[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 249 (Friday, December 28, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76458-76459]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-31324]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XC331
Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic;
Spiny Lobster Fishery of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands;
Exempted Fishing Permit
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of receipt of an application for an exempted fishing
permit; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the receipt of an application for an exempted
fishing permit (EFP) from Dr. David Olsen (St. Thomas Fisherman's
Association). If granted, the EFP would authorize contracted commercial
fishermen to temporarily possess undersized and berried Caribbean spiny
lobster for non-lethal sampling (tagging) during the course of their
normal fishing activities. This non-lethal sampling would include
implanting a tag on each spiny lobster before releasing the lobster
with minimal harm. Data will be collected and analyzed to determine
spiny lobster growth and movement patterns, and an attempt will be made
to estimate the spiny lobster population size in the U.S. Virgin
Islands. Currently, data on U.S. Caribbean spiny lobster life history
are limited, particularly growth rates and abundance patterns.
Additional life history information would provide the Caribbean Fishery
Management Council (Council) and NMFS valuable data that may be used
for future management of spiny lobster. The EFP would also seek to
temporarily retain a sample number of spiny lobsters at a designated
facility for a study to assess tag mortality and retention.
DATES: Comments must be received no later than 5 p.m., eastern time, on
January 28, 2013.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the application by any of the
following methods:
Email: [email protected]. Include in the subject
line of the email comment the following document identifier: ``Olsen
EFP 2012''.
Mail: Britni Tokotch, Southeast Regional Office, NMFS, 263
13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.
The application and related documents are available for review upon
written request to any of the above addresses.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Britni Tokotch, 727-824-5305; email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The EFP is requested under the authority of
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C.
1801 et seq.), and regulations at 50 CFR 600.745(b) concerning exempted
fishing.
The described research is part of a life history study of Caribbean
spiny lobster and intends to collect data on growth and movement
patterns and to estimate the spiny lobster population abundance in the
Federal waters of the Caribbean. The study also intends to conduct
research on tag mortality and retention on spiny lobsters. Lobsters
will be collected using commercial fishing vessels as part of the
vessels normal fishing trips in the Federal waters of St. Croix and St.
Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Spiny lobsters would be collected within
the 100-fathom (183-m) depth contour of these areas using commercial
lobster trap gear. The study would take place from the date of
effectiveness of the EFP through August 31, 2013, or until the
requested number of lobsters have been tagged.
The proposed collection for scientific research involves activities
that would otherwise be prohibited by regulations at 50 CFR part 622,
as they pertain to Caribbean spiny lobster managed by the Council. The
EFP would exempt this research activity from Federal regulations at
Sec. 622.32(b)(1)(iii) (Prohibited and limited harvest species) and
Sec. 622.37(b) (Size limits).
If granted, the EFP would authorize the tagging of 5,000 spiny
lobsters (3,000 from St. Thomas Federal waters and 2,000 from St. Croix
Federal waters). Floy spaghetti tags would be attached to the lobster
in the gap between the tail and carapace. Tagging would include both
legal size lobsters as
[[Page 76459]]
well as undersized and egg-bearing lobsters. Data to be recorded during
the tagging process will include carapace length, sex, reproductive
state, and the vessel's position. Specimens to be tagged will be
randomly selected from a designated vessel's lobster trap during normal
fishing trips. A total of 15 commercial vessels will be allowed to
participate in the study. The 15 vessels would be contracted through
the St. Thomas Fisherman's Association, which obtained funding for this
study through the Council. All vessels participating in the EFP have
home ports in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Following tagging, lobsters will be released where they were
collected. When these tagged lobsters are recaptured, the same data
would be collected that were recorded during initial tagging
operations. Tagged lobsters may be recaptured by both commercial and
recreational fishers from St. Thomas and St. Croix during their normal
fishing practices. Posters have been distributed in local dive shops
and marinas to alert fishers and the public to the tagging program and
to encourage their participation in collecting and submitting data on
recaptured tagged lobsters.
Tag and recapture data will be analyzed for growth and movement
patterns, and an attempt will be made to estimate Caribbean spiny
lobster population abundance. During recapture, local fishers would
only be allowed to retain lobsters of legal size that were not egg-
bearing. Undersized and egg-bearing lobsters would be returned to the
water with a minimum of harm.
This EFP, if granted, would also authorize the collection of an
additional 20 undersized lobsters to serve as a control study to the
commercial vessels tagging efforts. The undersized lobsters, less than
3.5 inch (8.9 cm) carapace length, would be tagged and held in
captivity at the Coral World facility on St. Thomas for up to 3 months.
Undersized lobsters would be used for this study to increase the
likelihood for tagged individuals to molt, thereby increasing the
opportunity to assess the tag's performance. These lobsters would be
temporarily retained at the facility to assess tag mortality and the
retention of tags through the molting process. At the conclusion of the
3-month study, these lobsters would be released back into the water in
the vicinity from which they were collected.
NMFS finds this application warrants further consideration.
Possible conditions the agency may impose on this permit, if it is
indeed granted, include but are not limited to, a prohibition of
conducting research within marine protected areas, marine sanctuaries,
or special management zones, without additional authorization. A report
on the research would be due at the end of the collection period, to be
submitted to NMFS and reviewed by the councils.
A final decision on issuance of the EFP will depend on NMFS' review
of public comments received on the application, consultations with
appropriate fishery management agencies of the affected states, the
Council, and the U.S. Coast Guard, as well as a determination that it
is consistent with all applicable laws.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: December 21, 2012.
Emily H. Menashes,
Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-31324 Filed 12-27-12; 8:45 am]
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