[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 77 (Friday, April 21, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 24494]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-08473]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 220711-0151; RTID 0648-XC947]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast 
Multispecies Fishery; White Hake Trimester Total Allowable Catch Area 
Closure for the Common Pool Fishery

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

ACTION: Temporary rule; area closure.

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SUMMARY: This action closes the White Hake Trimester Total Allowable 
Catch Area to Northeast multispecies common pool vessels fishing with 
trawl gear, sink gillnet gear, and longline/hook gear, except for 
Handgear A and B permitted vessels using handgear or tub trawl, through 
April 30, 2023. The closure is required because the common pool fishery 
is projected to have caught over 90 percent of its Trimester 3 quota 
for white hake. This closure is intended to prevent an overage of the 
common pool's quota for this stock.

DATES: This action is effective April 18, 2023, through April 30, 2023.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Spencer Talmage, Fishery Policy 
Analyst, 978-281-9232.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Federal regulations at Sec.  
648.82(n)(2)(ii) require closure of the common pool Trimester Total 
Allowable Catch (TAC) Area for a stock when 90 percent of the Trimester 
TAC is projected to be caught. The closure applies to all common pool 
vessels fishing with gear capable of catching that stock, and remains 
in effect for the remainder of the trimester. During the closure, 
affected common pool vessels may not fish for, harvest, possess, or 
land regulated multispecies or ocean pout in or from the Trimester TAC 
Area for the stock.
    The Trimester 3 TAC for white hake is 17,857 lb (8.2 mt). Catch 
data (including landings and discards) indicate that the common pool 
fishery caught 9,700.3 lb (4.4 mt) of white hake, or 54.3 percent of 
the Trimester 3 TAC, through March 21, 2023. Based on remaining quota, 
recent catch rates, and historical participation in the fishery, NMFS 
projects that by April 15, 2023, the common pool achieved 90 percent of 
the Trimester 3 TAC for white hake.
    Effective April 18, 2023, the White Hake Trimester TAC Area is 
closed for the remainder of Trimester 3, through April 30, 2023. The 
White Hake Trimester TAC Area consists of statistical areas, 513, 514, 
515, 521, and 522. During the closure, common pool vessels fishing with 
trawl gear, sink gillnet gear, and longline/hook gear, except for 
Handgear A and B permitted vessels using handgear or tub trawl, may not 
fish for, harvest, possess, or land regulated multispecies or ocean 
pout in or from this area. The area reopens at the beginning of 
Trimester 1 of fishing year 2023 on May 1, 2023.
    If a vessel declared its trip through the Vessel Monitoring System 
(VMS) or the interactive voice response system, and crossed the VMS 
demarcation line prior to April 18, 2023, it may complete its trip 
within the White Hake Trimester TAC Area.
    If the common pool fishery exceeds its annual sub-Allowable Catch 
Limit (sub-ACL) for a stock in the 2022 fishing year, the overage must 
be deducted from the common pool's sub-ACL for that stock for fishing 
year 2023. The fishing year 2022 sub-Allowable Catch Limit for white 
hake is 44,313 lb (20.1 mt). NMFS estimates that the common pool has 
caught 35,937 lb (16.3 mt) so far in fishing year 2022.
    Weekly quota monitoring reports for the common pool fishery are on 
the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office website at: https://www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/ro/fso/reports/h/nemultispecies.html. NMFS will continue to monitor common pool catch 
through vessel trip reports, dealer-reported landings, VMS catch 
reports, and other available information and, if necessary, will make 
additional adjustments to common pool management measures.

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) and 5 
U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to waive prior notice and the opportunity for public 
comment and the 30-day delayed effectiveness period because it would be 
impracticable and contrary to the public interest.
    Regulations require the closure of a trimester TAC area to the 
common pool fishery when 90 percent of the Trimester TAC for a stock 
has been caught. Updated catch information through March 21, 2023, only 
recently became available indicating that the common pool fishery is 
projected to have caught 90 percent of its Trimester 3 TAC for white 
hake. The time necessary to provide for prior notice and comment, and a 
30-day delay in effectiveness, would prevent the immediate closure of 
the White Hake Trimester TAC Area. This would be contrary to the 
regulatory requirement and would increase the likelihood that the 
common pool fishery would exceed its annual quota of white hake. 
Fishermen expect these closures to occur in a timely way to prevent 
overages and their payback requirements. Any overage of the annual 
quota could be detrimental to this fish stock. Also, any overage would 
be deducted from common pool's quota for the next fishing year, which 
could cause negative economic impacts to the common pool fishery due to 
less catch being available to fishery participants. This could 
undermine conservation and management objectives of the Northeast 
Multispecies Fishery Management Plan.

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

    Dated: April 18, 2023.
Kelly Denit,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-08473 Filed 4-18-23; 4:15 pm]
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