[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 150 (Wednesday, August 5, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 46531-46533]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-19149]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No.: 150626556-5556-01]
RIN 0648-BF20


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Sea Scallop 
Fishery; State Waters Exemption

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

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS proposes regulations to allow an exemption for Northern 
Gulf of Maine federally permitted vessels with state-waters permits 
issued from the

[[Page 46532]]

State of Maine to continue fishing in the Maine state-waters portion of 
the Northern Gulf of Maine management area once NMFS has announced that 
the Federal total allowable catch has been fully harvested in a given 
year. Maine requested this exemption as part of the Scallop State Water 
Exemption Program, which specifies that a state may be eligible for a 
state waters exemption to specific Federal regulations if it has a 
scallop fishery and a scallop conservation program that does not 
jeopardize the biomass and fishing mortality/effort limit objectives of 
the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan. The regulations 
further state that the Regional Administrator, Greater Atlantic 
Regional Fisheries Office, NMFS, shall determine if a state meets that 
criteria and shall authorize the exemption for such state by publishing 
a rule in the Federal Register. Based on the information that Maine has 
submitted, NMFS has preliminarily determined that Maine qualifies for 
this exemption and that this exemption would not have an impact on the 
effectiveness of Federal management measures for the scallop fishery 
overall or within the Northern Gulf of Maine management area.

DATES: Comments must be received by 5 p.m., local time, on September 4, 
2015.

ADDRESSES: Documents supporting this action, including the State of 
Maine's (Maine) request for the exemption and Framework Adjustment 26 
to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan (Scallop FMP) are 
available upon request from John K. Bullard, Regional Administrator, 
NMFS, Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great Republic 
Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930.
    You may submit comments on this document, identified by NOAA-NMFS- 
2015-0079 by any of the following methods:
     Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to 
www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2015-0079, click the 
``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or 
attach your comments.
     Mail: John K. Bullard, Regional Administrator, NMFS, 
Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, 
Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside of the envelope, ``Comments on 
Maine State Waters Exemption Program.''
    Instructions: Comments sent by any other method, to any other 
address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, 
may not be considered by NMFS. All comments received are a part of the 
public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on 
www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying 
information (e.g., name, address, etc.), confidential business 
information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily 
by the sender will be publicly accessible. NMFS will accept anonymous 
comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to remain 
anonymous). Attachments to electronic comments will be accepted in 
Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe PDF file formats only.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Emily Gilbert, Fishery Policy Analyst, 
978-281-9244.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The Scallop State Waters Exemption Program (Program) has been in 
place since 1994. The purpose of the Program is to allow Federal permit 
holders to harvest scallops in the state waters fishery on a more 
equitable basis where Federal and state laws are inconsistent, while 
ensuring they continue to submit catch and effort data to NMFS. The 
Program specifies that a state with a scallop fishery may be eligible 
for state waters exemptions if it has a scallop conservation program 
that does not jeopardize the biomass and fishing mortality/effort limit 
objectives of the Scallop FMP. Under the Program, if NMFS determines 
that a state is found to be eligible, federally permitted scallop 
vessels fishing in state waters may be exempted from the following 
Federal scallop regulations: Limited access scallop vessels may fish in 
state waters outside of scallop days-at-sea, limited access and limited 
access general category (LAGC) individual fishing quota vessels may be 
exempt from Federal gear and possession limit restrictions, and vessels 
with selected scallop permit types may be exempt from specific 
regulations pertaining to the Northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM) management 
area.
    The exemption from specific regulations pertaining to the NGOM 
management area was recently added to the Program via Framework 26 to 
the Scallop FMP, implemented on May 1, 2015, which specifically allows 
states to apply for a specific exemption that would enable some scallop 
vessels to continue to fish in state waters within the NGOM management 
area once the Federal NGOM total allowable catch (TAC) is reached. Any 
state interested in applying for this exemption must identify the 
scallop-permitted vessels that would be subject to the exemption (i.e., 
limited access, LAGC individual fishing quota, LAGC incidental, or LAGC 
NGOM). However, vessels would not be able to fish for scallops in the 
Federal portion of the NGOM once the TAC is harvested.
    Maine currently has the state waters exemptions from gear and 
effort control restrictions for vessels issued Federal scallop permits 
and Maine commercial scallop licenses that are fishing exclusively in 
Maine waters (74 FR 37952; July 30, 2009). Following the implementation 
of Framework 26, NMFS received a request from the state to expand its 
current exemptions to allow federally NGOM-permitted vessels with Maine 
state-waters permits to fish in the Maine state-waters portion of the 
NGOM management area once we project the Federal NGOM TAC to be fully 
harvested. This provision would allow those vessels to continue to fish 
in state waters along with state permitted vessels without Federal 
permits. Although the 70,000-lb (31,751-kg) NGOM Federal TAC has never 
been exceeded since the NGOM management area was created in 2008, there 
is now a higher potential that the TAC will be reached because scallop 
effort has increased in the NGOM in recent years as the stock has 
improved, particularly in state waters. Without this exemption, these 
federally permitted vessels would be prevented from participating in 
Maine's state water fishery if the Federal NGOM TAC is reached. State-
only permitted scallop vessels are able to continue to fish in state 
waters after the Federal closure.
    Based on the information Maine submitted regarding its scallop 
conservation program, NMFS has preliminarily determined that the state 
qualifies for the NGOM state waters exemption under the Scallop FMP. As 
required by the scallop fishery regulations, exemptions can only be 
granted if the state's scallop fishery would not jeopardize the biomass 
and fishing mortality/effort limit objectives of the FMP. Maine's 
scallop fishery restrictions are as restrictive as Federal scallop 
fishing regulations. Maine's scallop fishery became limited access in 
2008. Fishing time and effort on scallop trips are limited by 
possession limits and a short season. The fishery is open only 70 days 
of the year, between December and March. Maine manages the fishery in 
its waters by a rotational management plan and employs a trigger 
mechanism that closes a given area if 30 to 40 percent of the 
harvestable biomass has been removed. Maine has issued 545 commercial 
dragger scallop

