[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 245 (Monday, December 21, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 82944-82946]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-27852]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 201214-0337]
RIN 0648-BJ98


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Golden Tilefish 
Fishery; Final 2021 and Projected 2022 Specifications and Emergency 
Action

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces final specifications for the 2021 commercial 
golden tilefish fishery and projected specifications for 2022. This 
action also implements temporary emergency measures for the golden 
tilefish fishery at the request of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management 
Council. This action establishes allowable harvest levels and other 
management measures to prevent overfishing while allowing optimum 
yield, consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act and the Tilefish Fishery Management Plan. The emergency 
measures allow a limited one-time carryover of up to 5 percent of 
unharvested fishing quota from the 2020 fishing year into the 2021 
fishing year.

DATES: This rule is effective December 21, 2020. Emergency action 
measures expire June 19, 2021. The 2021 specification measures expire 
November 1, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Supplemental Information Report prepared for 
this action are available from Dr. Christopher M. Moore, Executive 
Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 800 North State 
Street, Suite 201, Dover, DE 19901. These documents are also accessible 
via the internet at http://www.mafmc.org.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Douglas Potts, Fishery Policy Analyst, 
(978) 281-9341.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council manages the golden 
tilefish fishery under the Tilefish Fishery Management Plan (FMP), 
which outlines the Council's process for establishing annual 
specifications. The FMP requires the Council to recommend acceptable 
biological catch (ABC), annual catch limit (ACL), annual catch target 
(ACT), total allowable landings (TAL), and other management measures, 
for up to 3 years at a time. The directed fishery is managed under an 
individual fishing quota (IFQ) program, with small amounts of non-IFQ 
catch allowed under an incidental permit. Detailed background 
information regarding the development of the 2021-2022 specifications 
for this fishery was provided in the specifications proposed rule (85 
FR 72616; November 13, 2020). That information is not repeated here.

Specifications

    The table below shows the 2021 and projected 2022 specifications 
including the ABC, ACL, ACT, and TAL for the commercial Mid-Atlantic 
golden tilefish fishery. NMFS will publish a notice in the Federal 
Register before the 2022 fishing year notifying the public of the final 
specifications.

                         Table 1--2021 and Projected 2022 Golden Tilefish Specifications
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                                                                        2021                 Projected 2022
                                                            ----------------------------------------------------
                                                              million lb       mt        million lb       mt
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ABC........................................................        1.636          742         1.636          742
ACL........................................................        1.636          742         1.636          742
IFQ ACT....................................................        1.554          705         1.554          705
Incidental ACT.............................................        0.082           37         0.082           37
IFQ TAL....................................................        1.554          705         1.554          705
Incidental TAL.............................................        0.070           32         0.070           32
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Under the FMP, 95 percent of the ACL is allocated for the IFQ 
fishery, and the remaining 5 percent is allocated for the incidental 
fishery. This results in the ACT for each. The TAL for each of these 
sectors of the fishery is derived by deducting anticipated discards of 
tilefish from the ACT.
    This action makes no changes to possession limits in the golden 
tilefish fishery. The incidental trip limit remains 500 lb (226.8 kg) 
(live weight), or 50 percent of the weight of all fish being landed, 
whichever is less, and the recreational catch limit remains eight fish 
per angler per trip.

Emergency Action

    At its April 2020 meeting, the Council requested that NMFS take 
emergency action to allow a 5 percent carryover of unharvested IFQ 
quota from fishing year 2020 to 2021. The tilefish IFQ program does not 
normally allow any carryover of unharvested allocation from one fishing 
year into the next. Unforeseen changes in the market for seafood 
resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly the loss of 
restaurant sales due to local closure orders, have substantially 
reduced demand for golden tilefish. A review of golden tilefish IFQ 
landings from November 1, 2019, through June 30, 2020, shows that 
landings were approximately 18.5-percent below the same date in 2018 
and 2019. Because of this unprecedented impact on the fishery, we are 
implementing this one-time carry over under our emergency rulemaking 
authority specified in section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
    Each IFQ quota shareholder will be able to carry over 2020 IFQ 
quota pounds that are not used to land tilefish before the end of the 
fishing year, up to a maximum amount of 5 percent of their initial 2020 
IFQ quota pounds. Final IFQ accounting is normally completed in 
December or January, after all landings data has been submitted and 
undergone normal reviews for quality control and quality assurance. 
Following that accounting, IFQ quota

