Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Approval of 2023 and 2024 Sector Operations Plans and Allocation of 2023 Northeast Multispecies Annual Catch Entitlements, 26502-26510 [2023-09143]
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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 83 / Monday, May 1, 2023 / Rules and Regulations
Agricultural commodities, Pesticides
and pests, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements.
Dated: April 25, 2023.
Charles Smith,
Director, Registration Division, Office of
Pesticide Programs.
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hydrogen 1-octenylbutanedioate (CAS
Reg. No. 68070–94–0)’’; and ‘‘Starch, 1octenylbutanedioate, aluminum salt
(CAS Reg. No. 9087–61–0)’’ to read as
follows:
PART 180—TOLERANCES AND
EXEMPTIONS FOR PESTICIDE
CHEMICAL RESIDUES IN FOOD
1. The authority citation for part 180
continues to read as follows:
■
Authority: 21 U.S.C. 321(q), 346a and 371.
2. In § 180.920, amend table 1 to the
section by adding, in alphabetical order,
entries for ‘‘Amylopectin, 2hydroxypropyl ether, acid- (CAS Reg.
■
Therefore, for the reasons stated in the
preamble, EPA is amending 40 CFR
chapter I as follows:
§ 180.920 Inert ingredients used preharvest; exemptions from the requirement
of a tolerance.
*
*
*
*
*
TABLE 1 TO 180.920
Inert ingredients
Limits
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Amylopectin, 2-hydroxypropyl ether, acid- (CAS Reg. No. 2756130– For seed treatment use only .........
86–4).
*
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Binder, carrier, film-former.
*
*
*
*
*
Dextrin, hydrogen 1-octenylbutanedioate (CAS Reg. No. 68070–94–0) For seed treatment use only .........
*
*
Binder, carrier, film-former.
*
*
*
*
*
Starch, 1-octenylbutanedioate, aluminum salt (CAS Reg. No. 9087– For seed treatment use only .........
61–0).
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Flow aid, flow enhancer, anti-caking agent
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[Docket No. 230425–0113]
access permit holders to continue to
operate sectors, as authorized under the
Northeast Multispecies Fishery
Management Plan, and to exempt
sectors from certain effort control
regulations to improve the efficiency
and economics of sector vessels.
Approval of sector operations plans and
contracts is necessary to allocate annual
catch entitlements to the sectors in
order for sectors to operate.
RTID 0648–XC579
DATES:
[FR Doc. 2023–09090 Filed 4–28–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 648
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions;
Fisheries of the Northeastern United
States; Northeast Multispecies
Fishery; Approval of 2023 and 2024
Sector Operations Plans and
Allocation of 2023 Northeast
Multispecies Annual Catch
Entitlements
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:
This final rule approves
sector operations plans and contracts,
including 18 regulatory exemptions for
fishing years 2023 and 2024. This final
rule also allocates Northeast
multispecies annual catch entitlements
to approved groundfish sectors for
fishing year 2023; this includes default
specifications for nine stocks. This
action is intended to allow limited
SUMMARY:
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Uses
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Sector operations plans and
regulatory exemptions are effective May
1, 2023, through April 30, 2025.
Northeast multispecies annual catch
entitlements for sectors are effective
May 1, 2023, through April 30, 2024.
Default catch limits are effective May 1,
2023, through October 31, 2023, or until
the final rule for Framework 65 is
implemented, if that final rule is
implemented prior to October 31, 2023.
If Framework 65 is not implemented on
or before October 31, 2023, all fishing
for these stocks would be prohibited
beginning November 1, 2023.
Copies of each sector’s
operations plan and contract are
available from the NMFS Greater
Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office
(GARFO): Contact Samantha Tolken at
Samantha.Tolken@noaa.gov. These
documents are also accessible via the
GARFO website. To view these
documents and the Federal Register
documents referenced in this rule, you
can visit: https://www.fisheries.noaa
ADDRESSES:
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*
*
.gov/management-plan/northeastmultispecies-management-plan.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Samantha Tolken, Fishery Management
Specialist, (978) 675–2176.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Northeast Multispecies Fishery
Management Plan (FMP) defines a
sector as a group of persons holding
limited access Northeast multispecies
permits that has voluntarily entered into
a contract and agree to certain fishing
restrictions for a specified period of
time, and that has been granted a
portion of the total allowable catch
(TAC) in order to achieve objectives
consistent with applicable FMP goals
and objectives. A sector must be
comprised of at least three Northeast
multispecies permits issued to at least
three different persons, none of whom
have any common ownership interest in
the permits, vessels, or businesses
associated with the permits issued to
the other two or more persons in that
sector. Sectors are self-selecting,
meaning each sector can choose its
members.
The Northeast multispecies sector
management system allocates a portion
of the Northeast multispecies stocks to
each sector. These annual sector
allocations are known as annual catch
entitlements (ACE) and are based on the
collective fishing history of a sector’s
members. Sectors may receive
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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 83 / Monday, May 1, 2023 / Rules and Regulations
allocations of large-mesh Northeast
multispecies stocks with the exception
of Atlantic halibut, windowpane
flounder, Atlantic wolffish, and ocean
pout, which are non-allocated species
managed under separate effort controls.
ACEs are portions of a stock’s annual
catch limit (ACL) available to
commercial Northeast multispecies
vessels. A sector determines how to
harvest its ACE.
Because sectors elect to receive an
allocation under a quota-based system,
the FMP grants sector vessels several
universal exemptions (i.e., exemptions
from certain Northeast multispecies
regulations that are granted to all
sectors) from the FMP’s effort controls.
These universal exemptions apply to:
Trip limits on allocated stocks;
Northeast multispecies days-at-sea
(DAS) restrictions; the requirement to
use a 6.5-inch (16.5-cm) mesh codend
when fishing with selective gear on
Georges Bank (GB); and portions of the
Gulf of Maine (GOM) Cod Protection
Closures. The FMP prohibits sectors
from requesting exemptions from
permitting restrictions, gear restrictions
designed to minimize habitat impacts,
and most reporting requirements.
In addition to the approved sectors,
there are several state-operated permit
banks, which receive allocations based
on the history of the permits owned by
the states. The final rule implementing
Amendment 17 to the FMP allowed a
state-operated permit bank to receive an
allocation without needing to comply
with the administrative and procedural
requirements for sectors (77 FR 16942;
March 23, 2012). Instead, permit banks
are required to submit a list of
participating permits to us, as specified
in the permit bank’s Memorandum of
Agreement, to determine the ACE
allocated to the permit bank. These
allocations may be leased to fishermen
enrolled in sectors. State-operated
permit banks are no longer approved
through the sector approval process, but
current state-operated permit banks
contribute to the total allocation under
the sector system.
We received operations plans and
preliminary contracts for fishing years
2023 and 2024 from 15 sectors. One
additional sector that was active in
fishing year 2022 submitted an initial
operations plan, but later notified us
that it does not intend to operate in
fishing year 2023. This sector did not
submit a final operations plan for
approval. The operations plans for the
15 sectors included 18 exemptions
previously requested by sectors, and
approved by NMFS, in fishing years
2021 and 2022. These sectors did not
request any new regulatory exemptions.
