83040 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 227 / Tuesday, November 28, 2023 / Rules and Regulations 

publication schedules, or alternate 

instructions for submitting comments if 

https://www.regulations.gov cannot be 

used, contact the Regulatory Secretariat 

Division at 202–501–4755 or 

GSARegSec@gsa.gov. Please cite FAC 

2023–06, FAR Case 2020–011. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

DoD, GSA and NASA published an 

interim rule in the Federal Register at 

88 FR 69503 on October 5, 2023. The 

comment period is extended to February 

2, 2024, to allow additional time for 

interested parties to develop comments 

on the rule. The effective date of this 

rule is not being changed and remains 

December 4, 2023. 

List of Subjects in 48 CFR Parts 1, 4, 9, 

13, 39, and 52 

Government procurement. 

William F. Clark, 

Director, Office of Government-wide 

Acquisition Policy, Office of Acquisition 

Policy, Office of Government-wide Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2023–26046 Filed 11–27–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6820–EP–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 622 

[Docket No. 230427–0115; RTID 0648– 

XD523] 

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of 

Mexico, and South Atlantic; Reef Fish 

Resources of the Gulf of Mexico; 

Partial Holdback of Commercial Quota 

for Gag in the Gulf of Mexico 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; commercial 

quota holdback. 

SUMMARY: NMFS issues this temporary 

rule to withhold a portion of the 

commercial allocation of gag for the 

2024 fishing year in anticipation of the 

upcoming rulemaking for Amendment 

56 to the Fishery Management Plan for 

the Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of 

Mexico (FMP) that would amend the 

FMP by implementing measures to end 

overfishing of gag and establish a 

rebuilding plan for the stock. These 

measures would, in part, reduce the 

commercial sector annual catch limit 

(ACL) and commercial quota. This 

temporary rule will withhold the 

distribution of gag individual fishing 

quota (IFQ) allocation on January 1, 

2024, to shareholders in the Groupers 

and Tilefishes IFQ (GT–IFQ) program in 

the amount equal to the anticipated 

reduction in the commercial quota and 

set the red grouper multi-use allocation 

to zero as required when gag is in a 

rebuilding plan. 

DATES: This temporary rule is effective 

from January 1, 2024, until June 1, 2024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dan 

Luers, NMFS Southeast Regional Office, 

telephone: 727–824–5305, email: 

daniel.luers@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The reef 

fish fishery in the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) 

includes gag and is managed under the 

FMP. The FMP was prepared by the 

Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management 

Council (Council) and approved and 

implemented by NMFS through 

regulations at 50 CFR part 622 under the 

authority of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). 

The Gulf gag fishery is divided into 

commercial and recreational sectors, 

with a stock ACL that is allocated 39 

percent to the commercial sector and 61 

percent to the recreational sector. The 

commercial sector is managed under the 

GT–IFQ program and landings are 

constrained to the commercial quota, 

which is reduced from the commercial 

ACL. Recreational harvest is currently 

permitted from June 1 each year until 

NMFS projects that recreational 

landings reach the recreational ACL. If 

the recreational ACL is exceeded, 

recreational harvest is constrained the 

following year to the recreational annual 

catch target. All weights described in 

this temporary rule are in gutted weight. 

In January 2022, NMFS notified the 

Council that gag is overfished and 

undergoing overfishing. In July 2022, 

the Council sent a letter to NMFS 

recommending interim measures to 

reduce overfishing beginning in the 

2023 fishing year while the Council 

developed Amendment 56 to the FMP to 

implement permanent measures to end 

overfishing and rebuild the stock. The 

interim measures, effective from May 3, 

2023, through May 2, 2024, reduced the 

gag catch limits and modified the 

recreational season (88 FR 27701, May 

3, 2023). Therefore, the current 

commercial ACL and commercial quota, 

implemented through those interim 

measures, are 258,000 lb (117,027 kg) 

and 199,000 lb (90,265 kg), respectively. 

