[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 198 (Monday, October 16, 2017)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 48007-48008]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-22347]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 151211999-6343-02]
RIN 0648-XF747


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast 
Multispecies Fishery; Trimester 2 Georges Bank Cod Total Allowable 
Catch Area Closure; Updated 2017 Georges Bank Cod Annual Catch Limit 
for the Common Pool; Possession Prohibition for the Common Pool Fishery

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

ACTION: Temporary rule; area closure and inseason adjustment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: We are closing the Georges Bank Cod Trimester Total Allowable 
Catch Area for the remainder of Trimester 2, through December 31, 2017. 
This action also prohibits possession of Georges Bank cod by common 
pool vessels for the remainder of the fishing year, through April 30, 
2018. In addition, we are reducing the 2017 fishing year Georges Bank 
cod sub-annual catch limit for the common pool due to an overage in 
fishing year 2016.

DATES: Effective October 11, 2017, through April 30, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Spencer Talmage, Fishery Management 
Specialist, (978) 281-9232, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We recently approved Framework Adjustment 
56, which set 2017 annual catch limits (ACLs) for groundfish stocks (82 
FR 16133). The possibility of minor adjustments and corrections was 
noted in the Framework 56 proposed and final rules because final 
allocations are not always available at the time of the rulemaking for 
the upcoming fishing year.
    Based on final 2016 catch information that recently became 
available, the fishing year 2016 common pool sub-ACL for Georges Bank 
(GB) cod was exceeded by 2.8 metric tons (mt). If the common pool sub-
ACL for any stock is exceeded, we are required to reduce the common 
pool sub-ACL by the amount of the overage in the next fishing year. 
Therefore, this action reduces the fishing year 2017 GB cod common pool 
sub-ACL by 2.8 mt, which results in a revised 2017 GB cod common pool 
sub-ACL of 7.0 mt. The revised Trimester Total Allowable Catches (TACs) 
are provided in Table 1.

      Table 1--Current and Revised Georges Bank Cod Trimester TACs
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                Trimester 1    Trimester 2   Trimester 3
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Allocation Percentage........  25%..........  37%.........  38%.
Current Trimester TAC........  2.4 mt.......  3.6 mt......  3.7 mt.
Revised Trimester TAC........  1.7 mt.......  2.6 mt......  2.7 mt.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As of October 3, 2017, the common pool fishery is projected to have 
caught 123 percent of the adjusted Trimester 2 TAC (2.6 mt) for GB cod. 
Additionally, the common pool fishery has caught 83 percent of its 
adjusted 2017 sub-ACL, and has only 1.2 mt left for the remainder of 
the fishing year. Federal regulations at 50 CFR 648.82(n)(2)(ii) 
require the Regional Administrator to close a common pool Trimester 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 a result, effective October 11, 2017, the GB Cod Trimester TAC 
Area is closed for the remainder of Trimester 2, through December 31, 
2017, to all common pool vessels fishing on a Northeast multispecies 
trip with trawl gear, sink gillnet gear, and longline/hook gear, 
including handgear vessels. The GB Cod Trimester TAC Area consists of 
statistical areas 521, 522, 525, and 561. The area reopens at the 
beginning of Trimester 3, on January 1, 2018.
    Data indicate that common pool vessels have caught a significant 
portion of the total catch from outside the statistical areas that will 
be affected by the closure described above. The Regional Administrator 
is authorized under 50 CFR 648.86(o)(1) to adjust possession and trip 
limits for common pool vessels to prevent exceeding the

[[Page 48008]]

pertinent common pool quotas during the fishing year. Given this, and 
because the common pool has caught more than 80 percent of its annual 
quota, the possession of GB cod by all common pool vessels is 
prohibited effective October 11, 2017, through April 30, 2018. This 
action is intended to prevent the common pool from further exceeding 
its Trimester 2 TAC or from exceeding its annual quota.
    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 October 11, 2017, it may complete its trip 
within the Trimester TAC Area. A vessel that has set gillnet gear prior 
to October 11, 2017, may complete its trip by hauling such gear.
    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

    The NMFS Assistant Administrator has determined that this temporary 
rule is consistent with the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management 
Plan, other provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act, and other applicable law.
    This action is exempt from the procedures of Executive Order 12866 
because this action contains no implementing regulations.
    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.
    There are several reasons that notice and comment are 
impracticable, unnecessary, and contrary to the public interest. First, 
the proposed and final rules for Framework 56 explained the possibility 
of minor adjustments and corrections because final allocations are not 
always available at the time of the rulemaking for the upcoming fishing 
year. These adjustments are routine and formulaic, required by 
regulation, and anticipated by industry. No comments were received on 
the potential for these adjustments, which provide an accurate 
accounting of the common pool's allocation.
    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 
is projected to have caught 123 percent of its Trimester 2 TAC for GB 
cod as of October 3, 2017. The time necessary to provide for prior 
notice and comment, and a 30-day delay in effectiveness, would prevent 
the immediate closure of the GB Cod Trimester TAC Area and prohibition 
of GB cod possession. Not closing the area immediately and prohibiting 
GB cod possession increases the likelihood that the common pool fishery 
will further exceed its trimester TAC, or exceed its annual quota, to 
the detriment of this stock, which could undermine management 
objectives of the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan. 
Additional overages would negatively affect the common pool fishery as 
a result of future overage paybacks or premature closures of the 
fishery.

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

    Dated: October 11, 2017.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-22347 Filed 10-11-17; 4:15 pm]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P