697.19—Trap limits and trap tag requirements for vessels fishing with lobster traps.

(a) Trap limits for vessels fishing or authorized to fish in any Nearshore Management Area. (1) Through August 31, 2003, vessels fishing in or issued a management area designation certificate or valid limited access American lobster permit specifying one or more EEZ Nearshore Management Area(s), whether or not in combination with the Area 2/3 Overlap, shall not fish with, deploy in, possess in, or haul back from such area more than 800 lobster traps.

(2) Beginning September 1, 2003, vessels fishing in or issued a valid limited access American lobster permit specifying one or more of EEZ Nearshore Management Areas 1, 2, or the Outer Cape Management Area, regardless of whether it is in combination with the Area 2/3 Overlap, shall not fish with, deploy in, possess in, or haul back from such area(s) more than 800 lobster traps, except as noted in paragraph (d) of this section.

(3) Beginning September 1, 2003, vessels fishing in or issued a management area designation certificate or valid limited access American lobster permit specifying EEZ Management Area 4 may not fish with, deploy in, possess in, or haul back from such areas more than the number of lobster traps allocated by the Regional Administrator pursuant to the qualification process set forth at § 697.4(a)(7)(vii), which will not exceed 1,440 lobster traps, except as noted in paragraphs (c) and (e) of this section.

(4) Beginning September 1, 2003, vessels fishing in or issued a management area designation certificate or valid limited access American lobster permit specifying EEZ Management Area 5 may not fish with, deploy in, possess in, or haul back from such areas more than the number of lobster traps allocated by the Regional Administrator pursuant to the qualification process set forth at § 697.4(a)(7)(viii), which will not exceed 1,440 lobster traps, except as noted in paragraphs (c) and (e) of this section unless the vessel is operating under an Area 5 Trap Waiver permit issued under § 697.26.

(b) Trap limits for vessels fishing or authorized to fish in the EEZ Offshore Management Area. (1) Effective through November 3, 2007, vessels fishing only in or issued a management area designation certificate or valid limited access American lobster permit specifying only EEZ Offshore Management Area 3, or, specifying only EEZ Offshore Management Area 3 and the Area 2/3 Overlap, may not fish with, deploy in, possess in, or haul back from such areas more than the number of lobster traps allocated by the Regional Administrator pursuant to the qualification process set forth at § 697.4(a)(7)(vi) and the maximum trap limits identified in Table 1, Column 2 to this part, except as noted in paragraphs (c) and (e) of this section.

(2) Beginning November 4, 2007, vessels fishing only in or issued a management area designation certificate or valid limited access American lobster permit specifying only EEZ Offshore Management Area 3, or, specifying only EEZ Offshore Management Area 3 and the Area 2/3 Overlap, may not fish with, deploy in, possess in, or haul back from such areas more than the number of lobster traps allocated by the Regional Administrator pursuant to the qualification process set forth at § 697.4(a)(7)(vi) and the maximum trap limits identified in Table 1, Column 3, to this part, except as noted in paragraphs (c) and (e) of this section.

(3) Beginning July 1, 2008, vessels fishing only in or issued a management area designation certificate or valid limited access American lobster permit specifying only EEZ Offshore Management Area 3, or, specifying only EEZ Offshore Management Area 3 and the Area 2/3 Overlap, may not fish with, deploy in, possess in, or haul back from such areas more than the number of lobster traps allocated by the Regional Administrator pursuant to the qualification process set forth at § 697.4(a)(7)(vi) and the maximum trap limits identified in Table 1, Column 4, to this part, except as noted in paragraphs (c) and (e) of this section.

(4) Beginning July 1, 2009, vessels fishing only in or issued a management area designation certificate or valid limited access American lobster permit specifying only EEZ Offshore Management Area 3, or, specifying only EEZ Offshore Management Area 3 and the Area 2/3 Overlap, may not fish with, deploy in, possess in, or haul back from such areas more than the number of lobster traps allocated by the Regional Administrator pursuant to the qualification process set forth at § 697.4(a)(7)(vi) and the maximum trap limits identified in Table 1, Column 5, to this part, except as noted in paragraphs (c) and (e) of this section.

