Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Herring Fishery; 2016 Management Area 1B Directed Fishery Closure, 81699-81700 [2016-27833]
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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 223 / Friday, November 18, 2016 / Rules and Regulations
project that 90 percent of the Trimester
2 TAC was caught by November 7.
Effective November 15, 2016, the GB
Cod Trimester TAC Area is closed for
the remainder of Trimester 2, through
December 31, 2016, to all common pool
vessels fishing with trawl gear, sink
gillnet gear, and longline/hook gear. The
GB Cod Trimester TAC Area consists of
statistical areas 521, 522, 525, and 561.
The area reopens at the beginning of
Trimester 3 on January 1, 2017.
The intent of the trimester TAC area
closure is to close the area where 90
percent of the catch of the stock has
occurred. However, data indicate that
common pool vessels have caught
approximately 35 percent of the total
catch in Trimester 2 from outside the
statistical areas that will be affected by
the closure described above. Federal
regulations at § 648.86(o) authorize the
Regional Administrator to adjust the
possession and trip limits for common
pool vessels to prevent the overharvest
or underharvest of the common pool
quotas. Therefore, the possession and
trip limits for GB cod, are reduced as
81699
shown in Table 1, effective November
15, 2016, through December 31, 2016.
This is intended to prevent the common
pool from exceeding its sub-annual
catch limit, but still allow for landing
incidental catch of GB cod in areas not
affected by the closure.
On January 1, 2017, common pool
possession and trip limits for GB cod
will return to the initial limits set by
Framework Adjustment 55 to the
Northeast Multispecies Fishery
Management Plan (FMP).
TABLE 1—REDUCED COMMON POOL POSSESSION AND TRIP LIMITS FOR GB COD
Permit
Initial 2016 limits
Reduced limits
A DAS * (outside of the Eastern U.S./Canada Area) .......
A DAS (Eastern U.S./Canada Area) ................................
A DAS (Special Access Programs) ..................................
Handgear A .......................................................................
Handgear B .......................................................................
Regular B DAS Program ..................................................
500 lb per DAS up to 2,500 lb per trip .....
100 lb per DAS up to 500 lb per trip ........
1,000 lb per trip ........................................
300 lb per trip ...........................................
25 lb per trip .............................................
100 lb per DAS up to 1,000 lb per trip .....
25
25
50
25
25
25
lb
lb
lb
lb
lb
lb
per
per
per
per
per
per
DAS up to 50 lb per trip.
DAS up to 50 lb per trip.
trip.
trip.
trip (unchanged).
DAS up to 50 lb per trip.
mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with RULES
* Day-at-sea (DAS).
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 November 15, 2016, it may complete
its trip within the Trimester TAC Area.
Additionally, such vessels are not
subject to the new possession and trip
limits for that trip. A vessel that has set
gillnet gear prior to November 15, 2016,
may complete its trip by hauling such
gear.
Any overage of the Trimester 1 or 2
TACs must be deducted from the
Trimester 3 TAC. Any uncaught portion
of the Trimester 1 and Trimester 2 TACs
is carried over into the next trimester. If
the common pool fishery exceeds its
sub-ACL for the 2016 fishing year, the
overage must be deducted from the
common pool’s sub-ACL for fishing year
2017. However, any uncaught portion of
the common pool’s sub-ACL may not be
carried over into the following fishing
year.
Weekly quota monitoring reports for
the common pool fishery are on our
Web site at: https://
www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/
ro/fso/MultiMonReports.htm. We will
continue to monitor common pool catch
through vessel trip reports, dealerreported landings, VMS catch reports,
and other available information, and, if
necessary, we will make additional
adjustments to common pool
management measures.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:25 Nov 17, 2016
Jkt 241001
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.
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 only recently became
available indicating that the common
pool fishery caught 90 percent of its
Trimester 2 TAC for GB cod by
November 7, 2016. The time necessary
to provide for prior notice and
comment, and a 30-day delay in
effectiveness, prevents the immediate
closure of the GB Cod Trimester 2 TAC
Area and reduction of the common
pool’s GB cod possession and trip
limits. Delaying the effective date of a
closure and possession and trip limit
reduction increases the likelihood that
the common pool fishery will exceed its
quota of GB cod to the detriment of this
stock, which could undermine
management objectives of the Northeast
Multispecies FMP.
