[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 196 (Thursday, October 12, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 70606-70607]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-22589]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 230810-0190; RTID 0648-XD416]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast 
Multispecies Fishery; Gulf of Maine Cod Possession and Trip Limit 
Adjustment for the Common Pool Fishery

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Temporary rule; in-season adjustment.

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SUMMARY: This action decreases the possession and trip limits for Gulf 
of Maine (GOM) cod for Northeast multispecies common pool vessels for 
the remainder of the 2023 fishing year, through April 30, 2024. The 
National Marine Fisheries Service projects that, at its current 
trajectory, the common pool will exceed its 2023 sub-Annual Catch Limit 
for GOM cod. This decrease in the possession and trip limit for Gulf of 
Maine cod is intended to prevent the common pool fishery from exceeding 
its

[[Page 70607]]

allocation for this stock prior to the end of the fishing year.

DATES: This action is effective October 12, 2023, through April 30, 
2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Spencer Talmage, Fishery Policy 
Analyst, (978) 281-9232.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The regulations at Sec.  648.86 (o) provide 
that NMFS may adjust the possession and trip limits for common pool 
vessels in order to help prevent the overharvest or underharvest of the 
common pool quotas. The fishing year 2023 common pool sub-annual catch 
limit (ACL) for Gulf of Maine GOM cod is 10.6 metric tons (mt). Catch 
through Trimester 1, which ended on August 31, 2023, was 8.5 mt, or 
80.2 percent of the sub-ACL. As a result, as of September 1, 2023, 2.1 
mt remained of the common pool sub-ACL of GOM cod. Common pool catch of 
GOM cod triggered a closure of the Trimester 1 Total Allowable Catch 
Area for the stock on July 27, 2023 (88 FR 50065), which was effective 
through August 31, 2023, the end of Trimester 1.
    An analysis was conducted to project common pool catch from the 
start of Trimester 2 on September 1, 2023, through the end of the 
fishing year on April 30, 2024. Fishing history during this time period 
from fishing years 2020, 2021, and 2022 was used to estimate common 
pool catch under a range of different trip limit options, including the 
150-pound (lb) (68-kilogram (kg)) per Day-at-Sea (DAS)/300-lb (136.1-
kg) per trip limit currently in place. The resulting estimates were 
compared to the amount of quota remaining in the common pool sub-ACL of 
GOM cod on September 1, 2023.
    Based on this analysis, NMFS projects that, at the current trip 
limit of 150 lb (68 kg) per DAS/300 lb (136.1 kg) per trip, the common 
pool will exceed its fishing year 2023 sub-ACL. If this occurs, 
regulations require that the overage must be deducted from the common 
pool's fishing year 2024 sub-ACL for GOM cod, which would have a 
negative economic impact on common pool vessels. Therefore, we are 
implementing a decrease to the possession and trip limits for GOM cod 
to help prevent the common pool fishery from exceeding its fishing year 
2023 sub-ACL for GOM cod.
    Effective October 12, 2023, the GOM cod possession and trip limits 
are decreased to 50 lb (22.7 kg) per DAS, up to 100 lb (45.4 kg) per 
trip, as summarized in Table 1 below.

           Table 1--New Possession and Trip Limits for GOM Cod
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                               Current possession/   New possession/trip
         Permit type               trip limits             limits
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Days-At-Sea (A DAS).........  150 lb (68 kg) per    50 lb (22.7 kg) per
                               DAS, up to 300 lb     DAS, up to 100 lb
                               (136.1 kg) per trip.  (45.4 kg) per trip.
Handgear A..................  150 lb (68 kg) per    50 lb (22.7 kg) per
                               trip.                 trip.
Handgear B..................  25 lb (11.3 kg) per   Unchanged.
                               trip.
Small Vessel Category.......  150 lb (11.3 kg) per  50 lb (22.7 kg) per
                               trip, within          trip, within
                               combined 300 lb       combined 300 lb
                               (136.1 kg) trip       (136.1 kg) trip
                               limit for cod,        limit for cod,
                               haddock, and          haddock, and
                               yellowtail flounder.  yellowtail
                                                     flounder.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Since the analysis on which this action was based was conducted, 
additional catch has been landed. Catch data reported through September 
12, 2023, showed that the common pool has now caught 8.7 mt of GOM cod, 
82.5 percent of the sub-ACL, leaving 1.9 mt of catch available from 
that date until the sub-ACL is achieved.
    Weekly quota monitoring reports for the common pool fishery are on 
our website at: https://www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/ro/fso/reports/h/nemultispecies.html. We will continue to monitor common pool 
catch through vessel trip reports, dealer-reported landings, Vessel 
Monitoring System (VMS) catch reports, and other available information 
and, if necessary, will make additional adjustments to common pool 
management measures.
    Common pool groundfish vessels that have declared their trip 
through the VMS or the interactive voice response system, and crossed 
the VMS demarcation line prior to October 12, 2023, are not subject to 
the new possession and trip limits for that trip.

Classification

    This action is authorized by 50 CFR part 648 and is exempt from 
review under Executive Order 12866.
    The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA, finds good cause 
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) and 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to waive prior 
notice and the opportunity for public comment and the 30-day delayed 
effectiveness period because it would be impracticable and contrary to 
the public interest.
    Regulations at Sec.  648.86 (o) provide that NMFS may adjust the 
Northeast multispecies possession and trip limits for common pool 
vessels in order to prevent the overharvest or under-harvest of the 
pertinent common pool quotas. We have projected that the 150-lb (68-kg) 
per DAS, up to 300-lb (136.1-kg) per trip limits for GOM cod will 
result in the common pool exceeding its fishing year 2023 sub-ACL for 
this stock. This action reduces these trip limits to help prevent the 
common pool exceeding its fishing year 2023 sub-ACL.
    The time necessary to provide for prior notice and comment, and a 
30-day delay in effectiveness, would prevent these reductions from 
being implemented in a timely manner. This action could not have taken 
place sooner because the catch data and analysis used as the basis for 
this action have only recently become available on September 21, 2023. 
Delays in implementation increase the probability of an overage of the 
common pool sub-ACL for this stock, which would undermine the 
conservation objectives of the Northeast Multispecies Fishery 
Management Plan and trigger the implementation of accountability 
measures that would require deduction of the overage from common pool's 
quota for the next fishing year. These deductions would have negative 
economic impacts to the common pool fishery. The regulations 
authorizing this action have been in effect for many years, and the 
fishing industry expects NMFS to take timely in-season action to 
prevent overages and their payback requirements.

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

    Dated: October 6, 2023.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-22589 Filed 10-11-23; 8:45 am]
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