[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 103 (Wednesday, May 31, 2017)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 24879-24880]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-11180]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 161118999-7280-02]
RIN 0648-XF410


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

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration, Commerce.

ACTION: Temporary rule; closure.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Nantucket Lightship Scallop Access 
Area will close to Limited Access General Category Individual Fishing 
Quota scallop vessels for the remainder of the 2017 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 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 Scallop Access Area 
will be taken.

DATES: Effective 0001 hr local time, May 30, 2017, through March 31, 
2018.

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 Scallop Access Area under specific 
conditions, including a total of 837 trips that may be taken during the 
2017 fishing year. Section 648.59(g)(3)(iii) requires the Nantucket 
Lightship Scallop Access

[[Page 24880]]

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 2017 are 
projected to be taken.
    Based on trip declarations by LAGC IFQ scallop vessels fishing in 
the Nantucket Lightship Scallop Access Area, analysis of fishing 
effort, and other information, NMFS projects that 837 trips will be 
taken as of May 30, 2017. Therefore, in accordance with Sec.  
648.59(g)(3)(iii), NMFS is closing the Nantucket Lightship Scallop 
Access Area to all LAGC IFQ scallop vessels as of May 30, 2017. No 
vessel issued an LAGC IFQ permit may fish for, possess, or land 
scallops in or from the Nantucket Lightship Scallop Access Area after 
0001 local time, May 30, 2017. Any LAGC IFQ vessel that has declared 
into the Nantucket Lightship 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, May 30, 2017, may 
complete its trip without being subject to this closure. This closure 
is in effect for the remainder of the 2017 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 Scallop Access Area opened for 
the 2017 fishing year on March 23, 2017. The regulations at Sec.  
648.59(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 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 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 Scallop Access Area. 
Excessive trips and harvest from the Nantucket Lightship 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: May 25, 2017.
Margo B. Schulze-Haugen,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-11180 Filed 5-25-17; 4:15 pm]
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