Sea Turtle Conservation; Shrimp Trawling Requirements
Federal Register, Volume 81 Issue 242 (Friday, December 16, 2016)
Federal Register Volume 81, Number 242 (Friday, December 16, 2016)
Proposed Rules
Pages 91097-91104
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov
FR Doc No: 2016-30224
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Parts 223
Docket No. 161109999-6999-01
RIN 0648-BG45
Sea Turtle Conservation; Shrimp Trawling Requirements
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments; notice of public hearings.
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SUMMARY: We are proposing to withdraw the alternative tow time restriction and require all skimmer trawls, pusher-head trawls, and wing nets (butterfly trawls) rigged for fishing--with the exception of vessels participating in the Biscayne Bay wing net fishery prosecuted in Miami-Dade County, Florida--to use turtle excluder devices (TEDs) designed to exclude small turtles in their nets. The intent of this proposed rule is to reduce incidental bycatch and mortality of sea turtles in the southeastern U.S. shrimp fisheries, and to aid in the protection and recovery of listed sea turtle populations. We also are proposing to amend the definition of tow times to better clarify the intent and purpose of tow times to reduce sea turtle mortality, and to refine additional portions of the TED requirements to avoid potential confusion.
DATES: Written comments (see ADDRESSES) will be accepted through February 14, 2017. Public hearings on the proposed rule will be held in January 2017. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for meeting dates, times, and locations.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this proposed rule, identified by 0648-BG45, by any of the following methods:
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2016-0151, click the ``Comment Now!' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments
Mail: Michael Barnette, Southeast Regional Office, NMFS, 263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.
Fax: 727-824-5309; Attention: Michael Barnette.
Instructions: NMFS may not consider comments if they are sent by any other method, to any other address or individual, or received after the comment period ends. All comments received are a part of the public record and NMFS will generally post for public viewing on www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying information (for example, name, address, etc.), confidential business information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily by the sender will be publicly accessible. NMFS will accept anonymous comments (enter N/A in the required fields, if you wish to remain anonymous). You may submit attachments to electronic comments in Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe PDF file formats only.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Barnette, 727-551-5794.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
All sea turtles in U.S. waters are listed as either endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA). In the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, the Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii), leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), and hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) turtles are listed as endangered. The loggerhead (Caretta caretta; Northwest Atlantic Ocean distinct population segment) and green (Chelonia mydas; North Atlantic and South Atlantic Ocean distinct population segments) turtles are listed as threatened.
Sea turtles are incidentally taken, and some are killed, as a result of numerous activities including fishery-related trawling activities in the Gulf of Mexico and along the Atlantic seaboard. Under the ESA and its implementing regulations, taking (harassing, injuring or killing) sea turtles is prohibited, except as identified in 50 CFR 223.206 in compliance with the terms and conditions of a biological opinion issued under section 7 of the ESA, or in accordance with an incidental take permit issued under section 10 of the ESA. Incidental takes of threatened sea turtles during shrimp trawling are exempt from the taking prohibition of section 9 of the ESA so long as the conservation measures specified in the sea turtle conservation regulations (50 CFR 223.206) are followed. The same conservation measures also apply to endangered sea turtles (50 CFR 224.104).
The regulations require most shrimp trawlers operating in the southeastern United States to have an approved TED installed in each net that is rigged for fishing, to allow sea turtles to escape. Approved TED types include single-grid
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hard TEDs and hooped hard TEDs conforming to a generic description, and the Parker soft TED (see 50 CFR 223.207). However, skimmer trawls, pusher-head trawls, and vessels using wing nets (butterfly trawls) currently may employ alternative tow time restrictions in lieu of installing TEDs, under 50 CFR 223.206(d)(2)(ii)(A). The alternative tow time restrictions currently limit tow times to 55 minutes from April 1 through October 31, and 75 minutes from November 1 through March 31.
TEDs incorporate an escape opening, usually covered by a webbing flap, which allows sea turtles to escape from trawl nets. A TED design must be shown to be 97 percent effective in excluding sea turtles during testing based upon specific testing protocols (50 CFR 223.207(e)(1)) to meet standards for approval. Most approved hard TEDs are described in the regulations (50 CFR 223.207(a)) according to generic criteria based upon certain parameters of TED design, configuration, and installation, including minimum height and width dimensions of the TED opening through which the turtles escape.
We previously examined the incidental bycatch and mortality of sea turtles in the shrimp fisheries in 2011-2012, stemming from concerns related to elevated sea turtle strandings in the northern Gulf of Mexico. On June 24, 2011 (76 FR 37050), we published a notice of intent to prepare an EIS and conduct scoping meetings on potential measures to reduce sea turtle bycatch in the shrimp fisheries. On May 10, 2012 (77 FR 27411), we published a proposed rule that, if implemented, would require all skimmer trawls, pusher-head trawls, and wing nets (butterfly trawls) to use TEDs in their nets. We also prepared a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS), which included a description of the purpose and need for evaluating the proposed action and other potential management alternatives, the scientific methodology and data used in the analyses, background information on the physical, biological, human, and administrative environments, and a description of the effects of the proposed action and other potential management alternatives on the aforementioned environments. A notice of its availability was published on May 18, 2012 (77 FR 29636). At the time the 2012 DEIS was prepared, information on the effects of the skimmer trawl fisheries on sea turtle populations was extremely limited. New information gained after the preparation of the 2012 DEIS indicated that a significant number of sea turtles observed interacting with the skimmer trawl fisheries (i.e., those found in shallow (
