[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 84 (Tuesday, May 1, 2018)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 18985]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-09138]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 151211999-6343-02]
RIN 0648-XG175
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast
Multispecies Fishery; Gulf of Maine Cod Trimester Total Allowable Catch
Area Closure for the Common Pool Fishery
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; area closure.
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SUMMARY: This action closes the Gulf of Maine Cod Trimester Total
Allowable Catch Area to Northeast multispecies common pool vessels
fishing with trawl gear, sink gillnet gear, and longline/hook gear. The
closure is required by regulation because the common pool fishery is
projected to have caught 90 percent of its Trimester 3 quota for Gulf
of Maine cod. This closure is intended to prevent an overage of the
common pool's quota for this stock.
DATES: This action is effective April 26, 2018, through April 30, 2018.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Spencer Talmage, Fishery Management
Specialist, (978) 281-9232.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Federal regulations at Sec.
648.82(n)(2)(ii) require the Regional Administrator to close a common
pool Trimester Total Allowable Catch (TAC) Area for a stock when 90
percent of the Trimester TAC is projected to be caught. The closure
applies to all common pool vessels fishing with gear capable of
catching that stock for the remainder of the trimester.
Based on catch data through April 23, 2018, the common pool fishery
is projected to have caught approximately 90 percent of the Trimester 3
TAC (3.0 mt) for Gulf of Maine (GOM) cod on April 24, 2018. Projections
show that catch will likely reach 100 percent of the annual quota by
April 26, 2018. Effective April 26, 2018, the GOM Cod Trimester TAC
Area is closed for the remainder of Trimester 3, through April 30,
2018. This closure applies to all common pool vessels fishing on a
Northeast multispecies trip with trawl gear, sink gillnet gear, and
longline/hook gear. The GOM Cod Trimester TAC Area consists of
statistical areas 513 and 514. The area reopens at the beginning of
Trimester 1 of the 2018 fishing year on May 1, 2018.
If a vessel declared its trip through the Vessel Monitoring System
(VMS) or the interactive voice response system, and crossed the VMS
demarcation line prior to April 26, 2018, it may complete its trip
within the GOM Cod Trimester TAC Area. A vessel that has set gillnet
gear prior to April 26, 2018, may complete its trip by hauling such
gear.
If the common pool fishery exceeds its total quota for a stock in
the 2017 fishing year, the overage must be deducted from the common
pool's quota for that stock for fishing year 2018. Any uncaught portion
of the common pool's total annual quota may not be carried over into
the following fishing year.
Weekly quota monitoring reports for the common pool fishery are on
our website at: http://www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/ro/fso/MultiMonReports.htm. We will continue to monitor common pool catch
through vessel trip reports, dealer-reported landings, VMS catch
reports, and other available information and, if necessary, we will
make additional adjustments to common pool management measures.
Classification
This action is required by 50 CFR part 648 and is exempt from
review under Executive Order 12866. The Assistant Administrator for
Fisheries, NOAA, finds good cause pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) and 5
U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to waive prior notice and the opportunity for public
comment and the 30-day delayed effectiveness period because it would be
impracticable and contrary to the public interest.
The regulations require the Regional Administrator to close a
trimester TAC area to the common pool fishery when 90 percent of the
Trimester TAC for a stock has been caught. Updated catch information
through April 23, 2018, only recently became available indicating that
the common pool fishery is projected to have caught 90 percent of its
Trimester 3 TAC for GOM cod on April 24, 2018. The time necessary to
provide for prior notice and comment, and a 30-day delay in
effectiveness, would prevent the immediate closure of the GOM Cod
Trimester TAC Area. This would be contrary to the regulatory
requirement and would increase the likelihood that the common pool
fishery would exceed its trimester or annual quota of GOM cod to the
detriment of this stock. This could undermine management objectives of
the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan. Fishermen expect
these closures to occur in a timely way to prevent overages and their
payback requirements. Overages of the trimester or annual common pool
quota could cause negative economic impacts to the common pool fishery
as a result of overage paybacks deducted from a future trimester or
fishing year.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: April 26, 2018.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2018-09138 Filed 4-26-18; 4:15 pm]
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