Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; General Provisions for Domestic Fisheries; Application for Exempted Fishing Permits
The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Region, NMFS, has made a preliminary determination that an Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) applica...
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION:
Notice; request for comments.
SUMMARY:
The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Region, NMFS, has made a preliminary determination that an Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) application contains all of the required information and warrants further consideration. The EFP would allow federally permitted fishing vessels to fish outside fishery regulations in support of exempted fishing activities proposed by the Maine Department of Marine Resources (ME DMR). Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act require publication of this notification to provide interested parties the opportunity to comment on applications for proposed EFPs.
DATES:
Comments must be received on or before September 8, 2026.
ADDRESSES:
You may submit written comments by email:
nmfs.gar.efp@noaa.gov.
Include in the subject line “ME DMR Dynamic Management EFP.” All comments received are a part of the public record and may be posted for public viewing without change. All personal identifying information (
e.g.,
name, address), confidential business information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily by the sender will be publicly accessible. NMFS will accept anonymous comments (enter “anonymous” as the signature if you wish to remain anonymous).
The applicant submitted a complete application for an EFP to conduct commercial fishing activities that the regulations would otherwise restrict. This EFP would exempt the participating vessels from the following Federal regulations:
To allow for the use of trap/pot gear with no more than one surface marking on trawls of more than three traps.
Table 2—Project Summary
Project title
Testing the applicability of dynamic management in Maine's lobster fishery during potential future North Atlantic Right Whale (NARW) aggregations near Jeffrey's Ledge.
Project start
11/01/2026.
Project end
03/31/2027.
Project objectives
To assess the feasibility of dynamic management for the Maine lobster fishery to allow for continued access to fishing grounds while also reducing the risk associated with vertical lines in real-time when endangered NARW are found to be present in the Gulf of Maine.
Project location
Lobster Management Area 1: Maine Lobster Conservation Zones F, F/G, and G around Jeffrey's Ledge.
Number of vessels
Up to 50.
Number of trips, duration, total days
See Project Narrative.
Gear type(s)
Lobster traps.
Number and duration of tows or sets
See Project Narrative.
Project Narrative
In January 2025, an aggregation of upwards of 90 individual NARWs were spotted on Jeffrey's Ledge and persisted for over 3 weeks. During that time, vessels from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts were actively fishing lobster gear, creating an area of potentially high NARW entanglement risk. Using vessel tracking data and sightings information, ME DMR identified the area of greatest overlap between recently set lobster gear from Maine vessels and NARW sightings. Maine vessels took voluntary action to reduce the entanglement risk by removing an endline from gear that was actively being fished in the area, delaying the setting of gear into deeper waters, and/or delaying setting gear at all. The 2025 NARW aggregation highlighted the potential to execute dynamic management, of which ME DMR is interested in investigating further.
This EFP would not allow for any changes to regular commercial lobster fishing activities regarding trap limits, soak times, catch,
etc.
This EFP would only allow participating vessels to temporarily remove, or drop and secure to the bottom, one endline from their trawls upon notification from ME DMR that a NARW aggregation is in the Jeffrey's Ledge area. Which endline would be dropped would be decided if an aggregation occurred. The dropped endline would be consistent for all participants and ME DMR would communicate the information out for awareness. The trigger for a dynamic management response would be based on the details of the situation (
e.g.,
where/when/how many whales aggregate, if they were in an area of dense fishing gear, if a mom/calf pair was present).
If ME DMR triggered a dynamic management response, data would be collected on how many whales were present, for how long, and the size of the area where participating vessels removed/dropped an endline. For each participating vessel, data would also be collected on the time between initial whale detections and any removed/dropped endlines, how many endlines were removed/dropped, and how long endlines were removed/dropped. Additional information regarding delaying the setting of gear, setting gear in a different area, or trawling up would also be collected. Data would help provide feedback to managers on the feasibility of implementing a dynamic management program in the future.
ME DMR has requested to exempt participants from EFP trip reporting requirements, stating that this requirement is a barrier to recruiting fishermen for this project and is duplicative of the required electronic vessel trip reporting. EFP trip reporting requirements assist NMFS in monitoring trips taken under an EFP, and to help identify vessels that are operating in ways that would otherwise not be allowed. There are no sensitivities related to catch that NMFS needs to document at the trip level. NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement has indicated that there are other means by which it could monitor, perform outreach on, and enforce regulations on vessels participating in this EFP. For these reasons, NMFS recommends waiving the EFP trip reporting requirements for vessels operating under this EFP. This would be consistent with other EFP's where NMFS has waived the trip reporting requirements. NMFS may reevaluate this waiver should it become evident that EFP trip-level reporting is warranted or needed.
All vessels participating in the EFP would adhere to current approach regulations—a 500-yard (457-meter) buffer zone created by a surfacing right whale—and must depart immediately at a safe and slow speed, in accordance with current regulations. Hauling any lobster gear would immediately cease (by removal) to accommodate the regulation and be reinitiated only after it was reasonable to assume the whale had left the area.
ME DMR proposed the following best practices and risk reduction measures:
All vessels would operate within a 10-knot (18.5 kilometers per hour) speed limit when whales were observed;
All vessels would report all right whale sightings to NMFS viane.rw.survey@noaa.gov
or NOAA (866-755-6622) or the U.S. Coast Guard (Channel 16) and record sightings on data sheets;
All vessels would provide mandatory, weekly gear loss reports to ME DMR; and
( printed page 54311)
Upon aggregation dispersal, ME DMR would work with participating vessels to return their gear to its required configuration within 30 days.
If approved, the applicant may request minor modifications and extensions to the EFP throughout the year. EFP modifications and extensions may be granted without further notice if they are deemed essential to facilitate completion of the proposed research and have minimal impacts that do not change the scope or impact of the initially approved EFP request. Any fishing activity conducted outside the scope of the exempted fishing activity would be prohibited.
50 CFR 697.21(b)(2)
16 U.S.C. 1801