[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 80 (Wednesday, April 24, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 31092]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-08721]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 240314-0080; RTID 0648-XD892]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Sea Scallop 
Fishery; 2024 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 
(NGOM) Scallop Management Area for the remainder of the 2024 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 2024 Northern Gulf of Maine Set-Aside.

DATES: Effective 0001 hour local time, April 20, 2024, through March 
31, 2025.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Travis Ford, Fishery Policy Analyst, 
(978) 281-9233.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The regulations governing fishing activity 
in the 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 2024 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 2024 NGOM Set-Aside will be 
harvested as of April 20, 2024. 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 20, 2024. 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 20, 2024, 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, April 20, 2024, may complete its 
trip and land scallops. This closure is in effect until the end of the 
2024 scallop fishing year, through March 31, 2025.

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 2024 fishing year on April 1, 2024. 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 2024 
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 2024 NGOM management provisions (89 FR 
20341, March 22, 2024).

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

    Dated: April 18, 2024.
Everett Wayne Baxter,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-08721 Filed 4-19-24; 4:15 pm]
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