Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic; 2021 Commercial Accountability Measure and Closure of the Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina Hogfish Stock in the South Atlantic, 62492-62493 [2021-24605]
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 215 / Wednesday, November 10, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
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[FR Doc. 2021–24391 Filed 11–9–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7710–FW–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 622
[Docket No. 160906822–7547–02; RTID
0648–XB566]
Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South
Atlantic; 2021 Commercial
Accountability Measure and Closure of
the Georgia, South Carolina, and North
Carolina Hogfish Stock in the South
Atlantic
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; closure.
AGENCY:
NMFS implements
accountability measures (AMs)
applicable to the commercial harvest of
hogfish in the South Atlantic exclusive
economic zone (EEZ) off Georgia, South
Carolina, and North Carolina (GeorgiaNorth Carolina) for the 2021 fishing year
through this temporary rule. NMFS
estimates that commercial landings of
the Georgia-North Carolina hogfish
stock have reached the sector’s annual
catch limit (ACL). Therefore, NMFS
closes the commercial sector for the
Georgia-North Carolina hogfish stock on
November 10, 2021. This closure is
necessary to protect the hogfish
resource.
SUMMARY:
This rule is effective 12:01 a.m.,
local time, November 10, 2021, until
12:01 a.m., local time, January 1, 2022.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mary Vara, NMFS Southeast Regional
Office, telephone: 727–824–5305, email:
mary.vara@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
snapper-grouper fishery of the South
Atlantic includes hogfish and is
DATES:
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managed under the Fishery
Management Plan for the SnapperGrouper Fishery of the South Atlantic
Region (FMP). The FMP was prepared
by the South Atlantic Fishery
Management Council and is
implemented by NMFS under the
authority of the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management
Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) by
regulations at 50 CFR part 622.
On August 24, 2017, NMFS
implemented management measures for
hogfish through a final rule for
Amendment 37 to the FMP (82 FR
34584; July 25, 2017). For South
Atlantic hogfish, that final rule set
management and AMs as two stocks:
Georgia, South Carolina, and North
Carolina (Georgia-North Carolina), and
Florida Keys/East Florida (Florida KeysEast Florida). It also specified fishing
levels and AMs for those stocks,
according to each sector. The
commercial inseason AM for GeorgiaNorth Carolina states that if commercial
landings reach or are projected to reach
the commercial ACL, then the
commercial sector will be closed for the
remainder of the fishing year (50 CFR
622.193(u)(1)(i)(A)).
The commercial ACL for the GeorgiaNorth Carolina hogfish stock is 23,456
lb (10,639 kg), round weight (50 CFR
622.193(u)(1)(iii)(A)). The NMFS
Southeast Fisheries Science Center
indicates that the commercial ACL for
the Georgia-North Carolina hogfish
stock has been reached. Therefore, this
temporary rule implements an AM to
close the commercial sector of the
Georgia-North Carolina hogfish stock for
the remainder of the 2021 fishing year.
As a result, the 2021 commercial harvest
for the Georgia-North Carolina hogfish
stock in Federal waters of the South
Atlantic EEZ will be closed effective
12:01 a.m., local time, November 10,
2021. During the closure, the
recreational bag and possession limits
for the Georgia-North Carolina hogfish
stock in or from South Atlantic Federal
waters is two fish per person, per day.
All sale or purchase of hogfish in or
from Federal waters of the South
Atlantic off Georgia, South Carolina,
and North Carolina is prohibited, and
harvest or possession of this species is
limited to the bag and possession limits
while the recreational sector is open.
These bag and possession limits apply
to the Georgia-North Carolina hogfish
stock on board a vessel for which a valid
Federal commercial or charter vessel/
headboat permit for South Atlantic
snapper-grouper has been issued,
without regard to where such species
were harvested, i.e., in state or Federal
waters (50 CFR 622.193(u)(1)(i)(A)).
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 215 / Wednesday, November 10, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
Commercial harvest for the 2022
fishing year for the Georgia-North
Carolina hogfish stock in South Atlantic
Federal waters will open at 12:01 a.m.,
local time, on January 1, 2022.
Classification
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: November 5, 2021.
Ngagne Jafnar Gueye,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2021–24605 Filed 11–5–21; 4:15 pm]
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BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
15:55 Nov 09, 2021
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 211104–0225]
NMFS issues this action pursuant to
section 305(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens
Act. This action is required by 50 CFR
50 CFR 622.193(u)(1)(i)(A), which was
issued pursuant to section 304(b) of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act, and is exempt
from review under Executive Order
12866.
