65574 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 245 / Friday, December 21, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 

meaningful input and review with 

public comment on this action. 

Therefore, the AA finds good cause 

under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) to waive prior 

notice and the opportunity for public 

comment. For all of the above reasons, 

there is also good cause under 5 U.S.C. 

553(d) to waive the 30-day delay in 

effectiveness. 

This action is being taken under 50 

CFR 635.24(b)(4) and is exempt from 

review under Executive Order 12866. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq. and 1801 

et seq. 

Dated: December 18, 2018. 

Karen H. Abrams, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2018–27666 Filed 12–18–18; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 180209147–8509–02] 

RIN 0648–XG674 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Small-Mesh Multispecies 

Fishery; Inseason Adjustment to the 

Southern Red Hake Possession Limit 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; inseason 

adjustment. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the 

commercial per-trip possession limit for 

southern red hake has been reduced for 

the remainder of the 2018 fishing year. 

Regulations governing the small-mesh 

multispecies fishery require this action 

to prevent the southern red hake total 

allowable landing limit from being 

exceeded. This announcement also 

informs the public of the reduced 

southern red hake possession limit. 

DATES: Effective December 26, 2018, 

through April 30, 2019. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Cynthia Ferrio, Fishery Management 

Specialist, (978) 281–9180. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Regulations governing the red hake 

fishery are found at 50 CFR part 648. 

The small-mesh multispecies fishery is 

managed primarily through a series of 

exemptions from the Northeast 

Multispecies Fisheries Management 

Plan. The regulations describing the 

process to adjust inseason commercial 

possession limits of southern red hake 

are described in § 648.86(d)(4) and 

§ 648.90(b)(5). These regulations require 

the NMFS Regional Administrator, 

Greater Atlantic Region, to reduce the 

southern red hake per-trip possession 

limit from 5,000 lb (2,268 kg) to the 

incidental limit of 400 lb (181 kg) when 

landings have been projected to reach or 

exceed 90 percent of the total allowable 

landings (TAL), unless such a reduction 

is expected to prevent the TAL from 

being reached. The final rule 

implementing the small-mesh 

multispecies specifications for 2018– 

2020 (83 FR 27713; June 14, 2018) set 

the southern red hake inseason 

adjustment threshold for the 2018 

fishing year as 605,169 lb (274,500 kg); 

90 percent of the southern red hake TAL 

for the year. 

Based on commercial landings data 

reported through December 8, 2018, the 

southern red hake fishery is projected to 

reach 90 percent of the TAL on or 

around December 26, 2018. NMFS is 

required to reduce the commercial 

southern red hake possession limit 

when 90 percent of the TAL is projected 

to be reached, to prevent the TAL from 

being exceeded. We do not anticipate 

that this reduced possession limit will 

prevent the TAL from being achieved. 

Therefore, effective December 26, 2018, 

no person may possess on board or land 

more than 400 lb (181 kg) of southern 

red hake per trip for the remainder of 

the fishing year (i.e., through April 30, 

2019). 

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 

under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) to waive prior 

notice and the opportunity for public 

comment because it would be contrary 

to the public interest. This action 

reduces the per-trip possession limit for 

southern red hake to the incidental limit 

of 400 lb (181 kg) until April 30, 2019, 

under current small-mesh multispecies 

fishery regulations. The regulations at 

§ 648.86(d) require such action to ensure 

that commercial small-mesh 

multispecies vessels do not exceed the 

TAL set for the southern red hake stock. 

If implementation of this reduction was 

delayed to solicit prior public comment, 

the southern red hake TAL for this 

fishing year may be exceeded, thereby 

undermining the conservation 

objectives of the Small-Mesh 

Multispecies Fishery Management Plan. 

Therefore, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 

553(d)(3), the Assistant Administrator 

further finds good cause to waive the 

30-day delayed effectiveness period for 

the reason stated above. 

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

Dated: December 18, 2018. 

Karen H. Abrams, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2018–27689 Filed 12–18–18; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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