[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 146 (Tuesday, August 1, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 50065-50066]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-16231]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 220711-0151; RTID 0648-XD202]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast 
Multispecies Fishery; Gulf of Maine Cod 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 Gulf of Maine Cod Trimester Total 
Allowable Catch Area to Northeast multispecies common pool vessels 
fishing with trawl gear, sink gillnet gear, and longline/hook gear, 
through August 31, 2023. The closure is required because the common 
pool fishery is projected to have caught over 90 percent of its 
Trimester 1 quota for Gulf of Maine cod. This closure is intended to 
prevent an overage of the common pool's quota for this stock.

DATES: This action is effective July 27, 2023, through August 31, 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 the Regional Administrator to close a 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 1 TAC for Gulf of Maine (GOM) cod is 9,480 lb 
(pounds) (4.3 metric tons (mt)). Catch data (including landings and 
discards) indicate that the common pool fishery caught 9,066 lb (4.1 
mt) of GOM cod, or

[[Page 50066]]

95.6 percent of the Trimester 1 TAC, through July 18, 2023. Based on 
best available data, we estimate that the common pool has achieved over 
90 percent of the Trimester 1 TAC.
    Effective July 27, 2023, the GOM Cod Trimester TAC Area is closed 
for the remainder of Trimester 1, through August 31, 2023. The GOM Cod 
Trimester TAC Area consists of statistical areas, 513 and 514. During 
the closure, common pool vessels fishing with trawl gear, sink gillnet 
gear, and longline/hook gear, 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 
September 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 July 27, 2023, it may complete its trip 
within the GOM Cod Trimester TAC Area. A vessel that has set gillnet 
gear prior to July 27, 2023, may complete its trip by hauling such 
gear.
    If the common pool fishery exceeds its annual sub-Allowable Catch 
Limit (sub-ACL) for a stock in the 2023 fishing year, the overage must 
be deducted from the common pool's sub-ACL for that stock for fishing 
year 2024.
    Weekly quota monitoring reports for the common pool fishery are on 
our website at: https://www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/ro/fso/reports/h/nemultispecies.html. We 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.
    The regulations require the Regional Administrator to close 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 July 18, 2023, only recently became available indicating that 
the common pool fishery is projected to have caught 90 percent of its 
Trimester 1 TAC for GOM cod. The time necessary to provide for prior 
notice and comment, and a 30-day delay in effectiveness, would prevent 
the immediate closure of the GOM Cod 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 GOM cod. Any overage of the Trimester 1 TAC is deducted from the 
Trimester 3 TAC, and any overage of the annual quota would be deducted 
from common pool's quota for the next fishing year, to the detriment of 
this stock. This could undermine conservation and management objectives 
of the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan. Fishermen expect 
these closures to occur in a timely way to prevent overages and their 
payback requirements. Overages of the trimester or annual common pool 
quota could cause negative economic impacts to the common pool fishery 
as a result of overage paybacks deducted from a future trimester or 
fishing year.

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

    Dated: July 26, 2023.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-16231 Filed 7-27-23; 4:15 pm]
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