[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 76 (Thursday, April 19, 2018)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 17314-17316]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-08208]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 170919912-8358-02]
RIN 0648-BH26


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Scup Fishery; 
Framework Adjustment 12

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

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: NMFS is modifying the commercial scup quota periods, as 
recommended by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. This action 
moves the month of October from the Summer Period to the Winter II 
Period. This rule is intended to increase fishing opportunities by 
extending the Winter II Period when possession limits are higher.

DATES: Effective May 21, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Scup Commercial Quota Period Modification 
Framework, including the environmental assessment (EA), are available 
on request from Dr. Christopher M. Moore, Executive Director, Mid-
Atlantic Fishery Management Council, Suite 201, 800 North State Street, 
Dover, DE 19901. These documents are also accessible via the internet 
at http://www.mafmc.org/s/Scup_quota_period_FW_EA_resubmission2_Feb2018.pdf.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Emily Gilbert, Fishery Policy Analyst, 
(978) 281-9244.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

General Background

    Scup (Stenotomus chrysops) is managed jointly by the Mid-Atlantic 
Fishery Management Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries 
Commission through the Summer Flounder, Scup, Black Sea Bass Fishery 
Management Plan (FMP). The management unit for scup is U.S. waters of 
the Atlantic Ocean from 35[deg]13.3' N lat. (the latitude of Cape 
Hatteras Lighthouse, Buxton, NC) northward to the U.S./Canada border. 
The scup stock is not overfished and it is not experiencing 
overfishing.
    Currently, the scup commercial quota is broken into three periods: 
Winter I (January 1 through April 30) receives 45.11 percent of the 
annual quota; Summer (May 1 through October 31) receives 38.95 percent; 
and Winter II (November 1 through December 31) receives an initial 
15.94 percent with any unused Winter I quota rolled over into Winter 
II. Federal trip limits are imposed during the two Winter Periods; 
individual states impose landing restrictions during the Summer Period. 
The Council established these quota periods in 1997 to recognize that 
there are two commercial fishing fleets (62 FR 27978; May 22, 1997). 
Larger vessels harvest scup offshore during the winter months, and 
smaller vessels harvest scup inshore during the summer. Without the 
quota periods and Federal trip limits, the larger vessels would be able 
to fish the full annual quota early in the year, leaving no quota for 
the smaller inshore fleet.
    The scup stock was declared rebuilt in 2009 based on the findings 
of a stock assessment. The commercial scup quota nearly doubled between 
2010 and 2011. From 2011 to 2016, commercial scup landings have been 20 
to 47 percent below the annual commercial quota. Stakeholders have 
stated that the more restrictive state-imposed possession limits during 
the Summer Period, compared to the Winter I and II Periods, have 
prevented fishermen from landing high volumes of scup when they are 
available. This limits the ability of the fishery to achieve the annual 
commercial quota and results in forgone yield.

Final Action

    To address these limits on the ability of the fishery to achieve 
the annual

[[Page 17315]]

commercial quota, this action moves the month of October from the 
Summer Period to the Winter II Period (Table 1). This action allows 
more landings at higher possession limits during longer periods of 
time. This change is effective for 2018 and is expected to have 
positive socioeconomic impacts compared to maintaining the status quo 
quota periods. This action does not change the possession limits or the 
amount of quota allocated annually to each period.

      Table 1--Revised Commercial Quota Period Dates. Percent Shares and Possession Limits Remain Unchanged
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                           Federal possession limits (per trip)
          Quota period            Percent share           Dates          ---------------------------------------
                                                                                  lb                  kg
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Winter I.......................           45.11  January 1-April 30.....  50,000............  22,680.
Summer.........................           38.95  May 1-September 30.....  N/A...............  N/A.
Winter II......................           15.94  October 1-December 31..  12,000 (initial)..  5,443.
                                --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total......................           100.0  N/A....................  N/A...............  N/A.
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Comments and Responses

    On February 26, 2018, NMFS published the proposed rule (83 FR 8236) 
for this action for public notice and comment. NMFS received two 
relevant comments on the proposed rule. Both offered support of this 
modification. One suggested that we also consider including the month 
of May in the Winter I Period. The Council did consider moving the 
first two weeks of May to the Winter I period but ultimately voted not 
to include it. No public support for this option was offered when the 
Council took final action. The other commenter mentioned the Council 
should adjust the quota allocated to each period. This was beyond the 
scope of this action, but it could be considered in a future amendment, 
should the Council desire to revise the quota period allocations. No 
changes are made to this action based on these comments.