Additionally, an overage of the
common pool quota could cause
negative economic impacts to the
common pool fishery as a result of
PO 00000
Frm 00059
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
overage paybacks in a future trimester or
fishing year.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: November 15, 2016.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2016–27826 Filed 11–15–16; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 130919816–4205–02]
RIN 0648–XF044
Fisheries of the Northeastern United
States; Atlantic Herring Fishery; 2016
Management Area 1B Directed Fishery
Closure
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; directed fishery
closure.
AGENCY:
NMFS is closing the directed
herring fishery in management Area 1B,
limiting catch from that area to 2,000 lb
(907.2 kg) per trip and prohibiting
landing more than once per calendar
day, because it projects that 92 percent
of the 2016 annual seasonal catch limit
for that area will have been caught by
the effective date. This action is
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\18NOR1.SGM
18NOR1
mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with RULES
81700
Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 223 / Friday, November 18, 2016 / Rules and Regulations
necessary to comply with the
regulations implementing the Atlantic
Herring Fishery Management Plan and
is intended to prevent over harvest of
herring in Area 1B.
DATES: Effective 0001 hr local time,
November 18, 2016, through December
31, 2016.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Daniel Luers, Fishery Management
Specialist, (978) 282–8457.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The reader
can find regulations governing the
herring fishery at 50 CFR part 648. The
regulations require annual specification
of the overfishing limit, acceptable
biological catch, annual catch limit
(ACL), optimum yield, domestic harvest
and processing, U.S. at-sea processing,
border transfer, and sub-ACLs for each
management area. The 2016 Domestic
Annual Harvest is 103,045 metric tons
(mt); the 2016 sub-ACL allocated to
Area 1B is 4,600 mt, and 138 mt of the
Area 1B sub-ACL is set aside for
research (78 FR 61828, October 4, 2013).
The 2016 Area 1B sub-ACL was
decreased to 2,941 mt to account for the
1,521 mt overage in 2014 catch. For
management Area 1B, the catch of subACL is currently allocated to the
seasonal period from May 1 through
December 31. There is no catch
currently allocated to the seasonal
period from January 1 through April 30.
Therefore, under current regulations,
vessels are prohibited from fishing for
herring in or from Area 1B during the
January 1 through April 30 period.
The regulations at § 648.201 require
that when the NMFS Administrator of
the Greater Atlantic Region (Regional
Administrator) projects herring catch
will reach 92 percent of the sub-ACL
allocated in any of the four management
areas designated in the Atlantic Herring
Fishery Management Plan (FMP), NMFS
will prohibit herring vessel permit
holders from fishing for, catching,
possessing, transferring, or landing more
than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of herring per
trip and landing more than once per
calendar day in or from the specified
management area for the remainder of
the directed fishery closure period. The
Regional Administrator monitors the
herring fishery catch in each of the
management areas based on dealer
reports, state data, and other available
information. NMFS publishes
notification in the Federal Register of
the date that the catch is projected to
reach 92 percent of the management
area sub-ACL, and of the closure of the
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:25 Nov 17, 2016
Jkt 241001
directed fishery and a 2,000-lb (907.2kg) trip possession limit in the
management area for the remainder of
the seasonal closure period. Vessels that
have entered port before the closure
date may offload and sell more than
2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of herring from Area
1B, from that trip. During the directed
fishery closure, vessels may transit Area
1B with more than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg)
of herring on board only under the
conditions specified below.
The Regional Administrator has
determined, based on dealer reports and
other available information, that the
herring fleet will catch 92 percent of the
total herring sub-ACL allocated to Area
1B for the 2016 seasonal period from
May 1 through December 31, 2016, by
November 18, 2016. Therefore, effective
0001 hr local time, November 18, 2016,
federally permitted vessels may not fish
for, catch, possess, transfer, or land
more than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of herring
per trip and land more than once per
calendar day, in or from Area 1B
through December 31, 2016, except that
vessels that have entered port before
0001 hr on November 18, 2016, may
offload and sell more than 2,000 lb
(907.2 kg) of herring from Area 1B from
that trip after the closure. During the
directed fishery closure, November 18,
2016, through December 31, 2016, a
vessel may transit through Area 1B with
more than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of herring
on board, provided the vessel did not
catch more than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of
herring in Area 1B and its fishing gear
is not available for immediate use as
defined by § 648.2. Effective 0001 hr,
November 18, 2016, federally permitted
dealers may not receive herring from
federally permitted herring vessels that
harvest more than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of
herring from Area 1B through 2400 hr
local time, December 31, 2016, unless it
is from a trip landed by a vessel that
entered port before 0001 hr on
November 18, 2016. Under current
regulations during the seasonal period
from January 1, 2017, through April 30,
2017, vessels are prohibited from fishing
for, catching, possessing, transferring, or
landing herring from Area 1B during
this seasonal period. Vessels may transit
area 1B with herring on board provided
such herring were caught in an area or
areas with sub-ACL available and that
all fishing gear is stowed and not
available for immediate use as defined
in § 648.2, and the vessel is issued a
permit that authorizes the amount of
herring on board for the area where the
PO 00000
Frm 00060
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 9990
herring was harvested. Beginning on
May 1, 2017, the 2017 allocation for
Area 1B is expected to become
available.
