Rule2021-13619
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Golden Tilefish Fishery; Extension of Emergency Action
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
June 25, 2021
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
This temporary rule extends emergency measures that allow a limited one-time carryover of up to 5 percent of unharvested fishing quota from the 2020 fishing year into the 2021 fishing year. This action is necessary to allow the golden tilefish individual fishing quota shareholders that were eligible for carryover under the emergency measures, but have not yet fully harvested that carryover, an opportunity to use it. This action is intended to provide additional time for quota shareholders to fully harvest their allocations.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 120 (Friday, June 25, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 120 (Friday, June 25, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 33552-33553]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-13619]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 201214-0337]
RIN 0648-BJ98
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Golden Tilefish
Fishery; Extension of Emergency Action
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; emergency action extension.
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SUMMARY: This temporary rule extends emergency measures that allow a
limited one-time carryover of up to 5 percent of unharvested fishing
quota from the 2020 fishing year into the 2021 fishing year. This
action is necessary to allow the golden tilefish individual fishing
quota shareholders that were eligible for carryover under the emergency
measures, but have not yet fully harvested that carryover, an
opportunity to use it. This action is intended to provide additional
time for quota shareholders to fully harvest their allocations.
DATES: The expiration date of the emergency rule published December 21,
2020 (85 FR 82944) is extended to November 1, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the Supplemental Information Report prepared for
the 2021-2022 Golden Tilefish Specifications and emergency action are
available from Dr. Christopher M. Moore, Executive Director, Mid-
Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 800 North State Street, Dover,
Suite 201, DE 19901. These documents are also accessible via the
internet at <a href="http://www.mafmc.org">http://www.mafmc.org</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Douglas Potts, Fishery Policy Analyst,
(978) 281-9341.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
At the request of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, NMFS
published a final rule on December 21, 2020 (85 FR 82944) that
implemented emergency action for the Tilefish Fishery Management Plan
(FMP) to allow a one-time carryover of unharvested Individual Fishing
Quota (IFQ) from fishing year 2020 to 2021, up to 5 percent of the
original 2020 allocation. A proposed rule for this action was published
on November 13, 2020 (85 FR 72616) with a comment period through
November 30, 2020. No comments were received on the emergency action.
The tilefish IFQ program does not normally allow any carryover of
unharvested allocation from one fishing year into the next. Unforeseen
changes in the market for seafood resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic,
particularly the loss of restaurant sales due to local closure orders,
substantially reduced demand for golden tilefish during the 2020
fishing year. Because of this unprecedented impact on the fishery, we
implemented this one-time carry over under our emergency rulemaking
authority specified in section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act.
This action extends this emergency action past the current
expiration date of June 19, 2021, until the start of the next golden
tilefish fishing year on November 1, 2021. This will allow tilefish IFQ
quota shareholders who have not yet had an opportunity to harvest the
IFQ pounds they carried over additional time to take full advantage of
this opportunity.
Each IFQ quota shareholder was eligible to carry over 2020 golden
tilefish quota pounds that were not harvested before the end of the
2020 fishing year, up to a maximum amount of 5 percent of their initial
2020 quota pounds. Of the 10 entities that hold quota share in the
golden tilefish IFQ program, 5 had unharvested quota pounds at the end
of the 2020 fishing year and were able to carry over some of those
quota pounds into the 2021 fishing year. Some quota shareholders have
already harvested their carryover while others have not yet taken full
advantage of this opportunity. Extending this emergency action ensures
that all those who received carryover are able to fully benefit from
these measures.
NMFS's policy guidelines for the use of emergency rules (62 FR
44421; August 21, 1997) specify the following three criteria that
define what an emergency situation is, and justification for final
rulemaking: (1) The emergency results from recent, unforeseen events or
recently discovered circumstances; (2) the emergency presents serious
conservation or management problems in the fishery; and (3) the
emergency can be addressed through emergency regulations for which the
immediate benefits outweigh the value of advance notice, public
comment, and deliberative consideration of the impacts on participants
to the same extent as would be expected under the normal rulemaking
process. NMFS's policy guidelines further provide that emergency action
is justified for certain situations where emergency action would
prevent significant direct economic loss, or to preserve a significant
economic opportunity that otherwise might be foregone. As noted in the
December 21, 2020, final rule, NMFS has determined that allowing the
carryover of unharvested tilefish IFQ quota pounds as described above
meets the three criteria for emergency action.
Section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act specifies that emergency
regulations may only remain in effect for 180 days from the date of
publication and may be extended for one additional period of not more
than 186 days. Extending this action until the start of the next
fishing year on November 1, 2021, would only be 135 days.
Classification
NMFS is issuing this temporary rule pursuant to section 305(c) of
the Magnuson Stevens Act, which authorizes NMFS to implement
regulations at the request of the Council to address an emergency in
the fishery. The Acting Assistant Administrator Fisheries, NOAA has
determined that this rule is consistent with the Tilefish FMP, other
provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other applicable law.
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), the Acting Assistant Administrator
Fisheries, NOAA finds good cause to waive the 30-day delay in
effectiveness for this rule. This rule extends some measures of the
rule currently in place through the end of the current fishing year.
The need for this extension was fully anticipated and announced to the
public in the initial emergency rule which published on December 21,
2020. Accordingly, the entities affected by this rule and the public
have no need to be made aware of or adjust to this rule by delaying its
effectiveness for 30 days. The primary reason for delaying the
effectiveness of Federal regulations is not present, and, therefore,
such a delay would serve no public purpose. It would be contrary to the
public interest if the emergency measures are allowed to expire on June
19, 2021, because tilefish IFQ quota shareholders could lose any
remaining carryover granted by
[[Page 33553]]
this emergency action. Moreover, allowing the emergency measures to
lapse between June 19, 2021, and a later effective date of this
extension may lead to confusion in the fishing community. For these
reasons, there is good cause to waive the requirement for delayed
effectiveness.
The December 21, 2020, final rule that implemented the emergency
action was determined to be not significant for purposes of Executive
Order 12866.
The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business
Administration during the proposed rule stage that this action would
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities. The factual basis for the certification was published in the
proposed rule and is not repeated here. No comments were received
regarding this certification. As a result, a regulatory flexibility
analysis was not required and none was prepared.
This final rule contains no information collection requirements
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: June 14, 2021.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-13619 Filed 6-24-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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