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licenses, in addition to 82 commercial dive licenses. In 2014, 438 of 
these licenses were active (i.e., landed scallops at least once). There 
are currently 40 federally NGOM-permitted vessels also issued Maine 
commercial scallop licenses, and 12 of them are currently active in the 
state fishery. If these federally permitted vessels were allowed to 
continue fishing for scallops in Maine state waters after the NGOM TAC 
is harvested, Maines's restrictive scallop fishery regulations would 
still limit mortality and effort. Allowing for this NGOM exemption 
would have no impact on the effectiveness of Federal management 
measures for the scallop fishery overall or within the NGOM management 
area because the NGOM Federal TAC is set based only on the portion of 
the resource in Federal waters.
    Maine is the only state that has requested a NGOM closure 
exemption. Maine requested that this exemption apply only to vessels 
with Federal NGOM permits. As such, all other federally permitted 
scallop vessel categories would be prohibited from retaining, 
possessing, and landing scallops from within the NGOM management area, 
in both Federal and state waters, once the NGOM hard TAC is fully 
harvested.

Classification

    Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the 
NMFS Assistant Administrator has determined that this proposed rule is 
consistent with the FMP, other provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, 
and other applicable law, subject to further consideration after public 
comment.
    This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
    The Chief Council for Regulation of the Department of Commerce 
certified to the Chief Council for Advocacy of the Small Business 
Administration that this proposed rule, if adopted, would not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
The ability for states with territorial waters located within the NGOM 
management area to apply for this specific exemption was included into 
the Scallop FMP through Framework 26, which was implemented in May 
2015. That action included a Final Regulatory Flexibility Analyses 
(FRFA) that analyzed the economic impacts of this NGOM exemption on 
small entities.
    This action would impact up to 40 NGOM-permitted vessels home 
ported in Maine. Although only 12 of these vessels are currently 
active, more vessels could enter the fishery at any time and benefit 
from the exemption. Based on available information, NMFS has determined 
that all 40 NGOM-permitted vessels that would be impacted by this rule 
are small entities under the Small Business Administration's size 
standards because they are all engaged in the business of fish 
harvesting, are independently owned or operated, are not dominant in 
their field of operation, and have annual gross receipts not in excess 
of $5.5 million if fishing for shellfish (NAICS code: 114112).
    This exemption is expected to have positive impacts on the revenues 
of applicable scallop vessels and positive impacts on the overall 
economic benefits from the scallop resource in state waters. Should the 
Federal NGOM fishery close, this exemption will result in moderate to 
high positive impacts on scallop revenue in Maine because NGOM 
scallopers will be able to continue fishing for scallops in state 
waters. This proposed action would not have any additional impacts on 
federally permitted vessels beyond what was analyzed in Framework 26 
and would not create any additional economic impacts that were not 
considered in that action's FRFA.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648

    Fisheries, Fishing, Recordkeeping and reporting requirements.

    Dated: July 30, 2015.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 648 is 
proposed to be amended as follows:

PART 648--FISHERIES OF THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

0
1. The authority citation for part 648 continues to read as follows:

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

0
2. In Sec.  648.54, paragraph (a)(4) is revised to read as follows:


Sec.  648.54  State waters exemption.

    (a) * * *
    (4) The Regional Administrator has determined that the State of 
Maine has a scallop fishery conservation program for its scallop 
fishery that does not jeopardize the biomass and fishing mortality/
effort limit objectives of the Scallop FMP. A vessel fishing in State 
of Maine waters may fish under the State of Maine state waters 
exemption, subject to the exemptions specified in paragraphs (b) and 
(c) of this section, provided the vessel is in compliance with 
paragraphs (e) through (g) of this section. In addition, a vessel 
issued a Federal Northern Gulf of Maine permit fishing in State of 
Maine waters may fish under the State of Maine state waters exemption 
specified in paragraph (d) of this section, provided the vessel is in 
compliance with paragraphs (e) through (g) of this section.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2015-19149 Filed 8-4-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P