We have determined that the 15 sector
operations plans and contracts that we
received, and that the 18 previously
approved regulatory exemptions
requested, are consistent with the FMP’s
goals and objectives and meet sector
requirements outlined in the regulations
at 50 CFR 648.87. Consequently, in this
final rule we are approving the 15 sector
operations plans, as well as the 18
previously approved regulatory
exemptions requested. No new
regulatory exemptions are approved as
none were requested for fishing year
2023. Copies of the operations plans and
contracts, and the environmental
assessment (EA), are available at: https://
www.regulations.gov and from NMFS
(see ADDRESSES).
Catch Limits for Fishing Year 2023
Previously Established Catch Limits
Last year, Framework Adjustment 63
(Framework 63) (87 FR 42375; July 15,
2022) set fishing years 2022–2023 catch
limits for two groundfish stocks: GOM
cod and GB yellowtail flounder.
Additionally, Framework 61 (86 FR
33191; July 9, 2021) set fishing years
2021–2023 catch limits for nine
groundfish stocks: GB winter flounder;
GOM Winter flounder; Southern New
England/Mid-Atlantic (SNE/MA) winter
flounder; redfish; northern windowpane
flounder; southern windowpane
flounder; ocean pout; Atlantic halibut;
and wolffish. Frameworks 61 and 63 did
not, however, specify a 2023 catch limit
for nine stocks: GB cod; GB haddock;
GOM haddock; SNE/MA yellowtail
flounder; Cape Cod/GOM yellowtail
flounder; American plaice; witch
flounder; white hake; and pollock.
Framework 65 would set catch limits for
these nine stocks (and seven other
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stocks). However, Framework 65 will
not be in place by the May 1, 2023, start
of the fishing year. To prevent
disruption to the groundfish fishery
while Framework 65 is finalized, this
final rule announces default catch limits
that will be in effect for these nine
stocks until Framework 65 is finalized
and goes into effect.
As a result, the sector and common
pool allocations in this rule are based on
the 2023 catch limits set in Framework
61, Framework 63 or default catch limits
that will be effective on May 1, 2023,
and preliminary 2023 fishing year
rosters (Table 1). If we approve
Framework 65, the 2023 catch limits for
16 (out of 20) groundfish stocks
announced in this rule will change
when Framework 65 measures become
effective.
Default Catch Limits
This rule announces default catch
limits for GB cod; GB haddock; GOM
haddock; SNE/MA yellowtail flounder;
Cape Cod/GOM yellowtail flounder;
American plaice; witch flounder; white
hake; and pollock (Table 1). These
stocks do not already have a catch limit
in place for fishing year 2023. The
groundfish regulations implement
default catch limits for any stock for
which final specifications are not in
place by the beginning of the fishing
year on May 1. The FMP’s default
specifications provision in the
regulations sets catch limits at 75
percent of the previous year’s (2022)
catch limits, except in instances where
the default catch limit would exceed the
Council’s recommendation for the final
specifications. The default catch limits
are effective from May 1 through
October 31, or until the final rule for
Framework 65 is implemented if that
final rule is implemented prior to
October 31. We are announcing these
default specifications to comply with
the FMP as set out in these regulations
and to minimize impacts on the fishery
that would occur if no catch limits are
specified. If Framework 65 is not
implemented on or before October 31,
all fishing for these stocks would be
prohibited beginning November 1.
TABLE 1—NORTHEAST MULTISPECIES CATCH LIMITS FOR 2023
Total U.S. ABC
(mt)
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Stock
GB Cod # ......................................................................................................................................................
GOM Cod * ...................................................................................................................................................
GB Haddock # ..............................................................................................................................................
GOM Haddock # ...........................................................................................................................................
GB Yellowtail Flounder * ..............................................................................................................................
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257
551
11,901
1,936
122
01MYR1
Commercial
groundfish
sub-ACL
(mt)
182.9
269.9
11,079.8
1,148.6
97.0
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TABLE 1—NORTHEAST MULTISPECIES CATCH LIMITS FOR 2023—Continued
Total U.S. ABC
(mt)
Stock
SNE/MA Yellowtail Flounder # .....................................................................................................................
CC/GOM Yellowtail Flounder # ....................................................................................................................
American Plaice # .........................................................................................................................................
Witch Flounder # ...........................................................................................................................................
GB Winter Flounder * ...................................................................................................................................
GOM Winter Flounder * ...............................................................................................................................
SNE/MA Winter Flounder * ..........................................................................................................................
Redfish * .......................................................................................................................................................
White Hake # ................................................................................................................................................
Pollock # .......................................................................................................................................................
N. Windowpane Flounder * ..........................................................................................................................
S. Windowpane Flounder * ..........................................................................................................................
Ocean Pout * ................................................................................................................................................
Atlantic Halibut * ...........................................................................................................................................
Atlantic Wolffish * .........................................................................................................................................
17
617
2,119
1,112
608
497
456
9,967
1,587
12,609
160
384
87
101
92
Commercial
groundfish
sub-ACL
(mt)
11.7
518.9
1,972.6
988.0
563.2
280.9
288.1
9,468.7
1,492.6
10,601.0
107.9
42.9
49.8
73.4
85.6
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* These catch limits are based on fishing year 2023 Frameworks 61 or 63 and will be replaced when the final rule for Framework 65 becomes
effective, if approved.
# These catch limits are based on default specifications and will be replaced when the final rule for Framework 65 becomes effective, if approved. If Framework 65 is not implemented on or before October 31, all fishing for these stocks would be prohibited beginning November 1.
Sector Allocations
This rule allocates ACE to sectors
based on the preliminary fishing year
2023 sector rosters and the 2023 catch
limits established in Framework 61,
Framework 63, or default specifications,
as shown in Table 1. Any permits that
change ownership after the enrollment
deadline established by the Regional
Administrator (April 3 for fishing year
2023) retain the ability to join a sector
through April 30, 2023. All permit
holders who have joined a sector for
fishing year 2023 have until April 30,
2023, to withdraw and elect to fish in
the common pool, although sectors may
specify a more restrictive withdrawal
date for their members. As a result, the
total permits enrolled in sectors for
fishing year 2023 could change from the
preliminary rosters, although such
changes are expected to be minimal
based on past fishing years. For fishing
year 2024, we will set similar roster
deadlines, notify permit holders of the
fishing year 2024 deadlines, and allow
permit holders to change sectors
separate from the annual sector
operations plans approval process.
We calculate a sector’s allocation for
each stock by summing its members’
potential sector contributions (PSC) for
a stock and then multiplying that total
percentage by the available commercial
sub-ACL for that stock. Table 2 shows
the preliminary total PSCs for each
sector for fishing year 2023. Tables 3
and 4 show the initial allocations that
each sector is allocated, in pounds and
metric tons, respectively, for fishing
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year 2023 based on their preliminary
fishing year 2023 rosters and the fishing
year 2023 catch limits established in
Framework 61, Framework 63, or
default specifications. At the start of the
2023 fishing year, we provide final
allocations, to the nearest pound, to
each sector based on their final May 1
rosters. We use these final allocations,
along with later adjustments for ACE
transfers, reductions for overages, or
increases for carryover from fishing year
2022, to monitor sector catch. We have
included the preliminary common pool
sub-ACLs in tables 2 through 4 for
comparison.
These tables do not represent the final
allocations for the 2023 fishing year.
One additional sector, Northeast Fishery
Sector VII (NEFS 7), that was active in
fishing year 2022, did not submit a final
operations plan and will not operate in
fishing year 2023. As a result, NEFS 7
is not included in tables 2 through 4.
