[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 5, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 6446-6447]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-02175]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 180209147-8509-02; RTID 0648-XX039]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Small-Mesh 
Multispecies Fishery; Inseason Adjustment to the Southern Red Hake 
Possession Limit

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

ACTION: Temporary rule; inseason adjustment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the commercial per-trip possession limit 
for southern red hake has been reduced for the remainder of the 2019 
fishing year. Regulations governing the small-mesh multispecies fishery 
require this action to prevent the southern red hake total allowable 
landing limit from being exceeded. This announcement informs the public 
of the reduced southern red hake possession limit.

DATES: Effective February 3, 2020, through April 30, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura Hansen, Fishery Management 
Specialist, (978) 281-9225.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations governing the red hake fishery 
are found at 50 CFR part 648. The small-mesh multispecies fishery is 
managed primarily through a series of exemptions from the Northeast 
Multispecies Fisheries Management Plan. The regulations describing the 
process to adjust inseason commercial possession limits of southern red 
hake are described in Sec. Sec.  648.86(d)(4) and 648.90(b)(5). These 
regulations require the NMFS Regional Administrator, Greater Atlantic 
Region, to reduce the southern red hake per-trip possession limit from 
5,000 lb (2,268 kg) to the incidental limit of 400 lb (181 kg) when 
landings are projected to reach or exceed 90 percent of the total 
allowable landings (TAL), unless such a reduction is expected to 
prevent the TAL from

[[Page 6447]]

being reached. The final rule implementing the small-mesh multispecies 
specifications for 2018-2020 (83 FR 27713; June 14, 2018) set the 
southern red hake inseason adjustment threshold for the 2019 fishing 
year as 605,169 lb (274,500 kg); 90 percent of the southern red hake 
TAL for the year.
    Based on commercial landings data reported through January 14, 
2020, the southern red hake fishery is projected to reach 90 percent of 
the TAL on or around February 2, 2020. We do not anticipate that this 
reduced possession limit will prevent the TAL from being achieved. 
Therefore, effective February 3, 2020, no person may possess on board 
or land more than 400 lb (181 kg) of southern red hake per trip for the 
remainder of the fishing year, through April 30, 2020.

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 
under 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. 
This action reduces the per-trip possession limit for southern red hake 
to the incidental limit of 400 lb (181 kg) until April 30, 2020, under 
current small-mesh multispecies fishery regulations. The regulations at 
Sec.  648.86(d) require such action to ensure that commercial small-
mesh multispecies vessels do not exceed the TAL set for the southern 
red hake stock. While we do not project that the southern red hake TAL 
will be exceeded, a delay in implementation of this reduction to 
solicit prior public comment could undermine the conservation 
objectives of the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan. 
Therefore, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), the Assistant Administrator 
further finds good cause to waive the 30-day delayed effectiveness 
period for the reason stated above.

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

    Dated: January 30, 2020.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-02175 Filed 2-3-20; 4:15 pm]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P