[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 161 (Friday, August 20, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 45501]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-21592]
[[Page 45501]]
=======================================================================
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Parts 600 and 649
[I.D. 080999H]
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; General Provisions for Domestic
Fisheries; Applications for Exempted Fishing Permits (EFPs)
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notification of a proposal for EFPs to conduct experimental
fishing; request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS issues this document to announce that the Regional
Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator), is
considering approval of 21 EFPs to conduct exempted experimental
fishing activities otherwise restricted by regulations governing the
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States. These EFPs would allow the
fieldwork for a study that proposes to ascertain the overfished status
of American lobster (Homarus americanus) through the collection of
stock assessment information. These EFPS would allow for the temporary
possession of sublegal and egg-bearing female lobsters (berried female
lobsters) in industry-standard lobster traps during normal fishing
operations for tag, v-notch, and release purposes only. The tagging/v-
notch program will be conducted by participating commercial fishermen
in designated American lobster Management Areas 2 and 3 and the Area 2/
3 overlap area from mid-September 1999 through mid-September 2000.
Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act provisions require publication of this notification to
provide interested parties the opportunity to comment on the proposed
EFPs.
DATES: Comments on this document must be received by September 7, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to the Regional Administrator, NMFS,
Northeast Regional Office, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930.
Mark the outside of the envelope ``Comments on Proposed Experimental
Fisheries.''
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bonnie VanPelt, Fishery Management
Specialist, 978-281-9244.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Rhode Island Lobsterman's Association
(RILA), University of Rhode Island (URI), and the Rhode Island Division
of Environmental Management (RIDEM) have submitted a joint proposal to
conduct a lobster tag and release program in inshore/nearshore and
offshore waters within two of the seven numeric lobster management
areas; specifically, from the Upper Narragansett Bay, East and West
Passage, Rhode Island Sound, Block Island Sound to the Offshore Canyons
(Block and Hudson).
A lobster tagging program has been conducted in Rhode Island state
waters under the joint management of the URI and Rhode Island Sea Grant
for the past 5 years. This cooperative effort was developed to help
shift the responsibility of the lobster tagging and release program
from its current joint management to the RILA.
The project is funded through a Saltonstall-Kennedy grant and would
commence in mid-September 1999 and continue over the course of 1 year.
Approximately 60,000 American lobsters will be tagged and released;
40,000 sub-legal lobsters and 20,000 berried female lobsters. There are
three main objectives of the experimental fishery: (1) To collect
information for use in models that currently assess overfished status
(e.g., NMFS' Eggs Per Recruit Model) and to provide updated information
for inclusion to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's
stock assessment for lobsters; (2) to educate and provide training to
fishermen about the v-notch program and to recognize v-notched
lobsters; and (3) to share the responsibility in data collection for
the co-management of the American lobster resource.
URI and RIDEM will provide sea sampling coverage on a combined
total of 70 inshore and nearshore trips throughout the course of the
experiment. Due to time and money constraints the offshore areas in the
Canyons (Block and Hudson) will not be monitored by sea samplers.
However, the two vessels that will be involved in tagging activities
offshore will also conduct trips inshore that are being monitored.
The study involves the tag, v-notch, and release of American
lobsters only; no other species will be retained. It is anticipated
that the lobsters will be held for no longer than 3-4 hours before they
are released. All program participants will receive training on tagging
and v-notching protocols prior to the start of operations.
The participating vessel owners have obtained collectors permits
from the RIDEM that will enable them to catch, tag, and release
juvenile lobsters as well as egg-bearing female lobsters in state
waters.
EFPs would be issued to 21 participating federally permitted
lobster vessels to exempt them from the size and possession
restrictions of the American Lobster Fishery Management Plan. Exemption
to the regulations specified at 50 CFR 649.20(b) and (d) will remain in
effect until Federal authority to manage the American lobster fishery
is transferred from the Magnuson-Stevens Act to the Atlantic Coastal
Cooperative Management Act, at which time the authority for this
exemption will transfer to the regulations specified at 50 CFR
697.20(b) and (d).
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: August 16, 1999.
Gary C. Matlock,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 99-21592 Filed 8-19-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F