We expect the permits initially enrolled
in NEFS 7 for fishing year 2023 to enroll
in a different sector or join the common
pool for fishing year 2023. ACE
attributable to those permits will be
allocated to whichever sector(s) those
permits enroll in for 2023, or to the
common pool.
We do not assign each permit separate
PSCs for Eastern GB cod or Eastern GB
haddock; instead, we assign each permit
a PSC for the GB cod stock and GB
haddock stock. Each sector’s GB cod
and GB haddock allocations are then
divided into an Eastern ACE and a
Western ACE, based on each sector’s
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percentage of the GB cod and GB
haddock ACLs. For example, if a sector
is allocated 4 percent of the GB cod ACL
and 6 percent of the GB haddock ACL,
the sector is allocated 4 percent of the
commercial Eastern U.S./Canada Area
GB cod TAC and 6 percent of the
commercial Eastern U.S./Canada Area
GB haddock TAC as its Eastern GB cod
and haddock ACEs. These amounts are
then subtracted from the sector’s overall
GB cod and haddock allocations to
determine its Western GB cod and
haddock ACEs. A sector may only
harvest its Eastern GB cod and haddock
ACEs in the Eastern U.S./Canada Area,
but may ‘‘convert,’’ or transfer, its
Eastern GB cod or haddock allocation
into Western GB allocation and fish that
converted ACE outside the Eastern GB
area.
We expect to finalize 2022 catch
information in summer 2023. We allow
sectors to trade fishing year 2022 ACE
for 2 weeks upon our completion of
year-end catch accounting to reduce or
eliminate any fishing year 2022
overages. If necessary, we reduce any
sector’s fishing year 2023 allocation to
account for a remaining overage in
fishing year 2022. Each year of the
operations plans, we notify the Council
and sector managers of this deadline in
writing and announce our final ACE
determination on our website at: https://
www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/
ro/fso/reports/h/groundfish_catch_
accounting.
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Sector Operations Plans and Contracts
We are approving 15 sector operations
plans and contracts for fishing years
2023 and 2024. All 15 sectors were
active in fishing years 2021 and 2022.
One sector, NEFS 7, submitted an initial
operations plan, but later notified us
that they would not be operating in
fishing year 2023, and did not submit a
final operations plan for approval. In
order to approve a sector’s operations
plan for fishing years 2023 and 2024, we
consider whether a sector’s plan is
consistent with regulatory requirements
and FMP objectives, and whether it has
been compliant with reporting
requirements from previous years,
including the year-end reporting
requirements found at § 648.87(b)(1)(v).
Approved operations plans contain the
rules under which each sector will fish,
and also provide the legal contract that
binds each member to the sector for the
length of the sector’s operations plan.
Each sector’s operations plan, and each
sector’s members, must comply with the
regulations governing sectors, found at
§ 648.87. In addition, each sector must
conduct fishing activities as detailed in
its approved operations plan.
Participating vessels are required to
comply with all pertinent Federal
fishing regulations, except as
specifically exempted in the letter of
authorization (LOA) issued by the
Regional Administrator, which details
any approved sector exemptions from
the regulations. If, during a fishing year,
or between fishing years 2023 and 2024,
a sector requests an exemption that we
have already granted, or proposes a
change to administrative provisions, we
may amend the sector operations plans.
Should any such amendments require
modifications to LOAs, we will include
these changes in updated LOAs and
provide them to the appropriate sectors.
We may revoke exemptions in-season
if: We determine that the exemption
jeopardizes management measures, FMP
objectives, or rebuilding efforts; the
exemption results in unforeseen
negative impacts on other managed fish
stocks, habitat, or protected resources;
the exemption causes enforcement
concerns; catch from trips using the
exemption cannot be adequately
monitored; or a sector is not meeting
certain administrative or operational
requirements. If it becomes necessary to
revoke an exemption, we will do so
through a process consistent with the
existing regulations or in a separate
rulemaking action, as appropriate.
Each sector is required to ensure that
it does not exceed its ACE during the
fishing year. Sector vessels are required
to retain all legal-sized allocated
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Northeast multispecies stocks, unless a
sector is granted an exemption allowing
its member vessels to discard legal-sized
unmarketable fish at sea. Catch (defined
as landings and discards) of all allocated
Northeast multispecies stocks by a
sector’s vessels count against the
sector’s allocation. Groundfish catch
from a sector trip targeting nongroundfish species will be deducted
from the sector’s ACE because these are
groundfish trips using gear capable of
catching groundfish. Catch from a nonsector trip in an exempted fishery does
not count against a sector’s allocation
and is assigned to a separate ACL subcomponent to account for any
groundfish bycatch that occurs in nongroundfish fisheries.
Each sector operations plan submitted
for fishing years 2023 and 2024 states
that the sector may withhold an initial
reserve from the sector’s ACE suballocation to each individual member to
prevent the sector from exceeding its
ACE. A sector and sector members can
be held jointly and severally liable for
ACE overages, discarding legal-sized
fish, and/or misreporting catch
(landings or discards). Each sector
contract provides procedures for sector
enforcement of its rules, explains sector
monitoring and reporting requirements,
provides sector managers with the
authority to issue stop fishing orders to
sector members who violate provisions
of the operations plan and contract, and
presents a schedule of penalties that
managers may levy on members for
sector plan violations.
Sectors are required to monitor their
allocations and catch. To help ensure
that a sector does not exceed its ACE,
each sector operations plan explains
sector monitoring and reporting
requirements, including a requirement
to submit weekly catch reports to us. If
a sector reaches an ACE threshold
(specified in the operations plan), the
sector must provide us with sector
allocation usage reports on a daily basis.
Once a sector’s allocation for a
particular stock is caught, that sector is
required to cease all sector fishing
operations in that stock area until it
acquires more ACE, likely by an ACE
transfer between sectors. Within 60 days
of when we complete year-end catch
accounting, each sector is required to
submit an annual report detailing the
sector’s catch (landings and discards),
sector enforcement actions, and
pertinent information necessary to
evaluate the biological, economic, and
social impacts of each sector.
Industry-Funded Monitoring Programs
Sectors are responsible for developing
and implementing a monitoring
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program that must be approved by
NMFS as both sufficient to monitor
catch, discards, and use of ACE, and
consistent with the sector monitoring
program goals and objectives.
Amendment 23 (87 FR 75852; December
9, 2022) replaced the previous method
for determining the at-sea monitoring
(ASM) coverage target with a fixed
coverage target as a percentage of trips,
dependent on Federal funding. Each
year, NMFS will evaluate available
Federal funding. NMFS will determine
how much Federal funding is available
for the groundfish sector monitoring
program and then use that in
conjunction with other available
information (e.g., recent monitoring
costs, estimate of the number of vessels
choosing electronic monitoring (EM)) to
calculate the human ASM coverage
target between 40 and 100 percent for
the coming fishing year. This fundingbased determination replaces the former
annual process for determining the ASM
coverage target for the sector monitoring
program.
