[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 171 (Friday, September 3, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 48337-48338]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-23087]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Parts 600 and 648
[I.D. 082099A]
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 experimental fishing proposal; request for
comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS
(Regional Administrator), is considering approval of two EFPs to
conduct experimental fishing activities. EFPs would allow vessels to
conduct operations otherwise restricted by
[[Page 48338]]
regulations governing the black sea bass fishery, and would exempt
vessels from possession and size restrictions. Two EFPS would be
required to conduct experimental fishing activities involving the
possession and retention of 2,500 sublegal wild stock black sea bass
(Centropristis striata) in areas of the Raritan and Sandy Hook Bays
with industry-standard black sea bass fish pots. The collection of
these specimens will augment a cultured black sea bass collection
obtained from the University of Rhode Island. This study is being
conducted to support the applied portion of a customized aquaculture
training program designed to educate fishers on the basics of fish and
shellfish culture. Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act provisions require publication of this
document to provide interested parties the opportunity to comment on
the proposed EFPs.
DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by September 20, 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 Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Ocean
County (RCE) has submitted a proposal to enlist two federally permitted
vessels to collect 2,500 sublegal (3 to 6 in (7.6 to 15.2 cm)) black
sea bass (Centropristis striata) using approximately 150 black sea bass
pots from the Raritan and Sandy Hook Bays, New Jersey. Specifically,
the study will encompass the area bound by the following coordinates:
40 deg. 26'N. latitude on the South to 40 deg. 30'N. latitude on the
north, and 73 deg.52'W. longitude on the east to 74 deg.04'W. longitude
on the west.
This applied segment of an industry-based aquaculture training
program intends to address two main objectives: (1) Broaden the
participant's knowledge of the growth and survival rates of cultured
and wildstock black sea bass in a recirculating system; and (2)
evaluate the economic efficacy of juvenile black sea bass grow out in a
recirculating system operating under full capacity, and the associated
cost-benefit ratio. The black sea bass will be harvested in industry
standard vinyl coated wire pots with mesh sizes of 1 in x 1-1/4 in
(2.54 cm x 3.2 cm). The black sea bass pots will not be modified in any
way, except that the escape vents will be closed to retain the
undersized black sea bass. Once caught, the sublegal black sea bass
will be transported to the Port of Belford, New Jersey, and placed in
4, 15-gallon (56.77 liter) recirculating tanks for grow out and
eventual sale to the market.
The RCE had previously requested that the New Jersey Department of
Environmental Protection (NJDEP) agree to exempt the black sea bass
taken under this exempted fishing permit from the state's landing
quota. However, the NJDEP decided that once the black sea bass is sold
to market at legal size (10 in (25.4 cm)), it would count against the
state's landing quota.
The students (commercial vessel operators) participating in the
training program will be under the supervision of RCE personnel during
all phases of at-sea operations.
The NJDEP has granted the RCE a harvesting permit to collect fish
in the marine, fresh, and estuarine waters of the State. The two
federally permitted vessels participating in this program will commence
collection of sublegal-size black sea bass in Federal waters as soon as
the RCE receives the necessary authorizations from NMFS. It is
anticipated that the collection of sublegal-size black sea bass will
take approximately one month. No other species besides black sea bass
will be harvested. Any regulated species caught incidental to black sea
bass will be returned immediately to the sea.
EFPs would be issued to participating vessels to exempt them from
the possession and size restrictions (see 50 CFR Sec. 648.143) of the
Fishery Management Plan for Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: August 30, 1999.
Bruce Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 99-23087 Filed 9-2-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F
