Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 241 / Monday, December 17, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 64481 

on January 1 in the amount equal to an 

expected reduction in the commercial 

quota. 

The Council’s Scientific and 

Statistical Committee (SSC) recently 

reviewed the results of an interim 

analysis performed by the Southeast 

Fisheries Science Center and 

recommended that the Council reduce 

the red grouper commercial and 

recreational ACLs and ACTs, effective 

for the 2019 fishing year. In addition, 

there have been recent deceases in red 

grouper landings and public testimony 

at the October Council meeting 

expressed concern about the status of 

the red grouper stock. Therefore, at its 

October 2018 meeting, the Council 

began developing a framework action to 

reduce the ACLs and ACTs. In the 

meantime, the Council requested that 

NMFS publish an interim or emergency 

rule to temporarily reduce the red 

grouper commercial and recreational 

ACLs and associated ACTs consistent 

with a red grouper stock ACL of 4.60 

million lb (2.09 million kg), or the 2017 

total red grouper landings, whichever is 

less. The 2017 combined red grouper 

commercial and recreational landings 

were approximately 4.16 million lb 

(1.89 million kg). Therefore, NMFS, is 

considering whether to issue an interim 

or emergency rule to reduce the red 

grouper ACLs and ACTs consistent with 

a stock ACL of 4.16 million lb (1.89 

million kg). 

If NMFS issues the interim or 

emergency rule, the commercial ACL for 

2019 would be 3.16 million lb (1.43 

million kg). This is approximately a 59.4 

percent reduction from the current 

commercial ACL of 8.19 million lb (3.71 

million kg). The commercial ACT is 95 

percent of the ACL, and would be 3.00 

million lb (1.36 million kg). 

Based on the Council’s request, NMFS 

expects a reduction in the red grouper 

quota to occur after January 1, 2019. 

Therefore, consistent with 50 CFR 

622.22(a)(4) NMFS is withholding 4.78 

million lb (2.17 million kg) of the red 

grouper commercial quota when 

allocation is distributed to shareholders 

on January 1, 2019. If a final rule 

implementing the quota reduction is not 

effective by June 1, 2019, NMFS will 

distribute the withheld allocation to the 

shareholders. 

Classification 

The Regional Administrator, 

Southeast Region, NMFS, has 

determined this temporary rule is 

necessary for the conservation and 

management of red grouper in the Gulf 

reef fish fishery and is consistent with 

the Magnuson-Stevens Act and other 

applicable laws. 

This action is taken under 50 CFR 

622.22(a)(4) and is exempt from review 

under Executive Order 12866. 

These measures are exempt from the 

procedures of the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act because the temporary rule is issued 

without opportunity for prior notice and 

public comment. 

This action responds to the best 

scientific information available. The 

Assistant Administrator for NOAA 

Fisheries (AA) finds that the need to 

immediately implement this action to 

withhold a portion of the red grouper 

commercial quota constitutes good 

cause to waive the requirements to 

provide prior notice and opportunity for 

public comment on this temporary rule 

pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), because 

such procedures are unnecessary and 

contrary to the public interest. Such 

procedures are unnecessary because the 

ability to withhold a percentage of the 

commercial quota as specified at 50 CFR 

622.22(a)(4) has already been subject to 

notice and public comment. All that 

remains is to notify the public of the 

amount of the applicable commercial 

quota to be withheld on January 1, 2019. 

Such procedures are contrary to the 

public interest because of the need to 

immediately implement this action to 

protect the red grouper stock and 

effectively manage the Gulf IFQ 

program. 

For the aforementioned reasons, the 

AA also finds good cause to waive the 

30-day delay in the effectiveness of this 

action under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3). 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. 

Dated: December 11, 2018. 

Jennifer M. Wallace, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2018–27201 Filed 12–14–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 170828822–70999–04] 

RIN 0648–XG669 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Summer Flounder Fishery; 

Quota Transfer 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; quota transfer. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the 

Commonwealth of Virginia is 

transferring a portion of its 2018 

commercial summer flounder quota to 

the State of Connecticut. This quota 

adjustment is necessary to comply with 

the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black 

Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan 

quota transfer provisions. This 

announcement informs the public of the 

revised commercial quotas for Virginia 

and Connecticut. 

DATES: Effective December 14, 2018, 

through December 31, 2018. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Cynthia Ferrio, Fishery Management 

Specialist, (978) 281–9180. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Regulations governing the summer 

flounder fishery are found in 50 CFR 

648.100 through 648.110. These 

regulations require annual specification 

of a commercial quota that is 

apportioned among the coastal states 

from Maine through North Carolina. The 

process to set the annual commercial 

quota and the percent allocated to each 

state is described in § 648.102, and the 

initial 2018 allocations were published 

on December 22, 2017 (82 FR 60682), 

and corrected January 30, 2018 (83 FR 

4165). 

The final rule implementing 

Amendment 5 to the Summer Flounder 

Fishery Management Plan, as published 

in the Federal Register on December 17, 

1993 (58 FR 65936), provided a 

mechanism for transferring summer 

flounder commercial quota from one 

state to another. Two or more states, 

under mutual agreement and with the 

concurrence of the NMFS Greater 

Atlantic Regional Administrator, can 

transfer or combine summer flounder 

commercial quota under § 648.102(c)(2). 

The Regional Administrator is required 

to consider the criteria in 

§ 648.102(c)(2)(i)(A) through (C) in the 

evaluation of requests for quota transfers 

or combinations. 

Virginia is transferring 20,000 lb 

(9,072 kg) of summer flounder 

commercial quota to Connecticut 

through mutual agreement of the states. 

