[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 51 (Thursday, March 15, 2018)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 11428-11429]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-05288]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 151215999-6960-02]
RIN 0648-XG087


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Herring 
Fishery; 2018 River Herring and Shad Catch Cap Reached for Midwater 
Trawl Vessels in the Mid-Atlantic/Southern New England Catch Cap Area

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

ACTION: Temporary rule; closure.

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SUMMARY: NMFS is reducing the Atlantic herring possession limit for 
federally permitted vessels fishing with midwater trawl gear in the 
Mid-Atlantic/Southern New England Catch Cap Closure Area, based on a 
projection that the threshold catch for the corresponding catch cap 
area has been reached. This action is necessary to comply with the 
regulations

[[Page 11429]]

implementing the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan and is 
intended to limit the harvest of river herring and shad in the Mid-
Atlantic/Southern New England Catch Cap Area.

DATES: Effective 00:01 hr local time, March 14, 2018, through December 
31, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Daniel Luers, Fishery Management 
Specialist, (978) 282-8457.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations governing the Atlantic herring 
fishery can be found at 50 CFR part 648, including requirements for 
setting annual catch cap allocations for river herring and shad. NMFS 
set the 2018 catch cap in the Mid-Atlantic/Southern New England Catch 
Cap Area at 129.6 mt. NMFS established this value in the 2016 through 
2018 herring specifications (81 FR 75731, November 1, 2016).
    The NMFS Administrator of the Greater Atlantic Region (Regional 
Administrator) monitors the herring fishery in each of the catch cap 
areas based on vessel and dealer reports, state data, and other 
available information. The regulations at Sec.  648.201 require that 
when the Regional Administrator projects that river herring and shad 
catch will reach 95 percent of a catch cap for vessels fishing with a 
specified gear type in a specified catch cap area, NMFS must prohibit, 
through notification in the Federal Register, federally permitted 
herring vessels fishing with that gear type from fishing for, 
possessing, catching, transferring, or landing more than 2,000 lb 
(907.2 kg) of herring per trip or calendar day in or from that 
specified catch cap closure area for the remainder of the fishing year.
    The Regional Administrator has determined, based on available 
information, that the herring midwater trawl vessels will have caught 
95 percent of the river herring and shad catch cap allocated to the 
Mid-Atlantic/Southern New England Catch Cap Area by March 14, 2018. 
Therefore, effective 00:01 hr local time, March 14, 2018, federally 
permitted vessels fishing with midwater trawl gear may not fish for, 
catch, possess, transfer, or land more than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of 
herring per trip or calendar day, in or from the Mid-Atlantic/Southern 
New England Catch Cap Closure Area through December 31, 2018. Midwater 
trawl vessels that have entered port before 00:01 hr local time, March 
14, 2018, may land and sell more than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of herring 
from the Cap Closure Area from that trip. Midwater trawl vessels may 
transit through the Mid-Atlantic/Southern New England Catch Cap Closure 
Area with more than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of herring on board, provided 
all herring in excess of 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) was caught outside of this 
area and all fishing gear is stowed and not available for immediate use 
as defined by Sec.  648.2.

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. This action 
restricts the catch of herring in the Mid-Atlantic/Southern New England 
Catch Cap Closure Area for the remainder of the fishing year. Data have 
only recently become available indicating that herring midwater trawl 
vessels will have caught 95 percent of the river herring and shad catch 
cap allocated to that gear type in the Catch Cap Area. Once NMFS 
projects that river herring and shad catch will reach 95 percent of the 
cap for the Catch Cap Area, NMFS is required by Federal regulation to 
implement a 2,000-lb (907.2-kg) herring trip and calendar day 
possession limit for Cap Closure Area through December 31, 2018. The 
regulations at Sec.  648.201(a)(4)(ii) require such action to ensure 
that herring vessels do not exceed the river herring and shad catch cap 
allocated to midwater trawl vessels in the Mid-Atlantic/Southern New 
England Catch Cap Area. If implementation of this closure is delayed to 
solicit prior public comment, the midwater trawl catch cap for the Mid-
Atlantic/Southern New England Catch Cap Area for this fishing year will 
be exceeded, thereby undermining the conservation objectives of the 
Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan. For the reasons stated above, 
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: March 12, 2018.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2018-05288 Filed 3-12-18; 4:15 pm]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P