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), the
NMFS Assistant Administrator (AA)
finds good cause to waive prior notice
and an opportunity for public comment
on this action, as notice and comment
are unnecessary and contrary to the
public interest. Such procedures are
unnecessary because the rule that
established the commercial ACL and
AMs for hogfish has already been
subject to notice and comment, and all
that remains is to notify the public of
the closure. Such procedures are
contrary to the public interest because
of the need to immediately implement
this action to protect the Georgia-North
Carolina hogfish stock. The commercial
ACL for the Georgia-North Carolina
hogfish stock in the South Atlantic has
been reached and prior notice and
opportunity for public comment would
require time, resulting in a harvest well
in excess of the established commercial
ACL.
For the aforementioned 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).
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Jkt 256001
RIN 0648–BK96
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act
Provisions; Fisheries of the
Northeastern United States; Removal
of Prohibitions for Gillnet Gear in
Nantucket Lightship and Closed Area I
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:
This action reopens gillnet
fishing in the Nantucket Lightship and
Closed Area I Closure Areas previously
ordered suspended by a Court decision.
Gillnet fishing will be allowed in the
Nantucket Lightship and Closed Area I
Groundfish Closure Areas, as approved
in the New England Fishery
Management Council’s Omnibus
Essential Fish Habitat Amendment 2.
This action is necessary to end the
suspension of measures from a
previously approved and implemented
Council action and remove temporary
prohibitions that were in place to
comply with a Federal court order.
DATES: Effective on November 10, 2021.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Moira Kelly, Senior Fishery Program
Specialist, Greater Atlantic Regional
Fisheries Office, 978–281–9218
Moira.Kelly@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On
January 3, 2018, NMFS partially
approved the New England Fishery
Management Council’s Omnibus
Essential Fish Habitat Amendment 2.
The Omnibus Amendment updated
essential fish habitat designations for all
Council-managed species and
implemented changes to the spatial
management of Council-managed
fisheries throughout the Gulf of Maine,
Georges Bank, and Southern New
England. On April 9, 2018, a final rule
implemented the approved measures
(83 FR 15240). The final rule opened,
modified, and maintained various
previously closed areas, as well as
established new closures to implement
approved measures of the Amendment.
The Nantucket Lightship and Closed
Area I Groundfish Closure Areas were
opened to fishing by gears capable of
catching groundfish, including gillnets
and bottom-trawls, throughout the areas
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
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Fmt 4700
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62493
in this final rule. (Note, scallop fishing
was prohibited for a brief time, pending
a follow-on scallop action that
incorporated the newly opened areas
into the Scallop Fishery Management
Plan’s rotational management program.
See: 83 FR 17300; April 19, 2018.)
Directed groundfish fishing had been
prohibited in these general areas
consistently since the 1980s and early
1990s.
The Conservation Law Foundation
filed suit against NMFS arguing that the
rulemaking process that allowed the
opening of the Nantucket Lightship and
Closed Area I Groundfish Closure Areas
to gears capable of catching groundfish,
including gillnet gear, was not done in
compliance with the Endangered
Species Act consultation requirements
as it pertains to North Atlantic right
whales.
On October 28, 2019, First District
Court Judge James E. Boasberg (see
Conservation Law Found. v. Ross, No.
CV 18–1087 (JEB), 2019 WL 5549814
(D.D.C. Oct. 28, 2019)) agreed with the
Conservation Law Foundation and
enjoined NMFS from allowing gillnet
fishing in those previously closed areas,
until such time that NMFS fully
complied with the requirements of the
Endangered Species Act and the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act
(Magnuson-Stevens Act). We
implemented that suspension through a
final rule on December 17, 2019 (84 FR
68798).
Reopening Closure Areas to Gillnet
Fishing
Recently, NMFS completed the
Endangered Species Act Section 7
Consultation on 10 fisheries and the
New England Fishery Management
Council’s Omnibus Essential Fish
Habitat Amendment. The consultation
concluded that the implementation of
the approved portions of the
Amendment, including removing the
prohibition on gillnet fishing in the
Nantucket Lightship and Closed Area I
Groundfish Closure Areas, would not
result in large shifts of fishing effort
across or within the region. As a result,
these shifts are not expected to increase
the risk to protected species in the
region. The completion of this
consultation satisfied the requirements
of the court order.
Therefore, this action re-opens the
Nantucket Lightship and Closed Area I
Closure Area to gillnet fishing, as
approved in the Omnibus Habitat
Amendment.
