Rule2022-14181
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Mackerel; 2022 Interim Action Extension
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
July 6, 2022
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
This temporary rule extends the interim specifications for the 2022 fishing year to address new assessment information regarding the status of the Atlantic mackerel stock. This action continues to reduce potential Atlantic mackerel overfishing based on new 2021 assessment findings while a revised rebuilding plan is being developed.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 128 (Wednesday, July 6, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 128 (Wednesday, July 6, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 40139-40140]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-14181]
[[Page 40139]]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
RIN 0648-BL05
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Mackerel;
2022 Interim Action Extension
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; interim measures extended.
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SUMMARY: This temporary rule extends the interim specifications for the
2022 fishing year to address new assessment information regarding the
status of the Atlantic mackerel stock. This action continues to reduce
potential Atlantic mackerel overfishing based on new 2021 assessment
findings while a revised rebuilding plan is being developed.
DATES: The expiration date of the temporary rule published January 12,
2022 (87 FR 1700), is extended to Friday, January 13, 2023.
ADDRESSES: The supporting documents for the action are available upon
request from Dr. Christopher M. Moore, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic
Fishery Management Council, Suite 201, 800 N State Street, Dover, DE
19901. These documents are also accessible via the internet at <a href="https://www.mafmc.org">https://www.mafmc.org</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Aly Pitts, Fishery Management
Specialist, (978) 281-9352.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) manages the
Atlantic mackerel fishery under the Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish
(MSB) Fishery Management Plan (FMP). Section 305(c) of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act allows the Secretary to implement interim measures to
reduce or address overfishing. In situations such as this, in which the
Mid-Atlantic Council is finalizing a new rebuilding plan, section
304(e)(6) allows the Council to request the Secretary to implement
interim measures to reduce overfishing, even if such measures are not
sufficient themselves to stop overfishing, until such measures can be
replaced by the rebuilding plan. As further described below, NMFS
implements this action to extend the interim rule that adjusts the
domestic annual harvest (DAH, or commercial quota) from the previously
implemented amount of 17,312 metric tons (mt) to 4,963 mt in order to
minimize overfishing while the Council's revised rebuilding plan can be
implemented (87 FR 1700; January 12, 2022). The initial interim rule
for this action included additional background on specifications and
the details of how the Council derived its recommended specifications
for Atlantic mackerel. Those details are not repeated here. For
additional information, please refer to the initial interim rule for
this action.
Interim Atlantic Mackerel Specifications for 2022
Based on the recommendations of the Scientific and Statistical
Committee (SSC), the MSB Monitoring Committee, and the Council, this
action sets the 2022 Atlantic mackerel specifications, specifically the
DAH to 4,963 mt. These specifications also maintain the 129-mt river
herring and shad catch cap for 2022. There is an Atlantic mackerel
stock assessment update scheduled for 2022 that will inform future
specifications.
The initial temporary rule has an effective period limited by the
Magnuson-Stevens Act to 180 days, with a potential extension of an
additional 186 days. The Council has approved a revised rebuilding
plan, which it intends to be implemented by January 1, 2023. However,
the expected rulemaking implementing the rebuilding plan will not be in
place before the expiration of the initial interim rule, on July 11,
2022. Therefore, we are extending the interim measures for 186 days to
ensure the revised 2022 specifications remain in place for the full
2022 fishing year.
Justification for Extended Interim Measures
Section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C. 1855(c)
authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to implement interim measures to
address overfishing. This action meets the 305(c) requirements for
interim measures because it is necessary to minimize overfishing on the
Atlantic mackerel stock that remains overfished while the Council
develops a new rebuilding program for the stock.
While some changes resulting from the 2021 stock assessment were
expected, the magnitude of the shift in the perception of stock status
necessitating changes to the catch limits was not, and could not have
been, foreseen. The assessment results only recently became available,
after the Council took final action on, and we implemented, the 2022
specifications. Based on this new information, and only two years after
the implementation of the original rebuilding program for mackerel, the
Council needed to develop a new rebuilding plan to incorporate the most
recent scientific information. However, given that the new information
only recently became available, the Council could not complete an
action to develop a new rebuilding plan and adjust specifications in
time for the 2022 fishing year. Because of unforeseen specification
adjustments necessary to address the recent stock assessment, the
Council requested that NMFS take action to reduce potential additional
Atlantic mackerel harvest in 2022 via a reduction in the commercial
quota while the Council developed a new Atlantic mackerel rebuilding
plan for 2023. If this temporary rule is not implemented by July 11,
2022, the 2022 specifications will revert to those previously
implemented based on information that does not include the most recent
2021 assessment results. Delayed implementation of these measures
increases the risk and magnitude of overfishing for 2022 by allowing
the original 17,312 mt commercial catch rather than 4,963 mt,
implemented by the initial interim rule.
