Rule2022-11487
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery; 2022 Closure of the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area to the Limited Access General Category Fishery
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
May 26, 2022
Effective
May 26, 2022
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS announces the closure of the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area for the remainder of the 2022 fishing year for Limited Access General Category vessels. Regulations require this action once NMFS projects that 100 percent of the Limited Access General Category total allowable catch for the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area will be harvested. This action is intended to prevent the overharvest of the 2022 total allowable catch allocated to the Limited Access General Category Fishery.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 102 (Thursday, May 26, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 102 (Thursday, May 26, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 31962-31963]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-11487]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 220325-0078; RTID 0648-XC033]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Sea Scallop
Fishery; 2022 Closure of the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management
Area to the Limited Access General Category Fishery
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; closure.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the closure of the Northern Gulf of Maine
Scallop Management Area for the remainder of the 2022 fishing year for
Limited Access General Category vessels. Regulations require this
action once NMFS projects that 100 percent of the Limited Access
General Category total allowable catch for the Northern Gulf of Maine
Scallop Management Area will be harvested. This action is intended to
prevent the overharvest of the 2022 total allowable catch allocated to
the Limited Access General Category Fishery.
DATES: Effective 0001 hr local time, May 26, 2022, through March 31,
2023.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Louis Forristall, Fishery Management
Specialist, (978) 281-9321.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The regulations governing fishing activity
in the Northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM) Scallop Management Area are
located in 50 CFR 648.54 and 648.62. These regulations authorize
vessels issued a valid Federal scallop permit to fish in the NGOM
Scallop Management Area under specific conditions, including a default
total allowable catch (TAC) of 621,307 lb (281,820 kg) for the Limited
Access General Category (LAGC) fleet for the 2022 fishing year, and a
State Waters Exemption Program for the State of Maine and Commonwealth
of Massachusetts. Section 648.62(b)(2) requires the NGOM Scallop
Management Area to be closed to scallop vessels issued Federal LAGC
scallop permits, except as provided below, for the remainder of the
fishing year once the NMFS Greater Atlantic Regional Administrator
determines that 100 percent of the LAGC TAC for the fishing year is
projected to be harvested. Any vessel that holds a Federal NGOM (LAGC
B) or Individual Fishing Quota
[[Page 31963]]
(IFQ) (LAGC A) permit may continue to fish in the Maine or
Massachusetts state waters portion of the NGOM Scallop Management Area
under the State Waters Exemption Program found in Sec. 648.54 provided
it has a valid Maine or Massachusetts state scallop permit and fishes
only in that state's respective waters.
Based on trip declarations by federally permitted LAGC scallop
vessels fishing in the NGOM Scallop Management Area and analysis of
fishing effort, we project that the 2022 LAGC TAC will be harvested as
of May 26, 2022. Therefore, in accordance with Sec. 648.62(b)(2), the
NGOM Scallop Management Area is closed to all federally permitted LAGC
scallop vessels as of May 26, 2022. As of this date, no vessel issued a
Federal LAGC scallop permit may fish for, possess, or land scallops in
or from the NGOM Scallop Management Area after 0001 local time, May 26,
2022, unless the vessel is fishing exclusively in state waters and is
participating in an approved state waters exemption program as
specified in Sec. 648.54. Any federally permitted LAGC scallop vessel
that has declared into the NGOM Scallop Management Area, complied with
all trip notification and observer requirements, and crossed the vessel
monitoring system demarcation line on the way to the area before 0001,
May 26, 2022, may complete its trip and land scallops. This closure is
in effect until the end of the 2022 scallop fishing year, through March
31, 2023.
Classification
This action is required by 50 CFR part 648 and is exempt from
review under Executive Order 12866.
The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA, finds good cause
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) to waive prior notice and the
opportunity for public comment because it would be contrary to the
public interest and impracticable. NMFS also finds, pursuant to 5
U.S.C. 553(d)(3), good cause to waive the 30-day delayed effectiveness
period for the reasons noted below. The NGOM Scallop Management Area
opened for the 2022 fishing year on April 1, 2022. The regulations at
Sec. 648.60(b)(2) require this closure to ensure that federally
permitted scallop vessels do not harvest more than the allocated LAGC
TAC for the NGOM Scallop Management Area. NMFS can only make
projections for the NGOM closure date as trips into the area occur on a
real-time basis and as activity trends appear. As a result, NMFS can
typically make an accurate projection only shortly before the TAC is
harvested. The rapid harvest rate that has occurred in the last two
weeks makes it more difficult to project a closure well in advance. To
allow federally permitted LAGC scallop vessels to continue taking trips
in the NGOM Scallop Management Area during the period necessary to
publish and receive comments on a proposed rule would result in vessels
harvesting more than the 2022 LAGC TAC for the NGOM Scallop Management
Area. This would result in excessive fishing effort in the area thereby
undermining conservation objectives of the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery
Management Plan and requiring more restrictive future management
measures to make up for the excessive harvest. Also, the public had
prior notice and full opportunity to comment on this closure process
when we solicited comments during rulemaking for 2022 NGOM management
provisions (February 15, 2022; 87 FR 8543).
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: May 24, 2022.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-11487 Filed 5-24-22; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on May 26, 2022.
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