Voglio sapere a riguardo di…

30126

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 106 / Friday, June 4, 2021 / Proposed Rules
NEFSC must move the vessel away from the marine mammal to a different section of the sampling area if the animal appears to be at risk of interaction with the gear based on best professional judgement. If, after moving on, marine mammals are still visible from the vessel, NEFSC may decide to move again or to skip the station;
4 NEFSC must maintain visual monitoring effort during the entire period of time that trawl gear is in the water i.e., throughout gear deployment, fishing, and retrieval. If marine mammals are sighted before the gear is fully removed from the water, NEFSC
must take the most appropriate action to avoid marine mammal interaction;
5 If trawling operations have been suspended because of the presence of marine mammals, NEFSC may resume only after there are no sightings for 15
minutes within 1nm of sampling location;
6 NEFSC must implement standard survey protocols to minimize potential for marine mammal interaction, including minimum tow durations at target depth and minimum tow distance, and must carefully empty the trawl as quickly as possible upon retrieval; and 7 Trawl nets must be cleaned prior to deployment.
c Dredge survey protocols:
1 NEFSC must deploy dredge gear as soon as is practicable upon arrival at the sampling station;
2 NEFSC must initiate marine mammal watches visual observation prior to sampling. Marine mammal watches must be conducted by scanning the surrounding waters with the naked eye and binoculars or monocular.
During nighttime operations, visual observation must be conducted using the naked eye and available vessel lighting;
3 NEFSC must implement the following move-on rule. If marine mammals are sighted within 1 nautical mile nm of the planned location in the 15 minutes before gear deployment, the NEFSC may decide to move the vessel away from the marine mammal to a different section of the sampling area if the animal appears to be at risk of interaction with the gear, based on best professional judgement. If, after moving on, marine mammals are still visible from the vessel, NEFSC may decide to move again or to skip the station;
4 NEFSC must maintain visual monitoring effort during the entire period of time that dredge gear is in the water i.e., throughout gear deployment, fishing, and retrieval. If marine mammals are sighted before the gear is fully removed from the water, NEFSC

VerDate Sep<11>2014

17:49 Jun 03, 2021

Jkt 253001

must take the most appropriate action to avoid marine mammal interaction.
NEFSC may use best professional judgment in making this decision;
5 If dredging operations have been suspended because of the presence of marine mammals, NEFSC may resume operations when practicable only when the animals are believed to have departed the area or after 15 minutes of no sightings. NEFSC may use best professional judgment in making this determination; and 6 NEFSC must carefully empty the dredge gear as quickly as possible upon retrieval to determine if marine mammals are present in the gear.
d Bottom and pelagic longline survey protocols:
1 NEFSC must deploy longline gear as soon as is practicable upon arrival at the sampling station;
2 NEFSC must initiate marine mammal watches visual observation no less than fifteen minutes prior to both deployment and retrieval of the longline gear. Marine mammal watches must be conducted by scanning the surrounding waters with the naked eye and binoculars or monocular. During nighttime operations, visual observation must be conducted using the naked eye and available vessel lighting;
3 NEFSC must implement the following move-on rule. If marine mammals are sighted within 1 nautical mile nmi of the planned location in the 15 minutes before gear deployment, the NEFSC may decide to move the vessel away from the marine mammal to a different section of the sampling area if the animal appears to be at risk of interaction with the gear, based on best professional judgement. If, after moving on, marine mammals are still visible from the vessel, NEFSC may decide to move again or to skip the station;
4 For the Apex Predators Bottom Longline Coastal Shark Survey, if one or more marine mammals are observed within 1 nautical mile nm of the planned location in the 15 minutes before gear deployment, NEFSC must transit to a different section of the sampling area to maintain a minimum set distance of 1 nmi from the observed marine mammals. If, after moving on, marine mammals remain within 1 nmi, NEFSC may decide to move again or to skip the station. NEFSC may use best professional judgment in making this decision but may not elect to conduct pelagic longline survey activity when animals remain within the 1-nmi zone;
5 NEFSC must maintain visual monitoring effort during the entire period of gear deployment or retrieval.
If marine mammals are sighted before the gear is fully deployed or retrieved,
PO 00000

Frm 00048

Fmt 4701

Sfmt 4702

NEFSC must take the most appropriate action to avoid marine mammal interaction. NEFSC may use best professional judgment in making this decision;
6 If deployment or retrieval operations have been suspended because of the presence of marine mammals, NEFSC may resume such operations after there are no sightings of marine mammals for at least 15 minutes within the area or within the 1-nm area for the Apex Predators Bottom Longline Coastal Shark Survey. NEFSC may use best professional judgment in making this decision; and 7 NEFSC must implement standard survey protocols, including maximum soak durations and a prohibition on chumming.
e Gillnet survey protocols:
1 The NEFSC and/or its cooperating institutions, contracted vessels, or commercially-hired captains must deploy gillnet gear as soon as is practicable upon arrival at the sampling station;
2 The NEFSC and/or its cooperating institutions, contracted vessels, or commercially-hired captains must initiate marine mammal watches visual observation prior to both deployment and retrieval of the gillnet gear. When the vessel is on station during the soak, marine mammal watches must be conducted during the soak by scanning the surrounding waters with the naked eye and binoculars or monocular;
3 The NEFSC and/or its cooperating institutions, contracted vessels, or commercially-hired captains must implement the following move-on rule. If marine mammals are sighted within 1 nmi of the planned location in the 15 minutes before gear deployment, the NEFSC and/or its cooperating institutions, contracted vessels, or commercially-hired captains, may decide to move the vessel away from the marine mammal to a different section of the sampling area if the animal appears to be at risk of interaction with the gear based on best professional judgement. If, after moving on, marine mammals are still visible from the vessel, the NEFSC
and/or its cooperating institutions, contracted vessels, or commerciallyhired captains may decide to move again or to skip the station;
4 If marine mammals are sighted near the vessel during the soak and are determined to be at risk of interacting with the gear, then the NEFSC and/or its cooperating institutions, contracted vessels, or commercially-hired captains must carefully retrieve the gear as quickly as possible. The NEFSC and/or its cooperating institutions, contracted vessels, or commercially-hired captains
E:FRFM04JNP2.SGM

04JNP2