Rule2023-08601
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery; 2023 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
April 24, 2023
Effective
April 21, 2023
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 2023 fishing year for Limited Access General Category vessels. Regulations require this action once NMFS projects that 100 percent of the Northern Gulf of Maine Set-Aside will be harvested. This action is intended to prevent the overharvest of the 2023 Northern Gulf of Maine Set-Aside.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 78 (Monday, April 24, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 78 (Monday, April 24, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 24713-24714]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-08601]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 220325-0078; RTID 0648-XC939]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Sea Scallop
Fishery; 2023 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 2023 fishing year for
Limited Access General Category vessels. Regulations require this
action once NMFS projects that 100 percent of the Northern Gulf of
Maine Set-Aside will be harvested. This action is intended to prevent
the overharvest of the 2023 Northern Gulf of Maine Set-Aside.
DATES: Effective 0001 hr local time, April 21, 2023, through March 31,
2024.
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 the NGOM
Set-Aside for the 2023 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 Limited Access General
Category (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 NGOM Set-Aside is
projected to be harvested. Any vessel that holds a Federal NGOM (LAGC
B) or Individual Fishing Quota (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 2023 NGOM Set-Aside will be
harvested as of April 21, 2023. 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 April 21, 2023. 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, April 21, 2023, 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
[[Page 24714]]
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,
April 21, 2023, may complete its trip and land scallops. This closure
is in effect until the end of the 2023 scallop fishing year, through
March 31, 2024.
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 2023 fishing year on April 1, 2023. 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 NGOM
Set-Aside. 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 set-aside is harvested. The rapid harvest rate
that has occurred in the last 2 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 2023
NGOM Set-Aside 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 2023 NGOM management provisions (88 FR
19559, April 3, 2023).
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: April 19, 2023.
Kelly Denit,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-08601 Filed 4-19-23; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on April 24, 2023.
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