(a)(2) respectively.
Additionally, issuance of the EFPs to approximately 15 first
receivers (generally land-based processing facilities) would allow
first receivers to possess more than a single cumulative limit of a
particular species, per vessel, per applicable cumulative limit period.
The possession of catch in excess of the cumulative limits is otherwise
prohibited by regulations at 50 CFR 660.306(a)(10). In addition, the
EFPs would include an allowance for first receivers to use hopper type
scales to derive an accurate total catch weight prior to sorting.
Regulations pertaining to sorting at Sec. 660.370(h)(6) and
prohibitions at Sec. 660.306(a)(7) require vessels to sort the catch
before weighing.
Issuance of the EFPs would allow for the collection of information
on the catch of salmon, non-whiting groundfish, and other non-
groundfish species incidentally taken with Pacific whiting. These data
are needed to monitor the attainment of the shore based whiting
allocation while assuring that the fishery specifications (bycatch
limits, species allocations, OYs, and biological opinion thresholds)
are not exceeded. Because whiting flesh deteriorates rapidly once the
fish are caught, whiting must be minimally handled and immediately
chilled to maintain the flesh quality. Allowing Pacific whiting
shoreside vessels to retain unsorted catch will also enable whiting
quality to be maintained.
At the June 2007 Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) meeting,
the PFMC recommended that NMFS implement a maximized retention program
in Federal regulations that would allow full retention of Pacific
whiting catch by the vessels, that is delivered to first receivers on
shore. The terms and conditions of the EFPs used in 2008 and 2009 were
consistent with the Council's June 2007 recommendation for implementing
the provisions of Amendment 10 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery
Management Plan (FMP), which allows implementation of this program.
Although it was expected that a regulatory program would be in place at
this time, it has not yet been implemented. At the June 2009 meeting
the Council recommended a preferred alternative for implementation of a
trawl rationalization program under Amendment 20 to the FMP that would
change the future management and monitoring needs for the Pacific
whiting shoreside fishery. EFPs will continue to be used until
regulations implementing Amendment 10 to the groundfish FMP are
implemented, or until tracking and monitoring regulations implementing
the trawl rationalization program under Amendment 20 are effective.
Additional information collected under this EFP program will benefit
the development tracking and monitoring provisions of Amendment 20 to
the groundfish FMP.
The vessel EFPs would require Pacific whiting shoreside vessels to
dump unsorted catch directly below deck and would allow unsorted catch
to be landed, providing that an electronic monitoring system (EMS) is
used on all fishing trips to verify retention of catch at sea. The EMS
has shown to be an effective tool for accurately monitoring catch
retention and identifying the time and location of discard events. The
EFPs would include provisions for EMS, paid for by the vessels, similar
to the 2009
[[Page 11516]]
EFP and similar to the proposed Federal regulatory program.
Proposed Federal regulations for a maximized retention and
monitoring program would also require first receivers to have onshore
monitoring conducted by catch monitors. Catch monitors are third-party
employees, paid for by industry, and trained to NMFS standards. The EFP
would include provisions for third-party catch monitors from a NMFS
specified provider. Like the proposed Federal regulatory program under
development, catch monitors used under the EFPs would be trained in
techniques that would be used for the verification of fish ticket data
and in species identification. Catch monitor duties include overseeing
the sorting, weighing, and recordkeeping process, as well as gathering
information on incidentally caught salmon. Catch monitors verify the
accuracy of electronic fish ticket data used to manage the Pacific
whiting shoreside fishery such that inaccurate or delayed information
does not result in any fishery specifications (bycatch limits, species
allocations, OYs, and biological opinion thresholds) being exceeded. To
insure the integrity of sector-specific bycatch limits, the 2010 EFPs
would require full catch monitor coverage.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: March 5, 2010.
Alan D. Risenhoover
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-5259 Filed 3-10-10; 8:45 am]
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