[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 83 (Monday, April 29, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 33284-33287]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-09042]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[Docket No. 240227-0061; RTID 0648-XD879]


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Gulf of 
Alaska; Final 2024 and 2025 Harvest Specifications for Groundfish; 2024 
Rockfish Program Cooperative Allocations

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

ACTION: Temporary rule.

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SUMMARY: NMFS is providing notification for the Rockfish Program 
cooperative allocations as described in the final rule that published 
on March 4, 2024, implementing the final 2024 and 2025 harvest 
specifications and prohibited species catch limits for the groundfish 
fishery of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). These allocations are necessary to 
provide the Rockfish Program cooperative amounts for 2024, thus 
allowing commercial fishermen to

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maximize their economic opportunities in this fishery. This 
notification comports with the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for 
Groundfish of the GOA (GOA FMP).

DATES: Effective 1,200 hours, Alaska local time (A.l.t.), May 1, 2024, 
through 1,200 hours, A.l.t., December 31, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Abby Jahn, 907-586-7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS manages the groundfish fishery in the 
GOA exclusive economic zone according to the FMP prepared by the North 
Pacific Fishery Management Council under authority of the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). 
Regulations governing fishing by U.S. vessels in accordance with the 
FMP appear at subpart H of 50 CFR part 600 and 50 CFR parts 679 and 
680.
    As described in the final 2024 and 2025 harvest specifications for 
groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska, allocations among vessels belonging 
to catcher vessel (CV) cooperatives or catcher/processor (CP) 
cooperatives are not included in the final harvest specifications 
(March 4, 2024, 89 FR 15484). Rockfish Program applications for CV 
cooperatives and CP cooperatives are not due to NMFS until March 1 of 
each calendar year; therefore, NMFS cannot calculate 2024 and 2025 
allocations in conjunction with the final harvest specifications (Sec.  
679.81(f)). NMFS has received the 2024 Rockfish Program applications 
and has calculated the 2024 allocations for CV cooperatives and CP 
cooperatives, as set forth in Sec.  679.81(b), (c), and (e). NMFS is 
listing the 2024 allocations in table 1.
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Classification

    NMFS issues this action pursuant to section 305(d) of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act. Through previous actions, the FMP and regulations are 
designed to authorize NMFS to take this action. See 50 CFR part 679. 
This action is exempt from review under Executive Order 12866.
    The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA, finds good cause 
to waive the requirement to provide prior notice and opportunity for 
public comment pursuant to the authority set forth at 5 U.S.C. 
553(b)(B), as such requirement is unnecessary and contrary to the 
public interest. This notification provides information on the 2024 
Rockfish Program cooperative allocations, and does not change operating 
practices in the fisheries. This notification is consistent with the 
harvest specifications recommended by the North Pacific Fishery 
Management Council in December 2023 and implemented by NMFS in the 
final rule for the 2024 and 2025 harvest specifications (89 FR 15484, 
March 4, 2024). Those harvest specifications specify the final total 
allowable catch (TAC) limits from which NMFS calculates the Rockfish 
Program cooperative allocations based on existing regulations, which 
were implemented through prior notice and comment rulemaking (Sec.  
679.81(b), (c), and (e)). The public was provided with notice and 
opportunity to comment during the public comment period for the 
proposed harvest specifications (88 FR 85184, December 7, 2023) and has 
had notice of the final harvest specifications implementing the final 
TAC limits (89 FR 15484, March 4, 2024). Because the public already had 
a meaningful opportunity to comment on the TAC limits from which these 
allocations are derived, further opportunity for public comment is

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unnecessary and would not be meaningful.
    This notification announces the Rockfish Program cooperative 
allocations based on applications received after the publication of the 
2024 and 2025 harvest specifications. If this notification is delayed 
to allow for notice and comment it could also result in confusion for 
participants in the Rockfish Program given that the final rule 
implementing the 2024 and 2025 harvest specifications is effective and 
the Rockfish Program fishery opens May 1, 2024. Therefore, the 
Assistant Administrator finds good cause to waive the requirement to 
provide prior notice and opportunity for public comment. For the 
reasons above, the Assistant Administrator also finds good cause under 
5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to waive the 30-day delay in effective date and make 
this rule effective immediately upon publication.

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

    Dated: April 23, 2024.
Everett Wayne Baxter,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-09042 Filed 4-26-24; 8:45 am]
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