Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 47 / Thursday, March 11, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 11471 

* (Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance No. 

97.022, ‘‘Flood Insurance.’’) 

Dated: March 3, 2010. 

Sandra K. Knight, 

Deputy Federal Insurance and Mitigation 

Administrator, Mitigation, Department of 

Homeland Security, Federal Emergency 

Management Agency. 

[FR Doc. 2010–5233 Filed 3–10–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9110–12–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 679 

[Docket No. 0910131362–0087–02 and 

0910131363–0087–02] 

RIN 0648–XV03 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Sablefish Managed 

Under the Individual Fishing Quota 

Program 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; opening. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is opening directed 

fishing for sablefish with fixed gear 

managed under the Individual Fishing 

Quota (IFQ) Program. The season will 

open 1200 hrs, Alaska local time (A.l.t.), 

March 6, 2010, and will close 1200 hrs, 

A.l.t., November 15, 2010. This period 

is the same as the 2010 IFQ and 

Community Development Quota season 

for Pacific halibut adopted by the 

International Pacific Halibut 

Commission (IPHC). The IFQ halibut 

season is specified by a separate 

publication in the Federal Register of 

annual management measures. 

DATES: Effective 1200 hrs, A.l.t., March 

6, 2010, until 1200 hrs, A.l.t., November 

15, 2010. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mary Furuness, 907–586–7228. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Beginning 

in 1995, fishing for Pacific halibut and 

sablefish with fixed gear in the IFQ 

regulatory areas defined in 50 CFR 679.2 

has been managed under the IFQ 

Program. The IFQ Program is a 

regulatory regime designed to promote 

the conservation and management of 

these fisheries and to further the 

objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act and the Northern Pacific Halibut 

Act. Persons holding quota share receive 

an annual allocation of IFQ. Persons 

receiving an annual allocation of IFQ 

are authorized to harvest IFQ species 

within specified limitations. Further 

information on the implementation of 

the IFQ Program, and the rationale 

supporting it, are contained in the 

preamble to the final rule implementing 

the IFQ Program published in the 

Federal Register, November 9, 1993 (58 

FR 59375) and subsequent amendments. 

This announcement is consistent with 

§ 679.23(g)(1), which requires that the 

directed fishing season for sablefish 

managed under the IFQ Program be 

specified by the Administrator, Alaska 

Region, and announced by publication 

in the Federal Register. This method of 

season announcement was selected to 

facilitate coordination between the 

sablefish season, chosen by the 

Administrator, Alaska Region, and the 

halibut season, chosen by the IPHC. The 

directed fishing season for sablefish 

with fixed gear managed under the IFQ 

Program will open 1200 hrs, A.l.t., 

March 6, 2010, and will close 1200 hrs, 

A.l.t., November 15, 2010. This period 

runs concurrently with the IFQ season 

for Pacific halibut announced by the 

IPHC. The IFQ halibut season will be 

specified by a separate publication in 

the Federal Register of annual 

management measures pursuant to 50 

CFR 300.62. 

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 the sablefish 

fishery thereby increasing bycatch and 

regulatory discards between the 

sablefish fishery and the halibut fishery, 

and preventing the accomplishment of 

the management objective for 

simultaneous opening of these two 

fisheries. NMFS was unable to publish 

a notice providing time for public 

comment because the most recent, 

relevant data only became available as 

of March 5, 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. 

This action is required by § 679.23 

and is exempt from review under 

Executive Order 12866. 

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

Dated: March 8, 2010. 

Alan D. Risenhoover, 

Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–5243 Filed 3–8–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 


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