For fishing year 2023, sector vessels
may choose to use ASM, the audit
model EM, or the maximized retention
EM program to meet monitoring
requirements, provided that the sector
has a corresponding monitoring
program approved as part of its
operations plan. On March 16, 2023, we
announced a preliminary monitoring
coverage level of 90 percent of all sector
groundfish trips for the 2023 fishing
year. The preliminary coverage level
was announced to facilitate preparations
by industry members and monitoring
companies ahead of the 2023 fishing
year. The final ASM coverage level will
be announced when the ASM spend
plan is approved. Vessels that choose to
use ASM to meet monitoring
requirements will be assigned monitors
based on the target coverage level set for
all sector groundfish trips. Vessels that
choose to use EM to meet monitoring
coverage requirements must use
cameras and adhere to catch handling
protocols as described in their vessel
monitoring plans for all groundfish
trips. Only a subset of the submitted
trips will be selected for review to
monitor groundfish discards for catch
accounting. A subset of the selected EM
trips will also undergo editing by NMFS
to monitor the third-party service
provider’s performance. The vessel
owner or operator and the third-party
service provider must provide the EM
data for any given trip to NMFS, and its
authorized officers and designees, upon
request including, but not limited to,
trips selected for NMFS review. For
fishing year 2023, the audit model EM
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video footage review rate will be
calculated for each active EM vessel
based on each vessel’s performance in
2022. The minimum possible EM video
footage review rate will be 35 percent of
sector trips for audit model vessels. The
EM video footage review rate remains at
50 percent for all maximized retention
EM vessels in fishing year 2023. Vessels
that are new to EM will have a 50percent video footage review rate in
2023 to allow more opportunities for
feedback on their catch handling and
reporting performance.
The operations plans submitted by
sectors include industry-funded
monitoring plans for fishing year 2023.
As in previous years, we gave sectors
the option to design their own
monitoring program(s) in compliance
with regulations or elect to adopt the
NMFS-designed ASM and/or EM audit
model and maximized retention
program(s). In the event that we cannot
approve a proposed monitoring
program, we asked all sectors to include
an option to select a current NMFSdesigned monitoring program as a failsafe.
All active sectors submitted an ASM
plan as part of their operations plans.
Sectors that operate only as permit
banks, and explicitly prohibit fishing in
their operations plans, are not required
to include provisions for an ASM
program. Similar to previous years,
some sectors chose to use the NMFSdesigned ASM program while others
proposed programs of their own design.
The NMFS-designed ASM program is
the same program that we have used in
previous fishing years. Sector-designed
ASM programs for fishing years 2023
and 2024 were materially the same as
those approved in past years. We
reviewed all sector-proposed ASM
programs for consistency with ASM
requirements.
Sustainable Harvest Sectors 1, 2, and
3; the GB Cod Fixed Gear Sector; the
Maine Coast Community Sector; and
NEFS 5, 10, 11, and 13 will use the
NMFS-designed ASM program. NEFS 2,
6, 8, and 12 will use a sector-designed
ASM program, which states that they
will: Contract with a NMFS-approved
ASM provider; meet the specified
coverage level; and utilize the Pre-Trip
Notification System for random
selection of monitored trips and
notification to providers. These ASM
programs also include additional
protocols for ASM coverage waivers,
incident reporting, and safety
requirements for their sector managers
and members. We are approving these
programs because they are consistent
with the goals and objectives of ASM
and regulatory requirements.
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Thirteen sectors also submitted an EM
plan as part of their operations plans.
Sustainable Harvest Sectors 1, 2, and 3;
the GB Cod Fixed Gear Sector; the
Maine Coast Community Sector; and
NEFS 2, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, and 13
included the NMFS-designed audit
model EM program in their operations
plans. Sustainable Harvest Sectors 1, 2,
and 3; the GB Cod Fixed Gear Sector;
the Maine Coast Community Sector; and
NEFS 2, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 13 also
included the NMFS-designed
maximized retention EM program in
their operations plans.
Approved Exemptions for Fishing Years
2023 and 2024
We are granting exemptions from the
following requirements for fishing years
2023 and 2024, all of which have been
requested and granted in previous years:
(1) 120-day block out of the fishery
required for Day gillnet vessels;
(2) 20-day spawning block out of the
fishery required for all vessels;
(3) Limits on the number of gillnets
for Day gillnet vessels outside the GOM;
(4) Prohibition on a vessel hauling
another vessel’s gillnet gear;
(5) Limits on the number of gillnets
that may be hauled on GB when fishing
under a Northeast multispecies/
monkfish DAS;
(6) Limits on the number of hooks that
may be fished;
(7) DAS Leasing Program length and
horsepower restrictions;
(8) Prohibition on discarding;
(9) Gear requirements in the Eastern
U.S./Canada Management Area;
(10) Prohibition on a vessel hauling
another vessel’s hook gear;
(11) The requirement to declare an
intent to fish in the Eastern U.S./Canada
Special Access Program (SAP) and the
Closed Area (CA) II Yellowtail
Flounder/Haddock SAP prior to leaving
the dock;
(12) Seasonal restrictions for the
Eastern U.S./Canada Haddock SAP;
(13) Seasonal restrictions for the CA II
Yellowtail Flounder/Haddock SAP;
(14) Sampling exemption;
(15) Prohibition on combining smallmesh exempted fishery and sector trips
in southern New England (SNE);
(16) Extra-large mesh requirement to
target dogfish on trips excluded from
ASM in SNE and Inshore GB;
(17) Requirement that Handgear A
vessels carry a Vessel Monitoring
System (VMS) unit when fishing in a
single broad stock area; and
(18) Limits on the number of gillnets
for Day gillnet vessels in the GOM.
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26509
Exemption Requests in Fishing Year
2023
For fishing year 2023, sectors did not
request any novel exemptions.
Comments and Responses
We received no comments on the
proposed rule.
Changes From the Proposed Rule
The 16 sector operations plans
published in the proposed rule were
based on sectors’ submissions of initial
operations plans for fishing years 2023
and 2024. NEFS 7 was approved for
operation in fishing year 2022.
However, NEFS 7 did not submit a final
operations plan and will not operate in
fishing year 2023. Therefore, the final
rule approves 15 sector operations plans
for fishing years 2023 and 2024.
The allocations published in the
proposed rule were based on final
fishing year 2022 sector rosters because
we had not yet processed preliminary
rosters for the 2023 fishing year. The
deadline for preliminary sector roster
submissions was April 3, 2023. The
ACE allocated to each sector is updated
in this final rule to reflect preliminary
sector enrollment for fishing year 2023.
ACE attributable to those permits
enrolled in NEFS 7 for fishing year 2022
will be allocated to whichever sector(s)
those permits enroll in for 2023, or to
the common pool.
Sector ACEs published in the
proposed rule were based on the New
England Fishery Management Council’s
preferred catch limits in Framework 65.
Framework 65 would set catch limits for
16 (out of 20) groundfish stocks.
However, Framework 65 will not be in
place by the May 1, 2023, start of the
fishing year. As a result, to authorize
fishing at the beginning of this fishing
year, this rule implements allocations
based on catch limits previously set in
Frameworks 61 and 63 to the FMP. In
addition, ACE is based on default
specifications for the following stocks
which do not already have catch limits
set for fishing year 2023: GB cod; GB
haddock; GOM haddock; SNE/MA
yellowtail flounder; Cape Cod/GOM
yellowtail flounder; American plaice;
witch flounder; white hake; and
pollock. The final rule for Framework
65 will include updated sector
allocations for relevant stocks, and
account for any changes from
preliminary sector rosters if needed.
No other changes from the proposed
action were made in this final rule.