On October 18, 2023, NMFS 

published an announcement of 

availability for Amendment 56 (88 FR 

71812, October 18, 2023), and on 

November 9, NMFS published a 

proposed rule to implement 

Amendment 56 (88 FR 77246, 

November 9, 2023). As described in the 

announcement of availability and 

proposed rule, if Amendment 56 is 

approved and implemented the 

commercial ACL and commercial quota 

for the 2024 fishing year would be 

further reduced to 155,000 lb (70,307 

kg) and 147,000 lb (66,678 kg). Under 

the GT–IFQ program, annual quota is 

distributed to IFQ shareholders as 

allocation (including multi-use 

allocation) on January 1, and most IFQ 

program participants begin to use or 

transfer their allocation early in each 

year. After shareholders begin 

transferring or landing allocation, NMFS 

is not able to retroactively withdraw 

allocation from shareholder accounts if 

a commercial quota decrease became 

effective after the beginning of the 

fishing year. Regulations at 50 CFR 

622.22(a)(4), authorize NMFS to 

withhold distribution of IFQ allocation 

on January 1 in the amount equal to an 

expected reduction in the commercial 

quota. Accordingly, through this 

temporary rule NMFS withholds 

distribution of the portion of the 2024 

commercial quota of gag equal to the 

anticipated reduction recommended by 

the Council in Amendment 56. Because 

Amendment 56 would also establish a 

rebuilding plan for gag, multi-use 

allocation of red grouper would be set 

a zero on implementation. Therefore, 

through this temporary rule, NMFS will 

set the red grouper IFQ multi-use 

allocation at zero. 

NMFS will distribute the available gag 

allocation, on January 1, 2024. 

If NMFS does not implement 

Amendment 56, including the revised 

commercial quota, by June 1, 2024, then 

NMFS will distribute the withheld 

allocation back to the current 

shareholders, as determined by the 

shares held on the same date that NMFS 

distributes the withheld IFQ quota. 

Classification 

NMFS issues this action pursuant to 

section 305(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act. This action is taken under 50 CFR 

622.22(a)(4), which was issued pursuant 

to section 304(b) of the MagnusonStevens Act, and is exempt from review 

under Executive Order 12866, and other 

applicable laws. 

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), there 

is good cause to waive prior notice and 

an opportunity for public comment on 

this action, as notice and comment is 

unnecessary and contrary to the public 

interest. Such procedures are 

unnecessary because the regulation at 

50 CFR 622.22(a)(4) has already been 

subject to notice and public comment, 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 227 / Tuesday, November 28, 2023 / Rules and Regulations 83041 

and the public is aware that the Council 

has submitted Amendment 56 to end 

overfishing of gag beginning in the 2024 

fishing year. Therefore, all that remains 

is to notify the public that a portion of 

the commercial gag allocation in 2024 

will be withheld to allow for the 

implementation of the Amendment 56 

in 2024, if approved. Such procedures 

are contrary to the public interest 

because notice and comment would not 

allow NMFS to implement the 

Amendment 56 measures to end 

overfishing during the 2024 fishing year. 

If NMFS does not withhold the 

necessary commercial gag allocation, 

shareholders can begin transferring or 

landing allocation on January 1, 2024, 

and NMFS would not be able to 

retroactively withdraw allocation from 

shareholder accounts. 

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

Dated: November 22, 2023. 

Kelly Denit, 

Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–26211 Filed 11–27–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 622 

[Docket No. 200124–0029; RTID 0648– 

XD535] 

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of 

Mexico, and South Atlantic; Reef Fish 

Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico; 2024 

Red Snapper Private Angling 

Component Closure in Federal Waters 

Off Texas 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; closure. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces a closure 

for the 2024 fishing season for the red 

snapper recreational private angling 

component in the exclusive economic 

zone (EEZ) off Texas in the Gulf of 

Mexico (Gulf) through this temporary 

rule. The red snapper recreational 

private angling component in the Gulf 

EEZ off Texas will close on January 1, 

2024, until 12:01 a.m., local time, on 

June 1, 2024. This closure is necessary 

to prevent the private angling 

component from exceeding the Texas 

regional management area annual catch 

limit (ACL) and to prevent overfishing 

of the Gulf red snapper resource. 

