Rule2023-00979
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery; Closure of the Closed Area I Scallop Access Area to General Category Individual Fishing Quota Scallop Vessels
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
January 19, 2023
Effective
January 14, 2023
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS announces that the Closed Area I Scallop Access Area is closed to Limited Access General Category Individual Fishing Quota scallop vessels for the remainder of the 2022 fishing year. Regulations require this action once it is projected that 100 percent of trips allocated to the Limited Access General Category Individual Fishing Quota scallop vessels for the Closed Area I Scallop Access Area will be taken. This action is intended to prevent the number of trips in the Closed Area I Scallop Access Area from exceeding what is allowed under the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 12 (Thursday, January 19, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 12 (Thursday, January 19, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 3317]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-00979]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 220325-0078; RTID 0648-XC494]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Sea Scallop
Fishery; Closure of the Closed Area I Scallop Access Area to General
Category Individual Fishing Quota Scallop Vessels
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; closure.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Closed Area I Scallop Access Area is
closed to Limited Access General Category Individual Fishing Quota
scallop vessels for the remainder of the 2022 fishing year. Regulations
require this action once it is projected that 100 percent of trips
allocated to the Limited Access General Category Individual Fishing
Quota scallop vessels for the Closed Area I Scallop Access Area will be
taken. This action is intended to prevent the number of trips in the
Closed Area I Scallop Access Area from exceeding what is allowed under
the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan.
DATES: Effective 0001 hr local time, January 14, 2023, through March
31, 2023.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Louis Forristall, Fishery Management
Specialist, (978) 281-9321.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations governing fishing activity in
the Sea Scallop Access Areas can be found in 50 CFR 648.59 and 648.60.
These regulations authorize vessels issued a valid Limited Access
General Category (LAGC) Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) scallop permit
to fish in the Closed Area I Scallop Access Area under specific
conditions, including a total of 714 trips that may be taken during the
2022 fishing year. Section 648.59(g)(3)(iii) requires NMFS to close the
Closed Area I Scallop Access Area to LAGC IFQ permitted vessels for the
remainder of the fishing year once it determines that the allocated
number of trips for the fishing year are projected to be taken.
Based on trip declarations by LAGC IFQ scallop vessels fishing in
the Closed Area I Scallop Access Area, analysis of fishing effort, and
other information, NMFS projects that 714 trips will be taken as of
January 14, 2023. Therefore, in accordance with Sec.
648.59(g)(3)(iii), NMFS is closing the Closed Area I Scallop Access
Area to all LAGC IFQ scallop vessels as of January 14, 2023. No vessel
issued an LAGC IFQ permit may fish for, possess, or land scallops in or
from the Closed Area I Scallop Access Area after 0001 hr local time,
January 14, 2023. Any LAGC IFQ vessel that has declared into the Closed
Area I Access Area scallop fishery, complied with all trip notification
and observer requirements, and crossed the Vessel Monitoring System
demarcation line on the way to the area before 0001 hr, January 14,
2023, may complete its trip without being subject to this closure. This
closure is in effect for the remainder of the 2022 scallop fishing
year, through March 31, 2023.
Classification
NMFS issues this action pursuant to section 305(d) of the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. This action is
required by 50 CFR part 648, which was issued pursuant to section
304(b), and is exempt from review under Executive Order 12866.
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), there is good cause to waive prior
notice and an opportunity for public comment on this action, as notice
and comment would be impracticable and contrary to the public interest.
The Closed Area I Scallop Access Area opened for the 2022 fishing year
on April 1, 2022. The regulations at Sec. 648.59(g)(3)(iii) require
this closure to ensure that LAGC IFQ scallop vessels do not take more
than their allocated number of trips in the area. The projected date on
which the LAGC IFQ fleet will have taken all of its allocated trips in
an Access Area becomes apparent only as trips into the area occur on a
real-time basis and as activity trends begin to appear. As a result,
NMFS can only make an accurate projection very close in time to when
the fleet has taken all of its trips. To allow LAGC IFQ scallop vessels
to continue to take trips in the Closed Area I Scallop Access Area
during the period necessary to publish and receive comments on a
proposed rule would likely result in the vessels taking much more than
the allowed number of trips in the Closed Area I Scallop Access Area.
Excessive trips and harvest from the Closed Area I Scallop Access Area
would result in excessive fishing effort in the area, where effort
controls are critical, thereby undermining conservation objectives of
the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan and requiring more
restrictive future management measures. Also, the public had prior
notice and full opportunity to comment on this closure process when it
was enacted, as well as during the public comment period on the action
to set specifications for the 2022 fishing year. For these same
reasons, NMFS further finds, under 5 U.S.C 553(d)(3), good cause to
waive the 30-day delayed effectiveness period.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: January 13, 2023.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-00979 Filed 1-13-23; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on January 19, 2023.
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