🎣Exempted Fishing Permit Application in the Bering Sea
This notice announces NMFS' receipt of an application and the public comment period for an exempted fishing permit (EFP) from North Pacific Fisheries Research Foundation. If issued, this permit would allow the applicant to develop and test salmon excluders to optimize salmon escapement under summer pollock fishing conditions in the Bering Sea pollock fishery. In order to facilitate testing of salmon excluders, this EFP would exempt participating vessels from complying with certain regulations, described below under Exemptions. Field testing would be conducted in July and August during the fishery's "B' season. Effective dates of the EFP would be from June 30, 2025 to September 1, 2025. This experiment would test salmon excluder designs that aim to optimize salmon escapement and thus promote the objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).
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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 Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen's Alliance. 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.
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