{"abstract":"This Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) application is a continuation of a collaborative project involving the University of New Hampshire (UNH), Durham, New Hampshire (NH); the Lobster Conservancy, Friendship, Maine; the New England Aquarium, Boston, Massachusetts; and the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen's Association, Candia, NH. The EFP proposes to continue monitoring a total of 150 legal sized egg bearing female lobsters (berried lobsters) carrying early-stage eggs until the eggs mature and are released. Each berried lobster will be tagged and fitted with a small ambient temperature recording device (Tidbit temperature-loggers) and then the movement and egg-development stages of these tagged berried lobsters will be documented. When a tagged berried lobster is recaptured in commercial lobster gear, participating lobstermen will download thermal data from the attached Tidbit temperature-logger, and also preserve a maximum of 10 eggs from each tagged berried lobster to allow researchers to estimate the egg developmental stage and time to maturity. The tagged berried lobsters will then be released unharmed. The EFP would waive the prohibition on removal of eggs specified at 50 CFR 697.7(c)(1)(iv) for a maximum of 16 participating vessels and is limited to the 150 pre-tagged berried lobsters in this project. The Director, State, Federal and Constituent Programs Office, Northeast Region, NMFS (Office Director) has made a preliminary determination that the subject EFP application contains all the required information and warrants further consideration. The Office Director has also made a preliminary determination that the activities authorized under the EFPs would be consistent with the goals and objectives of Federal management of the American lobster resource. However, further review and consultation may be necessary before a final determination is made to issue EFPs. Therefore, NMFS announces that the Office Director proposes to issue EFPs that would allow a maximum of 16 Federally permitted commercial fishing vessels to participate in the continuation of a project designed to monitor the movement of berried lobsters in two inshore locations in the vicinity of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Friendship, Maine, and in two offshore locations along the northern edge of Georges Bank and in Corsair and Lydonia Canyons to the southeast of Georges Bank. This project would not involve the authorization of any additional trap gear, and all trap gear would conform to existing Federal lobster regulations. There would be no anticipated adverse effects on protected resources or habitat as a result of this research. Therefore, this document invites comments on the issuance of EFPs to allow a maximum of 16 commercial fishing vessels in possession of Federal lobster permits to remove a maximum of 10 eggs each time any one of the 150 tagged berried lobsters are captured during the course of normal fishing operations in the designated study areas.","action":"Notification of a request for Exempted Fishing Permits to conduct experimental fishing; request for comments.","agencies":[{"raw_name":"DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE","name":"Commerce Department","id":54,"url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/commerce-department","json_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/agencies/54","parent_id":null,"slug":"commerce-department"},{"raw_name":"National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration","name":"National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration","id":361,"url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/national-oceanic-and-atmospheric-administration","json_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/agencies/361","parent_id":54,"slug":"national-oceanic-and-atmospheric-administration"}],"body_html_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/full_text/html/2006/04/07/E6-5119.html","cfr_references":[],"citation":"71 FR 17834","comment_url":null,"comments_close_on":"2006-04-24","correction_of":null,"corrections":[],"dates":"Comments on this lobster EFP notification for berried lobster monitoring and data collection must be received on or before April 24, 2006.","disposition_notes":null,"docket_ids":["I.D. 040306B"],"dockets":[],"document_number":"E6-5119","effective_on":null,"end_page":17836,"executive_order_notes":null,"executive_order_number":null,"explanation":null,"full_text_xml_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/full_text/xml/2006/04/07/E6-5119.xml","html_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2006/04/07/E6-5119/atlantic-coastal-fisheries-cooperative-management-act-provisions-application-for-exempted-fishing","images":{},"images_metadata":{},"json_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/documents/E6-5119?publication_date=2006-04-07","mods_url":"https://www.govinfo.gov/metadata/granule/FR-2006-04-07/E6-5119/mods.xml","not_received_for_publication":null,"page_length":3,"page_views":{"count":12,"last_updated":"2026-04-04 16:15:04 -0400"},"pdf_url":"https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2006-04-07/pdf/E6-5119.pdf","presidential_document_number":null,"proclamation_number":null,"public_inspection_pdf_url":null,"publication_date":"2006-04-07","raw_text_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/full_text/text/2006/04/07/E6-5119.txt","regulation_id_number_info":{},"regulation_id_numbers":[],"regulations_dot_gov_info":{"checked_regulationsdotgov_at":"2011-11-12T19:03:22Z"},"regulations_dot_gov_url":null,"significant":null,"signing_date":null,"start_page":17834,"subtype":null,"title":"Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act Provisions; Application for Exempted Fishing Permits","toc_doc":"Exempted fishing permit applications, determinations, etc.","toc_subject":null,"topics":[],"type":"Notice","volume":71}