Based on the initial quotas published in 

the 2018 Summer Flounder, Scup, and 

Black Sea Bass Specifications and 

subsequent adjustments, the revised 

summer flounder quotas for calendar 

year 2018 are now: Virginia, 1,351,972 

lb (613,244 kg); and Connecticut, 

167,768 lb (76,098 kg). 

Classification 

This action is taken under 50 CFR 

part 648 and is exempt from review 

under Executive Order 12866. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. 


amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with RULES
64482 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 241 / Monday, December 17, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 

Dated: December 11, 2018. 

Jennifer M. Wallace, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2018–27200 Filed 12–14–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 180906820–8999–02] 

RIN 0648–BI48 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Summer Flounder, Scup, and 

Black Sea Bass Fisheries; 2019 

Specifications 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: NMFS implements 2019 

specifications for the summer flounder 

and black sea bass fisheries and 

maintains previously-established 2019 

specifications for the scup fishery. 

Additionally, this action reopens the 

February 2018 black sea bass 

recreational fishery and adjusts the 

current commercial incidental 

possession limit for scup. The 

implementing regulations for the 

Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea 

Bass Fishery Management Plan require 

us to publish specifications for the 

upcoming fishing year for each of these 

species. The intent of this action is to 

inform the public of the specifications 

and management measures for the start 

of the 2019 fishing year for these three 

species. These specifications may be 

revised mid-year based on the results of 

ongoing stock assessments. 

DATES: Effective January 1, 2019. 

ADDRESSES: An environmental 

assessment (EA) was prepared for this 

action that describes these measures and 

other considered alternatives, and 

provides an analysis of the impacts of 

the measures and alternatives. Copies of 

the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black 

Sea Bass 2019 Specifications, including 

the EA, are available on request from Dr. 

Christopher M. Moore, Executive 

Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council, Suite 201, 800 

North State Street, Dover, DE 19901. 

These documents are also accessible via 

the internet at http://www.mafmc.org/s/ 

SFSBSB_2019_specs_EA.pdf. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Emily Gilbert, Fishery Policy Analyst, 

(978) 281–9244. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

General Background 

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council and the Atlantic 

States Marine Fisheries Commission 

cooperatively manage the summer 

flounder, scup, and black sea bass 

fisheries. The Summer Flounder, Scup, 

and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management 

Plan (FMP) and its implementing 

regulations outline the Council’s 

process for establishing specifications. 

Specifications in these fisheries include 

various catch and landing subdivisions, 

such as the commercial and recreational 

sector annual catch limits (ACL), annual 

catch targets (ACT), and sector-specific 

landing limits (i.e., the commercial 

fishery quota and recreational harvest 

limit), as well as management measures, 

as needed, that are designed to ensure 

these catch limits will not be exceeded. 

Annual specifications may be 

established for three-year periods, and, 

in interim years, specifications are 

reviewed by the Council to ensure 

previously established multi-year 

specifications remain appropriate. The 

FMP also contains formulas to divide 

the specification catch limits into 

commercial and recreational fishery 

allocations, state-by-state quotas, and 

quota periods, depending on the species 

in question. Rulemaking for measures 

used to manage the recreational 

fisheries (minimum fish sizes, open 

seasons, and bag limits) for these three 

species occurs separately, and typically 

takes place in the spring of each year. 

This action sets 2019 specifications 

for summer flounder and black sea bass. 

The previously-approved 2019 scup 

specifications (82 FR 60682; December 

22, 2017) remain unchanged from the 

current two-year specifications and are 

maintained through this action. 

An ongoing summer flounder 

benchmark assessment incorporating 

updated Marine Recreational 

Information Program (MRIP) data is 

scheduled to be available in early 2019. 

Operational assessments for black sea 

bass and scup will also be completed in 

April 2019 to incorporate revised MRIP 

data. Because new information for all 

three species is likely in the next few 

months, the Council and Commission’s 

Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea 

Bass Board only recommended interim 

specifications for 2019, and the Council 

and Board may develop mid-year 

changes to the summer flounder 

specifications, and possibly black sea 

bass specifications, to address the 

forthcoming updated assessment 

information. 

The proposed rule for this action 

published in the Federal Register on 

November 15, 2018 (83 FR 57389), and 

comments were accepted through 

November 30, 2018. We received 11 

comments. 

2019 Summer Flounder Specifications 

At their August 2018 meeting, the 

Council and Board recommended 

interim summer flounder specifications 

for the start of the 2019 fishing year 

(Table 1). Compared to 2018, the interim 

2019 commercial quota and recreational 

harvest limit are a 16-percent increase. 

The Council and Board intend to 

consider revising these interim summer 

flounder specifications at a joint 

meeting in February 2019 to address the 

results of the benchmark stock 

assessment. If a change in catch limits 

is recommended by the Council and 

Board, we anticipate updated catch 

limits could be in place this spring and 

would announce any adjustments 

through a future rule. 

TABLE 1—CURRENT 2018 AND FINAL 2019 SUMMER FLOUNDER SPECIFICATIONS

2018 (current) 2019 Difference 

(%) million lb mt million lb mt 

Overfishing Limits (OFL) ...................................................... 18.69 8,476 20.60 9,344 10 

ABC ...................................................................................... 13.23 5,999 15.41 6,990 16 

Commercial ACL .................................................................. 7.70 3,491 9.18 4,164 19 

Commercial ACT .................................................................. 7.70 3,491 * 8.14 3,692 19 

Projected Commercial Discards .......................................... 1.07 485 1.47 667 2 

Commercial Quota ............................................................... 6.63 3,006 * 6.67 3,030 16 

Recreational ACL ................................................................. 5.53 2,508 6.22 2,821 12 

Recreational ACT ................................................................. 5.53 2,508 6.22 2,821 12 


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