[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 152 (Monday, August 8, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 52366-52367]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-18715]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 120109034-2171-01]
RIN 0648-XE778


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Small-Mesh 
Multispecies Fishery; Adjustment to the Commercial Northern Red Hake 
Inseason Possession Limit

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

ACTION: Temporary rule; inseason adjustment.

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SUMMARY: We announce the reduction of the commercial possession limit 
for northern red hake for the remainder of the 2016 fishing year. This 
action is required to prevent the northern red hake total allowable 
landing limit from being exceeded. This announcement informs the public 
that the northern red hake possession limit is reduced.

DATES: Effective August 8, 2016, through April 30, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Reid Lichwell, Fishery Management 
Specialist, 978-675-9112.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The small-mesh multispecies fishery is 
managed primarily through a series of exemptions from the Northeast 
Multispecies Fisheries Management Plan. Regulations governing the red 
hake fishery are found at 50 CFR part 648. The regulations describing 
the process to adjust inseason commercial possession limits of northern 
red hake are described in Sec.  648.86(d)(4) and (5). These regulations 
require the Regional Administrator to reduce the northern red hake 
possession limit from 3,000 lb (1,361 kg) to 1,500

[[Page 52367]]

lb (680 kg) when landings have been projected to reach or exceed 45 
percent of the total allowable landings (TAL). The northern red hake 
possession limit is required to be further reduced to 400 lb (181 kg) 
if landings are projected to reach or exceed 62.5 percent of the TAL, 
unless such a reduction would be expected to prevent the TAL from being 
reached. The setting of these inseason adjustment thresholds were 
established in the final rule implementing the small-mesh multispecies 
specifications for 2015-2017, published in the Federal Register on May 
28, 2015 (80 FR 30379).
    These measures were imposed because the annual catch limits (ACL) 
for northern red hake were exceeded for the 2012 and 2013 fishing 
years, and northern red hake was experiencing overfishing. To reduce 
the risk of continued overfishing on the stock and to better constrain 
catch to the ACL, we implemented this possession limit reduction 
trigger.
    Based on commercial landings data reported through July 23, 2016, 
the northern red hake fishery is projected to reach 45 percent of the 
TAL on July 31, 2016. Based on this projection, reducing the commercial 
northern red hake possession limit to 1,500 lb (680 kg) is required to 
prevent the TAL from being exceeded. Upon the effective date of this 
action, no person may possess on board or land more than 1,500 lb (680 
kg) of northern red hake, per trip for the remainder of the fishing 
year.

Classification

    This action is taken under 50 CFR part 648 and is exempt from 
review under Executive Order 12866.

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

    Dated: August 2, 2016.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-18715 Filed 8-5-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P