Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 230 / Wednesday, December 1, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 74661 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 100427197–0207–01] 

RIN 0648–AW86 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Northeast Multispecies 

Fishery; Emergency Rule Extension, 

Pollock Catch Limit Revisions 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service, National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration, 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary final rule; 

emergency action extension and request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS extends the pollock 

specifications implemented by a July 20, 

2010, emergency rule, which is 

scheduled to expire on January 11, 

2011. Specifically, this temporary rule 

maintains the new stock status 

determination criteria for pollock and 

associated increases in pollock catch 

limits under the Northeast (NE) 

Multispecies Fishery Management Plan 

(FMP), for an additional 186 days, in 

order to implement pollock catch limits 

through either the end of fishing year 

(FY) 2010 (i.e., through April 30, 2011) 

or until superseded by limits for FY 

2011. 

DATES: The effective date of the interim 

rule published July 20, 2010 (75 FR 

41996), is extended through July 17, 

2011, unless superseded by another 

action. NMFS will accept comments 

through January 3, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by 0648–AW86, by any one of 

the following methods: 

• Electronic Submissions: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-rulemaking portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

• Mail: Paper, disk, or CD–ROM 

comments should be sent to Patricia A. 

Kurkul, Regional Administrator, 

National Marine Fisheries Service, 55 

Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 

01930–2276. Mark the outside of the 

envelope: ‘‘Comments on NE 

Multispecies Pollock Emergency Rule 

Extension.’’ 

• Fax: (978) 281–9135. 

Instructions: All comments received 

are part of the public record and will 

generally be posted to http:// 

www.regulations.gov without change. 

All Personal Identifying Information (for 

example, name, address, etc.) 

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 

comments will be accepted in Microsoft 

Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe 

PDF formats only. 

Copies of the small entity compliance 

guide are available from the Regional 

Administrator, NMFS, Northeast 

Regional Office, at the address above. 

Copies of the Environmental 

Assessment (EA) prepared for this rule 

may be found at the following Internet 

address: http://www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Thomas A. Warren, Fishery Policy 

Analyst, (978) 281–9347, fax (978) 281– 

9135. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

This temporary final rule extends the 

emergency rule published on July 20, 

2010 (75 FR 41996), in order to extend 

the time period for which the revised 

pollock status determination criteria 

and catch limits are in effect through the 

end of FY 2010 (April 30, 2011). The 

July 2010 emergency final rule included 

detailed information on the background 

and reasons for the need to revise the 

pollock status determination criteria 

and catch limits. The public had an 

opportunity to comment on that rule, 

but no comments were submitted. 

NMFS will again accept public 

comment on both the appropriateness of 

the emergency action to date, and its 

extension. 

The emergency specifications 

extended through this final rule include 

the revised pollock stock status 

determination and catch limits for FY 

2010, as follows: The revised biomass 

target parameter (SSB msy; 91,000 mt); 

the maximum fishing mortality rate 

threshold (Fmsy; 0.25); Overfishing 

Levels (OFLs); Acceptable Biological 

Catches (ABCs); Annual Catch Limits 

(ACLs); ACL components; and 

incidental Total Allowable Catches 

(TACs) for special management 

programs. The ACL components 

included sub-ACLs for the common 

pool and sectors. 

The pollock status determination 

criteria and catch specifications 

implemented by the initial emergency 

action were consistent with the best 

scientific information available, but 

were not evaluated by the New England 

Fishery Management Council’s 

(Council) Scientific and Statistical 

Committee (SSC). The SSC met on 

August 25–26, 2010, subsequent to the 

July 20, 2010, publication of the 

emergency rule, to discuss catch limits 

for FY 2011, including pollock. 

