[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 154 (Wednesday, August 11, 2010)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 48613-48614]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-19851]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 0910051338-0151-02]
RIN 0648-XY03


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast 
Multispecies Fishery; Implementation of Trip Limit for Witch Flounder 
and Removal of Trip Limit for Pollock

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

ACTION:  Temporary rule; inseason adjustment of landing limits.

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SUMMARY:  This action implements a landing limit for witch flounder and 
removes the trip limit for pollock for Northeast (NE) multispecies 
vessels fishing under common pool regulations for the 2010 fishing year 
(FY). This action also corrects a previously published cod trip limit 
for common pool vessels fishing under a limited access Handgear A 
permit. This action is authorized by the regulations implementing 
Amendment 16 and Framework Adjustment 44 (FW 44) to the NE Multispecies 
Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and is intended to decrease the 
likelihood of harvest exceeding the subcomponent of the annual catch 
limit (ACL) for witch flounder allocated to the common pool (common 
pool sub-ACL) and underharvesting the sub-ACL for pollock during FY 
2010 (May 1, 2010, through April 30, 2011). This action is being taken 
to optimize the harvest of NE regulated multispecies under the 
authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management 
Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

DATES:  Changes to the pollock and cod Handgear A trip limits are 
effective August 6, 2010, through April 30, 2011. The witch flounder 
trip limit is effective August 9, 2010, through April 30, 2011.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Brett Alger, Fishery Management 
Specialist, (978) 675-2153, fax (978) 281-9135.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations governing possession and landing 
limits for vessels fishing under common pool regulations are found at 
50 CFR 648.86. The regulations authorize vessels issued a valid limited 
access NE multispecies permit and fishing under a NE multispecies day-
at-sea (DAS), or fishing under a NE multispecies Small Vessel or 
Handgear A or B category permit, to fish for and retain NE 
multispecies, under specified conditions. The vessels fishing in the 
common pool are allocated a sub-ACL equivalent to that portion of the 
commercial groundfish ACL that is not allocated to the 17 approved NE 
multispecies sectors for FY 2010. The final rule implementing FW 44 (75 
FR 18356, April 9, 2010) established ACLs for FY 2010, including the 
common pool sub-ACL for witch flounder of 25 mt. A subsequent emergency 
rule published on July 20, 2010 (75 FR 41996), increased the ACL for 
pollock based on the results of a new stock assessment, and changed the 
FY 2010 common pool sub-ACL from 62 mt to 375 mt. Currently, there is 
no landing limit for witch flounder, and the landing limit for pollock 
is 1,000 lb (453.6 kg) per DAS up to 10,000 lb (4,535.9 kg) per trip.
    The regulations at Sec.  648.86(o) authorize the Administrator, 
Northeast (NE) Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator) to increase or 
decrease the trip limits for vessels in the common pool to prevent 
over-harvesting or under-harvesting the common pool sub-ACL. Exceeding 
the common pool sub-ACL prior to April 30, 2011, would likely require 
drastic trip limit reductions and/or imposition of differential DAS 
counting for the remainder of FY 2010 to minimize the overage, and 
would trigger accountability measures (AMs) in FY 2011, including 
differential DAS counting, to prevent future overages.
    Initial Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) and dealer reports indicate 
that

[[Page 48614]]