Classification
NMFS is issuing this rule pursuant to
section 305(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management
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Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). Consistent
with Magnuson-Stevens Act section
305(d), this action is necessary to carry
out the Northeast Multispecies FMP in
accordance with the FMP’s
implementing regulations. These
regulations require Regional
Administrator approval of operations
plans for sectors to receive their ACE for
specific groundfish stocks. The NMFS
Assistant Administrator has determined
that this final rule is consistent with the
Northeast Multispecies FMP, other
provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens
Act, and other applicable law.
There is good cause pursuant to 5
U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to waive the 30-day
delay in effective date for this final rule.
This action approves fishing years 2023
and 2024 operations plans for 15
groundfish sectors in the Northeast
multispecies fishery and allocates ACE
for fishing year 2023. This rulemaking
was required to be delayed to
accommodate the sector roster deadline
(April 3, 2023). We must have
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preliminary sector rosters for the
upcoming fishing year in order to
allocate preliminary ACE to sectors.
Sectors are prohibited from fishing
without an approved operations plan
and ACE allocations; as such, timely
implementation is necessary to ensure
that sectors may fish at the start of the
2023 fishing year on May 1, 2023. If
sectors were prohibited from fishing
while waiting for the rule to take effect,
there would be significant disruption to
the fishery along with negative
economic impacts, thus undermining
the intent of the rule. The approval of
sector operations plans occurs annually.
Industry members and other
stakeholders are aware of and familiar
with these proceedings and expect them
to occur in a timely manner.
This final rule is exempt from review
under Executive Order 12866 because it
contains no implementing regulations.
This final rule contains no information
collection requirements under the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
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The Chief Counsel for Regulation of
the Department of Commerce certified
to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the
Small Business Administration at the
proposed rule stage that this action
would not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small
entities. No comments were received
regarding this certification. In addition,
the changes from the proposed rule do
not affect the factual basis for the
certification. The factual basis for the
certification was published in the
proposed rule and is not repeated here.
As a result, a final regulatory flexibility
analysis was not required and none was
prepared.
Dated: April 25, 2023
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for
Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023–09143 Filed 4–28–23; 8:45 am]
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 83 (Monday, May 1, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 26502-26510]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-09143]
=======================================================================
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 230425-0113]
RTID 0648-XC579
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries of the Northeastern
United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Approval of 2023 and
2024 Sector Operations Plans and Allocation of 2023 Northeast
Multispecies Annual Catch Entitlements
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This final rule approves sector operations plans and
contracts, including 18 regulatory exemptions for fishing years 2023
and 2024. This final rule also allocates Northeast multispecies annual
catch entitlements to approved groundfish sectors for fishing year
2023; this includes default specifications for nine stocks. This action
is intended to allow limited access permit holders to continue to
operate sectors, as authorized under the Northeast Multispecies Fishery
Management Plan, and to exempt sectors from certain effort control
regulations to improve the efficiency and economics of sector vessels.
Approval of sector operations plans and contracts is necessary to
allocate annual catch entitlements to the sectors in order for sectors
to operate.
DATES: Sector operations plans and regulatory exemptions are effective
May 1, 2023, through April 30, 2025. Northeast multispecies annual
catch entitlements for sectors are effective May 1, 2023, through April
30, 2024. Default catch limits are effective May 1, 2023, through
October 31, 2023, or until the final rule for Framework 65 is
implemented, if that final rule is implemented prior to October 31,
2023. If Framework 65 is not implemented on or before October 31, 2023,
all fishing for these stocks would be prohibited beginning November 1,
2023.
ADDRESSES: Copies of each sector's operations plan and contract are
available from the NMFS Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office
(GARFO): Contact Samantha Tolken at [email protected]. These
documents are also accessible via the GARFO website. To view these
documents and the Federal Register documents referenced in this rule,
you can visit: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/management-plan/northeast-multispecies-management-plan.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Samantha Tolken, Fishery Management
Specialist, (978) 675-2176.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP) defines a
sector as a group of persons holding limited access Northeast
multispecies permits that has voluntarily entered into a contract and
agree to certain fishing restrictions for a specified period of time,
and that has been granted a portion of the total allowable catch (TAC)
in order to achieve objectives consistent with applicable FMP goals and
objectives. A sector must be comprised of at least three Northeast
multispecies permits issued to at least three different persons, none
of whom have any common ownership interest in the permits, vessels, or
businesses associated with the permits issued to the other two or more
persons in that sector. Sectors are self-selecting, meaning each sector
can choose its members.
The Northeast multispecies sector management system allocates a
portion of the Northeast multispecies stocks to each sector. These
annual sector allocations are known as annual catch entitlements (ACE)
and are based on the collective fishing history of a sector's members.
Sectors may receive
[[Page 26503]]
allocations of large-mesh Northeast multispecies stocks with the
exception of Atlantic halibut, windowpane flounder, Atlantic wolffish,
and ocean pout, which are non-allocated species managed under separate
effort controls. ACEs are portions of a stock's annual catch limit
(ACL) available to commercial Northeast multispecies vessels. A sector
determines how to harvest its ACE.
Because sectors elect to receive an allocation under a quota-based
system, the FMP grants sector vessels several universal exemptions
(i.e., exemptions from certain Northeast multispecies regulations that
are granted to all sectors) from the FMP's effort controls. These
universal exemptions apply to: Trip limits on allocated stocks;
Northeast multispecies days-at-sea (DAS) restrictions; the requirement
to use a 6.5-inch (16.5-cm) mesh codend when fishing with selective
gear on Georges Bank (GB); and portions of the Gulf of Maine (GOM) Cod
Protection Closures. The FMP prohibits sectors from requesting
exemptions from permitting restrictions, gear restrictions designed to
minimize habitat impacts, and most reporting requirements.
In addition to the approved sectors, there are several state-
operated permit banks, which receive allocations based on the history
of the permits owned by the states. The final rule implementing
Amendment 17 to the FMP allowed a state-operated permit bank to receive
an allocation without needing to comply with the administrative and
procedural requirements for sectors (77 FR 16942; March 23, 2012).
Instead, permit banks are required to submit a list of participating
permits to us, as specified in the permit bank's Memorandum of
Agreement, to determine the ACE allocated to the permit bank. These
allocations may be leased to fishermen enrolled in sectors. State-
operated permit banks are no longer approved through the sector
approval process, but current state-operated permit banks contribute to
the total allocation under the sector system.
We received operations plans and preliminary contracts for fishing
years 2023 and 2024 from 15 sectors. One additional sector that was
active in fishing year 2022 submitted an initial operations plan, but
later notified us that it does not intend to operate in fishing year
2023. This sector did not submit a final operations plan for approval.
The operations plans for the 15 sectors included 18 exemptions
previously requested by sectors, and approved by NMFS, in fishing years
2021 and 2022. These sectors did not request any new regulatory
exemptions. We have determined that the 15 sector operations plans and
contracts that we received, and that the 18 previously approved
regulatory exemptions requested, are consistent with the FMP's goals
and objectives and meet sector requirements outlined in the regulations
at 50 CFR 648.87. Consequently, in this final rule we are approving the
15 sector operations plans, as well as the 18 previously approved
regulatory exemptions requested. No new regulatory exemptions are
approved as none were requested for fishing year 2023. Copies of the
operations plans and contracts, and the environmental assessment (EA),
are available at: https://www.regulations.gov and from NMFS (see
ADDRESSES).