Classification
This action is required by 50 CFR part
648 and is exempt from review under
Executive Order 12866.
NMFS 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. The
herring fishery opened for the 2016
fishing year on January 1, 2016, and
Management Area 1B opened on May 1,
2016. Data indicating the herring fleet
will have landed at least 92 percent of
the 2016 sub-ACL allocated to Area 1B
have only recently become available.
Landings data is updated on a weekly
basis, and NMFS monitors catch data on
a daily basis as catch increases toward
the limit for the area. Further, highvolume catch and landings in this
fishery increase total catch relative to
the sub-ACL quickly. This action is a
required response to that recently
available data and closes the directed
herring fishery and imposes a 2,000-lb
(907.2-kg) possession limit for
Management Area 1B through December
31, 2016, under current regulations. The
regulations at § 648.201(a) require such
action to ensure that herring vessels do
not exceed the 2016 sub-ACL allocated
to Area 1B. If implementation of this
closure is delayed to solicit prior public
comment, the sub-ACL for Area 1B for
this fishing year may be exceeded,
thereby undermining the conservation
objectives of the FMP. If sub-ACLs are
exceeded, the excess must also be
deducted from a future sub-ACL and
would reduce future fishing
opportunities. Also, the public had prior
notice and full opportunity to comment
on this process when these provisions
were put in place. Based on these
considerations, NMFS further finds,
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), good
cause to waive the 30-day delayed
effectiveness period for the reasons
stated above.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: November 15, 2016.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2016–27833 Filed 11–15–16; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
E:\FR\FM\18NOR1.SGM
18NOR1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 223 (Friday, November 18, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 81699-81700]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-27833]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 130919816-4205-02]
RIN 0648-XF044
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Herring
Fishery; 2016 Management Area 1B Directed Fishery Closure
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; directed fishery closure.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS is closing the directed herring fishery in management
Area 1B, limiting catch from that area to 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) per trip
and prohibiting landing more than once per calendar day, because it
projects that 92 percent of the 2016 annual seasonal catch limit for
that area will have been caught by the effective date. This action is
[[Page 81700]]
necessary to comply with the regulations implementing the Atlantic
Herring Fishery Management Plan and is intended to prevent over harvest
of herring in Area 1B.
DATES: Effective 0001 hr local time, November 18, 2016, through
December 31, 2016.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Daniel Luers, Fishery Management
Specialist, (978) 282-8457.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The reader can find regulations governing
the herring fishery at 50 CFR part 648. The regulations require annual
specification of the overfishing limit, acceptable biological catch,
annual catch limit (ACL), optimum yield, domestic harvest and
processing, U.S. at-sea processing, border transfer, and sub-ACLs for
each management area. The 2016 Domestic Annual Harvest is 103,045
metric tons (mt); the 2016 sub-ACL allocated to Area 1B is 4,600 mt,
and 138 mt of the Area 1B sub-ACL is set aside for research (78 FR
61828, October 4, 2013). The 2016 Area 1B sub-ACL was decreased to
2,941 mt to account for the 1,521 mt overage in 2014 catch. For
management Area 1B, the catch of sub-ACL is currently allocated to the
seasonal period from May 1 through December 31. There is no catch
currently allocated to the seasonal period from January 1 through April
30. Therefore, under current regulations, vessels are prohibited from
fishing for herring in or from Area 1B during the January 1 through
April 30 period.
