[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 17 (Monday, January 27, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 4595-4601]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-00652]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 200110-0007; RTID 0648-XX008]


Revisions to Framework Adjustment 58 to the Northeast 
Multispecies Fishery Management Plan and Sector Annual Catch 
Entitlements; Updated Annual Catch Limits for Sectors and the Common 
Pool for Fishing Year 2019; Correction

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

ACTION: Final rule; adjustment to specifications; correction.

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SUMMARY: This final rule corrects minor errors published in our rule 
approving and implementing Framework Adjustment 58 to the Northeast 
Multispecies Fishery Management Plan and distributes sector allocation 
carried over from fishing year 2018 into fishing year 2019 as 
authorized by the sector regulations. This action is necessary to 
correct errors published in the final rule and to allocate carryover 
quota to sectors. The carryover adjustments are routine and formulaic, 
and industry expects them each year.

DATES: Effective January 24, 2020, through April 30, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Claire Fitz-Gerald, Fishery Management 
Specialist, (978) 281-9255.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We recently published a final rule approving 
Framework Adjustment 58 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery 
Management Plan (FMP), which set 2019-2020 annual catch limits (ACL) 
for four groundfish stocks, and 2019 ACLs for three shared U.S./Canada 
stocks. That action became effective on July 18, 2019 (84 FR 34799; 
July 19, 2019). This rule corrects minor errors published in the 
Framework Adjustment 58 final rule and distributes unused sector quota 
carried over from fishing year 2018.

Corrections to Framework Adjustment 58

Correction to Fishing Year 2020 Georges Bank Yellowtail Flounder 
Acceptable Biological Catch in Table 2

    Table 2 published fishing year 2019 and 2020 overfishing limits and 
acceptable biological catch (ABC) for 20 groundfish stocks. The fishing 
year 2020 ABC published in the table for Georges Bank (GB) yellowtail 
flounder was incorrect. The ABC published in Framework Adjustment 58 
was 168 mt, but the ABC approved by the Scientific and Statistical 
Committee was 162 mt. This error was the result of a typographical 
error in the Environmental Assessment that was repeated in the 
rulemaking. It did not affect the ACL or sub-ACL. The corrected 
information appears in the table below.

Table 1--Corrected Fishing Years 2019-2020 Overfishing Limits and Acceptable Biological Catches for GB Yellowtail Flounder (mt, live weight), Table 2 in
                                                                 Framework Adjustment 58
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                                                                2019                                                            2020
                  Stock                   -----------------------------------------------  Percent change ----------------------------------------------
                                                        OFL                  U.S. ABC        from 2018                  OFL                  U.S. ABC
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GB Yellowtail Flounder...................  UNK.........................             106              -50   UNK.........................             162
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Correction to Fishing Year 2019 Gulf of Maine Cod Annual Catch Limits 
in Table 3

    In fishing year 2017, Gulf of Maine (GOM) cod catch exceeded the 
total ACL and ABC due to excess catch by the recreational fishery, 
state waters sub-component, and the other sub-component. Accountability 
measures described in the regulations require sectors and the common 
pool to pay back their share of the overage for the unallocated fishery 
components (state waters and other sub-components) pound-for-pound. The 
application of this accountability measure resulted in reductions of 
28.8 mt to the sector sub-ACL and 0.4 mt to the common pool sub-ACL for 
fishing year 2019.
    Framework Adjustment 58 announced this reduction and published 
revised 2019 allocations that accounted for the overage. According to 
regulation, the overage should be applied to the sector and common pool 
sub-ACLs only; the total ACL and commercial groundfish sub-ACL should 
not be reduced. The GOM cod total ACL and commercial groundfish sub-ACL 
published in Framework Adjustment 58 were incorrectly reduced to 
reflect the overage. The table below displays the incorrect GOM cod ACL 
and commercial groundfish sub-ACL originally published in Table 3 in 
Framework Adjustment 58, as well as the corrected values. This 
correction is administrative only, does not change the amount of quota 
available to sectors or the common pool, and ensures the published 
catch limits are consistent with the Framework 58 Environmental 
Assessment.

                   Table 2--Corrected GOM Cod Catch Limits for 2019 Fishing Year (mt, live weight), Table 3 in Framework Adjustment 58
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                                                                           Final                                                      State
                                                 Groundfish    Final      common    Recreational   Midwater    Scallop     Small-     waters     Other
               Stock                 Total ACL    sub-ACL      sector    pool sub-     sub-ACL       trawl     fishery      mesh       sub-       sub-
                                                              sub-ACL       ACL                     fishery              fisheries  component  component
                                        A to H    A + B + C          A           B             C           D          E          F          G          H
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Framework 58 GOM Cod..............         637          581        350          11           220  ..........  .........  .........         47          9

[[Page 4596]]

 
Corrected GOM Cod.................         666          610        350          11           220  ..........  .........  .........         47          9
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Correction to Formatting in Table 8

    The final rule for Framework Adjustment 58 included Table 8, which 
provided the incidental catch total allowable catches (TACs) for each 
special management program for fishing years 2019 and 2020. The 
published rule included a formatting error that made Table 8 difficult 
to interpret. This rule republishes Table 8 in the correct format.

