Rule2023-27748
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Gulf of Maine Cod Trimester Total Allowable Catch Area Closure and Possession Limit Adjustments 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
December 18, 2023
Effective
December 15, 2023
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
This action prohibits possession of Gulf of Maine cod by common pool vessels through the end of fishing year. This action also closes the Gulf of Maine Cod Trimester Total Allowable Catch Area to Northeast multispecies common pool vessels fishing with trawl gear, sink gillnet gear, and longline/hook gear for Trimester 3 of fishing year 2023. These actions are necessary because the common pool fishery is projected to have achieved the annual sub-annual catch limit and caught more than 90 percent of its Trimester 3 quota for Gulf of Maine cod. This action is intended to prevent overages of the common pool's quota for this stock.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 241 (Monday, December 18, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 241 (Monday, December 18, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 87368-87369]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-27748]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 230810-0190; RTID 0648-XD575]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast
Multispecies Fishery; Gulf of Maine Cod Trimester Total Allowable Catch
Area Closure and Possession Limit Adjustments for the Common Pool
Fishery
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; in-season possession limit adjustment and area
closure.
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SUMMARY: This action prohibits possession of Gulf of Maine cod by
common pool vessels through the end of fishing year. This action also
closes the Gulf of Maine Cod Trimester Total Allowable Catch Area to
Northeast multispecies common pool vessels fishing with trawl gear,
sink gillnet gear, and longline/hook gear for Trimester 3 of fishing
year 2023. These actions are necessary because the common pool fishery
is projected to have achieved the annual sub-annual catch limit and
caught more than 90 percent of its Trimester 3 quota for Gulf of Maine
cod. This action is intended to prevent overages of the common pool's
quota for this stock.
DATES: The prohibition of cod possession by common pool vessels is
effective December 15, 2023, through April 30, 2024. The closure of the
Gulf of Maine Cod Trimester Total Allowable Catch Area is effective
January 1, 2024, through April 30, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Spencer Talmage, Fishery Policy
Analyst, (978) 281-9232.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This temporary rule immediately prohibits
common pool vessel possession of Gulf of Maine (GOM) cod through the
end of the fishing year on April 30, 2024, and closes the GOM Cod
Trimester Total Allowable Catch (TAC) Area from January 1, 2024,
through April 30, 2024. These actions are intended to prevent the
common pool fishery from exceeding the common pool GOM cod Third
Trimester TAC and common pool GOM cod annual sub-Annual Catch Limit
(sub-ACL).
Possession Prohibition for GOM Cod
Recently available fishing year 2023 catch information shows that
as of November 28, 2023, the Northeast Multispecies Common Pool fishery
has caught 100 percent of its 10.6-metric ton (mt) sub-ACL for GOM cod.
Regulations at 50 CFR 648.86(o)(1) provide that the Regional
Administrator may implement or adjust the Days-at-Sea (DAS) possession
limit to prevent an exceedance of the sub-ACL. In addition, regulations
at Sec. 648.82(n)(2)(iii) require a deduction of an amount equal to an
overage from the common pool's sub-ACL in the next fishing year. To
prevent a common pool overage of its 2023 sub-ACL for GOM cod,
effective December 15, 2023, the GOM cod possession and trip limits are
decreased to 0 pounds (lb) (0 kilograms (kg)), and possession is
prohibited for all common pool vessels (table 1).
Table 1--New Possession and Trip Limits for GOM Cod
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Current possession/ New possession/
Permit type trip limits trip limits
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Days-At-Sea (A DAS)........... 50 lb (22.7 kg) per 0 lb (0 kg) per
DAS, up to 100 lb trip;
(45.4 kg) per trip. Possession
Prohibited.
Handgear A.................... 50 lb (22.7 kg) per
trip.
Handgear B.................... 25 lb (11.3 kg) per
trip.
Small Vessel Category......... 150 lb (11.3 kg) per
trip, within combined
300 lb (136.1 kg)
trip limit for cod,
haddock, and
yellowtail flounder.
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Common pool groundfish vessels that have declared their trip
through the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) or the interactive voice
response system, and crossed the VMS demarcation line prior to December
15, 2023, are not subject to the new possession and trip limits for
that trip.
