[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 123 (Wednesday, June 26, 2019)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 30038-30039]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-13567]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 181210999-9239-02]
RIN 0648-XX004
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Sea Scallop
Fishery; Closure of the Closed Area I Scallop Access Area to General
Category Individual Fishing Quota Scallop Vessels
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; closure.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Closed Area I Scallop Access Area is
closed to Limited Access General Category Individual Fishing Quota
scallop vessels for the remainder of the 2019 fishing year. 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 Closed Area I Scallop Access Area will be
taken.
DATES: Effective 0001 hr local time, June 23, 2019, through March 31,
2020.
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 Closed Area I Scallop Access Area under specific
conditions, including a total of 571 trips that may be taken during the
2019 fishing year. Section 648.59(g)(3)(iii) requires the NMFS Greater
Atlantic Regional Administrator to close the Closed Area I Scallop
Access Area to LAGC IFQ permitted vessels for the remainder of the
fishing year once the allowed number of trips for fishing year 2019 are
projected to be taken.
Based on trip declarations by LAGC IFQ scallop vessels fishing in
the Closed Area I Scallop Access Area, analysis of fishing effort, and
other information, NMFS projects that 571 trips will be taken as of
June 23, 2019. Therefore, in accordance with Sec. 648.59(g)(3)(iii),
NMFS is closing the Closed Area I Scallop Access Area to all LAGC IFQ
scallop vessels as of June 23, 2019. No vessel issued an LAGC IFQ
permit may fish for, possess, or land scallops in or from the Closed
Area I Scallop Access Area after 0001 local time, June 23, 2019. Any
LAGC IFQ vessel that has declared into the Closed Area I Access Area
scallop fishery, complied with all trip notification and observer
requirements, and crossed the vessel monitoring system (VMS)
demarcation line on the way to the area before 0001, June 23, 2019, may
complete its trip without being subject to this closure. This closure
is in effect for the remainder of the 2019 scallop fishing year,
through March 31, 2020.
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. 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. The Closed Area I
Scallop Access Area opened for the 2019 fishing year on April 1, 2019.
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
[[Page 30039]]
Closed Area I Scallop Access Area. The projected date on which the LAGC
IFQ fleet will have taken all of its allocated trips in an Access Area
becomes 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 Closed Area I Scallop Access Area during the period
necessary to publish and receive comments on a proposed rule would
likely result in the vessels taking much more than the allowed number
of trips in the Closed Area I Scallop Access Area. Excessive trips and
harvest from the Closed Area I 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 it was enacted. For
these same reasons, NMFS further finds good cause to waive the 30-day
delayed effectiveness period.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: June 21, 2019.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-13567 Filed 6-21-19; 4:15 pm]
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