Catch Limits for Fishing Year 2023
Previously Established Catch Limits
Last year, Framework Adjustment 63 (Framework 63) (87 FR 42375;
July 15, 2022) set fishing years 2022-2023 catch limits for two
groundfish stocks: GOM cod and GB yellowtail flounder. Additionally,
Framework 61 (86 FR 33191; July 9, 2021) set fishing years 2021-2023
catch limits for nine groundfish stocks: GB winter flounder; GOM Winter
flounder; Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic (SNE/MA) winter flounder;
redfish; northern windowpane flounder; southern windowpane flounder;
ocean pout; Atlantic halibut; and wolffish. Frameworks 61 and 63 did
not, however, specify a 2023 catch limit for nine stocks: GB cod; GB
haddock; GOM haddock; SNE/MA yellowtail flounder; Cape Cod/GOM
yellowtail flounder; American plaice; witch flounder; white hake; and
pollock. Framework 65 would set catch limits for these nine stocks (and
seven other stocks). However, Framework 65 will not be in place by the
May 1, 2023, start of the fishing year. To prevent disruption to the
groundfish fishery while Framework 65 is finalized, this final rule
announces default catch limits that will be in effect for these nine
stocks until Framework 65 is finalized and goes into effect.
As a result, the sector and common pool allocations in this rule
are based on the 2023 catch limits set in Framework 61, Framework 63 or
default catch limits that will be effective on May 1, 2023, and
preliminary 2023 fishing year rosters (Table 1). If we approve
Framework 65, the 2023 catch limits for 16 (out of 20) groundfish
stocks announced in this rule will change when Framework 65 measures
become effective.
Default Catch Limits
This rule announces default catch limits for GB cod; GB haddock;
GOM haddock; SNE/MA yellowtail flounder; Cape Cod/GOM yellowtail
flounder; American plaice; witch flounder; white hake; and pollock
(Table 1). These stocks do not already have a catch limit in place for
fishing year 2023. The groundfish regulations implement default catch
limits for any stock for which final specifications are not in place by
the beginning of the fishing year on May 1. The FMP's default
specifications provision in the regulations sets catch limits at 75
percent of the previous year's (2022) catch limits, except in instances
where the default catch limit would exceed the Council's recommendation
for the final specifications. The default catch limits are effective
from May 1 through October 31, or until the final rule for Framework 65
is implemented if that final rule is implemented prior to October 31.
We are announcing these default specifications to comply with the FMP
as set out in these regulations and to minimize impacts on the fishery
that would occur if no catch limits are specified. If Framework 65 is
not implemented on or before October 31, all fishing for these stocks
would be prohibited beginning November 1.
Table 1--Northeast Multispecies Catch Limits for 2023
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commercial
Stock Total U.S. ABC groundfish sub-
(mt) ACL (mt)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
GB Cod .......................... 257 182.9
GOM Cod *......................... 551 269.9
GB Haddock ...................... 11,901 11,079.8
GOM Haddock ..................... 1,936 1,148.6
GB Yellowtail Flounder *.......... 122 97.0
[[Page 26504]]
SNE/MA Yellowtail Flounder ...... 17 11.7
CC/GOM Yellowtail Flounder ...... 617 518.9
American Plaice ................. 2,119 1,972.6
Witch Flounder .................. 1,112 988.0
GB Winter Flounder *.............. 608 563.2
GOM Winter Flounder *............. 497 280.9
SNE/MA Winter Flounder *.......... 456 288.1
Redfish *......................... 9,967 9,468.7
White Hake ...................... 1,587 1,492.6
Pollock ......................... 12,609 10,601.0
N. Windowpane Flounder *.......... 160 107.9
S. Windowpane Flounder *.......... 384 42.9
Ocean Pout *...................... 87 49.8
Atlantic Halibut *................ 101 73.4
Atlantic Wolffish *............... 92 85.6
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* These catch limits are based on fishing year 2023 Frameworks 61 or 63
and will be replaced when the final rule for Framework 65 becomes
effective, if approved.
These catch limits are based on default specifications and will be
replaced when the final rule for Framework 65 becomes effective, if
approved. If Framework 65 is not implemented on or before October 31,
all fishing for these stocks would be prohibited beginning November 1.
Sector Allocations
This rule allocates ACE to sectors based on the preliminary fishing
year 2023 sector rosters and the 2023 catch limits established in
Framework 61, Framework 63, or default specifications, as shown in
Table 1. Any permits that change ownership after the enrollment
deadline established by the Regional Administrator (April 3 for fishing
year 2023) retain the ability to join a sector through April 30, 2023.
All permit holders who have joined a sector for fishing year 2023 have
until April 30, 2023, to withdraw and elect to fish in the common pool,
although sectors may specify a more restrictive withdrawal date for
their members. As a result, the total permits enrolled in sectors for
fishing year 2023 could change from the preliminary rosters, although
such changes are expected to be minimal based on past fishing years.
For fishing year 2024, we will set similar roster deadlines, notify
permit holders of the fishing year 2024 deadlines, and allow permit
holders to change sectors separate from the annual sector operations
plans approval process.
We calculate a sector's allocation for each stock by summing its
members' potential sector contributions (PSC) for a stock and then
multiplying that total percentage by the available commercial sub-ACL
for that stock. Table 2 shows the preliminary total PSCs for each
sector for fishing year 2023. Tables 3 and 4 show the initial
allocations that each sector is allocated, in pounds and metric tons,
respectively, for fishing year 2023 based on their preliminary fishing
year 2023 rosters and the fishing year 2023 catch limits established in
Framework 61, Framework 63, or default specifications. At the start of
the 2023 fishing year, we provide final allocations, to the nearest
pound, to each sector based on their final May 1 rosters. We use these
final allocations, along with later adjustments for ACE transfers,
reductions for overages, or increases for carryover from fishing year
2022, to monitor sector catch. We have included the preliminary common
pool sub-ACLs in tables 2 through 4 for comparison.
These tables do not represent the final allocations for the 2023
fishing year. One additional sector, Northeast Fishery Sector VII (NEFS
7), that was active in fishing year 2022, did not submit a final
operations plan and will not operate in fishing year 2023. As a result,
NEFS 7 is not included in tables 2 through 4. We expect the permits
initially enrolled in NEFS 7 for fishing year 2023 to enroll in a
different sector or join the common pool for fishing year 2023. ACE
attributable to those permits will be allocated to whichever sector(s)
those permits enroll in for 2023, or to the common pool.
We do not assign each permit separate PSCs for Eastern GB cod or
Eastern GB haddock; instead, we assign each permit a PSC for the GB cod
stock and GB haddock stock. Each sector's GB cod and GB haddock
allocations are then divided into an Eastern ACE and a Western ACE,
based on each sector's percentage of the GB cod and GB haddock ACLs.
For example, if a sector is allocated 4 percent of the GB cod ACL and 6
percent of the GB haddock ACL, the sector is allocated 4 percent of the
commercial Eastern U.S./Canada Area GB cod TAC and 6 percent of the
commercial Eastern U.S./Canada Area GB haddock TAC as its Eastern GB
cod and haddock ACEs. These amounts are then subtracted from the
sector's overall GB cod and haddock allocations to determine its
Western GB cod and haddock ACEs. A sector may only harvest its Eastern
GB cod and haddock ACEs in the Eastern U.S./Canada Area, but may
``convert,'' or transfer, its Eastern GB cod or haddock allocation into
Western GB allocation and fish that converted ACE outside the Eastern
GB area.
