[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 58 (Friday, March 25, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17072-17073]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-06354]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XB839]
Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Shark Management
Measures; 2022 Research Fishery
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting.
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SUMMARY: On November 19, 2021, NMFS published a notice inviting
qualified commercial shark permit holders to submit applications to
participate in the 2022 Shark Research Fishery. The Shark Research
Fishery allows for the collection of fishery-dependent data for future
stock assessments and cooperative research with commercial fishermen to
meet the shark research objectives of the Agency. Every year, the
permit terms and permitted activities (e.g., number of hooks and
retention limits) specifically authorized for selected participants in
the Shark Research Fishery are designated depending on the scientific
and research needs of the Agency, as well as the number of NMFS-
approved observers available. In order to inform selected participants
of this year's specific permit requirements and ensure all terms and
conditions of the permit are met, NMFS is holding a meeting via
conference call and webinar for selected participants. The date and
time of that meeting is announced in this notice.
DATES: A conference call will be held on March 31, 2022.
ADDRESSES: A meeting will be conducted. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
for information on how to access the meeting.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Guy DuBeck at (301) 427-8503 or
Delisse Ortiz at (202) 930-1304.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Atlantic shark fisheries are managed
under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). The 2006 Consolidated Atlantic
Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP), as
amended, is implemented by regulations at 50 CFR part 635. Specifics
regarding the commercial shark quotas and the shark research fishery
can be found at Sec. Sec. 635.27(b) and 635.32(f).
The final rule for Amendment 2 to the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP (73
FR 35778, June 24, 2008, corrected at 73 FR
[[Page 17073]]
40658, July 15, 2008) established, among other things, a shark research
fishery to maintain time-series data for stock assessments and to meet
NMFS' research objectives. The shark research fishery gathers important
scientific data and allows selected commercial fishermen the
opportunity to earn more revenue from selling the sharks caught,
including sandbar sharks. Only the commercial shark fishermen selected
to participate in the shark research fishery are authorized to land/
harvest sandbar sharks subject to the sandbar quota available each
year. The 2022 base annual sandbar shark quota is 90.7 mt dressed
weight (dw). The selected shark research fishery participants also may
fish using the research large coastal shark (Sec.
635.27(b)(1)(iii)(B)), small coastal shark (Sec. 635.27(b)(1)(i)(C)
and (b)(1)(ii)(D)), and pelagic shark quotas (Sec.
635.27(b)(1)(iii)(D)) subject to the retention limits at Sec. 635.24.
On November 19, 2021 (86 FR 64909), NMFS published a notice
inviting qualified commercial shark directed and incidental permit
holders to submit an application to participate in the 2022 shark
research fishery. NMFS received seven applications and selected five
participants. In order to inform selected participants of this year's
specific permit requirements and to ensure all terms and conditions of
the permit are met, per the requirements of Sec. 635.32(f)(4), NMFS is
holding a mandatory permit holder meeting via conference call and
webinar.
Meeting Information
The meeting will be held on March 31, 2022, from 2 to 4 p.m. (EDT).
For conference call and webinar information, please go to https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/event/public-meeting-2022-shark-research-fishery.
Selected participants are strongly encouraged to attend. Selected
participants who are unable to attend will not be allowed to
participate in the shark research fishery until they are able to
discuss the terms and conditions of their shark research fishery permit
with NMFS staff. Selected participants are encouraged to invite their
captain, crew, or anyone else who may assist them in meeting the terms
and conditions of the shark research fishery permit to the conference
call. Other interested parties may call in and listen to the
discussion.
Dated: March 22, 2022.
Ngagne Jafnar Gueye,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-06354 Filed 3-24-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P