[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 220 (Thursday, November 16, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 78676-78677]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-25365]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 230810-0190]
RTID 0648-XD514


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast 
Multispecies Fishery; White Hake Trimester Total Allowable Catch Area 
Closure for the Common Pool Fishery

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

ACTION: Temporary rule; area closure.

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SUMMARY: This action closes the White Hake Trimester Total Allowable 
Catch Area to Northeast multispecies common pool vessels fishing with 
trawl gear, sink gillnet gear, and longline/hook gear, except Handgear 
A and Handgear B vessels, through December 31, 2023. The closure is 
required because the common pool fishery is projected to have caught 90 
percent of its Trimester 2 quota for white hake. This closure is 
intended to prevent an overage of the common pool's quota for this 
stock.

DATES: This action is effective November 13, 2023, through December 31, 
2023.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Federal regulations at Sec.  
648.82(n)(2)(ii) require the Regional Administrator to close a common 
pool Trimester Total Allowable Catch (TAC) Area for a stock when 90 
percent of the Trimester TAC is projected to be caught. The closure 
applies to all common pool vessels fishing with gear capable of 
catching that stock, and remains in effect for the remainder of the 
trimester. During the closure, affected common pool vessels may not 
fish for, harvest, possess, or land regulated multispecies or ocean 
pout in or from the Trimester TAC Area for the stock.
    The Trimester 2 TAC for white hake is 17,482 lb (pounds) (7.9 
metric tons (mt)). Based on the best available data from this fishing 
year and the analyses described below, the common pool is estimated to 
have achieved 90 percent of the Trimester 2 TAC for white hake on or 
shortly after November 9, 2023.
    NMFS closely monitors commercial fisheries landings on a weekly 
basis. Catch projections of white hake were run using data through 
November 7, 2023, which indicated that 87.7 percent (15,211.9 lb (6.9 
mt)) of the Trimester 2 TAC was harvested. Given these projections and 
additional information, including that there have been up to four trips 
for which catch data are not yet available, NMFS estimates that 90 
percent of the white hake Trimester 2 TAC has been harvested. As noted 
above, implementing regulations for the Northeast Multispecies FMP 
require the Regional Administrator to close an area when a trimester 
TAC is projected to reach the 90-percent trigger.
    Effective November 13, 2023, the White Hake Trimester TAC Area is 
closed for the remainder of Trimester 2, through December 31, 2023. The 
White Hake Trimester TAC Area consists of statistical areas 513, 514, 
515, 521, and 522. During the closure, common pool vessels fishing with 
trawl gear, sink gillnet gear, and longline/hook gear (except for 
Handgear A and Handgear B vessels), may not fish for, harvest, possess, 
or land regulated multispecies or ocean pout in or from this area. This 
closure of the White Hake Trimester TAC Area ends at the beginning of 
Trimester 3 of fishing year 2023 on January 1, 2024.
    If a vessel declared its trip through the Vessel Monitoring System 
(VMS) or the interactive voice response system, and crossed the VMS 
demarcation line prior to November 13, 2023, it may complete its trip 
within the GOM Cod Trimester TAC Area. A vessel that has set gillnet 
gear prior to November 13, 2023, may complete its trip by hauling such 
gear.
    If the common pool fishery exceeds its annual sub-Allowable Catch 
Limit (sub-ACL) for a stock in the 2023 fishing year, the overage must 
be deducted from the common pool's sub-ACL for that stock for fishing 
year 2024.
    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, VMS catch 
reports, and other available information and, if necessary, will make 
additional adjustments to common pool management measures.

Classification

    This action is required 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, unnecessary, 
and contrary to the public interest.
    The regulations require the Regional Administrator to close a 
trimester TAC area to the common pool fishery when 90 percent of the 
Trimester TAC for a stock has been caught. Updated catch information 
through November 7, 2023, only recently became available indicating 
that the common pool fishery is projected to have caught 90 percent of 
its Trimester 2 TAC for white hake. The time necessary to provide for 
prior notice and comment, and a 30-day delay in effectiveness, would 
prevent the immediate closure of the White Hake Trimester TAC Area. 
This would be contrary to the regulatory requirement and would increase 
the likelihood that the common pool fishery would exceed its annual 
quota of white hake. Any overage of the Trimester 2 TAC is deducted 
from the Trimester 3 TAC, and any overage of the annual quota would be 
deducted from common pool's quota for the next fishing year, to the 
detriment of this stock. This could undermine conservation and 
management objectives of the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management 
Plan. Prior notice and comment and a 30-day delay in effectiveness are 
unnecessary because fishermen were provided ample notice and 
opportunity to comment on the regulations that require this immediate 
closure. Fishermen expect these closures to occur in a timely way to 
prevent overages and their payback requirements. Overages of the 
trimester or annual common pool quota could cause negative economic 
impacts to the common pool fishery as a result of overage paybacks 
deducted from a future trimester or fishing year.


[[Page 78677]]


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

    Dated: November 13, 2023.
Kelly Denit,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-25365 Filed 11-13-23; 4:15 pm]
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