[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 129 (Friday, July 5, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 55523-55524]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-14279]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 229

[Docket No. 240624-0175]
RIN 0648-BN14


Taking of Marine Mammals Incidental to Commercial Fishing 
Operations; Amendment to the Atlantic Pelagic Longline Take Reduction 
Plan

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

ACTION: Final rule; delay of effective date.

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SUMMARY: We, NMFS, are delaying the effective date of terminal gear 
requirements that amend the Pelagic Longline Take Reduction Plan 
(PLTRP) regulations in a final rule that published on June 6, 2023.

DATES: The effective date of the regulatory requirements contained in 
50 CFR 229.36(d) that was published in a final rule at 88 FR 36965 on 
June 6, 2023, is delayed until January 1, 2025.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erin Foug[egrave]res, NMFS, Southeast 
Region, at 727-824-5312 or [email protected], or Kristy Long, 
NMFS, Office of Protected Resources at 206-526-4792 or 
[email protected]. Individuals who use telecommunications devices 
for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service at 1-
800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time, Monday through 
Friday, excluding Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 6, 2023, we published a final rule 
to amend the PLTRP (88 FR 36965). The PLTRP is required under section 
118 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) to reduce mortality and 
serious injury (M/SI) of short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala 
macrorhynchus) incidental to the Atlantic portion of the Category I 
Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico large pelagics longline 
fishery. Regulatory requirements in the amended PLTRP were effective on 
July 6, 2023, except for the requirements contained in 50 CFR 
229.36(d), implementing terminal gear restrictions, which were to 
become effective on July 8, 2024 (88 FR 36965).
    The terminal gear requirements contained in 50 CFR 229.36(d) 
require: (1) circle hooks must have a round wire diameter not to exceed 
4.05 millimeters (mm; 0.159 inches (in)) if the hooks are size 16/0, or 
4.40 mm (0.173 in) if the hooks are size 18/0, and must have a 
straightening force not to exceed 300 pounds (lb; 136.08 kilograms 
(kg)); and (2) monofilament leaders and branch lines (i.e., gangions) 
must have a minimum diameter of 1.8 mm (0.071 in) and a breaking 
strength of at least 300 lb (136.08 kg). These requirements apply to 
the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) portions of the Northeast 
Coastal (NEC), Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB), South Atlantic Bight (SAB), 
and Florida East Coast (FEC) pelagic longline statistical areas, which 
together compose the entirety of the U.S. Atlantic EEZ (east of the 
line of demarcation between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico 
as defined in 50 CFR 600.105(c)).
    In the proposed rule to amend the PLTRP, we sought comments on the 
length of time necessary for manufacturers and industry to implement 
the new terminal gear regulations. Two commenters noted that 
manufacturers may need time to produce new hooks, but were concerned 
about additional delays to implementing regulations. Two additional 
commenters suggested that at least 1 full year was needed to plan and 
implement the hook design and allow fishermen time to work through 
existing inventories of hooks that would not meet the new regulatory 
requirements. These same commenters recommended that the fishery be 
given no less than 18 months following the publication of the final 
rule to implement the new hook requirements. In an effort to balance 
the conservation needs for the species and the practical and economic 
needs of the pelagic longline industry, we decided to delay the 
implementation of these terminal gear requirements by 12 months. Our 
final rule, which was published on June 6, 2023, and became effective 
on July 6, 2023, specified an effective date for the new terminal gear 
requirements of July 8, 2024.
    Currently, some hooks that meet the specifications contained in 50 
CFR 229.36(d) are available, although they are available in limited 
quantities and are not preferred broadly across the fishery. A primary 
hook manufacturer for the Atlantic pelagic longline fishing

[[Page 55524]]