[[Page 82945]]

shareholders that land less than 95 percent of their initial 2020 quota 
pounds will receive the full 5-percent carryover. Those that land 
between 95 and 100 percent of their initial 2020 quota pounds will 
receive the amount they were under. Revised 2020 allocation permits 
indicating the amount of any carryover will be issued to each IFQ quota 
shareholder. Any increase in the 2021 IFQ TAL reflects 2020 IFQ TAL 
that was not harvested. Thus, total landings for 2020 and 2021 will 
remain at or below the combined IFQ TAL for the 2 years.
    NMFS's policy guidelines for the use of emergency rules (62 FR 
44421; August 21, 1997) specify the following three criteria that 
define what an emergency situation is, and justification for final 
rulemaking: (1) The emergency results from recent, unforeseen events or 
recently discovered circumstances; (2) the emergency presents serious 
conservation or management problems in the fishery; and (3) the 
emergency can be addressed through emergency regulations for which the 
immediate benefits outweigh the value of advance notice, public 
comment, and deliberative consideration of the impacts on participants 
to the same extent as would be expected under the normal rulemaking 
process. NMFS's policy guidelines further provide that emergency action 
is justified for certain situations where emergency action would 
prevent significant direct economic loss, or to preserve a significant 
economic opportunity that otherwise might be foregone. NMFS has 
determined that allowing the carryover of unharvested tilefish IFQ 
quota pounds as described above meets the three criteria for emergency 
action for the reasons outlined below.
    The emergency results from recent, unforeseen events or recently 
discovered circumstances. On March 13, 2020, a national emergency was 
declared in response to the global spread of a novel coronavirus (SARS-
CoV-2), and the outbreaks of the disease caused by this virus, COVID-
19. State governors across the Greater Atlantic region declared states 
of emergency and implemented health and travel restrictions in 
recognition of the growing impacts and risks of COVID-19. The tilefish 
industry began to experience impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic in 
March 2020. These impacts were unforeseen during the development of 
management measures for the 2020 fishing year that began on November 1, 
2019.
    The emergency presents serious conservation or management problems 
in the fishery. When state governors across the Greater Atlantic region 
declared states of emergency, it became exceedingly difficult for 
members of the tilefish industry to complete fishing trips and sell 
their catch to federally permitted tilefish dealers. Even after some 
tilefish dealer activity resumed, the ability of tilefish IFQ quota 
holders to harvest their quota remained very limited, and a number of 
fishermen were unable to harvest their full quota for the 2020 fishing 
year. This emergency action would help prevent additional economic 
losses to industry participants, shoreside businesses, and fishing 
communities, and help offset lost fishing opportunities during the 2020 
fishing year.
    Although the Council has the authority to develop a management 
action to authorize carryover, an emergency action can be developed and 
implemented by NMFS more swiftly than a Council action that is subject 
to requirements not applicable to the Secretary. If the normal Council 
process is used to implement carryover provisions, it would take 
substantially longer for those provisions to be implemented and could 
prevent vessels from harvesting carryover at an opportune time in the 
upcoming fishing year. It was not possible to implement these changes 
for the start of the 2021 fishing year through rulemaking following the 
normal Council process because of time required for the Council to 
develop a FMP amendment or framework adjustment. If implemented through 
emergency action, carryover allocation will be available to fishermen 
early in the tilefish fishing year, which allows maximum flexibility 
and ensures the intended benefits of this action are realized. Making 
carryover quota available for as much of the fishing year as possible 
is important to allow tilefish permit holders to plan to use additional 
quota when it is most beneficial to them. Section 305(c) of the 
Magnuson-Stevens Act specifies that emergency regulations may only 
remain in effect for 180 days from the date of publication and may be 
extended for one additional period of not more than 186 days.

Comments

    The public comment period for the proposed rule ended on November 
30, 2020. We received no relevant comments on the proposed rule.

Changes from Proposed to Final Rule

    There are no changes from the proposed rule.

Classification

    NMFS is issuing this rule pursuant to sections and 304(b) and 
305(c) of the Magnuson Stevens Act, which provide specific authority 
and procedure for implementing this action. Section 304(b) authorizes 
NMFS to implement regulations implementing a fishery management plan or 
plan amendment. Section 305(c) authorizes NMFS to implement regulations 
at the request of the Council to address an emergency in the fishery. 
The NMFS Assistant Administrator has determined that this rule is 
consistent with the Tilefish FMP, other provisions of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act, and other applicable law, subject to further consideration 
after public comment.
    The Assistant Administrator Fisheries, NOAA (AA) finds the need to 
implement these measures in a timely manner to implement the final 
harvest limits for the 2021 fishing year that started on November 1, 
2020, and to implement emergency measures to allow the carryover of up 
to 5 percent of unharvested IFQ quota, constitutes good cause under 
authority contained in 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), to waive the 30-day delay in 
effective date and make the rule effective immediately upon publication 
in the Federal Register. The 2021 tilefish fishing year is already 
underway and delaying the effective date for this rule would undermine 
the intent of this rule. A full assessment of the potential impacts of 
the emergency measures in this action was not available until late 
October, delaying the publication of the proposed rule for this action.
    The 30-day delay in implementation for this rule is also 
unnecessary because this rule contains no new measures (e.g., requiring 
new nets or equipment) for which regulated entities need time to 
prepare or revise their current practices.
    This final rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
    The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce 
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business 
Administration during the proposed rule stage that this action would 
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities. The factual basis for the certification was published in the 
proposed rule and is not repeated here. No comments were received 
regarding this certification. As a result, a regulatory flexibility 
analysis was not required and none was prepared.
    This final rule contains no information collection requirements 
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.


[[Page 82946]]


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

    Dated: December 14, 2020.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs,National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-27852 Filed 12-18-20; 8:45 am]
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