37448 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 148 / Wednesday, August 1, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 

TABLE 1—2017 AND 2018 NORTH AND SOUTH ATLANTIC SWORDFISH QUOTAS—Continued 

2017 2018 

Adjusted quota .................................................................................................. 75.1 ......................................................... 75.1 

+ Allowable underharvest carryover is capped at 15 percent of the baseline quota allocation for the North Atlantic and 75.2 dw (100 mt ww) for 

the South Atlantic. 

* Under Recommendation 17–03, the United States transfers 75.2 mt dw (100 mt ww) annually to Namibia (37.6 mt dw, 50 mt ww), Coˆte 

d’Ivoire (18.8 mt dw, 25 mt ww), and Belize (18.8 mt dw, 25 mt ww). 

Classification 

The Assistant Administrator for 

NMFS (AA) has determined that this 

temporary final rule is consistent with 

the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the 2006 

Consolidated Atlantic HMS FMP and its 

amendments, other provisions of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act, ATCA, and 

other applicable law. Pursuant to 

section 553(b)(B) of the Administrative 

Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B)), the 

AA finds that it would be unnecessary 

and contrary to the public interest to 

provide prior notice of, and an 

opportunity for public comment on, this 

action for the reasons described below. 

In the 2016 North and South Atlantic 

Swordfish Quota Adjustment Rule (81 

FR 48719, July 26, 2016), NMFS 

announced the intent to no longer issue 

proposed and final specifications/rules 

for North and South Atlantic swordfish 

quota adjustments in cases where the 

quota adjustment simply follows 

previously codified and analyzed 

formulas. Public comments on this 

process change were generally 

supportive; as a result, in 2017, NMFS 

issued a temporary final rule to adjust 

the swordfish quota. 

This action to adjust the 2018 North 

and South Atlantic Swordfish quotas 

applies the formula that the public 

received notice of in the 2016 North and 

South Atlantic Swordfish Quota 

Adjustment Rule, using the best 

available data regarding 2017 catch and 

underharvest, and calculating allowable 

underharvest consistent with ICCAT 

recommendations. The rulemaking for 

the 2016 North and South Atlantic 

Swordfish Quota Adjustment Rule 

specifically provided prior notice of, 

and accepted public comment on, these 

formulaic quota adjustment processes 

and the manner in which they occur. 

The application of this formula in this 

action does not have discretionary 

aspects requiring additional agency 

consideration and thus it would be 

unnecessarily duplicative to accept 

public comment for this action. Because 

there are no new quotas for 2018 and 

the quota formula is the same as in 

previous years, NMFS is issuing this 

temporary final rule to adjust the North 

and South Atlantic swordfish quotas for 

2018. 

This action is being taken under 

§ 635.27(c) and is exempt from review 

under Executive Order 12866. 

This action does not contain a 

collection-of-information requirement 

for purposes of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act. 

Because prior notice and opportunity 

for public comment are not required for 

this rule by 5 U.S.C. 553, or any other 

law, the analytical requirements of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601 

et seq., are inapplicable. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq. and 1801 

et seq. 

Dated: July 26, 2018. 

Samuel D. Rauch, III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2018–16388 Filed 7–31–18; 8:45 am] 

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 679 

[Docket No. 170817779–8161–02] 

RIN 0648–XG114 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Pacific Ocean Perch 

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; closure. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is prohibiting directed 

fishing for Pacific ocean perch in the 

Western Aleutian district (WAI) of the 

Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 

management area (BSAI) by vessels 

participating in the BSAI trawl limited 

access fishery. This action is necessary 

to prevent exceeding the 2018 total 

allowable catch (TAC) of Pacific ocean 

perch in the WAI allocated to vessels 

participating in the BSAI trawl limited 

access fishery. 

DATES: Effective 1200 hrs, Alaska local 

time (A.l.t.), July 27, 2018, through 2400 

hrs, A.l.t., December 31, 2018. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Steve Whitney, 907–586–7228. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS 

manages the groundfish fishery in the 

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. 

The 2018 TAC of Pacific ocean perch, 

in the WAI, allocated to vessels 

participating in the BSAI trawl limited 

access fishery was established as a 

directed fishing allowance of 161 metric 

tons by the final 2018 and 2019 harvest 

specifications for groundfish in the 

BSAI (83 FR 8365, February 27, 2018). 

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 Pacific 

ocean perch in the WAI by vessels 

participating in the BSAI trawl limited 

access fishery. While this closure is 

effective, 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 closure of the Pacific ocean 

perch directed fishery in the WAI for 

vessels participating in the BSAI trawl 


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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 148 / Wednesday, August 1, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 37449 

limited access fishery. NMFS was 

unable to publish a notice providing 

time for public comment because the 

most recent, relevant data only became 

available as of July 26, 2018. 

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: July 27, 2018. 

Jennifer M. Wallace, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2018–16438 Filed 7–27–18; 4:15 pm] 

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