68726 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 216 / Tuesday, November 9, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

of American Samoa, Guam, or the 

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

Islands (CNMI), as described below. 

During the closure, a U.S. fishing 

vessel may not retain on board, 

transship, or land bigeye tuna captured 

by longline gear in the Convention Area, 

except that any bigeye tuna already on 

board a fishing vessel upon the effective 

date of the restrictions may be retained 

on board, transshipped, and landed, 

provided that they are landed within 14 

days of the start of the closure, that is, 

by December 6, 2010. This 14-day 

landing requirement does not apply to 

a vessel that has declared to NMFS, 

pursuant to 50 CFR 665.803(a), that the 

current trip type is shallow-setting. 

Furthermore, bigeye tuna caught by 

longline gear may be retained on board, 

transshipped, and landed if the fish are 

caught by a vessel registered for use 

under a valid NMFS-issued American 

Samoa Longline Limited Access Permit 

or if they are landed in American 

Samoa, Guam, or the CNMI. In either of 

these two cases, however, the following 

conditions must be met: 

(1) The bigeye tuna are not caught in 

the portion of the U.S. Exclusive 

Economic Zone (EEZ) around the 

Hawaiian Archipelago; 

(2) Such retention, transshipment, 

and/or landing is in compliance with 

applicable laws and regulations; and 

(3) The bigeye tuna are landed by a 

U.S. fishing vessel operated in 

compliance with a valid permit issued 

under 50 CFR 660.707 or 665.801. 

During the closure, a U.S. vessel is 

also prohibited from transshipping 

bigeye tuna caught in the Convention 

Area by longline gear to any vessel other 

than a U.S. fishing vessel operated with 

a valid permit issued under 50 CFR 

660.707 or 665.801. 

The catch limit and this closure do 

not apply to bigeye tuna caught by 

longline gear outside the Convention 

Area, such as in the eastern Pacific 

Ocean. To ensure compliance with the 

restrictions related to bigeye tuna caught 

by longline gear in the Convention Area, 

however, the following requirements 

apply during the closure period: 

(1) A U.S. fishing vessel may not be 

used to fish with longline gear both 

inside and outside the Convention Area 

during the same fishing trip, with the 

exception of a fishing trip that is in 

progress on November 22, 2010. In that 

case, the catch of bigeye tuna must be 

landed by December 6, 2010; and 

(2) If a U.S. vessel is used to fish using 

longline gear outside the Convention 

Area and the vessel enters the 

Convention Area at any time during the 

same fishing trip, the longline gear on 

the fishing vessel must be stowed in a 

manner so as not to be readily available 

for fishing while the vessel is in the 

Convention Area. Specifically, the 

hooks, branch or dropper lines, and 

floats used to buoy the mainline must be 

stowed and not available for immediate 

use, and any power-operated mainline 

hauler on deck must be covered in such 

a manner that it is not readily available 

for use. 

The above two additional prohibitions 

do not apply to the following vessels: 

(1) Vessels on declared shallowsetting trips pursuant to 50 CFR 

665.803(a); and 

(2) Vessels registered for use under 

valid American Samoa Longline Limited 

Access Permits and vessels landing their 

bigeye tuna catch in American Samoa, 

Guam, or the CNMI, so long as these 

vessels conduct fishing activities in 

accordance with the conditions 

described above, that is, the bigeye tuna 

were not caught in the EEZ around the 

Hawaiian Archipelago, the retention, 

transshipment, and/or landing is in 

compliance with applicable laws and 

regulations, and the bigeye tuna are 

landed by a vessel that has a valid 

permit issued under 50 CFR 660.707 or 

665.801. 

Classification 

There is good cause to waive prior 

notice and opportunity for public 

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

This action is based on the best 

available information and is necessary 

for the conservation and management of 

bigeye tuna. Compliance with the notice 

and comment requirement would be 

impracticable and contrary to the public 

interest, since NMFS would be unable 

to ensure that the 2010 bigeye tuna 

catch limit is not exceeded. The annual 

catch limit is an important mechanism 

to ensure that the U.S.A. complies with 

its international obligations in 

preventing overfishing and managing 

the fishery at optimum yield. Moreover, 

NMFS previously solicited public 

comments on the rule that established 

the catch limit (74 FR 63999, December 

7, 2009). For the same reasons, there is 

good cause to establish an effective date 

less than 30 days after date of 

publication of this notice. 

This action is required by § 300.224(d) 

and is exempt from review under 

Executive Order 12866. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 6901 et seq. 

Dated: November 4, 2010. 

