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NOAA Fisheries is requesting public comment on an Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) application submitted by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC).
The EFP would provide an exemption from federal lobster, red crab, and gillnet gear marking requirements and allow up to 180 lobster vessels and up to 20 total gillnet, red crab, and black sea bass vessels to test alternatives to static vertical lines (also referred to as on-demand or ropeless gear), including lobster trap vessels fishing up to 300 total trawls in Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan Restricted Areas with no static vertical lines.
The purpose of this project is to broaden the trials of on-demand fishing systems across the breadth of regional commercial fishing conditions, with the aim of sustaining the fixed gear fishing industry. The development of these technologies are ultimately aimed at reducing the entanglement risk to the endangered North Atlantic right whale in trap/pot and gillnet fisheries.
Full details on the proposal can be found in the Federal Register notice. The comment period is open through June 3, 2024.
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