[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 161 (Friday, August 19, 2011)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 51905-51906]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-21251]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 622

[Docket No. 040205043-4043-01]
RIN 0648-XA592


Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; 
Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Fishery; 2011 Commercial Quota and 2011 
Commercial Fishing Season for Greater Amberjack

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

ACTION: Temporary rule; reopening.

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SUMMARY: NMFS implements this temporary final rule to increase the 
commercial quota for greater amberjack in the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) for 
the 2011 fishing year and reopen the 2011 commercial fishing season for 
greater amberjack for a limited time period. These actions are 
necessary to achieve the optimum yield for the fishery, thus enhancing 
social and economic benefits to the fishery.

DATES: This rule is effective August 19, 2011 through December 31, 
2011, except for the reopening of the commercial sector for Gulf 
greater amberjack. The commercial sector for Gulf greater amberjack 
will reopen at 12:01 a.m., local time, September 1, 2011, and close at 
12:01 a.m., local time, October 31, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of the final rule for Amendment 30A, the 
Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS) for Amendment 
30A, and other supporting documentation may be obtained from Rich 
Malinowski, NMFS, Southeast Regional Office, 263 13th Avenue South, St. 
Petersburg, FL 33701; telephone: 727-824-5305.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rich Malinowski, telephone: 727-824-
5305, e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The reef fish fishery of the Gulf is managed 
under the Fishery Management Plan for Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf 
of Mexico (FMP). The FMP was prepared by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery 
Management Council (Council) and is implemented under the authority of 
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-
Stevens Act) by regulations at 50 CFR part 622.

Background

    The 2006 reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act implemented 
new requirements that annual catch limits (ACLs) and accountability 
measures (AMs) be established to end overfishing and prevent 
overfishing from occurring. AMs are management controls to prevent ACLs 
from being exceeded, and correct or mitigate overages of the ACL if 
they occur. Section 303(a)(15) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act mandates the 
establishment of ACLs at a level such that overfishing does not occur 
in the fishery, including measures to ensure accountability.
    On July 3, 2008, NMFS issued a final rule (73 FR 38139) to 
implement Amendment 30A to the FMP (Amendment 30A). Amendment 30A 
established a commercial quota for Gulf greater amberjack of 503,000 lb 
(228,157 kg) and an AM that would go into effect if the commercial 
quota for greater amberjack is exceeded. In accordance with regulations 
at 50 CFR 622.49(a)(1)(i), when the applicable commercial quota is 
reached, or projected to be reached, the Assistant Administrator for 
Fisheries, NOAA, (AA), will file a notification with the Office of the 
Federal Register to close the commercial sector for the remainder of 
the fishing year. If despite such closure, commercial landings exceed 
the quota, the AA will reduce the quota the year following an overage 
by the amount of the overage of the prior fishing year.
    Landings data for 2010, provided by the Southeast Fisheries Science 
Center (SEFSC) in April, 2011, indicated 562,172 lb (254,997 kg) were 
landed by the commercial sector, for an overage of 189,100 lb (85,774 
kg). Therefore, for 2011, NMFS published a rule in the Federal Register 
(76 FR 23909, April 29, 2011) announcing the 503,000-lb commercial 
quota would be adjusted to 313,900 lb (142,383 kg) to account for the 
overage. However, recently updated

[[Page 51906]]

landings data, provided by the SEFSC, indicate the commercial harvest 
for 2010 was 533,981 lb (242,210 kg), 28,191 lb (12,787 kg) less than 
was previously reported. This temporary rule will establish a new 2011 
quota of 342,091 lb (155,170 kg).
    The commercial sector was closed on June 18, 2011, when NMFS 
estimated the 313,900-lb (142,383-kg) adjusted quota would be reached. 
Landings data available to date, indicate the quota was not met by the 
closing date and that 58,254 lbs of the adjusted quota remain 
available. When combined with the 28,191 lb (12,787 kg) erroneously 
deducted for 2010, this results in 86,452 lb (39,214 kg) of quota 
available for 2011. Based on historical catch rates, NMFS projects the 
remaining 86,452 lb (39,214 kg) of quota will be harvested in 61 days. 
Therefore, this temporary rule will reopen the commercial greater 
amberjack fishing season beginning at 12:01 a.m., local time, September 
1, 2011, and close the commercial sector at 12:01 a.m., local time, on 
October 31, 2011. The fishery will remain closed until 12:01 a.m., 
local time, on January 1, 2012.
    During the closure, all commercial harvest or possession of greater 
amberjack in or from the Gulf Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), and the 
sale or purchase of greater amberjack taken from the EEZ is prohibited. 
The prohibition on sale or purchase does not apply to sale or purchase 
of greater amberjack that were harvested, landed ashore, and sold prior 
to 12:01 a.m., local time, October 31, 2011, and were held in cold 
storage by a dealer or processor. In addition to the Gulf EEZ closure, 
a person on board a vessel for which a commercial vessel permit for 
Gulf reef fish has been issued must comply with these closure 
provisions regardless of where the Gulf greater amberjack are 
harvested, i.e., in state or Federal waters.
    The 2012 commercial quota for greater amberjack will return to the 
quota specified at 50 CFR 622.42(a)(1)(v) unless accountability 
measures are implemented due to a quota overage and a reduced quota is 
specified through notification in the Federal Register, or subsequent 
regulatory action is taken to adjust the quota.

Classification

    The Administrator, Southeast Region, NMFS, (RA) has determined this 
temporary rule is necessary for the conservation and management of the 
Gulf greater amberjack component of the Gulf reef fish fishery and is 
consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Act and other applicable laws.
    This action is taken under 50 CRF 622.43(a) and is exempt from 
review under Executive Order 12866.
    These measures are exempt from the procedures of the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act because the temporary rule is issued without 
opportunity for prior notice and comment.
    NMFS prepared a FSEIS for Amendment 30A. A notice of availability 
for the FSEIS was published on April 18, 2008 (73 FR 21124). An 
electronic copy of the FSEIS and the Record of Decision are available 
from NMFS (see ADDRESSES).
    Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), there is good cause to waive the 
requirements to provide prior notice and opportunity for public comment 
on this temporary rule. Such procedures are unnecessary because the 
commercial AM established by Amendment 30A and located at 50 CFR 
622.49(a)(1)(i) authorizes the AA to file a notification with the 
Office of the Federal Register to adjust the commercial quota the 
following fishing year. The final rule for Amendment 30A implementing 
this AM was subject to notice and comment and all that remains is to 
notify the public of the adjusted 2011 commercial quota and the 
reopening of the commercial fishing season for Gulf greater amberjack 
to allow fishermen to catch the remaining quota.
    Also, providing prior notice and opportunity for public comment on 
this action would be contrary to the public interest. Delaying the 
announcement of the commercial fishing season reopening date to 
accommodate prior notice and comment would result in a delayed 
reopening date. Fishermen have indicated that a summer reopening will 
allow them to take advantage of the increased summer tourists that 
would be purchasing fish in restaurants and retail markets. This should 
allow fishermen to obtain higher prices and more easily sell their 
product. Further, better weather conditions exist in the summer than 
would be expected in a fall or winter reopening. This would be expected 
to improve safety at sea conditions in the fishery. Taking time to 
solicit public comment prior to reopening harvest would result in 
delaying the reopening until sometime in the early fall. This would 
result in foregoing the benefits discussed above.
    For the aforementioned reasons, the AA also finds good cause to 
waive the 30-day delay in the effectiveness of this action under 5 
U.S.C. 553(d)(3).

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

    Dated: August 16, 2011.
Galen R. Tromble,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-21251 Filed 8-18-11; 8:45 am]
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