James P. Burgess, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–28284 Filed 11–8–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 679 

[Docket No. 0910131363–0087–02] 

RIN 0648–XAO21 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Pacific Ocean Perch 

in the Bering Sea Subarea of the 

Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 

Management Area 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; modification of 

a closure. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is opening directed 

fishing for Pacific ocean perch in the 

Bering Sea subarea of the Bering Sea 

and Aleutian Islands management area. 

This action is necessary to fully use the 

2010 total allowable catch of Pacific 

ocean perch specified for the Bering Sea 

subarea of the Bering Sea and Aleutian 

Islands management area. 

DATES: Effective 1200 hrs, Alaska local 

time (A.l.t.), November 4, 2010, through 

2400 hrs, A.l.t., December 31, 2010. 

Comments must be received at the 

following address no later than 4:30 

p.m., A.l.t., November 24, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Sue 

Salveson, Assistant Regional 

Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries 

Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, Attn: 

Ellen Sebastian. You may submit 

comments, identified by 0648–XAO21, 

by any one of the following methods: 

• Electronic Submissions: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal Web site at 

http://www.regulations.gov. 

• Mail: P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 

99802. 

• Fax: (907) 586–7557. 

• Hand delivery to the Federal 

Building: 709 West 9th Street, Room 

420A, Juneau, AK. 

All comments received are a part of 

the public record and will generally be 

posted to http://www.regulations.gov 

without change. All Personal Identifying 

Information (e.g., name, address) 

voluntarily submitted by the commenter 

may be publicly accessible. Do not 

submit Confidential Business 

Information or otherwise sensitive or 

protected information. 

NMFS will accept anonymous 

comments (enter N/A in the required 

fields, if you wish to remain 

anonymous). Attachments to electronic 


wwoods2 on DSK1DXX6B1PROD with RULES_PART 1
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 216 / Tuesday, November 9, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 68727 

comments will be accepted in Microsoft 

Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe 

portable document file (pdf) formats 

only. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mary Furuness, 907–586–7228. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS 

manages the groundfish fishery in the 

Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 

management area (BSAI) exclusive 

economic zone according to the Fishery 

Management Plan for Groundfish of the 

Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 

management area (FMP) prepared by the 

North Pacific Fishery Management 

Council under authority of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act. 

Regulations governing fishing by U.S. 

vessels in accordance with the FMP 

appear at subpart H of 50 CFR part 600 

and 50 CFR part 679. 

NMFS closed the directed fishery for 

Pacific ocean perch (POP) in the Bering 

Sea subarea of the BSAI under 

§ 679.20(d)(1)(iii) on January 1, 2010 (75 

FR 11778, March 12, 2010). 

NMFS has determined that 

approximately 2,260 metric tons of POP 

remain in the directed fishing 

allowance. Therefore, in accordance 

with § 679.25(a)(1)(i), (a)(2)(i)(C), and 

(a)(2)(iii)(D), and to fully utilize the 

2010 total allowable catch of POP in the 

Bering Sea subarea of the BSAI, NMFS 

is terminating the previous closure and 

is opening directed fishing for POP in 

Bering Sea subarea of the BSAI. This 

will enhance the socioeconomic wellbeing of harvesters dependent upon 

POP in this area. The Administrator, 

Alaska Region considered the following 

factors in reaching this decision: (1) The 

current catch of POP in the BSAI and, 

(2) the harvest capacity and stated intent 

on future harvesting patterns of vessels 

participating in this fishery. 

Classification 

This action responds to the best 

available information recently obtained 

from the fishery. The Assistant 

Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA 

(AA), finds good cause to waive the 

requirement to provide prior notice and 

opportunity for public comment 

pursuant to the authority set forth at 5 

U.S.C. 553(b)(B), as such requirement is 

impracticable and contrary to the public 

interest. This requirement is 

impracticable and contrary to the public 

interest as it would prevent NMFS from 

responding to the most recent fisheries 

data in a timely fashion and would 

delay the opening of POP in the Bering 

Sea subarea of the BSAI. NMFS was 

unable to publish a notice providing 

time for public comment because the 

most recent, relevant data only became 

available as of November 3, 2010. 

The AA also finds good cause to 

waive the 30-day delay in the effective 

date of this action under 5 U.S.C. 

553(d)(3). This finding is based upon 

the reasons provided above for waiver of 

prior notice and opportunity for public 

comment. 

Without this inseason adjustment, 

NMFS could not allow the fishery for 

POP in the Bering Sea subarea of the 

BSAI to be harvested in an expedient 

manner and in accordance with the 

regulatory schedule. Under 

§ 679.25(c)(2), interested persons are 

invited to submit written comments on 

this action to the above address until 

November 19, 2010. 

This action is required by § 679.20 

and § 679.25 and is exempt from review 

under Executive Order 12866. 

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

Dated: November 4, 2010. 

James P. Burgess, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–28264 Filed 11–4–10; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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