E:\FR\FM\10NOR1.SGM
10NOR1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 215 (Wednesday, November 10, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 62492-62493]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-24605]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 622
[Docket No. 160906822-7547-02; RTID 0648-XB566]
Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic; 2021 Commercial
Accountability Measure and Closure of the Georgia, South Carolina, and
North Carolina Hogfish Stock in the South Atlantic
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; closure.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS implements accountability measures (AMs) applicable to
the commercial harvest of hogfish in the South Atlantic exclusive
economic zone (EEZ) off Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina
(Georgia-North Carolina) for the 2021 fishing year through this
temporary rule. NMFS estimates that commercial landings of the Georgia-
North Carolina hogfish stock have reached the sector's annual catch
limit (ACL). Therefore, NMFS closes the commercial sector for the
Georgia-North Carolina hogfish stock on November 10, 2021. This closure
is necessary to protect the hogfish resource.
DATES: This rule is effective 12:01 a.m., local time, November 10,
2021, until 12:01 a.m., local time, January 1, 2022.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Vara, NMFS Southeast Regional
Office, telephone: 727-824-5305, email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The snapper-grouper fishery of the South
Atlantic includes hogfish and is managed under the Fishery Management
Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region
(FMP). The FMP was prepared by the South Atlantic Fishery Management
Council and is implemented by NMFS under the authority of the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act)
by regulations at 50 CFR part 622.
On August 24, 2017, NMFS implemented management measures for
hogfish through a final rule for Amendment 37 to the FMP (82 FR 34584;
July 25, 2017). For South Atlantic hogfish, that final rule set
management and AMs as two stocks: Georgia, South Carolina, and North
Carolina (Georgia-North Carolina), and Florida Keys/East Florida
(Florida Keys-East Florida). It also specified fishing levels and AMs
for those stocks, according to each sector. The commercial inseason AM
for Georgia-North Carolina states that if commercial landings reach or
are projected to reach the commercial ACL, then the commercial sector
will be closed for the remainder of the fishing year (50 CFR
622.193(u)(1)(i)(A)).
The commercial ACL for the Georgia-North Carolina hogfish stock is
23,456 lb (10,639 kg), round weight (50 CFR 622.193(u)(1)(iii)(A)). The
NMFS Southeast Fisheries Science Center indicates that the commercial
ACL for the Georgia-North Carolina hogfish stock has been reached.
Therefore, this temporary rule implements an AM to close the commercial
sector of the Georgia-North Carolina hogfish stock for the remainder of
the 2021 fishing year. As a result, the 2021 commercial harvest for the
Georgia-North Carolina hogfish stock in Federal waters of the South
Atlantic EEZ will be closed effective 12:01 a.m., local time, November
10, 2021. During the closure, the recreational bag and possession
limits for the Georgia-North Carolina hogfish stock in or from South
Atlantic Federal waters is two fish per person, per day.
All sale or purchase of hogfish in or from Federal waters of the
South Atlantic off Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina is
prohibited, and harvest or possession of this species is limited to the
bag and possession limits while the recreational sector is open. These
bag and possession limits apply to the Georgia-North Carolina hogfish
stock on board a vessel for which a valid Federal commercial or charter
vessel/headboat permit for South Atlantic snapper-grouper has been
issued, without regard to where such species were harvested, i.e., in
state or Federal waters (50 CFR 622.193(u)(1)(i)(A)).
[[Page 62493]]
Commercial harvest for the 2022 fishing year for the Georgia-North
Carolina hogfish stock in South Atlantic Federal waters will open at
12:01 a.m., local time, on January 1, 2022.
Classification
NMFS issues this action pursuant to section 305(d) of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act. This action is required by 50 CFR 50 CFR
622.193(u)(1)(i)(A), which was issued pursuant to section 304(b) of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act, and is exempt from review under Executive Order
12866.
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), the NMFS Assistant Administrator
(AA) finds good cause to waive prior notice and an opportunity for
public comment on this action, as notice and comment are unnecessary
and contrary to the public interest. Such procedures are unnecessary
because the rule that established the commercial ACL and AMs for
hogfish has already been subject to notice and comment, and all that
remains is to notify the public of the closure. Such procedures are
contrary to the public interest because of the need to immediately
implement this action to protect the Georgia-North Carolina hogfish
stock. The commercial ACL for the Georgia-North Carolina hogfish stock
in the South Atlantic has been reached and prior notice and opportunity
for public comment would require time, resulting in a harvest well in
excess of the established commercial ACL.
For the aforementioned 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).
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: November 5, 2021.
Ngagne Jafnar Gueye,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-24605 Filed 11-5-21; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