       Table 3--Fishing Years 2019-2020 Incidental TACs for Each Special Management Program (mt, live weight), Table 8 in Framework Adjustment 58
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                                                              Regular B DAS program           Closed area I hook gear       Eastern U.S./Canada haddock
                                                         --------------------------------           haddock SAP                         SAP
                          Stock                                                          ---------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               2019            2020            2019            2020            2019            2020
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GB Cod..................................................            0.54            0.67            0.17            0.22            0.37            0.46
GOM Cod.................................................            0.11            0.11
GB Yellowtail Flounder..................................            0.02            0.04  ..............  ..............            0.02            0.04
CC/GOM Yellowtail Flounder..............................            0.21            0.21
American Plaice.........................................            1.57            1.46
Witch Flounder..........................................            1.15            1.15
SNE/MA Winter Flounder..................................            0.74            0.74
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Correction to Terminal Year of Witch Flounder Rebuilding Plan

    Framework Adjustment 58 included new or revised rebuilding plans 
for several stocks, including witch flounder. The New England Fishery 
Management Council approved, and Framework Adjustment 58 implemented, a 
23-year rebuilding plan for witch flounder. The final rule stated that 
the plan's official start date would be January 1, 2020, with a target 
to rebuild by calendar year (CY) 2043. A stock on a 23-year rebuilding 
plan that begins in CY 2020 would be expected to rebuild by the end of 
CY 2042, not CY 2043. This rule corrects the terminal year for the 
witch flounder rebuilding plan to CY 2042.

Sector Carryover Allocations From Fishing Year 2018

    Sector regulations at 50 CFR 648.87(c) authorize us to adjust 
annual catch entitlement (ACE) carryover to ensure that the total 
unused ACE combined with the overall sub-ACL does not exceed the ABC 
for the fishing year in which the carryover may be harvested. We have 
completed 2018 fishing year data reconciliation with sectors and 
determined final 2018 fishing year sector catch and the amount of 
allocation that sectors may carry over from the 2018 to the 2019 
fishing year. A sector may carry over up to 10 percent of unused ACE 
for each stock, except in instances where the amount of unused ACE was 
reduced so as not to exceed the ABC. Accordingly, unused ACE from 
fishing year 2018 available to carry over to 2019 was reduced for the 
following stocks: GB cod, GB haddock; GOM haddock; Southern New 
England/Mid-Atlantic (SNE/MA) yellowtail flounder; Cape Cod/GOM 
yellowtail flounder; American plaice; GB winter flounder; GOM winter 
flounder; SNE/MA winter flounder; redfish; white hake; and pollock. 
Complete details on carryover reduction percentages can be found at: 
https://www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/ro/fso/reports/h/groundfish_catch_accounting. Table 4 includes the maximum amount of 
allocation that sectors may carry over from the 2018 to the 2019 
fishing year.
    Table 5 includes the de minimis amount of carryover for each sector 
for the 2019 fishing year. If the overall ACL for any allocated stock 
is exceeded for the 2019 fishing year, the allowed carryover harvested 
by a sector, minus the pounds in the sector's de minimis amount, will 
be counted against its allocation to determine whether an overage 
subject to an accountability measure occurred. Tables 6 and 7 list the 
final ACE available to sectors for the 2019 fishing year, including 
finalized carryover amounts for each sector, as adjusted down when 
necessary to equal each stock's ABC.
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Classification

    The NMFS Assistant Administrator has determined that this rule is 
consistent with the Northeast Multispecies FMP, other provisions of the 
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, and other 
applicable laws.
    This rule has been determined to be not significant for the 
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
    Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B), we find good cause to waive 
prior public notice and opportunity for public comment on the minor 
corrections and allocation adjustments because allowing time for notice 
and comment is impracticable, unnecessary, and contrary to the public 
interest. We also find good cause to waive the 30-day delay in 
effectiveness pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(1) and (3), so that this 
final rule may become effective in a timely manner and maximize the 
economic benefits of the adjusted allocations to the fishery.
    Notice and comment and a 30-day delay in effectiveness would be 
impracticable, unnecessary, and contrary to the public interest. The 
adjustments in this rule are necessary to correct minor errors made in 
the Framework Adjustment 58 final rule. Correcting these errors is not 
subject to our discretion, so there would be no benefit to allowing 
time for notice and comment. Immediate implementation corrects 
information published in Framework Adjustment 58 and provides industry 
with the most accurate information. Delaying these adjustments could 
cause confusion to industry. The distribution of unused quota carried 
over from the previous fishing year is an annual adjustment action that 
is expected by industry and causes no economic harm. Some of these 
adjustments increase available catch. They are routine, formulaic, and 
authorized by regulation. Delaying these adjustments would result in a 
delay in the distribution of unused carryover to sectors, and could 
negate or reduce the intended economic benefits of the rule.
    Also, because advanced notice and the opportunity for public 
comment are not required for this action under the Administrative 
Procedure Act, or any other law, the analytical requirements of the 
Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601, et seq., do not apply to this 
rule. Therefore, no final regulatory flexibility analysis is required 
and none has been prepared.

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

    Dated: January 13, 2020.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-00652 Filed 1-24-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P