We expect to finalize 2022 catch information in summer 2023. We
allow sectors to trade fishing year 2022 ACE for 2 weeks upon our
completion of year-end catch accounting to reduce or eliminate any
fishing year 2022 overages. If necessary, we reduce any sector's
fishing year 2023 allocation to account for a remaining overage in
fishing year 2022. Each year of the operations plans, we notify the
Council and sector managers of this deadline in writing and announce
our final ACE determination on our website at: https://www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/ro/fso/reports/h/groundfish_catch_accounting.
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Sector Operations Plans and Contracts
We are approving 15 sector operations plans and contracts for
fishing years 2023 and 2024. All 15 sectors were active in fishing
years 2021 and 2022. One sector, NEFS 7, submitted an initial
operations plan, but later notified us that they would not be operating
in fishing year 2023, and did not submit a final operations plan for
approval. In order to approve a sector's operations plan for fishing
years 2023 and 2024, we consider whether a sector's plan is consistent
with regulatory requirements and FMP objectives, and whether it has
been compliant with reporting requirements from previous years,
including the year-end reporting requirements found at Sec.
648.87(b)(1)(v). Approved operations plans contain the rules under
which each sector will fish, and also provide the legal contract that
binds each member to the sector for the length of the sector's
operations plan. Each sector's operations plan, and each sector's
members, must comply with the regulations governing sectors, found at
Sec. 648.87. In addition, each sector must conduct fishing activities
as detailed in its approved operations plan.
Participating vessels are required to comply with all pertinent
Federal fishing regulations, except as specifically exempted in the
letter of authorization (LOA) issued by the Regional Administrator,
which details any approved sector exemptions from the regulations. If,
during a fishing year, or between fishing years 2023 and 2024, a sector
requests an exemption that we have already granted, or proposes a
change to administrative provisions, we may amend the sector operations
plans. Should any such amendments require modifications to LOAs, we
will include these changes in updated LOAs and provide them to the
appropriate sectors.
We may revoke exemptions in-season if: We determine that the
exemption jeopardizes management measures, FMP objectives, or
rebuilding efforts; the exemption results in unforeseen negative
impacts on other managed fish stocks, habitat, or protected resources;
the exemption causes enforcement concerns; catch from trips using the
exemption cannot be adequately monitored; or a sector is not meeting
certain administrative or operational requirements. If it becomes
necessary to revoke an exemption, we will do so through a process
consistent with the existing regulations or in a separate rulemaking
action, as appropriate.
Each sector is required to ensure that it does not exceed its ACE
during the fishing year. Sector vessels are required to retain all
legal-sized allocated Northeast multispecies stocks, unless a sector is
granted an exemption allowing its member vessels to discard legal-sized
unmarketable fish at sea. Catch (defined as landings and discards) of
all allocated Northeast multispecies stocks by a sector's vessels count
against the sector's allocation. Groundfish catch from a sector trip
targeting non-groundfish species will be deducted from the sector's ACE
because these are groundfish trips using gear capable of catching
groundfish. Catch from a non-sector trip in an exempted fishery does
not count against a sector's allocation and is assigned to a separate
ACL sub-component to account for any groundfish bycatch that occurs in
non-groundfish fisheries.
Each sector operations plan submitted for fishing years 2023 and
2024 states that the sector may withhold an initial reserve from the
sector's ACE sub-allocation to each individual member to prevent the
sector from exceeding its ACE. A sector and sector members can be held
jointly and severally liable for ACE overages, discarding legal-sized
fish, and/or misreporting catch (landings or discards). Each sector
contract provides procedures for sector enforcement of its rules,
explains sector monitoring and reporting requirements, provides sector
managers with the authority to issue stop fishing orders to sector
members who violate provisions of the operations plan and contract, and
presents a schedule of penalties that managers may levy on members for
sector plan violations.
Sectors are required to monitor their allocations and catch. To
help ensure that a sector does not exceed its ACE, each sector
operations plan explains sector monitoring and reporting requirements,
including a requirement to submit weekly catch reports to us. If a
sector reaches an ACE threshold (specified in the operations plan), the
sector must provide us with sector allocation usage reports on a daily
basis. Once a sector's allocation for a particular stock is caught,
that sector is required to cease all sector fishing operations in that
stock area until it acquires more ACE, likely by an ACE transfer
between sectors. Within 60 days of when we complete year-end catch
accounting, each sector is required to submit an annual report
detailing the sector's catch (landings and discards), sector
enforcement actions, and pertinent information necessary to evaluate
the biological, economic, and social impacts of each sector.
Industry-Funded Monitoring Programs
Sectors are responsible for developing and implementing a
monitoring program that must be approved by NMFS as both sufficient to
monitor catch, discards, and use of ACE, and consistent with the sector
monitoring program goals and objectives. Amendment 23 (87 FR 75852;
December 9, 2022) replaced the previous method for determining the at-
sea monitoring (ASM) coverage target with a fixed coverage target as a
percentage of trips, dependent on Federal funding. Each year, NMFS will
evaluate available Federal funding. NMFS will determine how much
Federal funding is available for the groundfish sector monitoring
program and then use that in conjunction with other available
information (e.g., recent monitoring costs, estimate of the number of
vessels choosing electronic monitoring (EM)) to calculate the human ASM
coverage target between 40 and 100 percent for the coming fishing year.
This funding-based determination replaces the former annual process for
determining the ASM coverage target for the sector monitoring program.
For fishing year 2023, sector vessels may choose to use ASM, the
audit model EM, or the maximized retention EM program to meet
monitoring requirements, provided that the sector has a corresponding
monitoring program approved as part of its operations plan. On March
16, 2023, we announced a preliminary monitoring coverage level of 90
percent of all sector groundfish trips for the 2023 fishing year. The
preliminary coverage level was announced to facilitate preparations by
industry members and monitoring companies ahead of the 2023 fishing
year. The final ASM coverage level will be announced when the ASM spend
plan is approved. Vessels that choose to use ASM to meet monitoring
requirements will be assigned monitors based on the target coverage
level set for all sector groundfish trips. Vessels that choose to use
EM to meet monitoring coverage requirements must use cameras and adhere
to catch handling protocols as described in their vessel monitoring
plans for all groundfish trips. Only a subset of the submitted trips
will be selected for review to monitor groundfish discards for catch
accounting. A subset of the selected EM trips will also undergo editing
by NMFS to monitor the third-party service provider's performance. The
vessel owner or operator and the third-party service provider must
provide the EM data for any given trip to NMFS, and its authorized
officers and designees, upon request including, but not limited to,
trips selected for NMFS review. For fishing year 2023, the audit model
EM
[[Page 26509]]
video footage review rate will be calculated for each active EM vessel
based on each vessel's performance in 2022. The minimum possible EM
video footage review rate will be 35 percent of sector trips for audit
model vessels. The EM video footage review rate remains at 50 percent
for all maximized retention EM vessels in fishing year 2023. Vessels
that are new to EM will have a 50-percent video footage review rate in
2023 to allow more opportunities for feedback on their catch handling
and reporting performance.
The operations plans submitted by sectors include industry-funded
monitoring plans for fishing year 2023. As in previous years, we gave
sectors the option to design their own monitoring program(s) in
compliance with regulations or elect to adopt the NMFS-designed ASM
and/or EM audit model and maximized retention program(s). In the event
that we cannot approve a proposed monitoring program, we asked all
sectors to include an option to select a current NMFS-designed
monitoring program as a fail-safe.
