[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 177 (Tuesday, September 15, 2009)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 47118-47119]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-22170]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 080521698-9067-02]
RIN 0648-XR42


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast 
Multispecies Fishery; Modification of the Gear Requirements for the 
U.S./Canada Management Area

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Temporary rule; gear restriction.

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SUMMARY: This action modifies the gear requirements for the U.S./Canada 
Management Area to prohibit all limited access Northeast (NE) 
multispecies vessels fishing on a NE multispecies day-at-sea (DAS) with 
trawl gear in the Eastern U.S./Canada Area from using flounder trawl 
nets. This action is authorized by the regulations implementing 
Amendment 13 to the NE Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP), and 
is intended to decrease the likelihood of exceeding the total allowable 
catch (TAC) for Eastern Georges Bank (GB) cod and GB yellowtail 
flounder during the 2009 fishing year (FY). This action is being taken 
to optimize the harvest of transboundary stocks of GB yellowtail 
flounder, haddock, and cod under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

DATES: Effective September 17, 2009, through April 30, 2010.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Douglas Potts, Fishery Policy Analyst, 
(978) 281-6341, fax (978) 281-9135.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations governing the gear requirements 
for the U.S./Canada Management Area under the 2009 interim final rule 
(74 FR 17030, April 13, 2009) are found at Sec.  648.85(a)(3)(ix). The 
regulations require that trawl vessels issued a valid limited access NE 
multispecies permit and fishing under a NE multispecies DAS in the 
Eastern U.S./Canada Area, as defined at Sec.  648.85(a)(1)(ii), fish 
with a Ruhle trawl, a haddock separator trawl, or a flounder trawl net. 
The Eastern U.S./Canada Area GB cod TAC for FY 2009 (May 1, 2009 - 
April 30, 2010) was specified at 527 mt, and the TAC for the entire 
U.S./Canada Management Area for GB yellowtail flounder was specified at 
1,617 mt, by the 2009 interim final rule. Once the available TAC for 
Eastern GB cod, Eastern GB haddock, or GB yellowtail flounder is 
projected to be caught, the Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS 
(Regional Administrator) is required to close the Eastern U.S./Canada 
Area to all NE multispecies DAS vessels for the remainder of the 
fishing year, pursuant to Sec.  648.85(a)(3)(iv)(E).
    The regulations at Sec.  648.85(a)(3)(iv)(D) authorize the Regional 
Administrator to modify certain regulations governing the harvesting of 
fish from the U.S./Canada Management Area, including gear requirements, 
to prevent over-harvesting or under-harvesting the TAC allocations 
specified for Eastern GB cod, Eastern GB haddock, or GB yellowtail 
flounder in the U.S./Canada Management Area. Based upon Vessel 
Monitoring System

[[Page 47119]]

(VMS) reports and other available information, the TACs for Eastern GB 
cod and GB yellowtail flounder would be fully harvested before the end 
of FY 2009, resulting in the premature closure of the Eastern U.S./
Canada Area and the potential under-harvest of the available TAC for 
Eastern GB haddock during FY 2009. Requiring trawl vessels to use 
either a haddock separator trawl or a Ruhle trawl is expected to reduce 
the catch rates of both cod and yellowtail flounder, reduce discards, 
and result in the achievement of the TACs, without exceeding them. 
Based on this information, the Regional Administrator is prohibiting 
the use of flounder trawl nets by any limited access NE multispecies 
vessel fishing in the Eastern U.S./Canada Area under a NE multispecies 
DAS, to reduce catches and discards of Eastern GB cod and GB yellowtail 
flounder, effective September 17, 2009, through April 30, 2010.

Classification

    This action is authorized by 50 CFR part 648 and is exempt from 
review under Executive Order 12866.
    Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) and (d)(3), there is good cause to 
waive prior notice and opportunity for public comment, as well as the 
delayed effectiveness for this action, because notice, comment, and a 
delayed effectiveness would be impracticable and contrary to the public 
interest. The regulations under Sec.  648.85(a)(3)(iv)(D) grant the 
Regional Administrator the authority to modify gear requirements to 
prevent over-harvesting or underharvesting the TAC allocation. Because 
of the time necessary to provide for prior notice and opportunity for 
public comment, NMFS would be prevented from taking immediate action to 
slow the catch rate of GB cod in the Eastern U.S./Canada Area. Such a 
delay would allow the observed high catch rate of GB cod to continue 
and would result in excessive discards of GB cod, the premature closure 
of the Eastern U.S./Canada Area for the remainder of the fishing year, 
and the potential under-harvest of the available TAC specified for GB 
haddock. Excessive discards of GB cod caused by a delayed 
implementation of this action could potentially increase mortality on 
this overfished stock and undermine the conservation objectives of 
Amendment 13 to the FMP, and the Magnuson-Stevens Act. If 
implementation of this action is delayed, the NE multispecies fishery 
could be prevented from fully harvesting the TAC for GB haddock during 
FY 2009. Under-harvesting this TAC would result in increased economic 
impacts to the industry, and social impacts beyond those analyzed in 
Amendment 13, as the full potential revenue from the available Eastern 
GB haddock would not be realized.
    The rate of harvest of the Eastern GB cod and GB yellowtail 
flounder TACs in the U.S./Canada Management Area are updated weekly on 
the internet at http://www.nero.noaa.gov. Accordingly, the public is 
able to obtain information that would provide at least some advanced 
notice of a potential action to provide additional opportunities to the 
NE multispecies industry to fully harvest the TAC for any species 
during FY 2009. Further, the Regional Administrator's authority to 
modify gear requirements in the U.S./Canada Management Area to help 
ensure that the shared U.S./Canada stocks of fish are harvested, but 
not exceeded, was considered and open to public comment during the 
development of Amendment 13 to the FMP and Framework Adjustment 42 to 
the FMP. Therefore, any negative effect the waiving of public comment 
and delayed effectiveness may have on the public is mitigated by these 
factors.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: September 10, 2009.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. E9-22170 Filed 9-10-09; 4:15 pm]
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