Rule2023-26655
Adjustment to Sector Annual Catch Entitlements Under the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan
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
December 5, 2023
Effective
January 4, 2024
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
This final rule announces allocation carryover from fishing year 2022 into fishing year 2023 for the Northeast Multispecies sectors program. This action is necessary to distribute carryover quota to sectors. The carryover adjustments in this rule are routine and formulaic, and industry expects them each year.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 232 (Tuesday, December 5, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 232 (Tuesday, December 5, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 84243-84248]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-26655]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 231129-0282; RTID 0648-XD485]
Adjustment to Sector Annual Catch Entitlements Under the
Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary final rule; adjustment to specifications.
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SUMMARY: This final rule announces allocation carryover from fishing
year 2022 into fishing year 2023 for the Northeast Multispecies sectors
program. This action is necessary to distribute carryover quota to
sectors. The carryover adjustments in this rule are routine and
formulaic, and industry expects them each year.
DATES: Effective January 4, 2024, through April 30, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Liz Sullivan, Fishery Policy Analyst,
(978) 282-8493.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 18, 2023, NMFS published a final
rule approving Framework Adjustment 65 to the Northeast Multispecies
Fishery Management Plan (FMP) (88 FR 56527), which revised the
rebuilding plan for Gulf of Maine cod, set annual catch limits (ACL)
for 16 of the 20 groundfish stocks and 2023 ACLs for 3 shared U.S./
Canada stocks, and made a temporary modification to the accountability
measures for Georges Bank cod. This rule distributes unused sector
quota carried over from fishing year 2022 to fishing year 2023.
Sector Carryover Allocations From Fishing Year 2022
Carryover regulations at 50 CFR 648.87(b)(1)(i)(C) allow each
groundfish sector to carry over an amount of unused annual catch
entitlement (ACE) up to 10 percent of the sector's original ACE for
each stock (except for Georges Bank (GB) yellowtail flounder) that is
unused at the end of the fishing year into the following fishing year.
NMFS is required to adjust ACE carryover to ensure that the total
unused ACE combined with the overall sub-ACL does not exceed the
acceptable biological catch (ABC) for the fishing year in which the
carryover may be harvested. NMFS completed the 2022 fishing year data
reconciliation with sectors and determined final 2022 fishing year
sector catch and the amount of allocation that sectors may carry over
from the 2022 to the 2023 fishing year. Accordingly, the available
carryover of unused ACE from fishing year 2022 to fishing year 2023 has
been reduced for the following stocks: GB cod; GB haddock; Gulf of
Maine (GOM) haddock; Cape Cod/GOM yellowtail flounder; witch flounder;
GB winter flounder; Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic (SNE/MA) winter
flounder; redfish; white hake; and pollock. The stocks for which
carryover is the full 10 percent of the original quota allocation from
fishing year 2022 are GOM cod, SNE/MA yellowtail flounder, plaice, and
GOM winter flounder. Complete details on carryover reduction
percentages can be found at: <a href="https://www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/ro/fso/reports/h/groundfish_catch_accounting">https://www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/ro/fso/reports/h/groundfish_catch_accounting</a>.
Table 1 includes the maximum amount of allocation that sectors may
carry over from the 2022 to the 2023 fishing year. Table 2 includes the
de minimis amount of carryover for each sector for the 2023 fishing
year. If the overall ACL for any allocated stock is exceeded for the
2023 fishing year, the allowed carryover harvested by a sector, minus
the pounds in the sector's de minimis amount, will be counted against
its allocation to determine whether an overage subject to an
accountability measure occurred. Tables 3 and 4 list the final ACE
available to sectors for the 2023 fishing year, including finalized
carryover amounts for each sector, as adjusted down when necessary to
equal each stock's ABC.
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Classification
NMFS is issuing this rule pursuant to 305(d) of the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), which provides
specific authority for implementing this action.
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Section 305(d) authorizes NMFS to take action to carry out provisions
in FMPs and of the MSA. In a previous action taken pursuant to section
304(b), NMFS approved the Council designed provisions in the FMP to
authorize NMFS to annually adjust and distribute sector carryover
consistent with MSA requirements to prevent overfishing and achieve
optimum yield. See Sec. 648.87(b)(1)(i)(C). The NMFS Assistant
Administrator has determined that this final rule is consistent with
the Northeast Multispecies FMP, other provisions of the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, and other applicable
laws.
This final rule is exempt from review under Executive Order 12866.
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B), NMFS finds good cause to waive
prior public notice and opportunity for public comment on the
allocation adjustments because allowing time for notice and comment is
impracticable, unnecessary, and contrary to the public interest.
Notice and comment would be impracticable, unnecessary, and
contrary to the public interest, as the distribution of unused quota
carried over from the previous fishing year is an annual adjustment
action that is expected by industry. These adjustments increase
available catch, and sector vessels will be able to fish for this
additional catch as soon as this action is in effect, which will
provide increased operational flexibility and ability to catch its
available allocation. They are routine, formulaic, and authorized by
regulation. The public had prior notice and opportunity to participate
in the development of and comment on the regulations implementing this
process and expects this adjustment each year. Delaying these
adjustments would result in a delay in the distribution of unused
carryover to sectors, and could negate or reduce the intended economic
benefits and increased operational flexibility provided by these
adjustments. Carryover from 2022 was only recently finalized because it
is based on data that was not available until the fall upon the
conclusion of the catch accounting process for fishing year 2022.
Also, because advanced notice and the opportunity for public
comment are not required for this action under the Administrative
Procedure Act, or any other law, the analytical requirements of the
Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601, et seq., do not apply to this
rule. Therefore, no final regulatory flexibility analysis is required
and none has been prepared.
This final rule contains no information collection requirements
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: November 30, 2023.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-26655 Filed 12-4-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on December 5, 2023.
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