Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 37 / Thursday, February 25, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 8547 

[FR Doc. 2010–3731 Filed 2–24–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–9X–C 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 679 

[Docket No. 0810141351–9087–02] 

RIN 0648–XU59 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Atka Mackerel in the 

Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 

Management Area 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; closures and 

openings. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is announcing the 

opening and closing dates of the Atka 

mackerel directed fisheries within the 

harvest limit area (HLA) in Statistical 

Area 542 (area 542) and Statistical Area 

543 (area 543). This action is necessary 

to fully use the 2010 A season HLA 

limits of Atka mackerel in areas 542 and 

543 of the Bering Sea and Aleutian 

Islands management area. 

DATES: The effective dates are provided 

in Table 1 under the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section of this temporary 

action. 

Comments must be received at the 

following address no later than 4:30 

p.m., A.l.t., March 9, 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 [RIN], by any 

one of the following methods: 

• Electronic Submissions: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal website 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 

comments will be accepted in Microsoft 

Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe 

portable document file (pdf) formats 

only. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Obren Davis, 907–586–7228. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS 

manages the groundfish fishery in the 

Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (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. 

In accordance with the final 2009 and 

2010 harvest specifications for 

groundfish in the BSAI (74 FR 7359, 

February 17, 2009) the HLA limits of the 

A season allowance of the 2010 Atka 

mackerel total allowable catch (TAC) in 

area 542 and area 543 are 2,854 metric 

tons (mt) and 2,022 mt, respectively, for 

the Amendment 80 cooperative. For 

Amendment 80 limited access sector in 

area 543, the HLA limit of the A season 

allowance of the 2010 TAC for Atka 

mackerel is 3,250 mt. Finally, the HLA 

limit in area 542 of the A season 

allowance of the 2010 TAC for Atka 

mackerel for the BSAI trawl limited 

access sector is 458 mt. 

NMFS previously announced the 

opening and closing dates of the first 

and second directed fisheries within the 

HLA in areas 542 and 543 (75 FR 3873, 

January 25, 2010). NMFS has 

determined that approximately 2,225 mt 

of Atka mackerel remain in the A season 

HLA limit in area 542 and 

approximately 2,022 mt of Atka 

mackerel remain in the A season HLA 

limit in area 543 for vessels 

participating in the Amendment 80 

cooperative. NMFS has determined that 

approximately 3,250 mt of Atka 

mackerel remain in the A season HLA 

limit in area 543 for vessels 

participating in the Amendment 80 

limited access fishery. NMFS also has 

determined that approximately 458 mt 

of Atka mackerel remain in the A season 

HLA limit in area 542 for the vessel 

participating in the trawl limited access 

fishery. 

Therefore, in accordance with 

§ 679.25(a)(1)(i), (a)(2)(i)(C) and 

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

season HLA limits of Atka mackerel in 

areas 542 and 543, NMFS is terminating 

the previous closures and is opening 

directed fishing for Atka mackerel in the 

HLA of areas 542 and 543 for 

Amendment 80 cooperative vessels 

authorized to participate in the first 

HLA fishery in area 542 and the second 

HLA fishery in area 543. NMFS is also 

opening directed fishing for Atka 

mackerel in the HLA of area 543 for 

Amendment 80 limited access vessels 

authorized to participate in the first 


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8548 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 37 / Thursday, February 25, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

HLA fishery in area 543. Finally, NMFS 

is opening directed fishing for Atka 

mackerel in the area 542 HLA for the 

vessel participating in the trawl limited 

access fishery. 

In accordance with 

§ 679.20(a)(8)(iii)(E), the Regional 

Administrator has established the 

closure dates of the Atka mackerel 

directed fishery in the HLA for areas 

542 and 543 based on the amount of the 

harvest limit and the estimated fishing 

capacity of the vessels assigned to the 

fishery. Consequently, NMFS is 

prohibiting directed fishing for Atka 

mackerel in the HLA in areas 542 and 

543 in accordance with the dates and 

times listed in Table 1 of this notice. 

TABLE 1. EFFECTIVE DATES AND TIMES

Action Area 

Effective Time1 and Date 

From To 

Opening the directed fishery in the HLA for the Amendment 80 cooperative vessels authorized to 

participate in the first HLA fishery in area 542 and second HLA fishery in area 543 542 

543 

1200 hrs, 

February 

22, 2010 

1200 hrs, 

March 18, 

2010 

1200 hrs, 

March 8, 

2010 

1200 hrs, 

March 25, 

2010 

Opening the directed fishery in the HLA for the Amendment 80 limited access vessels authorized to 

participate in the first HLA fishery in area 543 543 1200 hrs, 

February 

21, 2010 

1200 hrs, 

February 

28, 2010 

Opening the directed fishery in the HLA for the vessel participating in the BSAI trawl limited access 

sector 542 1200 hrs, 

March 18, 

2010 

1200 hrs, 

March 31, 

2010 

1Alaska local time 

After the effective dates of these 

closures, the maximum retainable 

amounts at § 679.20(e) and (f) apply at 

any time during a trip. 

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 a 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 and closing of the 

fishery for the HLA limit established for 

areas 542 and 543 pursuant to the 2010 

Atka mackerel TAC. NMFS was unable 

to publish a notice providing time for 

public comment because the most 

recent, relevant data only became 

available as of February 19, 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). Under 

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

invited to submit written comments on 

this action to the above address until 

March 9, 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: February 22, 2010. 

James P. Burgess, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–3867 Filed 2–22–10; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 


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