All active sectors submitted an ASM plan as part of their
operations plans. Sectors that operate only as permit banks, and
explicitly prohibit fishing in their operations plans, are not required
to include provisions for an ASM program. Similar to previous years,
some sectors chose to use the NMFS-designed ASM program while others
proposed programs of their own design. The NMFS-designed ASM program is
the same program that we have used in previous fishing years. Sector-
designed ASM programs for fishing years 2023 and 2024 were materially
the same as those approved in past years. We reviewed all sector-
proposed ASM programs for consistency with ASM requirements.
Sustainable Harvest Sectors 1, 2, and 3; the GB Cod Fixed Gear
Sector; the Maine Coast Community Sector; and NEFS 5, 10, 11, and 13
will use the NMFS-designed ASM program. NEFS 2, 6, 8, and 12 will use a
sector-designed ASM program, which states that they will: Contract with
a NMFS-approved ASM provider; meet the specified coverage level; and
utilize the Pre-Trip Notification System for random selection of
monitored trips and notification to providers. These ASM programs also
include additional protocols for ASM coverage waivers, incident
reporting, and safety requirements for their sector managers and
members. We are approving these programs because they are consistent
with the goals and objectives of ASM and regulatory requirements.
Thirteen sectors also submitted an EM plan as part of their
operations plans. Sustainable Harvest Sectors 1, 2, and 3; the GB Cod
Fixed Gear Sector; the Maine Coast Community Sector; and NEFS 2, 5, 6,
8, 10, 11, 12, and 13 included the NMFS-designed audit model EM program
in their operations plans. Sustainable Harvest Sectors 1, 2, and 3; the
GB Cod Fixed Gear Sector; the Maine Coast Community Sector; and NEFS 2,
6, 8, 10, 12, and 13 also included the NMFS-designed maximized
retention EM program in their operations plans.
Approved Exemptions for Fishing Years 2023 and 2024
We are granting exemptions from the following requirements for
fishing years 2023 and 2024, all of which have been requested and
granted in previous years:
(1) 120-day block out of the fishery required for Day gillnet
vessels;
(2) 20-day spawning block out of the fishery required for all
vessels;
(3) Limits on the number of gillnets for Day gillnet vessels
outside the GOM;
(4) Prohibition on a vessel hauling another vessel's gillnet gear;
(5) Limits on the number of gillnets that may be hauled on GB when
fishing under a Northeast multispecies/monkfish DAS;
(6) Limits on the number of hooks that may be fished;
(7) DAS Leasing Program length and horsepower restrictions;
(8) Prohibition on discarding;
(9) Gear requirements in the Eastern U.S./Canada Management Area;
(10) Prohibition on a vessel hauling another vessel's hook gear;
(11) The requirement to declare an intent to fish in the Eastern
U.S./Canada Special Access Program (SAP) and the Closed Area (CA) II
Yellowtail Flounder/Haddock SAP prior to leaving the dock;
(12) Seasonal restrictions for the Eastern U.S./Canada Haddock SAP;
(13) Seasonal restrictions for the CA II Yellowtail Flounder/
Haddock SAP;
(14) Sampling exemption;
(15) Prohibition on combining small-mesh exempted fishery and
sector trips in southern New England (SNE);
(16) Extra-large mesh requirement to target dogfish on trips
excluded from ASM in SNE and Inshore GB;
(17) Requirement that Handgear A vessels carry a Vessel Monitoring
System (VMS) unit when fishing in a single broad stock area; and
(18) Limits on the number of gillnets for Day gillnet vessels in
the GOM.
Exemption Requests in Fishing Year 2023
For fishing year 2023, sectors did not request any novel
exemptions.
Comments and Responses
We received no comments on the proposed rule.
Changes From the Proposed Rule
The 16 sector operations plans published in the proposed rule were
based on sectors' submissions of initial operations plans for fishing
years 2023 and 2024. NEFS 7 was approved for operation in fishing year
2022. However, NEFS 7 did not submit a final operations plan and will
not operate in fishing year 2023. Therefore, the final rule approves 15
sector operations plans for fishing years 2023 and 2024.
The allocations published in the proposed rule were based on final
fishing year 2022 sector rosters because we had not yet processed
preliminary rosters for the 2023 fishing year. The deadline for
preliminary sector roster submissions was April 3, 2023. The ACE
allocated to each sector is updated in this final rule to reflect
preliminary sector enrollment for fishing year 2023. ACE attributable
to those permits enrolled in NEFS 7 for fishing year 2022 will be
allocated to whichever sector(s) those permits enroll in for 2023, or
to the common pool.
Sector ACEs published in the proposed rule were based on the New
England Fishery Management Council's preferred catch limits in
Framework 65. Framework 65 would set catch limits for 16 (out of 20)
groundfish stocks. However, Framework 65 will not be in place by the
May 1, 2023, start of the fishing year. As a result, to authorize
fishing at the beginning of this fishing year, this rule implements
allocations based on catch limits previously set in Frameworks 61 and
63 to the FMP. In addition, ACE is based on default specifications for
the following stocks which do not already have catch limits set for
fishing year 2023: GB cod; GB haddock; GOM haddock; SNE/MA yellowtail
flounder; Cape Cod/GOM yellowtail flounder; American plaice; witch
flounder; white hake; and pollock. The final rule for Framework 65 will
include updated sector allocations for relevant stocks, and account for
any changes from preliminary sector rosters if needed.
No other changes from the proposed action were made in this final
rule.
Classification
NMFS is issuing this rule pursuant to section 305(d) of the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management
[[Page 26510]]
Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). Consistent with Magnuson-Stevens Act
section 305(d), this action is necessary to carry out the Northeast
Multispecies FMP in accordance with the FMP's implementing regulations.
These regulations require Regional Administrator approval of operations
plans for sectors to receive their ACE for specific groundfish stocks.
The NMFS Assistant Administrator has determined that this final rule is
consistent with the Northeast Multispecies FMP, other provisions of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other applicable law.
There is good cause pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to waive the 30-
day delay in effective date for this final rule. This action approves
fishing years 2023 and 2024 operations plans for 15 groundfish sectors
in the Northeast multispecies fishery and allocates ACE for fishing
year 2023. This rulemaking was required to be delayed to accommodate
the sector roster deadline (April 3, 2023). We must have preliminary
sector rosters for the upcoming fishing year in order to allocate
preliminary ACE to sectors. Sectors are prohibited from fishing without
an approved operations plan and ACE allocations; as such, timely
implementation is necessary to ensure that sectors may fish at the
start of the 2023 fishing year on May 1, 2023. If sectors were
prohibited from fishing while waiting for the rule to take effect,
there would be significant disruption to the fishery along with
negative economic impacts, thus undermining the intent of the rule. The
approval of sector operations plans occurs annually. Industry members
and other stakeholders are aware of and familiar with these proceedings
and expect them to occur in a timely manner.
This final rule is exempt from review under Executive Order 12866
because it contains no implementing regulations. This final rule
contains no information collection requirements under the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995.
The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business
Administration at the proposed rule stage that this action would not
have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities. No comments were received regarding this certification. In
addition, the changes from the proposed rule do not affect the factual
basis for the certification. The factual basis for the certification
was published in the proposed rule and is not repeated here. As a
result, a final regulatory flexibility analysis was not required and
none was prepared.
Dated: April 25, 2023
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-09143 Filed 4-28-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