The regulations at Sec. 648.201 require that when the NMFS
Administrator of the Greater Atlantic Region (Regional Administrator)
projects herring catch will reach 92 percent of the sub-ACL allocated
in any of the four management areas designated in the Atlantic Herring
Fishery Management Plan (FMP), NMFS will prohibit herring vessel permit
holders from fishing for, catching, possessing, transferring, or
landing more than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of herring per trip and landing
more than once per calendar day in or from the specified management
area for the remainder of the directed fishery closure period. The
Regional Administrator monitors the herring fishery catch in each of
the management areas based on dealer reports, state data, and other
available information. NMFS publishes notification in the Federal
Register of the date that the catch is projected to reach 92 percent of
the management area sub-ACL, and of the closure of the directed fishery
and a 2,000-lb (907.2-kg) trip possession limit in the management area
for the remainder of the seasonal closure period. Vessels that have
entered port before the closure date may offload and sell more than
2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of herring from Area 1B, from that trip. During the
directed fishery closure, vessels may transit Area 1B with more than
2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of herring on board only under the conditions
specified below.
The Regional Administrator has determined, based on dealer reports
and other available information, that the herring fleet will catch 92
percent of the total herring sub-ACL allocated to Area 1B for the 2016
seasonal period from May 1 through December 31, 2016, by November 18,
2016. Therefore, effective 0001 hr local time, November 18, 2016,
federally permitted vessels may not fish for, catch, possess, transfer,
or land more than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of herring per trip and land more
than once per calendar day, in or from Area 1B through December 31,
2016, except that vessels that have entered port before 0001 hr on
November 18, 2016, may offload and sell more than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg)
of herring from Area 1B from that trip after the closure. During the
directed fishery closure, November 18, 2016, through December 31, 2016,
a vessel may transit through Area 1B with more than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg)
of herring on board, provided the vessel did not catch more than 2,000
lb (907.2 kg) of herring in Area 1B and its fishing gear is not
available for immediate use as defined by Sec. 648.2. Effective 0001
hr, November 18, 2016, federally permitted dealers may not receive
herring from federally permitted herring vessels that harvest more than
2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of herring from Area 1B through 2400 hr local time,
December 31, 2016, unless it is from a trip landed by a vessel that
entered port before 0001 hr on November 18, 2016. Under current
regulations during the seasonal period from January 1, 2017, through
April 30, 2017, vessels are prohibited from fishing for, catching,
possessing, transferring, or landing herring from Area 1B during this
seasonal period. Vessels may transit area 1B with herring on board
provided such herring were caught in an area or areas with sub-ACL
available and that all fishing gear is stowed and not available for
immediate use as defined in Sec. 648.2, and the vessel is issued a
permit that authorizes the amount of herring on board for the area
where the herring was harvested. Beginning on May 1, 2017, the 2017
allocation for Area 1B is expected to become available.
Classification
This action is required by 50 CFR part 648 and is exempt from
review under Executive Order 12866.
NMFS 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. The herring fishery
opened for the 2016 fishing year on January 1, 2016, and Management
Area 1B opened on May 1, 2016. Data indicating the herring fleet will
have landed at least 92 percent of the 2016 sub-ACL allocated to Area
1B have only recently become available. Landings data is updated on a
weekly basis, and NMFS monitors catch data on a daily basis as catch
increases toward the limit for the area. Further, high-volume catch and
landings in this fishery increase total catch relative to the sub-ACL
quickly. This action is a required response to that recently available
data and closes the directed herring fishery and imposes a 2,000-lb
(907.2-kg) possession limit for Management Area 1B through December 31,
2016, under current regulations. The regulations at Sec. 648.201(a)
require such action to ensure that herring vessels do not exceed the
2016 sub-ACL allocated to Area 1B. If implementation of this closure is
delayed to solicit prior public comment, the sub-ACL for Area 1B for
this fishing year may be exceeded, thereby undermining the conservation
objectives of the FMP. If sub-ACLs are exceeded, the excess must also
be deducted from a future sub-ACL and would reduce future fishing
opportunities. Also, the public had prior notice and full opportunity
to comment on this process when these provisions were put in place.
Based on these considerations, NMFS further finds, pursuant to 5 U.S.C.
553(d)(3), good cause to waive the 30-day delayed effectiveness period
for the reasons stated above.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: November 15, 2016.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-27833 Filed 11-15-16; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
