[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 102 (Tuesday, May 30, 2017)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 24569]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-11058]



[[Page 24569]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 151211999-6343-02]
RIN 0648-XF467


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast 
Multispecies Fishery; American Plaice Trimester Total Allowable Catch 
Area Closure for the Common Pool Fishery

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

ACTION: Temporary rule; area closure.

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SUMMARY: This action closes the American Plaice Trimester Total 
Allowable Catch Area to Northeast multispecies common pool vessels 
fishing with trawl gear for the remainder of Trimester 1, through 
August 31, 2017. The closure is required by regulation because the 
common pool fishery has caught 90 percent of its Trimester 1 quota for 
American plaice. This closure is intended to prevent an overage of the 
common pool's quota for this stock.

DATES: This action is effective May 24, 2017, through August 31, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Reid Lichwell, Fishery Management 
Specialist, (978) 281-9112.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Federal regulations at Sec.  
648.82(n)(2)(ii) require the Regional Administrator to close a common 
pool Trimester Total Allowable Catch (TAC) Area for a stock when 90 
percent of the Trimester TAC is projected to be caught. The closure 
applies to all common pool vessels fishing with gear capable of 
catching that stock for the remainder of the trimester.
    As of May 21, 2017, the common pool fishery caught approximately 90 
percent of the Trimester 1 TAC (5.2 mt) for American plaice. Effective 
May 24, 2017, the American plaice Trimester TAC Area is closed for the 
remainder of Trimester 1, through August 31, 2017, to all common pool 
vessels on a Northeast multispecies day-at-sea fishing with trawl gear. 
The American Plaice Trimester TAC Area consists of statistical areas 
512, 513, 514, 515, 521, 522, and 525. The area reopens at the 
beginning of Trimester 2 on September 1, 2017.
    If a vessel declared its trip through the Vessel Monitoring System 
(VMS) or the interactive voice response system, and crossed the VMS 
demarcation line prior to May 24, 2017, it may complete its trip within 
the Trimester TAC Area.
    Any overage of the Trimester 1 or 2 TACs must be deducted from the 
Trimester 3 TAC. If the common pool fishery exceeds its total quota for 
a stock in the 2017 fishing year, the overage must be deducted from the 
common pool's quota for that stock for fishing year 2018. Any uncaught 
portion of the Trimester 1 and Trimester 2 TACs is carried over into 
the next trimester. However, any uncaught portion of the common pool's 
total annual quota may not be carried over into the following fishing 
year.
    Weekly quota monitoring reports for the common pool fishery are on 
our Web site at: http://www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/ro/fso/MultiMonReports.htm. We will continue to monitor common pool catch 
through vessel trip reports, dealer-reported landings, VMS catch 
reports, and other available information and, if necessary, we will 
make additional adjustments to common pool management measures.

Classification

    This action is required by 50 CFR part 648 and is exempt from 
review under Executive Order 12866.
    The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA, finds good cause 
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) and 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to waive prior 
notice and the opportunity for public comment and the 30-day delayed 
effectiveness period because it would be impracticable and contrary to 
the public interest.
    The regulations require the Regional Administrator to close a 
trimester TAC area to the common pool fishery when 90 percent of the 
Trimester TAC for a stock has been caught. Updated catch information 
only recently became available indicating that the common pool fishery 
has caught 90 percent of its Trimester 1 TAC for American plaice as of 
May 21, 2017, and 100 percent of the TAC will likely be caught by May 
23. The time necessary to provide for prior notice and comment, and a 
30-day delay in effectiveness, would prevent the immediate closure of 
the American Plaice Trimester 1 TAC Area. This increases the likelihood 
that the common pool fishery will exceed its annual quota of American 
plaice to the detriment of this stock, which could undermine management 
objectives of the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan. 
Additionally, an overage of the trimester or annual common pool quotas 
could cause negative economic impacts to the common pool fishery as a 
result of overage paybacks deducted from a future trimester or fishing 
year.

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

    Dated: May 24, 2017.
Margo B. Schulze-Haugen,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-11058 Filed 5-24-17; 4:15 pm]
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