Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 193 / Wednesday, October 7, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 51515 

This action is required by § 679.20 

and is exempt from review under 

Executive Order 12866. 

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

Dated: October 1, 2009. 

Emily H. Menashes, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–24170 Filed 10–7–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 679 

[Docket No. 09100091344–9056–02] 

RIN 0648–XS06 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Pollock in Statistical 

Area 620 in the Gulf of Alaska 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; closure. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is prohibiting directed 

fishing for pollock in Statistical Area 

620 in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This 

action is necessary to prevent exceeding 

the 2009 total allowable catch (TAC) of 

pollock for Statistical Area 620 in the 

GOA. 

DATES: Effective 1200 hrs, Alaska local 

time (A.l.t.), October 4, 2009, through 

2400 hrs, A.l.t., December 31, 2009. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Josh 

Keaton, 907–586–7228. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS 

manages the groundfish fishery in the 

GOA exclusive economic zone 

according to the Fishery Management 

Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of 

Alaska (FMP) prepared by the North 

Pacific Fishery Management Council 

under authority of the MagnusonStevens 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. 

The 2009 TAC of pollock in Statistical 

Area 620 of the GOA is 14,098 metric 

tons (mt) as established by the final 

2009 and 2010 harvest specifications for 

groundfish of the GOA (74 FR 7333, 

February 17, 2009). 

In accordance with § 679.20(d)(1)(i), 

the Regional Administrator has 

determined that the 2009 TAC of 

pollock in Statistical Area 620 of the 

GOA will soon be reached. Therefore, 

the Regional Administrator is 

establishing a directed fishing 

allowance of 13,900 mt, and is setting 

aside the remaining 198 mt as bycatch 

to support other anticipated groundfish 

fisheries. In accordance with 

§ 679.20(d)(1)(iii), the Regional 

Administrator finds that this directed 

fishing allowance has been reached. 

Consequently, NMFS is prohibiting 

directed fishing for pollock in Statistical 

Area 620 of the GOA. 

After the effective date of this closure 

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 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 closure of pollock in 

Statistical Area 620 of the GOA. NMFS 

was unable to publish a notice 

providing time for public comment 

because the most recent, relevant data 

only became available as of October 1, 

2009. 

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 § 679.20 

and is exempt from review under 

Executive Order 12866. 

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

Dated: October 2, 2009 

Emily H. Menashes, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–24173 Filed 10–2–09; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Parts 679 and 680 

[Docket No. 080312430–91317–02] 

RIN 0648–AW56 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Western Alaska 

Community Development Quota 

Program, Rockfish Program, 

Amendment 80 Program; Bering Sea 

and Aleutian Islands Area Crab 

Rationalization Program 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: NMFS issues regulations to 

provide harvesting cooperatives, crab 

processing quota share holders, and 

Western Alaska Community 

Development Quota (CDQ) groups with 

the option to make intercooperative 

transfers, crab individual processing 

quota transfers, and inter-group 

transfers through an automated, webbased process. To facilitate web-based 

transfers, NMFS removes the 

requirement for notarized signatures for 

all crab non-permanent leases of 

individual fishing quota and individual 

processor quota and removes 

unnecessary quota share price-related 

questions. The purpose of this action is 

to reduce paperwork burdens on the 

fishing industry by providing the option 

of electronic transfer through the 

Internet. This action allows 

cooperatives, processors, and CDQ 

groups to shorten response time to 

management, market, weather, and 

other fishery and operational conditions 

and to increase harvesting and 

processing efficiency. This action also 

removes detailed description of 

information required on application 

forms from regulatory text; removes 

detailed NMFS mail, fax, and delivery 

addresses and replaces them with one 

paragraph stating that the form may be 

submitted in accordance with 

instructions on the form; removes 

outdated survey-type questions from 

two applications; divides one 

application into three separate 

applications; revises the NMFS Alaska 

Region web address; and corrects crossreferences. 

DATES: Effective November 6, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of the 

Regulatory Impact Review (RIR), the 

Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 


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