industry, did not have a 16/0 or 18/0 circle hook that met the hook 
regulations required by the PLTRP amendments and, thus, needed to 
design, test, and manufacture new, compliant hooks. Although that 
process began at the time of publication of the final rule, as of May 
31, 2024, those new, compliant hooks remain unavailable for purchase 
due to manufacturing delays. Compliant hooks are projected to be 
available for sale in sufficient quantities to meet the Atlantic 
pelagic longline fishery's needs shortly prior to the original July 8, 
2024 effective date. However, we have determined that fishermen will 
not have sufficient time to phase out old hooks and implement new hooks 
before July 8, 2024, as intended by the final rule. Fishermen could 
purchase the new, compliant hooks if they become available before July 
8, 2024, but changing them over and replacing non-compliant hooks would 
be labor intensive and costly. Therefore, we are delaying the effective 
date of the terminal gear requirements contained in 50 CFR part 
229.36(d) until January 1, 2025, to allow fishermen to purchase new, 
compliant hooks, once they become available, and to phase in their use 
as older hooks need to be replaced, as originally intended by the final 
rule.
    We expect that the impact of delaying the marine mammal protections 
afforded by the terminal gear requirements until January 1, 2025, will 
be minor. Based on data from 2015 through 2019, the Potential 
Biological Removal (PBR) for the western North Atlantic stock of short-
finned pilot whales is 236 and the average annual M/SI incidental to 
the Atlantic pelagic longline fishery was 136 animals (Hayes et al., 
2022). Therefore, the western North Atlantic stock is not a strategic 
stock under the MMPA because the mean annual human-caused M/SI does not 
exceed PBR. More recently, NMFS confirmed that there were 15 observed 
hooked or entangled short-finned pilot whales in the Atlantic pelagic 
longline fishery in 2022, and 17 observed hooked or entangled short-
finned pilot whale in 2023. Serious injury determinations for these 
have not been completed or been extrapolated to overall bycatch 
estimates yet; however, they are lower than the observed hooked or 
entangled short-finned pilot whales in 2021 and 2020, despite 
consistent observer coverage in 2022 and 2023. Therefore, although 
delaying the effective date of the terminal gear requirements by an 
additional 6 months will delay protections afforded by the regulations, 
M/SI of the western north Atlantic short-finned pilot whale stock is 
not expected to exceed PBR and is not expected to suffer serious 
adverse effects. In addition, although the effective date will be 
delayed by approximately 6 months until January 1, 2025, we anticipate 
that fishermen will begin to purchase and utilize the new hooks once 
they become available, to replace older hooks that are lost, bent or 
broken. Therefore, some of the protections afforded by the regulations 
to short-finned pilot whales are likely to occur before January 1, 
2025.
    In summary, we are delaying the effective date for the terminal 
gear requirements contained in 50 CFR part 229.36(d) in the amended 
PLTRP published on June 6, 2023 (88 FR 36965) for 6 months, until 
January 1, 2025, due to hook manufacturing delays. This delay in 
effective date will allow pelagic longline fishermen to purchase 
compliant hooks, once available, and to phase in their use. Although 
delaying the effective date will delay marine mammal protections 
afforded by the regulation, the impact is expected to be minor. We 
intend to provide no further extensions of the effective date beyond 
January 1, 2025.

Administrative Procedure Act

    The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries (AA) finds that there is 
good cause to waive the requirements to provide prior notice and 
opportunity for public comment pursuant to the authority set forth in 5 
U.S.C. 553(b)(B), because prior notice and opportunity for public 
comment on this temporary delay is unnecessary and contrary to the 
public interest. Such procedures are unnecessary because the rule that 
published at 88 FR 36965 on June 6, 2023, has already been subject to 
notice and comment, and all that remains is to notify the public of 
this delay in the effective date of the previously noticed regulations. 
Providing additional prior notice and opportunity for public comment is 
contrary to the public interest because there is a need to immediately 
implement this action to delay the July 8, 2024, the effective date of 
the terminal gear requirements contained in 50 CFR 229.36(d) and to 
provide notice of the delay to affected fishery participants. Failure 
to extend the effective date risks inflicting potentially serious 
economic costs on the fishing industry, which were not intended or 
analyzed when the final rule was published, in the form of missed 
fishing opportunities and higher gear transition costs. We are 
temporarily delaying the effective date (see DATES section) of the 
regulatory requirements contained in 50 CFR 229.36(d) to provide 
fishers with additional time to obtain and incorporate newly 
manufactured hooks that meet the regulatory specifications.
    For these same reasons, the AA also finds good cause to waive the 
30-day delay in the effectiveness of this action under 5 U.S.C. 
553(d)(3).

References

Hayes, S.A., Josephson, E., Maze-Foley, K., Rosel, P.E., and 
Wallace, J. 2022. U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Marine Mammal 
Stock Assessments 2021. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-NE-288.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.

    Dated: June 25, 2024.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-14279 Filed 7-3-24; 8:45 am]
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