[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 12 (Thursday, January 19, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 3317]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-00979]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 220325-0078; RTID 0648-XC494]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Sea Scallop 
Fishery; Closure of the Closed Area I 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 Closed Area I Scallop Access Area is 
closed to Limited Access General Category Individual Fishing Quota 
scallop vessels for the remainder of the 2022 fishing year. 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 Closed Area I Scallop Access Area will be 
taken. This action is intended to prevent the number of trips in the 
Closed Area I Scallop Access Area from exceeding what is allowed under 
the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan.

DATES: Effective 0001 hr local time, January 14, 2023, through March 
31, 2023.

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 Closed Area I Scallop Access Area under specific 
conditions, including a total of 714 trips that may be taken during the 
2022 fishing year. Section 648.59(g)(3)(iii) requires NMFS to close the 
Closed Area I Scallop Access Area to LAGC IFQ permitted vessels for the 
remainder of the fishing year once it determines that the allocated 
number of trips for the fishing year are projected to be taken.
    Based on trip declarations by LAGC IFQ scallop vessels fishing in 
the Closed Area I Scallop Access Area, analysis of fishing effort, and 
other information, NMFS projects that 714 trips will be taken as of 
January 14, 2023. Therefore, in accordance with Sec.  
648.59(g)(3)(iii), NMFS is closing the Closed Area I Scallop Access 
Area to all LAGC IFQ scallop vessels as of January 14, 2023. No vessel 
issued an LAGC IFQ permit may fish for, possess, or land scallops in or 
from the Closed Area I Scallop Access Area after 0001 hr local time, 
January 14, 2023. Any LAGC IFQ vessel that has declared into the Closed 
Area I Access Area scallop fishery, complied with all trip notification 
and observer requirements, and crossed the Vessel Monitoring System 
demarcation line on the way to the area before 0001 hr, January 14, 
2023, may complete its trip without being subject to this closure. This 
closure is in effect for the remainder of the 2022 scallop fishing 
year, through March 31, 2023.

Classification

    NMFS issues this action pursuant to section 305(d) of the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management 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 Closed Area I Scallop Access Area opened for the 2022 fishing year 
on April 1, 2022. 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 Closed Area I 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 Closed Area I Scallop Access Area. 
Excessive trips and harvest from the Closed Area I 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, as well as during the public comment period on the action 
to set specifications for the 2022 fishing year. 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: January 13, 2023.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-00979 Filed 1-13-23; 4:15 pm]
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