Rule2024-00187
Temporary Rule To Extend Gulf of Maine Haddock Emergency Action for 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
January 9, 2024
Effective
January 9, 2024
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
This temporary rule implements an extension of the Gulf of Maine haddock emergency action for the Northeast multispecies fishery through the remainder of the 2023 fishing year. The emergency action extension is necessary to minimize the potential economic consequences associated with a substantial reduction in the Gulf of Maine haddock annual catch limit compared to recent years for a stock that remains at a very high level of biomass, while still preventing overfishing.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 6 (Tuesday, January 9, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 6 (Tuesday, January 9, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 1036-1037]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-00187]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 230810-0190; RTID 0648-BL95]
Temporary Rule To Extend Gulf of Maine Haddock Emergency Action
for the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; emergency action.
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SUMMARY: This temporary rule implements an extension of the Gulf of
Maine haddock emergency action for the Northeast multispecies fishery
through the remainder of the 2023 fishing year. The emergency action
extension is necessary to minimize the potential economic consequences
associated with a substantial reduction in the Gulf of Maine haddock
annual catch limit compared to recent years for a stock that remains at
a very high level of biomass, while still preventing overfishing.
DATES: Effective January 9, 2024, through April 30, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Claire Fitz-Gerald, Fishery Policy
Analyst, (978) 281-9255.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: At the New England Fishery Management
Council's request, NMFS took emergency action to increase the Gulf of
Maine (GOM) haddock acceptable biological catch (ABC). NMFS increased
the ABC to 100 percent of the fishing mortality associated with the
maximum sustainable yield (F<INF>MSY</INF>) (2,515 metric tons (mt))
for fishing year 2023. The emergency measures were included in the
final rule for Framework Adjustment 65 to the Northeast Multispecies
Fishery Management Plan (FMP) (88 FR 56527; August 18, 2023).
The Council took final action on Framework 65 at its December 2022
meeting. Framework 65 set fishing year 2023 specifications for 16
groundfish stocks, including GOM haddock. The ABC for GOM haddock
included in Framework 65 for fishing year 2023 was 1,936 mt. This ABC
represented an 83-percent reduction from the fishing year 2022 ABC. The
recommendation was based on the results of the 2022 management track
assessment for the stock and a 75-percent F<INF>MSY</INF>, which is
consistent with the Council's ABC control rule for stocks that are not
in a rebuilding plan.
Following the December 2022 Council meeting, members of the fishing
industry started reporting an unanticipated increase in interactions
with GOM haddock and raising concerns that the fishery may either meet
or exceed its allocation of GOM haddock mid-fishing year due to the low
quota, which could result in the closure of the GOM broad stock area to
the commercial groundfish fleet or forgoing other fishing opportunities
in the GOM in an effort to avoid haddock, both of which would have
severely negative impacts for the fishery.
At its April meeting, in response to fishing industry concerns, the
Council voted to request that NMFS implement an emergency action to set
the GOM haddock ABC for fishing year 2023 at 90 percent of
F<INF>MSY</INF>, or 2,281 mt, rather than the ABC that was recommended
in Framework 65 (1,936 mt, based on 75-percent of F<INF>MSY</INF>). On
May 2, 2023, the Council sent a letter requesting the emergency action.
NMFS reviewed the request and determined that this situation met the
criteria specified for emergency rulemaking (62 FR 44421; August 21,
1997). NMFS based this decision on the robust status of the stock,
which is estimated to be at 270 percent of its biomass target, recent
survey trends indicating that the stock may have experienced another
episodic positive recruitment event in 2020, and the temporary nature
of the emergency action and any potential extension. NMFS determined
that the GOM haddock ABC could be set as high as 100 percent of
F<INF>MSY</INF> (2,515 mt) for fishing year 2023 to minimize economic
harm to industry to the extent practicable, while still preventing
overfishing. The emergency action implementing the increased fishing
year 2023 GOM haddock ABC published on August 18, 2023.