Although the SSC did not discuss the 

FY 2010 catch specifications for 

pollock, it accepted the revised 

assessment of pollock (SAW 50) as a 

basis for revising ABC 

recommendations, and affirmed use of 

the control rule for setting the pollock 

ABC (catch associated with 75 percent 

of Fmsy), the method utilized in setting 

the FY 2010 pollock catch 

specifications. The SSC characterized 

the risk associated with the utilization 

of the pollock ABC control rule in 

conjunction with the SAW 50 stock 

assessment as follows: ‘‘Scenario 

analyses indicated that ABCs based on 

75 percent Fmsy have low risk of 

overfishing and low risk of leading to an 

overfished stock by 2015 if the domed 

survey selectivity estimated by the SAW 

50 assessment is true. However, if 

selectivity is actually flat-topped, ABCs 

based on the SAW 50 assessment and 75 

percent Fmsy have high risk of 

overfishing (risk > 50 percent) and a 

moderate risk of leading to an 

overfished stock by 2015 (risk between 

25 percent and 50 percent).’’ 

The pollock catch limits are contained 

in Tables 1 and 2 below. Consistent 

with the FMP, the incidental catch TAC 

is divided between the Regular B DAS 

Program (84 percent) and the Closed 

Area I Hook Gear Haddock Special 

Access Program (14 percent). 

TABLE 1—POLLOCK CATCH LEVELS

FOR FY 2010 

Pollock catch limit Pollock specification (mt) 

OFL of Catch .................... 25,200 

ABC .................................. 19,800 

State Waters ACL subcomponent .................... 1,188 

Other ACL subcomponent 1,188 

Groundfish sub-ACL ......... 16,553 

Sector sub-ACL ................ 16,178 

Common Pool sub-ACL .... 375 

Incidental Catch TAC ....... 7.5 

TABLE 2—POLLOCK ACE BY SECTOR

(mt) 

Sector Pollock ACE 

(mt) 

Fixed Gear ............................ 1,290 

NCCS .................................... 73 

NEFS 2 ................................. 2,034 

NEFS 3 ................................. 1,218 

NEFS 4 ................................. 934 

NEFS 5 ................................. 68 

NEFS 6 ................................. 529 

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74662 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 230 / Wednesday, December 1, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

TABLE 2—POLLOCK ACE BY SECTOR

(mt)—Continued 

Sector Pollock ACE 

(mt) 

NEFS 7 ................................. 124 

NEFS 8 ................................. 106 

NEFS 9 ................................. 632 

NEFS 10 ............................... 239 

NEFS 11 ............................... 1,533 

NEFS 12 ............................... 9 

NEFS 13 ............................... 364 

Port Clyde Community ......... 707 

Sustainable Harvest ............. 6,309 

Tri-State ................................ 9 

Total ............................... 16,178 

All ACE values for sectors assume that 

each sector member has a valid permit for FY 

2010. 

NCCS: Northeast Coastal Communities 

Sector; NEFS: Northeast Fishery Sectors. 

This action will extend the pollock 

catch limits through July 17, 2011, or 

until FW 45 (which includes FY 2011 

pollock specifications, and is currently 

being developed by the Council with an 

anticipated May 1, 2011, effective date) 

or other action supersedes this. 

No comments were received on the 

initial emergency rule. 

Classification 

NMFS has determined that the 

emergency specifications extended by 

this temporary final rule are necessary 

and are consistent with the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act and other applicable 

law. 

The interim rule that this rule extends 

was determined to be not significant for 

purposes of E.O. 12866. 

This rule is exempt from the 

procedures of the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act to prepare a regulatory flexibility 

analysis because the rule is issued 

without opportunity for prior public 

comment. 

The EA prepared for the initial 

emergency rule analyzed the impacts of 

the emergency specifications for the 

duration of a year (Secretarial 

Emergency Action to Revise Fishing 

Year 2010 Catch Limits for Pollock; 

Environmental Assessment; May 28, 

2010). Therefore, the impacts of this 

emergency action extension have been 

analyzed, and are within the scope of 

the Finding of No Significant Impact. 

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

Dated: November 24, 2010. 

Eric C. Schwaab, 

Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–30236 Filed 11–30–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

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