[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 78 (Monday, April 24, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 24713-24714]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-08601]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 220325-0078; RTID 0648-XC939]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Sea Scallop 
Fishery; 2023 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 2023 fishing year for 
Limited Access General Category vessels. Regulations require this 
action once NMFS projects that 100 percent of the Northern Gulf of 
Maine Set-Aside will be harvested. This action is intended to prevent 
the overharvest of the 2023 Northern Gulf of Maine Set-Aside.

DATES: Effective 0001 hr local time, April 21, 2023, through March 31, 
2024.

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 the NGOM 
Set-Aside for the 2023 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 Limited Access General 
Category (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 NGOM Set-Aside 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 2023 NGOM Set-Aside will be 
harvested as of April 21, 2023. 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 April 21, 2023. 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, April 21, 2023, 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

[[Page 24714]]

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, 
April 21, 2023, may complete its trip and land scallops. This closure 
is in effect until the end of the 2023 scallop fishing year, through 
March 31, 2024.

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 2023 fishing year on April 1, 2023. 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 NGOM 
Set-Aside. 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 set-aside 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 2023 
NGOM Set-Aside 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 2023 NGOM management provisions (88 FR 
19559, April 3, 2023).

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

    Dated: April 19, 2023.
Kelly Denit,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-08601 Filed 4-19-23; 4:15 pm]
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