The emergency measures will expire on February 14, 2024, under the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act's initial 180-
day limit on the duration of an emergency action. The Magnuson-Stevens
Act allows an extension of emergency actions for up to 186 days
provided that the public had an opportunity to comment on the emergency
action and, for Council-recommended actions, the Council is actively
preparing measures to address the emergency. The Council has developed
measures to address on an ongoing basis the underlying conditions for
the emergency action, and the public had an opportunity to comment on
the emergency action as noted below.
At its December 2023 meeting, the Council took final action on
Framework 66 to the groundfish FMP, which intends to set specifications
for the 2024 fishing year. Recognizing the increased interactions with
a robust GOM haddock stock and the steep reductions from the 2022
fishing year limits, the GOM haddock ABC included in Framework 66 is
based on 90 percent of F<INF>MSY</INF> (2,406 mt). The fishing year
2024 GOM haddock ABC under Framework 65 is 2,038 mt.
Extending the August 18, 2023, emergency action prevents the GOM
haddock ABC from reverting to 75-percent of F<INF>MSY</INF> (1,936 mt)
when the emergency action expires. The underlying emergency conditions
have not changed. Fishing vessel owners and operators have relied on
the emergency action and have changed their fishing behavior in
anticipation of the emergency action's continuation through the end of
the fishing year. Specifically, fishing vessel operators have avoided
GOM haddock and focused on other available stocks in order to conserve
GOM haddock allocation for the upcoming spring season. While shifts in
GOM haddock interactions are difficult to predict, in both timing and
magnitude, this is consistent with increases in fishing effort and GOM
haddock catch in past springs. Allowing the emergency action to expire
and the ABC to revert to the lower amount approved in Framework 65 mid-
year could prevent the fishery from realizing the benefits of increased
fishing opportunities for which this action was promulgated. Therefore,
we are extending the emergency measures through the end of the 2023
fishing year (April 30, 2024), consistent with the Council's emergency
action request and our analysis for fishing year 2023. For the same
reasons noted in the August 18, 2023, emergency rule, NMFS has
determined that extending the emergency action to maintain the GOM
haddock ABC associated with 100-percent of F<INF>MSY</INF> meets the
criteria for emergency action.
Comments and Responses
NMFS received two comments in response to the emergency action.
[[Page 1037]]
Neither comment was relevant to this action.
Classification
The NMFS Assistant Administrator has determined that this rule is
necessary to respond to an emergency situation and is consistent with
the national standards and other provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act
and other applicable laws.
The NMFS Assistant Administrator finds good cause under 5 U.S.C.
553(b)(B) that it is contrary to the public interest and impracticable
to provide prior notice and opportunity for the public to comment. As
more fully explained above, the reasons justifying promulgation of this
action on an emergency basis, coupled with the fact that the public has
had the opportunity to comment on NMFS' emergency action that this is
extending, make solicitation of public comment unnecessary,
impractical, and contrary to the public interest. In the interest of
receiving public input on this action, the Supplemental Environmental
Assessment analyzing this emergency action was made available to the
public and the original emergency action solicited public comment.
For these same reasons stated above, pursuant to 5 U.S.C.
553(d)(3), NMFS finds good cause to waive the full 30-day delay in
effectiveness for this action. This action extends the emergency
measures currently in place through the remainder of the 2023 fishing
year (April 30, 2024). A 30-day delay in effectiveness would be
contrary to the public interest because the GOM haddock ABC would
temporarily revert to the amount approved in Framework 65, which may
disrupt the fishery and lead to confusion for the fishing industry.
Because of this, there is good cause to waive the requirement for
delayed effectiveness.
This action is being taken pursuant to the emergency provision of
the Magnuson-Stevens Act and is exempt from review by the Office of
Management and Budget.
Because notice and opportunity for comment are not required
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553 or any other law, the analytical requirements
of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) are
inapplicable. Therefore, a regulatory flexibility analysis is not
required and none has been prepared.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: January 3, 2024.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-00187 Filed 1-8-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on January 9, 2024.
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