[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 102 (Wednesday, May 27, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 31706-31707]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-11361]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 200325-0088; RTID 0648-XX056]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Sea Scallop
Fishery; 2020 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 2020 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 2020 total allowable catch allocated to
the Limited Access General Category Fishery.
DATES: Effective 0001 hr local time, May 23, 2020, through March 31,
2021.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shannah Jaburek, Fishery Management
Specialist, (978) 282-8456.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The reader can find regulations governing
fishing 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 206,282 lb (93,567 kg) for the Limited
Access General Category (LAGC) fleet for the 2020 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 100 percent of the LAGC TAC for the fishing year is
projected to be harvested. Any vessel that holds a Federal NGOM (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 2020 LAGC TAC will be harvested as
of May 23, 2020. 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 May 23, 2020. 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, May 23,
2020, 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 vessel
monitoring system demarcation line on the way to the area before 0001,
May 23, 2020, may complete its trip and land scallops. This closure is
in effect until the end of the 2020 scallop fishing year, through March
31, 2021. This closure does not apply to the Limited Access (LA)
scallop fleet, which was allocated a separate TAC of 140,000 lb (63,503
kg) for the 2020 fishing year under Framework Adjustment 32 to the
Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan. Vessels that are
participating in the 2020 scallop Research Set-Aside Program and have
been issued letters of authorization to conduct compensation fishing
activities will harvest the 2020 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 2020
[[Page 31707]]
fishing year on April 1, 2020. 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 taking 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 2020
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 final
NGOM management provisions in place for the 2020 fishing year on March
31, 2020 (85 FR 17754).
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: May 21, 2020.
H[eacute]l[egrave]ne M.N. Scalliet,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-11361 Filed 5-22-20; 8:45 am]
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