(5) Beginning July 1, 2010, and beyond, vessels fishing only in or issued a management area designation certificate or valid limited access American lobster permit specifying only EEZ Offshore Management Area 3, or, specifying only EEZ Offshore Management Area 3 and the Area 2/3 Overlap, may not fish with, deploy in, possess in, or haul back from such areas more than the number of lobster traps allocated by the Regional Administrator pursuant to the qualification process set forth at § 697.4(a)(7)(vi) and the maximum trap limits identified in Table 1, Column 6, to this part, except as noted in paragraphs (c) and (e) of this section.

(c) Lobster trap limits for vessels fishing or authorized to fish in more than one EEZ Management Area. A vessel owner who elects to fish in more than one EEZ Management Area may not fish with, deploy in, possess in, or haul back from any of those elected management areas more lobster traps than the lowest number of lobster traps allocated to that vessel for any one elected management area.

(d) Conservation equivalent trap limits in New Hampshire state waters. Notwithstanding any other provision, any vessel with a Federal lobster permit and a New Hampshire Full Commercial Lobster license may fish up to a maximum of 1,200 lobster traps in New Hampshire state waters, to the extent authorized by New Hampshire lobster fishery regulations. However, such vessel may not fish, possess, deploy, or haul back more than 800 lobster traps in the Federal waters of EEZ Nearshore Management Area 1, and may not fish more than a combined total of 1,200 lobster traps in the Federal and New Hampshire state waters portions of EEZ Nearshore Management Area 1.

(e) Potential Modifications to Area 3, Area 4, and/or Area 5 Trap Limits in Fishing Year 2003. The Regional Administrator may issue temporary interim Federal American lobster trap fishing permits pursuant to § 697.4 for Areas 3, 4 and/or 5 prior to completion of NMFS' review of the Area 3, Area 4 and/or Area 5 qualification applications, if the applicant has designated one or more of those areas on their 2003 Federal lobster permit. These temporary permits will become effective on September 1, 2003, for those applicants who have applied in the manner set forth in § 697.4(a)(7)(vi)(D) (1 ), (a)(7)(vii)(D)(1 ), and/or (a)(7)(viii)(D)(1 ). Any vessel issued a temporary trap fishing permit for Area 3 may fish up to 1,800 lobster traps, except as noted in paragraph (c) of this section. Any vessel issued a temporary trap fishing permit for Area 4 and/or 5 shall not fish more than 800 traps. The temporary interim permit will remain valid during fishing year 2003 until such time the Regional Administrator has reviewed and either approved or denied the temporary permitee's historical participation application. If approved, the Regional Administrator may issue a revised permit and/or management area designation certificate, depending on whether the applicant designated that area on his or her 2003 Federal permit at the beginning of the year. Any traps being fished, deployed, or possessed by the qualified Federal permit holder in excess of the number of traps as described in paragraphs (a)(3), (a)(4), and (b)(2) of this section must be removed from the water within 14 days after receipt of the revised permit, or 30 days after the date it is sent, whichever comes first. Revised Federal lobster permits must be retained aboard the fishing vessel at all times.

(f) Trap tag requirements for vessels fishing with lobster traps. Any lobster trap fished in Federal waters must have a valid Federal lobster trap tag permanently attached to the trap bridge or central cross-member. Any vessel with a Federal lobster permit may not possess, deploy, or haul back lobster traps in any portion of any management area that do not have a valid, federally recognized lobster trap tag permanently attached to the trap bridge or central cross-member.

(g) Maximum lobster trap tags authorized for direct purchase. In any fishing year, the maximum number of tags authorized for direct purchase by each permit holder is the applicable trap limit specified in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section plus an additional 10 percent to cover trap loss.

(h) EEZ Management area 5 trap waiver exemption. Any vessel issued an Area 5 Trap Waiver permit under § 697.4(p) is exempt from the provisions of this section.

[68 FR 14930, Mar. 27, 2003, as amended at 72 FR 56942, Oct. 5, 2007]

CFR

697.19—Trap limits and trap tag requirements for vessels fishing with lobster traps.