Extending these interim measures minimizes overfishing in the
Atlantic mackerel fishery and additional negative impacts to the
already overfished fishery resource, as well as ensures mackerel
specifications are based on the best scientific information available.
Therefore, avoiding the serious conservation and management problem of
subjecting the overfished Atlantic mackerel stock to continued
overfishing conditions due to previously unforeseen circumstances
justifies these interim measures, and outweighs the benefit of advance
notice and comment.
Renewal of Interim Regulations
The Magnuson-Stevens Act limits NMFS' authority to implement
interim measures for an initial period of 180 days, with a potential
extension up to an additional 186 days, if warranted. The public had an
opportunity to comment on the specification measures in this temporary
rule upon issuance of the initial interim rule, and we did not receive
any comments in response to the public notice on the initial interim
rule. In accordance with Magnuson-Stevens Act section 305(c)(3)(B),
NMFS is extending the interim measures for one additional period of not
more than 186 days to maintain the interim measures until permanent
rulemaking can be implemented.
[[Page 40140]]
Classification
NMFS issues this action pursuant to section 305(c) of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act. This action is required by 50 CFR part 648, which was
issued pursuant to section 304(b).
The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA, finds that it
would be unnecessary and contrary to the public interest to provide for
prior notice and an opportunity for public comment, pursuant to 5
U.S.C. 553(b)(B). We implemented an interim rule on January 7, 2022,
effective through July 11, 2022, that set Atlantic mackerel commercial
harvest levels for 2022 that would maintain total catch similar to 2021
levels. This action would extend the interim measures to reduce catch
rates to ensure 2022 catch does not exceed harvest levels to minimize
overfishing. This rule would maintain the commercial DAH of 4,963 mt to
maintain total 2022 harvest levels and incorporate new estimates of
Canadian landings and U.S. recreational harvest. Harvest levels have
been well below the DAH in recent years, and based on recent fishery
operations and trends, this action is not expected to substantially
change overall effort or harvest levels.
This action is being implemented pursuant to section 305(c) of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act in order to minimize overfishing while the Council
responds to the new, updated information. These provisions of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act anticipate that interim provisions like these can
be extended by publication in the Federal Register if the public had
been provided an opportunity to comment on the original measures. A
delay would be contrary to the public interest for the Atlantic
mackerel fishery. Implementing a reduced DAH for fishing year 2022 was
anticipated and discussed during development and implementation of the
original specifications action (86 FR 38586, June 22, 2021), as well as
at the August and October 2021 Council meetings. Fishery stakeholders
are anticipating action to reduce mackerel harvest for the entirety of
2022, and they were provided the opportunity to comment on this in
response to the public notice for the original interim rule.
Where the public has had an opportunity to review the development
of the Council action to reduce Atlantic mackerel catch for 2022 based
on the best available science (the purpose of this action), as well as
the original interim rule, the value of a delay in its effectiveness
would be outweighed by the need to implement this adjustment as quickly
as possible. Failure to implement this action as quickly as possible
for the remainder of the 2022 fishing year could result in 2022 catch
that could have potential negative biological impacts, as well as the
potential to hinder the efficacy of the Council's new rebuilding plan,
which presumed the interim measures would apply to the entirety of
2022. Given the high-volume nature of the fishery and the reduced DAH,
there is a risk that the fishery will exceed the DAH if there is a
lapse of the interim rule. A delay would be contrary to the public
interest while we take action to implement the Council's new rebuilding
plan for this species. For the same reasons, the Assistant
Administrator finds good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to waive the
30-day delay of effectiveness period for this. This rule should be
effective as close to and not after, July 11, 2022, as possible, to
fully realize the intended benefits to this high-volume fishery.
This action is being taken pursuant to the 305(c) emergency action
and interim measures provision of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and is
exempt from Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review.
This temporary rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
This rule does not duplicate, conflict, or overlap with any
existing Federal rules.
This action would not establish any new reporting or recordkeeping
requirements.
This interim rule contains no information collection requirements
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: June 28, 2022.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-14181 Filed 7-5-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on July 6, 2022.
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