[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 102 (Thursday, May 26, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 31962-31963]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-11487]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 220325-0078; RTID 0648-XC033]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Sea Scallop 
Fishery; 2022 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 2022 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 2022 total allowable catch allocated to 
the Limited Access General Category Fishery.

DATES: Effective 0001 hr local time, May 26, 2022, through March 31, 
2023.

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 621,307 lb (281,820 kg) for the Limited 
Access General Category (LAGC) fleet for the 2022 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

[[Page 31963]]

(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 2022 LAGC TAC will be harvested as 
of May 26, 2022. 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 26, 2022. 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 26, 
2022, 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 26, 2022, may complete its trip and land scallops. This closure is 
in effect until the end of the 2022 scallop fishing year, through March 
31, 2023.

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 2022 fishing year on April 1, 2022. 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 two 
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 2022 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 solicited comments during rulemaking for 2022 NGOM management 
provisions (February 15, 2022; 87 FR 8543).

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

    Dated: May 24, 2022.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-11487 Filed 5-24-22; 4:15 pm]
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