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, VMS catch
reports, and other available information and, if necessary, will make
additional adjustments to common pool management measures.
Closure of the Gulf of Maine Cod Trimester Total Allowable Catch Area
Federal regulations at Sec. 648.82(n)(2)(ii) require the Regional
Administrator to close a common pool Trimester TAC Area for a stock
when 90 percent of the Trimester TAC is projected to be caught. Based
on recently available catch information, common pool vessel catch is
projected to exceed the GOM cod Trimester 3 TAC
[[Page 87369]]
as of November 28, 2023. Consequently, beginning January 1, 2024,
through April 30, 2024, the GOM Cod Trimester TAC Area is closed. The
closure applies to all common pool vessels fishing with gear capable of
catching that stock, and remains in effect for the remainder of the
trimester. During the closure, affected common pool vessels may not
fish for, harvest, possess, or land regulated multispecies or ocean
pout in or from the Trimester TAC Area for the stock.
The common pool fishery is currently in Trimester 2, which runs
from September 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023. Current Trimester 1
and 2 catch amounts leave no Trimester 3 TAC available to catch.
Regulations at Sec. 648.82(n)(2)(iii) state that any overage or
underage of common pool Trimester TACs in Trimesters 1 and 2 must be
accounted for in the Trimester 3 TAC by deducting overages and adding
underages to the Trimester 3 TAC. Common pool catch of GOM cod in
Trimester 1 resulted in an overage of 3.3 mt, leaving only 1.9 mt
available catch for the remainder of the year and Trimester 2.
Deducting the Trimester 1 overage from the current Trimester 2 underage
results in an overall overage of 1.9 mt that must be deducted from the
Trimester 3 TAC. The Trimester 3 TAC is 1.9 mt, so this deduction
results in a Trimester 3 TAC of 0 mt.
With a Trimester 3 TAC of 0 mt, any amount of catch in Trimester 3
would result in the common pool exceeding the Trimester 3 TAC and the
common pool sub-ACL for GOM cod. Additionally, 90 percent of 0 is 0. As
a result, we conclude that on January 1, 2024, the common pool fishery
will have caught 90 percent of the Trimester 3 TAC.
Based on the above, effective on January 1, 2024, the Gulf of Maine
Cod Trimester TAC Area is closed for Trimester 3, through April 30,
2024. The Gulf of Maine Cod Trimester TAC Area consists of statistical
areas 513 and 514. During the closure, common pool vessels fishing with
trawl gear, sink gillnet gear, and longline/hook gear, may not fish
for, harvest, possess, or land regulated multispecies or ocean pout in
or from this area. This closure of the GOM Cod TAC Area ends at the
beginning of Trimester 1 of fishing year 2024 on May 1, 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) 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, unnecessary,
and contrary to the public interest.
The regulations require the Regional Administrator to close a
trimester TAC area to the common pool fishery when 90 percent of the
Trimester TAC for a stock has been caught. Updated catch information
through November 28, 2023, only recently became available indicating
that the common pool fishery is projected to have caught 90 percent of
its Trimester 3 TAC for GOM cod, and 100 percent of its GOM cod sub-
ACL. The time necessary to provide for prior notice and comment, and a
30-day delay in effectiveness, would prevent the timely closure of the
GOM Cod Trimester TAC Area on January 1, 2024, and immediate
prohibition of possession of the stock. Delay in closure would be
contrary to the regulatory requirements and, with a delay in
implementation of the possession prohibition would increase the
likelihood that the common pool fishery would exceed its annual quota
of GOM cod.
Any overage of the annual quota would be deducted from common
pool's quota for the next fishing year, to the detriment of this stock.
This could undermine conservation and management objectives of the
Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan. Prior notice and
comment and a 30-day delay in effectiveness are unnecessary because
fishermen were provided ample notice and opportunity to comment on the
regulations that require this immediate closure. Fishermen expect these
closures to occur in a timely way to prevent overages and their payback
requirements. Overages of the trimester or annual common pool quota
could cause negative economic impacts to the common pool fishery as a
result of overage paybacks deducted from a future trimester or fishing
year.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: December 13, 2023.
Everett Wayne Baxter,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-27748 Filed 12-15-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on December 18, 2023.
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