New England Fishery Management Council; Meeting

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

50 CFR Part 648

[I.D. 022797A]

New England Fishery Management Council; Meeting

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold

a 2-day public meeting on March 12 and 13, 1997, to consider actions

affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone.

DATES: The meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 12, 1997, at 10

a.m. and on Thursday, March 13, 1997, at 8:30 a.m.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will take place at the King's Grant Inn, Route

128 and Trask Lane, Danvers, MA; telephone (508) 774-6800. Requests for

special accommodations should be addressed to the New England Fishery

Management Council, 5 Broadway, Saugus, MA 01906-1097; telephone: (617)

231-0422.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul J. Howard, Executive Director,

New England Fishery Management Council, (617) 231-0422.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

March 12, 1997

The March 12 session will begin with Enforcement Committee

recommendations on cod trip limits and fishing vessels transiting

closed areas. In addition to reviewing NMFS and Coast Guard reports to

the Council on recent enforcement actions, the Enforcement Committee

will provide an update on a Vessel Tracking System trial program and an

evaluation of the current scallop regulations. The Scallop Committee

will review its most recent discussion of

ittee

recommendations on cod trip limits and fishing vessels transiting

closed areas. In addition to reviewing NMFS and Coast Guard reports to

the Council on recent enforcement actions, the Enforcement Committee

will provide an update on a Vessel Tracking System trial program and an

evaluation of the current scallop regulations. The Scallop Committee

will review its most recent discussion of

fishing effort consolidation. The day will conclude with a report by

the Groundfish Committee chairman. His briefing on the committee's

discussions will include: Maintaining or opening groundfish closed

areas to scallop dredging; consideration of a framework adjustment to

the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP) that would

contain measures to protect incoming year classes of winter flounder;

development of a timetable for winter flounder stock rebuilding and for

whiting management; consideration of a year-round fishery for small

scallop dredges in the Nantucket Shoals Dogfish Exemption Area; the

August 15 through September 13 Northeast Closure Area for groundfish,

as it relates to the gillnet fishery requirement to take 21 days off

from groundfish fishing between June and September; and initial action

on a framework adjustment to the FMP under the framework for

abbreviated rulemaking procedure contained in 50 CFR 648.82. In

addition to allowing fishing in the North Atlantic Fisheries

Organization regulated area without using multispecies days-at-sea

(DAS) allocations, this framework adjustment would provide incentives

to fish offshore through several means including not counting steaming

time against multispecies DAS allocations.

March 13, 1997

or

abbreviated rulemaking procedure contained in 50 CFR 648.82. In

addition to allowing fishing in the North Atlantic Fisheries

Organization regulated area without using multispecies days-at-sea

(DAS) allocations, this framework adjustment would provide incentives

to fish offshore through several means including not counting steaming

time against multispecies DAS allocations.

March 13, 1997

The Council Chairman; Executive Director; Regional Administrator,

Northeast Region, NMFS; representatives from the Northeast Fisheries

Science Center; Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC);

U.S. Coast Guard; and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council

liaison will report on recent activities. There will be a briefing on

the Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program followed by an

update on public comments received to date on monkfish management

proposals. During the latter portion of the meeting, the Responsible

Fishing Committee will discuss fishermen's training and certification

programs. There will be an update on ASMFC's lobster management program

and a NMFS update on actions to restrict lobster gear to reduce the

risk of northern right whale entanglements.

Announcement of Experimental Fishery Applications

There will be a discussion of several experimental fisheries that

have been recently submitted to NMFS for review and approval. Among the

proposed experiments are extensions of two previous experiments, two

expansions of previously conducted experiments and two new experiments.

The Regional Administrator has conducted preliminary reviews of the

experimental fishery proposals and is seeking Council and industry

comments on the proposals.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of

Fish Game and Wildlife conducted studies on food habits and digestive

systems of lobsters taken from artificial reef systems off of New

Jersey

two new experiments.

The Regional Administrator has conducted preliminary reviews of the

experimental fishery proposals and is seeking Council and industry

comments on the proposals.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of

Fish Game and Wildlife conducted studies on food habits and digestive

systems of lobsters taken from artificial reef systems off of New

Jersey. One fishing vessel was issued an experimental fishing permit

(EFP) that exempted it from the possession limit for vessels without a

Federal American lobster permit, size limit, and prohibition on

possession of lobster parts. The investigators were not able to collect

their target numbers of 150 lobsters and have therefore requested an

extension of the EFP to cover the period from June through October of

1997.

