[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 88 (Monday, May 10, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 24745-24746]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-09869]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 200325-0088; RTID 0648-XB071]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Sea Scallop 
Fishery; 2021 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 2021 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 2021 total allowable catch allocated to 
the Limited Access General Category Fishery.

DATES: Effective 0001 hr local time, May 6, 2021, through March 31, 
2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Louis Forristall, Fishery Management 
Specialist, (978) 281-9321.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The regulations governing fishing activity 
in the Northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM) Scallop Management Area are 
located 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 default 
total allowable catch (TAC) of 167,500 lb (75,976 kg) for the Limited 
Access General Category (LAGC) fleet for the 2021 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 2021 LAGC TAC will be harvested as 
of May 6, 2021. 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 6, 2021. 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 6, 
2021, 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 6, 2021, may complete its trip and land scallops. This closure is 
in effect until the end of the 2021 scallop fishing year, through March 
31, 2022. This closure does not apply to the Limited Access (LA) 
scallop fleet, which was allocated a separate TAC of 97,500 lb (44,225 
kg) for the 2021 fishing year under Framework Adjustment 32 to the 
Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan. Vessels that are 
participating in the 2021 scallop Research Set-Aside Program and have 
been issued letters of authorization to conduct compensation fishing 
activities will harvest the 2021 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 2021

[[Page 24746]]

fishing year on April 1, 2021. 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. The 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 2021 
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 2021 fishing year on March 
31, 2020 (85 FR 17754).

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

    Dated: May 5, 2021.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-09869 Filed 5-5-21; 4:15 pm]
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