Changes From the Proposed Rule

    NMFS is correcting the title of this action to be Framework 
Adjustment 12, rather than Framework Adjustment 10.

Classification

    Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the 
Assistant Administrator has determined that this final rule is 
consistent with the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass FMP, 
other provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other applicable law.
    This final rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
    The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce 
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business 
Administration during the proposed rule stage that this action would 
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities. The factual basis for the certification was published in the 
proposed rule and is not repeated here. No comments were received 
regarding this certification, and the initial certification remains 
unchanged. As a result, a final regulatory flexibility analysis is not 
required and none has been prepared.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648

    Fisheries, Fishing, Recordkeeping and reporting requirements.

    Dated: April 16, 2018.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 648 is amended 
as follows:

PART 648--FISHERIES OF THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

0
1. The authority citation for part 648 continues to read as follows:


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

0
2. In Sec.  648.122, paragraph (c)(1) is revised to read as follows:


Sec.  648.122  Scup specifications.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (1) The annual commercial quota will be allocated into three 
periods, based on the following percentages:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            Period                              Percent
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Winter I--January-April......................................      45.11
Summer--May-September........................................      38.95
Winter II--October-December..................................      15.94
------------------------------------------------------------------------

* * * * *

0
3. In Sec.  648.123, paragraph (a)(2)(ii) is revised to read as 
follows:


Sec.  648.123  Scup accountability measures.

    (a) * * *
    (2) * * *
    (ii) For the Winter I and Summer quota periods, landings in excess 
of the allocation will be deducted from the appropriate quota period 
for the following year in the final rule that establishes the annual 
quota. The overage deduction will be based on landings for the current 
year through September 30 and on landings for the previous calendar 
year that were not included when the overage deduction was made in the 
final rule that established the period quotas for the current year. If 
the Regional Administrator determines during the fishing year that any 
part of an overage deduction was based on erroneous landings data that 
were in excess of actual landings for the period concerned, he/she will 
restore the overage that was deducted in error to the appropriate quota 
allocation. The Regional Administrator will publish notification in the 
Federal Register announcing the restoration.
* * * * *

0
4. In Sec.  648.125, paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(5) are revised to read 
as follows:


Sec.  648.125  Scup gear restrictions.

    (a) * * *
    (1) Minimum mesh size. No owner or operator of an otter trawl 
vessel that is issued a scup moratorium permit may possess more than 
1,000 lb (454 kg) of scup from October 1 through April 30, or more than 
200 lb (91 kg) of scup from May 1 through September 30, unless fishing 
with nets that have a minimum mesh size of 5.0-inch (12.7-cm) diamond 
mesh, applied throughout the codend for at least 75 continuous meshes 
forward of the terminus of the net, and all other nets are stowed and 
not available for immediate use as defined in Sec.  648.2.
* * * * *
    (5) Stowage of nets. The owner or operator of an otter trawl vessel

[[Page 17316]]

retaining 1,000 lb (454 kg) or more of scup from October 1 through 
April 30, or 200 lb (90.7 kg) or more of scup from May 1 through 
September 30, and subject to the minimum mesh requirements in paragraph 
(a)(1) of this section, and the owner or operator of a midwater trawl 
or other trawl vessel subject to the minimum size requirement in Sec.  
648.126, may not have available for immediate use any net, or any piece 
of net, not meeting the minimum mesh size requirement, or mesh that is 
rigged in a manner that is inconsistent with the minimum mesh size. A 
net that is stowed and not available for immediate use as defined in 
Sec.  648.2, and that can be shown not to have been in recent use, is 
considered to be not available for immediate use.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2018-08208 Filed 4-18-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P