Rule2023-08877
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Herring Fishery; 2023 River Herring and Shad Catch Cap Reached for Midwater Trawl Vessels in the Cape Cod Catch Cap Area
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 27, 2023
Effective
April 26, 2023
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS is implementing a 2,000-lb (907.2-kg) Atlantic herring possession limit for herring vessels fishing with midwater trawl gear in the Cape Cod Catch Cap Closure Area. This is required because NMFS projects that midwater trawl herring vessels will catch 95 percent of the river herring and shad catch cap allocated to the Cape Cod Catch Cap Area before the end of the fishing year. This action is intended to prevent overharvest of river herring and shad.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 81 (Thursday, April 27, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 81 (Thursday, April 27, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 25557-25558]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-08877]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 230316-0077]
RTID 0648-XC789
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Herring
Fishery; 2023 River Herring and Shad Catch Cap Reached for Midwater
Trawl Vessels in the Cape Cod Catch Cap Area
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; possession limit adjustment.
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SUMMARY: NMFS is implementing a 2,000-lb (907.2-kg) Atlantic herring
possession limit for herring vessels fishing with midwater trawl gear
in the Cape Cod Catch Cap Closure Area. This is required because NMFS
projects that midwater trawl herring vessels will catch 95 percent of
the river herring and shad catch cap allocated to the Cape Cod Catch
Cap Area before the end of the fishing year. This action is intended to
prevent overharvest of river herring and shad.
DATES: Effective 0001 hr local time, April 26, 2023, through December
31, 2023.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Maria Fenton, Fishery Management
Specialist, 978-281-9196.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Regional Administrator of the Greater
Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office monitors river herring and shad
catch by Atlantic herring vessels. River herring and shad catch caps
are allocated to the herring fishery by area and gear type. The four
river herring and shad catch caps that are currently allocated to the
herring fishery are:
<bullet> Gulf of Maine Midwater Trawl Catch Cap;
<bullet> Cape Cod Midwater Trawl Catch Cap;
<bullet> Southern New England Bottom Trawl Catch Cap; and
<bullet> Southern New England Midwater Trawl Catch Cap.
Catch from all trips that land more than 6,600 lb (2,994 kg) of
herring is counted towards the applicable river herring and shad catch
cap. Regulations at 50 CFR 648.201(a)(4)(ii) require NMFS to implement
a 2,000-lb (907.2-kg) herring possession limit for vessels fishing with
the specified gear in a specified catch cap closure area beginning on
the date that catch is projected to reach 95 percent of the river
herring and shad catch cap for that area.
Based on vessel reports, dealer reports, and other available
information, the Regional Administrator estimates that midwater trawl
herring vessels will have caught 96 percent of the 2023 river herring
and shad catch cap allocated to the Cape Cod Catch Cap Area by April
20, 2023. Therefore, effective 0001 hr local time April 26, 2023,
through 2400 hr local time on December 31, 2023, midwater trawl vessels
may not attempt or do any of the following: Fish for, possess,
transfer, receive, land, or sell more than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of
herring from the Cape Cod Catch Cap Closure Area per trip; or land
herring from the Cape Cod Catch Cap Closure Area more than once per
calendar day. Also effective 0001 hr local time, April 26, 2023,
through 2400 hr local time, December 31, 2023, federally permitted
dealers may not attempt or do any of the following: Purchase; receive;
possess; have custody or control of; sell; barter; trade; or transfer
more than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of herring per trip or calendar day from
a midwater trawl vessel fishing in the Cape Cod Catch Cap Closure Area,
unless it is from a vessel that enters port before 0001 hr local
[[Page 25558]]
time on April 26, 2023, and catch is landed in accordance with State
management measures.
Midwater trawl vessels may transit through or land in the Cape Cod
Catch Cap Closure Area with more than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of herring on
board, provided that: The herring were caught in an area not subject to
a 2,000-lb (907.2-kg) limit; all fishing gear is stowed and not
available for immediate use as defined by Sec. 648.2; and the vessel
is issued a permit appropriate to the amount of herring on board and
the area where the herring was harvested.
Classification
This action is required by 50 CFR part 648 and is exempt from
review under Executive Order 12866.
NMFS finds good cause pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B) to waive
prior notice and the opportunity for public comment because it would be
impracticable, unnecessary, and contrary to the public interest. Data
only recently became available indicating that midwater trawl herring
vessels will catch 95 percent of the river herring and shad catch cap
allocated to the Cape Cod Catch Cap Area before the end of the fishing
year. High-volume catch and landings in the herring fishery can
increase river herring and shad catch relative to catch caps quickly.
If implementation of this action is delayed to solicit prior public
comment, the 2023 river herring and shad catch cap allocated to the
Cape Cod Catch Cap Area will likely be exceeded; thereby undermining
the conservation objectives of the Herring Fishery Management Plan
(FMP). Additionally, the regulations at Sec. 648.201(a)(4)(ii) are
designed to be implemented as quickly as possible to prevent catch from
exceeding river herring and shad catch caps and NMFS is acting in
accordance with those regulations to carry out the fishery management
plan under the authority provided in section 305(d) of the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. These regulations were
subject to public notice and opportunity to comment when they were
first adopted in 2014. Further, herring fishing industry participants
monitor catch closely and anticipate potential possession limit
adjustments as catch totals approach river herring and shad catch caps,
and they expect these actions to occur in a timely way consistent with
the FMP's objectives. For the reasons stated above, NMFS also finds
good cause to waive the 30-day delayed effectiveness in accordance with
5 U.S.C 553(d)(3).
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: April 24, 2023.
Kelly Denit,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-08877 Filed 4-24-23; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on April 27, 2023.
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