[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 1 (Friday, January 2, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30-31]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-30781]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XD625
Fisheries Off West Coast States; 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; receipt of EFP applications; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the receipt of exempted fishing permit (EFP)
applications, and is considering issuance of EFPs for vessels
participating in the EFP fisheries. The EFPs are necessary to allow
activities that are otherwise prohibited by Federal regulations. The
EFPs will be effective no earlier than April 1, 2015, and will be for a
minimum duration of two years unless there is a need to extend the EFP
to collect more information or the need for the EFP no longer exists
because appropriate regulations have been implemented. These EFPs can
be terminated earlier under terms and conditions of the EFPs and other
applicable laws.
DATES: Comments must be received no later than 5 p.m., local time on
January 17, 2014.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by 0648-XD625, by any
one of the following methods:
Email: [email protected].
FAX: 206-526-6736, Attn: Steve Freese.
Mail: William W. Stelle, Regional Administrator, West
Coast Region, NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way NE., Seattle, WA 98115-0070,
Attn: Steve Freese.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To view copies of the Electronic
Monitoring EFP applications, visit the Pacific Council Web site at
www.pcouncil.org and browse the ``June 2014 Briefing Book'' and the
``Trawl Catch Share Program Electronic Monitoring''; or contact Steve
Freese (West Coast Region, NMFS), phone 206-526-6113, fax: 206-526-
6736.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This action is authorized by the Pacific
Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and 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. At the June 2014 Pacific Fishery
Management Council (Council) meeting in Garden Grove, California, the
Council considered applications for four revised EFPs from: (1) The
California Risk Pool; (2) Michele Longo Eder; (3) Peter Leipzig; and
(4) Heather Mann and Brent Paine. An opportunity for public testimony
was provided during the June 2014 Council meeting. For more details on
these EFP applications and to view copies of the applications, see the
Pacific Council's Web site at www.pcouncil.org and browse the ``June
2014 Briefing Book''. The Council recommended that NMFS consider
issuing the following EFPs, and that those EFPs be used to test EM in
the fisheries in a limited capacity with some additional permit
conditions for possible use in 2015 and beyond.
California Risk Pool EFP
The California Risk Pool (which includes the Fort Bragg Groundfish
Association, the Half Moon Bay Groundfish Marketing Association, and
the Central California Seafood Marketing Association) submitted an
application for an EFP, along with their collaborators: The
Environmental Defense Fund (EDF); and The Nature Conservancy. Seven
vessels will participate in this EFP: Three from the fixed gear sector
and four from the trawl sector. Sarah McTee of the Environmental
Defense Fund and Lisa Damrosch of the Half Moon Bay Groundfish
Marketing Association are the points of contact for this EFP.
Fixed Gear EFP
The applicants participating in this EFP are trawl-permitted, fixed
gear fishermen (Bob Eder, John Corbin and Burton C. Parker, Sr.) using
pots or longlines. The primary purpose of the EFP is to test monitoring
catch and discard via an EM system without 100 percent observers
coverage as currently required by law. Michele Longo Eder is the point
of contact for this EFP.
Peter Leipzig EFP
The fishermen that would participate in this EFP are bottom trawl
fishermen.
[[Page 31]]
The primary purpose of the EFP is to test the use of EM equipment in
lieu of an observer and to evaluate components of an overall EM program
before implementation of a comprehensive regulatory program. Peter
Leipzig of the Fishermen's Marketing Association is the point of
contact for this EFP.
Heather Mann and Brent Paine EFP
The vessels participating in this EFP are mid-water trawls that
fish in the shoreside and mothership whiting fishery. The primary
purpose of the EFP is to determine whether utilizing cameras in lieu of
human observers proves both cost effective and operationally effecting
while still providing 100 percent monitoring of catch and discards.
Heather Mann of the Midwater Trawlers Cooperative and Brent Paine of
the United Catcher Boats are the points of contact for this EFP.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: December 29, 2014.
James P. Burgess,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-30781 Filed 12-31-14; 8:45 am]
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