Rule2023-22589
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Gulf of Maine Cod Possession and Trip Limit Adjustment for the Common Pool 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
October 12, 2023
Effective
October 12, 2023
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
This action decreases the possession and trip limits for Gulf of Maine (GOM) cod for Northeast multispecies common pool vessels for the remainder of the 2023 fishing year, through April 30, 2024. The National Marine Fisheries Service projects that, at its current trajectory, the common pool will exceed its 2023 sub-Annual Catch Limit for GOM cod. This decrease in the possession and trip limit for Gulf of Maine cod is intended to prevent the common pool fishery from exceeding its allocation for this stock prior to the end of the fishing year.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 196 (Thursday, October 12, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 196 (Thursday, October 12, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 70606-70607]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-22589]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 230810-0190; RTID 0648-XD416]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast
Multispecies Fishery; Gulf of Maine Cod Possession and Trip Limit
Adjustment for the Common Pool Fishery
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; in-season adjustment.
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SUMMARY: This action decreases the possession and trip limits for Gulf
of Maine (GOM) cod for Northeast multispecies common pool vessels for
the remainder of the 2023 fishing year, through April 30, 2024. The
National Marine Fisheries Service projects that, at its current
trajectory, the common pool will exceed its 2023 sub-Annual Catch Limit
for GOM cod. This decrease in the possession and trip limit for Gulf of
Maine cod is intended to prevent the common pool fishery from exceeding
its
[[Page 70607]]
allocation for this stock prior to the end of the fishing year.
DATES: This action is effective October 12, 2023, through April 30,
2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Spencer Talmage, Fishery Policy
Analyst, (978) 281-9232.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The regulations at Sec. 648.86 (o) provide
that NMFS may adjust the possession and trip limits for common pool
vessels in order to help prevent the overharvest or underharvest of the
common pool quotas. The fishing year 2023 common pool sub-annual catch
limit (ACL) for Gulf of Maine GOM cod is 10.6 metric tons (mt). Catch
through Trimester 1, which ended on August 31, 2023, was 8.5 mt, or
80.2 percent of the sub-ACL. As a result, as of September 1, 2023, 2.1
mt remained of the common pool sub-ACL of GOM cod. Common pool catch of
GOM cod triggered a closure of the Trimester 1 Total Allowable Catch
Area for the stock on July 27, 2023 (88 FR 50065), which was effective
through August 31, 2023, the end of Trimester 1.
An analysis was conducted to project common pool catch from the
start of Trimester 2 on September 1, 2023, through the end of the
fishing year on April 30, 2024. Fishing history during this time period
from fishing years 2020, 2021, and 2022 was used to estimate common
pool catch under a range of different trip limit options, including the
150-pound (lb) (68-kilogram (kg)) per Day-at-Sea (DAS)/300-lb (136.1-
kg) per trip limit currently in place. The resulting estimates were
compared to the amount of quota remaining in the common pool sub-ACL of
GOM cod on September 1, 2023.
Based on this analysis, NMFS projects that, at the current trip
limit of 150 lb (68 kg) per DAS/300 lb (136.1 kg) per trip, the common
pool will exceed its fishing year 2023 sub-ACL. If this occurs,
regulations require that the overage must be deducted from the common
pool's fishing year 2024 sub-ACL for GOM cod, which would have a
negative economic impact on common pool vessels. Therefore, we are
implementing a decrease to the possession and trip limits for GOM cod
to help prevent the common pool fishery from exceeding its fishing year
2023 sub-ACL for GOM cod.
Effective October 12, 2023, the GOM cod possession and trip limits
are decreased to 50 lb (22.7 kg) per DAS, up to 100 lb (45.4 kg) per
trip, as summarized in Table 1 below.
Table 1--New Possession and Trip Limits for GOM Cod
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Current possession/ New possession/trip
Permit type trip limits limits
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Days-At-Sea (A DAS)......... 150 lb (68 kg) per 50 lb (22.7 kg) per
DAS, up to 300 lb DAS, up to 100 lb
(136.1 kg) per trip. (45.4 kg) per trip.
Handgear A.................. 150 lb (68 kg) per 50 lb (22.7 kg) per
trip. trip.
Handgear B.................. 25 lb (11.3 kg) per Unchanged.
trip.
Small Vessel Category....... 150 lb (11.3 kg) per 50 lb (22.7 kg) per
trip, within trip, within
combined 300 lb combined 300 lb
(136.1 kg) trip (136.1 kg) trip
limit for cod, limit for cod,
haddock, and haddock, and
yellowtail flounder. yellowtail
flounder.
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Since the analysis on which this action was based was conducted,
additional catch has been landed. Catch data reported through September
12, 2023, showed that the common pool has now caught 8.7 mt of GOM cod,
82.5 percent of the sub-ACL, leaving 1.9 mt of catch available from
that date until the sub-ACL is achieved.
Weekly quota monitoring reports for the common pool fishery are on
our website at: <a href="https://www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/ro/fso/reports/h/nemultispecies.html">https://www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/ro/fso/reports/h/nemultispecies.html</a>. We will continue to monitor common pool
catch through vessel trip reports, dealer-reported landings, Vessel
Monitoring System (VMS) catch reports, and other available information
and, if necessary, will make additional adjustments to common pool
management measures.
Common pool groundfish vessels that have declared their trip
through the VMS or the interactive voice response system, and crossed
the VMS demarcation line prior to October 12, 2023, are not subject to
the new possession and trip limits for that trip.
Classification
This action is authorized 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) and 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to waive prior
notice and the opportunity for public comment and the 30-day delayed
effectiveness period because it would be impracticable and contrary to
the public interest.
Regulations at Sec. 648.86 (o) provide that NMFS may adjust the
Northeast multispecies possession and trip limits for common pool
vessels in order to prevent the overharvest or under-harvest of the
pertinent common pool quotas. We have projected that the 150-lb (68-kg)
per DAS, up to 300-lb (136.1-kg) per trip limits for GOM cod will
result in the common pool exceeding its fishing year 2023 sub-ACL for
this stock. This action reduces these trip limits to help prevent the
common pool exceeding its fishing year 2023 sub-ACL.
The time necessary to provide for prior notice and comment, and a
30-day delay in effectiveness, would prevent these reductions from
being implemented in a timely manner. This action could not have taken
place sooner because the catch data and analysis used as the basis for
this action have only recently become available on September 21, 2023.
Delays in implementation increase the probability of an overage of the
common pool sub-ACL for this stock, which would undermine the
conservation objectives of the Northeast Multispecies Fishery
Management Plan and trigger the implementation of accountability
measures that would require deduction of the overage from common pool's
quota for the next fishing year. These deductions would have negative
economic impacts to the common pool fishery. The regulations
authorizing this action have been in effect for many years, and the
fishing industry expects NMFS to take timely in-season action to
prevent overages and their payback requirements.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: October 6, 2023.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-22589 Filed 10-11-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on October 12, 2023.
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