[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 45 (Friday, March 6, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 13074-13075]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-04412]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 200227-0068]
RTID 0648-XX035


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Spiny 
Dogfish Fishery; 2020 Spiny Dogfish Specifications

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

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: We are implementing specifications for the 2020 spiny dogfish 
fishery, including an annual catch limit and commercial quota. This 
action is necessary to ensure allowable harvest levels to prevent 
overfishing while allowing harvest of optimum yield, consistent with 
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. This 
action is intended to establish 2020 specifications, consistent with 
the Spiny Dogfish Fishery Management Plan and previously announced 
multi-year specifications.

DATES: The final specifications for the 2020 Atlantic spiny dogfish 
fishery are effective May 1, 2020, through April 30, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Copies of these specifications, including the original 
Environmental Assessment, Regulatory Flexibility Act Analyses, and 
other supporting documents for the action, are available upon request 
from Dr. Christopher M. Moore, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery 
Management Council, Suite 201, 800 N State Street, Dover, DE 19901. 
These documents are also accessible via the internet at http://www.mafmc.org/dogfish.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cynthia Ferrio, Fishery Management 
Specialist, (978) 281-9180.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery 
Management Councils jointly manage the Atlantic spiny dogfish fishery 
in Federal waters under the Spiny Dogfish Fishery Management Plan 
(FMP), with the Mid-Atlantic Council serving as the administrative 
lead. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission manages the 
fishery in state waters from Maine to North Carolina through an 
interstate fishery management plan. The FMP requires the specification 
of an annual catch limit (ACL), annual catch target (ACT), and the 
total allowable landings (TAL) for up to a 5-year period; however, the 
Councils often choose to only set specifications up to 3 years at a 
time. This action implements specifications for the 2020 spiny dogfish 
fishery that begins on May 1, 2020.
    On May 15, 2019, we approved specifications for the 2019 fishing 
year (84 FR 21723) and projected specifications for fishing years 2020 
and 2021. These were based on recent fishery data from the 2018 stock 
assessment update. The approved measures substantially reduced the 
coastwide commercial quota in 2019 to prevent overfishing, but included 
projections for increased quota in 2020 and 2021. The final 2020 spiny 
dogfish specifications, which are summarized in Table 1, represent a 
13-percent increase in commercial quota from fishing year 2019. All 
other management measures, including the 6,000-lb (2,722-kg) Federal 
trip limit, remain unchanged.

       Table 1--Spiny Dogfish Specifications for Fishing Year 2020
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                                                                  Metric
                                                                   tons
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Acceptable Biological Catch....................................   14,126
ACL = ACT......................................................   14,077
TAL............................................................   10,602
Commercial Quota...............................................   10,521
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    We have reviewed available 2019 fishery information, and we do not 
expect that the 2019 annual catch limit will be exceeded. Further, 
there is no new biological information that would require altering the 
projected 2020 specifications. Neither the Council nor the Commission 
recommended any changes to the previously projected multi-year 
specifications. Based on this, we are implementing the 2020 
specifications as projected and outlined in the 2019-2021 spiny dogfish 
specifications final rule (84 FR 21723, May 15, 2019). These final 2020 
specifications will be effective from May 1, 2020, until April 30, 
2021. We will finalize the 2021 fishing year specifications prior to 
May 1, 2021, by publishing another rule following a similar review.

Classification

    Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the 
NMFS

[[Page 13075]]

Assistant Administrator has determined that this final rule is 
consistent with the Atlantic Spiny Dogfish FMP, the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act, and other applicable law.
    This rule is exempt from review under Executive Order 12866 because 
this action contains no implementing regulations. This rule is not an 
Executive Order 13771 regulatory action because this rule is not 
significant under Executive Order 12866.
    This final rule does not duplicate, conflict, or overlap with any 
existing Federal rules.
    Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), we find good cause to waive prior 
public notice and opportunity for public comment on the final 2020 
spiny dogfish specifications, because allowing time for notice and 
comment is unnecessary. The proposed rule for the 2019 specifications 
and the projected 2020 and 2021 specifications (84 FR 11923, March 29, 
2019) provided the public with the opportunity to comment on these 2020 
specifications. While comments received on the multi-year (2019-2021) 
specifications were mixed on the general issue of whether quotas should 
be liberalized or made more restrictive, no substantive comments were 
received on the projected 2020 specifications. Furthermore, this final 
rule contains no changes from the projected 2020 specifications that 
were included in both the March 29, 2019, proposed rule (84 FR 11923), 
and the May 15, 2019, final rule (84 FR 21723). Additionally, the 
public and industry participants expect this action, because we 
previously alerted the public (in the March 29, 2019, proposed rule, 
and the May 15, 2019, final rule) that we would conduct this interim-
year review of the multi-year specifications after reviewing the latest 
fisheries data, with the intent of announcing the final 2020 commercial 
quota prior to the May 1 start of the fishing year. Thus, the process 
for issuing the proposed and final rules containing the 2019 
specifications and the projected 2020 and 2021 specifications provided 
a full opportunity for the public to comment on this action. As a 
result, there is no need to reopen the comment period before issuing 
this final rule.
    A final regulatory flexibility analysis (FRFA) was prepared for 
this action pursuant to the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 U.S.C. 
604(a)), and was included in the May 15, 2019, final rule on the 2019-
2021 spiny dogfish specifications. That FRFA incorporated the initial 
regulatory flexibility analysis (IRFA), and a summary of analyses 
completed to support the action. Because this action makes no changes 
to what was originally projected in those proposed and final rules for 
fishing year 2020 specifications, no changes need to be made to the 
FRFA in the May 15, 2019, final rule, and no additional analyses are 
necessary. Furthermore, because advance notice and the opportunity for 
public comment are not required for this action under the 
Administrative Procedure Act (as discussed above), or any other law, 
the analytical requirements of the RFA do not apply to this rule. For 
all of these reasons, no new regulatory flexibility analysis is 
required, and none has been prepared.
    This action does not contain a collection of information 
requirement for the purposes of the Paperwork Reduction Act.

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

    Dated: February 28, 2020.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-04412 Filed 3-5-20; 8:45 am]
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