The Research Foundation of the State University of New York (SUNY)

has been issued an EFP for a fishing vessel that it has chartered to

conduct studies on interactions between juvenile groundfish and their

habitats. The study is funded under the Saltonstall/Kennedy Grant

program and the EFP expires on April 30, 1997. SUNY has requested that

the EFP be extended to cover the duration of the funded activities. The

project involves collection of samples of juvenile fish in the New York

Bight area with small mesh trawl gear. An EFP is required to exempt the

participating vessel from DAS, gear and mesh size restrictions, and

minimum fish size limits of the FMP.

A member of the fishing industry has requested that the seasonal

experimental whiting separator trawl fishery conducted in the Northern

Shrimp Small Mesh Exemption Area be extended to allow fishing under the

experiment for the entire year. In addition, the applicant has

requested the use of a grate bar spacing of 2 inches (5.08 cm) instead

of the previous 1-9/16 - inch (4-cm) bar spacing used in the previous

fishery. EFPs would be necessary to exempt participating vessels from

mesh size, DAS, and bycatch restrictions of the FMP

rimp Small Mesh Exemption Area be extended to allow fishing under the

experiment for the entire year. In addition, the applicant has

requested the use of a grate bar spacing of 2 inches (5.08 cm) instead

of the previous 1-9/16 - inch (4-cm) bar spacing used in the previous

fishery. EFPs would be necessary to exempt participating vessels from

mesh size, DAS, and bycatch restrictions of the FMP.

The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (MADMF) has

requested that its experimental small mesh raised footrope trawl

whiting fishery conducted in Cape Cod Bay be expanded to allow two to

three vessels to fish in three additional distinct areas within the

GOM/GB Regulated Mesh Area. MADMF would monitor the vessels and the

trawl gear to determine if the raised footrope trawl is an appropriate

gear to reduce bycatch of regulated species in areas outside of Cape

Cod Bay. EFPs would be required to exempt vessels from mesh size, DAS,

and bycatch restrictions of the multispecies FMP.

The MADMF and an industry member have submitted an application to

conduct comparisons of catch rates of yellowtail flounder using diamond

and square mesh trawls. The purpose of the study is to determine the

selectivity of diamond or square mesh trawls on yellowtail flounder. An

EFP would be required to exempt the vessel from possession limits, DAS,

and mesh size restrictions of the FMP. While the vessel will be using

the regulated 6-inch (15.24-cm) mesh trawls, small mesh codend covers

will be used to measure the catches of the fish for each type of trawl.

The applicants have further requested that the vessel be allowed to

retain and land legal sized regulated multispecies on the experimental

trips.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources (MEDMR) had requested that

fishing vessels and recreational fishers be allowed to catch and retain

juvenile tagged regulated multispecies that were raised and released by

MEDMR. Participating fishers would return the tagged fish to MEDMR

quested that the vessel be allowed to

retain and land legal sized regulated multispecies on the experimental

trips.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources (MEDMR) had requested that

fishing vessels and recreational fishers be allowed to catch and retain

juvenile tagged regulated multispecies that were raised and released by

MEDMR. Participating fishers would return the tagged fish to MEDMR. The

purpose of the tagged fish recovery effort is to measure the

survivability of released fish. Those catching and returning tagged

juvenile regulated species would be required to be exempted from the

minimum fish size limits and possibly DAS and possession limits of the

multispecies FMP.

Prior to the conclusion of the meeting, the Council will discuss

policy advice to the Mid-Atlantic Council on mackerel joint ventures

and comments on NMFS' proposed swordfish fishery limited access

program.

Special Accommodations

This meeting is physically accessible to people with disabilities.

Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids

should be directed to Paul J. Howard (see ADDRESSES) at least 5 days

prior to the meeting date.

Authority: 16 U.S. C. 1801 et seq.

Dated: March 4, 1997.

Bruce Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine

Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 97-5784 Filed 3-7-97; 8:45 am]

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