[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 19 (Tuesday, January 31, 2017)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 8820]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-02042]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 622

[Docket No. 131113952-6999-02]
RIN 0648-BD78


Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; 
Snapper-Grouper Fishery Off the Southern Atlantic States; Regulatory 
Amendment 16

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

ACTION: Stay of final rule.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the memorandum of January 20, 2017, from 
the Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, entitled 
``Regulatory Freeze Pending Review,'' published in the Federal Register 
on January 24, 2017 (the Memorandum), this action stays the final rule 
NMFS published on December 29, 2016, in order to delay its effective 
date.

DATES: Effective January 31, 2017, the final rule amending 50 CFR 
622.189(g) that published on December 29, 2016, at 81 FR 95893, is 
stayed until March 21, 2017.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS issues regulations to implement 
Regulatory Amendment 16 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-
Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (FMP), as prepared and 
submitted by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council). 
This final rule revises the current seasonal prohibition on the use of 
black sea bass pot gear in the South Atlantic and adds an additional 
gear marking requirement for black sea bass pot gear. The purpose of 
this final rule is to reduce the adverse socioeconomic impacts from the 
current seasonal black sea bass pot gear prohibition while continuing 
to protect Endangered Species Act (ESA) listed North Atlantic right 
whales (NARW) in the South Atlantic. This final rule also helps to 
better identify black sea bass pot gear in the South Atlantic.
    On January 20, 2017, the White House issued a memo instructing 
Federal agencies to temporarily postpone the effective date for 60 days 
after January 20, 2017, of any regulations or guidance documents that 
have published in the Federal Register but not yet taken effect, for 
the purpose of ``reviewing questions of fact, law, and policy they 
raise.'' Because its effective date has already passed, we are enacting 
this stay of the rule published on December 29, 2016, at 81 FR 95893 
(see DATES above) until March 2017, except for the amendment to Sec.  
622.183(b)(6) that became effective on December 29, 2016.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 622

    Annual catch limits, Black Sea Bass, Fisheries, Fishing, South 
Atlantic.

    Dated: January 26, 2017.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
    For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 622 is amended 
as follows:

PART 622--FISHERIES OF THE CARIBBEAN, GULF OF MEXICO, AND SOUTH 
ATLANTIC

0
1. The authority citation for part 622 continues to read as follows:

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


Sec.  622.189   [Amended]

0
2. In Sec.  622.189, paragraph (g) is stayed until March 21, 2017.

[FR Doc. 2017-02042 Filed 1-30-17; 8:45 am]
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