approximately 93.5 percent of the witch flounder common pool sub-ACL 
has been harvested as of August 4, 2010. Analysis of historic landings 
of witch flounder indicates that a trip limit of 130 lb (59.0 kg) per 
trip will result in achieving the sub-ACL without exceeding it. 
Historically, 80 percent of trips that land witch flounder land less 
than 500 lb (226.8 kg), and 78 percent of those trips land less than 
200 lb (90.7 kg). Therefore, this trip limit is expected to allow 
vessels to land witch flounder that are caught incidentally, but 
prevent trips with large landings of witch flounder which have been 
having a significant impact on the overall catch rate. This possession 
limit is expected to prevent the common pool from exceeding the sub-ACL 
for witch flounder while still allowing vessels an opportunity to fish 
for all other NE multispecies.
    As a result of the recent sub-ACL increase for pollock, the current 
rate of harvest would leave a substantial portion of the sub-ACL 
unharvested by the common pool in FY 2010. Initial VMS and dealer 
reports indicate that approximately 7.3 percent of the increased 
pollock allocation has been harvested as of August 4, 2010. Given the 
available sub-ACL and current trip limit of 1,000 lb (453.6 kg) per 
DAS, up to 10,000 lb (4,535.9 kg) per trip, projections indicate 
complete removal of the trip limit is warranted to allow greater 
harvest of the common pool sub-ACL by the end of the FY (April 30, 
2011).
    An inseason action that published on July 30, 2010 (75 FR 44924), 
reduced the common pool landing limit for Gulf of Maine (GOM) cod by 75 
percent, and made a proportional adjustment to the trip limit for all 
stocks of cod for vessels with a limited access Handgear A permit from 
300 lb (136.1 kg) per trip, to 75 lb (340 kg) per trip. However, the 
regulations at Sec.  648.82(b)(6), specify the ``Handgear A cod trip 
limit shall be adjusted proportionally to the trip limit for GOM cod 
(rounded up to the nearest 50 lb (22.7 kg)).'' Therefore, the new limit 
should have been rounded up to 100 lb per trip.
    Based on this information, the Regional Administrator is removing 
the pollock trip limit for all common pool vessels, and the cod limit 
for Handgear A vessels is corrected to 100 lb (45.4 kg) per trip 
effective August 6, 2010, through April 30, 2011. In addition, the 
Regional Administrator is imposing a 130-lb (59.0-kg) per trip limit on 
witch flounder for all common pool vessels effective August 9, 2010, 
through April 30, 2011.
    Catch will be closely monitored through dealer-reported landings, 
VMS catch reports, and other available information. Further inseason 
adjustments to increase or decrease the trip limits, as well as 
differential DAS measures, may be considered, based on updated catch 
data and projections. Conversely, if the common pool sub-ACL is 
projected to be under-harvested by the end of FY 2010, in-season 
adjustments to increase the trip limit will be considered.

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)(3)(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.  648.86(o) grant the RA the 
authority to adjust NE multispecies trip limits to prevent over-
harvesting or under-harvesting the common pool sub-ACLs. This action 
implements a trip limit for witch flounder and removes the trip limit 
for pollock, in order to ensure that the common pool sub-ACLs are not 
overharvested or underharvested, respectively, and that the biological 
and economic objectives of the FMP are met.
    It is important to take this action immediately because, based on 
current data and projections, continuation of the status quo trip 
limits will result in reaching the common pool sub-ACL for witch 
flounder prior to the end of the FY and under-harvesting the sub-ACL 
for pollock. Exceeding any of the common pool sub-ACLs prior to the end 
of the FY on April 30, 2011, would likely result in lower trip limits 
and differential DAS counting for the remainder of FY 2010 to minimize 
the amount of over harvest, and would result in AMs to be put in place 
for the common pool in FY 2011. These restrictions could result in the 
loss of yield of other valuable species of groundfish caught by vessels 
in the common pool.
    The information that is the basis for this action includes ACLs 
updated after May 1, 2010, and recent catch data. The time necessary to 
provide for prior notice and comment, and delayed effectiveness for 
this action would prevent NMFS from implementing a reduced trip limit 
in a timely manner. A resulting delay in the trip limit changes of 
these two stocks could result in less revenue for the fishing industry 
and be counter to the objective of achieving optimum yield.
    The Regional Administrator's authority to decrease or increase trip 
limits for the common pool to help ensure that the common pool sub-ACL 
for all NE multispecies are harvested, but not exceeded, was considered 
and open to public comment during the development of FW 44. 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: August 6, 2010.
Carrie Selberg,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-19851 Filed 8-6-09; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S