[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 81 (Friday, April 26, 2019)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 17754-17755]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-08444]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 181210999-9239-02]
RIN 0648-XG998


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Sea Scallop 
Fishery; 2019 Closure of the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management 
Area to the Limited Access General Category Fishery

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

ACTION: Temporary rule; closure.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the closure of the Northern Gulf of Maine 
Scallop Management Area for the remainder of the 2019 fishing year for 
Limited Access General Category vessels. Regulations require this 
action once NMFS projects that 100 percent of the Limited Access 
General Category total allowable catch for the Northern Gulf of Maine 
Scallop Management Area will be harvested. This action is intended to 
prevent the overharvest of the 2019 total allowable catch allocated to 
the Limited Access General Category Fishery.

DATES: Effective 0001 hr local time, April 25, 2019, through March 31, 
2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shannah Jaburek, Fishery Management 
Specialist, (978) 282-8456.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The reader can find regulations governing 
fishing

[[Page 17755]]

activity in the Northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM) Scallop Management Area 
in 50 CFR 648.54 and 648.62. These regulations authorize vessels issued 
a valid federal scallop permit to fish in the NGOM Scallop Management 
Area under specific conditions, including a total allowable catch (TAC) 
of 137,500 lb (62,369 kg) for the Limited Access General Category 
(LAGC) fleet for the 2019 fishing year, and a State Waters Exemption 
Program for the State of Maine and Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 
Section 648.62(b)(2) requires the NGOM Scallop Management Area to be 
closed to scallop vessels issued federal LAGC scallop permits, except 
as provided below, for the remainder of the fishing year once the NMFS 
Greater Atlantic Regional Administrator determines that the LAGC TAC 
for the fishing year is projected to be harvested. Any vessel that 
holds a federal NGOM (category LAGC B) or Individual Fishing Quota 
(IFQ) (LAGC A) permit may continue to fish in the Maine or 
Massachusetts state waters portion of the NGOM Scallop Management Area 
under the State Waters Exemption Program found in Sec.  648.54 provided 
it has a valid Maine or Massachusetts state scallop permit and fishes 
only in that state's respective waters.
    Based on trip declarations by federally permitted LAGC scallop 
vessels fishing in the NGOM Scallop Management Area and analysis of 
fishing effort, we project that the 2019 LAGC TAC will be harvested as 
of April 25, 2019. Therefore, in accordance with Sec.  648.62(b)(2), 
the NGOM Scallop Management Area is closed to all federally permitted 
LAGC scallop vessels as of April 25, 2019. As of this date, no vessel 
issued a federal LAGC scallop permit may fish for, possess, or land 
scallops in or from the NGOM Scallop Management Area after 0001 local 
time, April 25, 2019, unless the vessel is fishing exclusively in state 
waters and is participating in an approved state waters exemption 
program as specified in Sec.  648.54. Any federally permitted LAGC 
scallop vessel that has declared into the NGOM Scallop Management Area, 
complied with all trip notification and observer requirements, and 
crossed the VMS demarcation line on the way to the area before 0001, 
April 25, 2019, may complete its trip and land scallops. This closure 
is in effect until the end of the 2019 scallop fishing year, through 
March 31, 2020. This closure does not apply to the Limited Access (LA) 
scallop fleet, which was allocated a separate TAC of 67,500 lb (30,617 
kg) for the 2019 fishing year under Framework Adjustment 30 to the 
Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan. Vessels that are 
participating in the 2019 scallop Research Set-Aside Program and have 
been issued letters of authorization to conduct compensation fishing 
activities will harvest the 2019 LA TAC.

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) to waive prior notice and the 
opportunity for public comment because it would be contrary to the 
public interest and impracticable. NMFS also finds, pursuant to 5 
U.S.C. 553(d)(3), good cause to waive the 30-day delayed effectiveness 
period for the reasons noted below. The NGOM Scallop Management Area 
opened for the 2019 fishing year on April 1, 2019. The regulations at 
Sec.  648.60(b)(2) require this closure to ensure that federally 
permitted scallop vessels do not harvest more than the allocated LAGC 
TAC for the NGOM Scallop Management Area. NMFS can only make 
projections for the NGOM closure date as trips into the area occur on a 
real-time basis and as activity trends appear. As a result, NMFS can 
typically make an accurate projection only shortly before the TAC is 
harvested. A rapid harvest rate, that has occurred in the last 2 weeks, 
makes it more difficult to project a closure well in advance. To allow 
federally permitted LAGC scallop vessels to continue to take trips in 
the NGOM Scallop Management Area during the period necessary to publish 
and receive comments on a proposed rule would result in vessels 
harvesting more than the 2019 LAGC TAC for the NGOM Scallop Management 
Area. This would result in excessive fishing effort in the area thereby 
undermining conservation objectives of the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery 
Management Plan and requiring more restrictive future management 
measures to make up for the excessive harvest. Also, the public had 
prior notice and full opportunity to comment on this closure process 
when we put the NGOM management provisions in place on March 27, 2019 
(84 FR 11436).

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

    Dated: April 23, 2019.
Karen H. Abrams,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-08444 Filed 4-23-19; 4:15 pm]
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