[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 117 (Friday, June 17, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 39590-39591]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-14403]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 151210999-6348-02]
RIN 0648-XE681


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Sea Scallop 
Fishery; Closure of the Nantucket Lightship North Access Area to 
General Category Individual Fishing Quota Scallop Vessels

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

ACTION: Temporary rule; closure.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Nantucket Lightship North Scallop 
Access Area will close to Limited Access General Category Individual 
Fishing Quota scallop vessels for the remainder of the 2016 fishing 
year as of the effective date below. No vessel issued a Limited Access 
General Category Individual Fishing Quota permit may fish for, possess, 
or land scallops from the Nantucket Lightship North Scallop Access 
Area. Regulations require this action once it is projected that 100 
percent of trips allocated to the Limited Access General Category 
Individual Fishing Quota scallop vessels for the Nantucket Lightship 
North Scallop Access Area will be taken.

DATES: Effective 0001 hr local time, June 16, 2016, through February 
28, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shannah Jaburek, Fishery Management 
Specialist, (978) 282-8456.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations governing fishing activity in 
the Sea Scallop Access Areas can be found in 50 CFR 648.59 and 648.60. 
These regulations authorize vessels issued a valid Limited Access 
General Category (LAGC) Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) scallop permit 
to fish in the Nantucket Lightship North Scallop Access Area under 
specific conditions, including a total of 485 trips that may be taken 
during the 2016 fishing year. Section 648.60(g)(3)(iii) requires the 
Nantucket Lightship North Scallop

[[Page 39591]]

Access Area to be closed to LAGC IFQ permitted vessels for the 
remainder of the fishing year once the NMFS Greater Atlantic Regional 
Administrator determines that the allowed number of trips for fishing 
year 2016 are projected to be taken.
    Based on trip declarations by LAGC IFQ scallop vessels fishing in 
the Nantucket Lightship North Scallop Access Area, analysis of fishing 
effort, and other information, NMFS projects that 485 trips will be 
taken as of June 16, 2016. Therefore, in accordance with Sec.  
648.60(g)(3)(iii), NMFS is closing the Nantucket Lightship North 
Scallop Access Area to all LAGC IFQ scallop vessels as of June 16, 
2016. No vessel issued an LAGC IFQ permit may fish for, possess, or 
land scallops in or from the Nantucket Lightship North Scallop Access 
Area after 0001 local time, June 16, 2016. Any LAGC IFQ vessel that has 
declared into the Nantucket Lightship North Access Area scallop 
fishery, complied with all trip notification and observer requirements, 
and crossed the VMS demarcation line on the way to the area before 
0001, June 16, 2016, may complete its trip without being subject to 
this closure. This closure is in effect for the remainder of the 2016 
scallop fishing year.

Classification

    This action is required by 50 CFR part 648 and is exempt from 
review under Executive Order 12866. NMFS finds good cause pursuant to 5 
U.S.C. 553(b)(B) to waive prior notice and the opportunity for public 
comment because it would be contrary to the public interest and 
impracticable. The Nantucket Lightship North Scallop Access Area opened 
for the 2016 fishing year on May 4, 2016. The regulations at Sec.  
648.60(g)(3)(iii) require this closure to ensure that LAGC IFQ scallop 
vessels do not take more than their allocated number of trips in the 
Nantucket Lightship North Scallop Access Area. The projections of the 
date on which the LAGC IFQ fleet will have taken all of its allocated 
trips in an Access Area become apparent only as trips into the area 
occur on a real-time basis and as activity trends begin to appear. As a 
result, NMFS can only make an accurate projection very close in time to 
when the fleet has taken all of its trips. In order to propose a 
closure for purposes of receiving prior public comment, NMFS would need 
to make a projection based on very little information, which would 
result in a closure too early or too late. To allow LAGC IFQ scallop 
vessels to continue to take trips in the Nantucket Lightship North 
Scallop Access Area during the period necessary to publish and receive 
comments on a proposed rule would likely result in vessels taking much 
more than the allowed number of trips in the Nantucket Lightship North 
Scallop Access Area. Excessive trips and harvest from the Nantucket 
Lightship North Scallop Access Area would result in excessive fishing 
effort in the area, where effort controls are critical, thereby 
undermining conservation objectives of the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery 
Management Plan and requiring more restrictive future management 
measures. Also, the public had prior notice and full opportunity to 
comment on this closure process when we put these provisions in place. 
For these same reasons, NMFS further finds, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 
553(d)(3), good cause to waive the 30-day delayed effectiveness period.

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

    Dated: June 14, 2016.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-14403 Filed 6-14-16; 4:15 pm]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P