[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 194 (Tuesday, October 12, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 56657]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-22139]



[[Page 56657]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 210513-0105; RTID 0648-XB444]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Sea Scallop 
Fishery; Closure of the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area to General 
Category Individual Fishing Quota Scallop Vessels

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

ACTION: Temporary rule; closure.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area is 
closed to Limited Access General Category Individual Fishing Quota 
scallop vessels for the remainder of the 2021 fishing year. No vessel 
issued a Limited Access General Category Individual Fishing Quota 
permit may fish for, possess, or land scallops from the Mid-Atlantic 
Scallop Access Area. Regulations require this action once it is 
projected that 100 percent of trips allocated to the Limited Access 
General Category Individual Fishing Quota scallop vessels for the Mid-
Atlantic Scallop Access Area will be taken.

DATES: Effective 0001 hr local time, October 7, 2021, through March 31, 
2022.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations governing fishing activity in 
the Sea Scallop Access Areas can be found in 50 CFR 648.59 and 648.60. 
These regulations authorize vessels issued a valid Limited Access 
General Category (LAGC) Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) scallop permit 
to fish in the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area under specific 
conditions, including a total of 571 trips that may be taken during the 
2021 fishing year. Section 648.59(g)(3)(iii) requires the Mid-Atlantic 
Scallop Access Area to be closed to LAGC IFQ permitted vessels for the 
remainder of the fishing year once the NMFS Greater Atlantic Regional 
Administrator determines that the allocated number of trips for fishing 
year 2021 are projected to be taken.
    Based on trip declarations by LAGC IFQ scallop vessels fishing in 
the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area, analysis of fishing effort, and 
other information, NMFS projects that 571 trips will be taken as of 
October 7, 2021. Therefore, in accordance with Sec.  648.59(g)(3)(iii), 
NMFS is closing the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area to all LAGC IFQ 
scallop vessels as of October 7, 2021. No vessel issued an LAGC IFQ 
permit may fish for, possess, or land scallops in or from the Mid-
Atlantic Scallop Access Area after 0001 hr local time, October 7, 2021. 
Any LAGC IFQ vessel that has declared into the Mid-Atlantic Access Area 
scallop fishery, complied with all trip notification and observer 
requirements, and crossed the vessel monitoring system (VMS) 
demarcation line on the way to the area before 0001 hr, October 7, 
2021, may complete its trip without being subject to this closure. This 
closure is in effect for the remainder of the 2021 scallop fishing 
year, through March 31, 2022.

Classification

    NMFS issues this action pursuant to section 305(d) of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act. This action is required by 50 CFR part 648, which was 
issued pursuant to section 304(b), and is exempt from review under 
Executive Order 12866.
    Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), there is good cause to waive prior 
notice and an opportunity for public comment on this action, as notice 
and comment would be impracticable and contrary to the public interest. 
The Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area opened for the 2021 fishing year 
on April 1, 2021. The regulations at Sec.  648.59(g)(3)(iii) require 
this closure to ensure that LAGC IFQ scallop vessels do not take more 
than their allocated number of trips in the area. The projected date on 
which the LAGC IFQ fleet will have taken all of its allocated trips in 
an Access Area becomes apparent only as trips into the area occur on a 
real-time basis and as activity trends begin to appear. As a result, 
NMFS can only make an accurate projection very close in time to when 
the fleet has taken all of its trips. To allow LAGC IFQ scallop vessels 
to continue to take trips in the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area 
during the period necessary to publish and receive comments on a 
proposed rule would likely result in the vessels taking much more than 
the allowed number of trips in the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area. 
Excessive trips and harvest from the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area 
would result in excessive fishing effort in the area, where effort 
controls are critical, thereby undermining conservation objectives of 
the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan and requiring more 
restrictive future management measures. Also, the public had prior 
notice and full opportunity to comment on this closure process when it 
was enacted. For these same reasons, NMFS further finds, under 5 U.S.C. 
553(d)(3), good cause to waive the 30-day delayed effectiveness period.

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

    Dated: October 6, 2021.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-22139 Filed 10-6-21; 4:15 pm]
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