[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 221 (Tuesday, November 17, 1998)] [Notices] [Page 63911] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 98-30617] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [I.D. 103098B] Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Atlantic Shark Fisheries; Exempted Fishing Permits (EFPs)
Agency
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
Action
Application for EFP; request for comments.
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Summary
NMFS announces the receipt of an application for an EFP. If granted, this EFP would authorize, over a period of 1 year, collections of a limited number of sharks from the large coastal, pelagic, and small coastal groups from Federal waters in the Atlantic Ocean for the purpose of shark identification training.
Dates
Written comments on the applications must be received on or before December 2, 1998.
Addresses
Send comments to Rebecca Lent, Chief, Highly Migratory Species Management Division (F/SF1), NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. The application and copies of the regulations under which exempted fishing permits are subject may also be requested from this address.
For Further Information Contact
Margo Schulze, 301-713-2347; fax: 301- 713-1917.
Supplementary Information
This 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 concerning scientific research activity, exempted fishing, and exempted educational activity. Special Agent Paul Raymond intends to conduct a series of shark species identification courses for NMFS enforcement, United States Coast Guard, and Florida Marine Patrol personnel. In order to obtain specimens for this ``hands-on'' training, Special Agent Raymond has requested that Mr. Eric Sanders, a former commercial fisherman, be authorized to collect a maximum of 234 sharks (i.e., two individuals per the 39 federally-managed species for three training sessions for a total of 234 fish) by bottom longline. Fishing will occur in the Atlantic Ocean off east central Florida. Issuance of an EFP is necessary because possession of five large coastal shark species is prohibited and because the commercial fishery for large coastal sharks is closed for extended periods. The proposed collections involve activities otherwise prohibited by regulations implementing the Fishery Management Plan for Sharks of the Atlantic Ocean. The applicant requests authorization to fish for and to possess large coastal sharks outside the Federal commercial seasons and to fish for and to possess prohibited species. NMFS finds that this application warrants further consideration because Atlantic sharks are extremely difficult to identify by species once the carcasses have been commercially dressed and the primary diagnostic characteristics (head, fins, and tail) have been removed. Therefore, thorough ``hands-on'' training of Federal and state personnel that will be enforcing Atlantic shark regulations is extremely critical to the effectiveness of the regulations. A final decision on issuance of EFPs will depend on the submission of all required information, NMFS' review of public comments received on the applications, conclusions of any environmental analyses conducted pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act, and on any consultations with any appropriate Regional Fishery Management Councils, states, or Federal agencies.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: November 6, 1998. Bruce C. Morehead, Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. [FR Doc. 98-30617 Filed 11-16-98; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510-22-F