DATES: This closure is effective at 12:01 

a.m., local time, on January 1, 2024, 

until 12:01 a.m., local time, on June 1, 

2024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dan 

Luers, NMFS Southeast Regional Office, 

telephone: 727–824–5305, email: 

Daniel.Luers@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Gulf 

reef fish fishery, which includes red 

snapper, is managed under the Fishery 

Management Plan for the Reef Fish 

Resources of the Gulf of Mexico (FMP). 

The FMP was prepared by the Gulf of 

Mexico Fishery Management Council 

and is approved by NMFS under the 

authority of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) and 

implemented through regulations at 50 

CFR part 622. 

The final rule implementing 

Amendment 40 to the FMP established 

two components within the recreational 

sector fishing for Gulf red snapper: the 

private angling component, and the 

Federal for-hire component (80 FR 

22422, April 22, 2015). Amendment 40 

also allocated the red snapper 

recreational ACL (recreational quota) 

between the components and 

established separate seasonal closures 

for the two components. On February 6, 

2020, NMFS implemented Amendments 

50 A–F to the FMP, which delegated 

authority to the Gulf states (Louisiana, 

Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and 

Texas) to establish specific management 

measures for the harvest of red snapper 

in Federal waters of the Gulf by the 

private angling component of the 

recreational sector (85 FR 6819, 

February 6, 2020). These amendments 

allocated a portion of the private angling 

ACL to each state, and each state is 

required to constrain landings to its 

allocation. 

As described at 50 CFR 622.23(c), a 

Gulf state with an active delegation may 

request that NMFS close all, or an area 

of, Federal waters off that state to the 

harvest and possession of red snapper 

by private anglers. The state is required 

to request the closure by letter to NMFS, 

providing dates and geographic 

coordinates for the closure. If the 

request is within the scope of the 

analysis in Amendment 50A, NMFS 

publishes a notification in the Federal 

Register implementing the closure for 

the fishing year. Based on the analysis 

in Amendment 50A, Texas may request 

a closure of all Federal waters off the 

State to allow a year-round fishing 

season in state waters. As described at 

50 CFR 622.2, ‘‘off Texas’’ is defined as 

the waters in the Gulf west of a rhumb 

line from 29°32.1′ N lat., 93°47.7′ W 

long. to 26°11.4′ N lat., 92°53′ W long., 

which line is an extension of the 

boundary between Louisiana and Texas. 

On November 8, 2023, NMFS received 

a request from the Texas Parks and 

Wildlife Department (TPWD) to close 

the EEZ off Texas to the red snapper 

recreational private angling component 

during the 2024 fishing year. Texas 

requested that the closure be effective 

from January 1 through May 31, 2024. 

NMFS has determined that this request 

is within the scope of the analysis 

contained within Amendment 50A, 

which analyzed the potential impacts of 

a closure of all Federal waters off Texas, 

consistent with Texas’s intent to 

maintain a year-round fishing season in 

State waters during which a part of 

Texas’ ACL could be caught. 

Therefore, the red snapper 

recreational private angling component 

in the Gulf EEZ off Texas will close at 

12:01 a.m., local time, on January 1, 

2024, until 12:01 a.m., local time, on 

June 1, 2024. This closure applies to all 

private-anglers (those on board vessels 

that have not been issued a valid charter 

vessel/headboat permit for Gulf reef 

fish) regardless of which state they are 

from or where they intend to land. Once 

the EEZ off Texas opens on June 1, 

2023, TPWD will continue to monitor 

private recreational landings, and if 

necessary, will request that NMFS again 

close the EEZ in 2024 to ensure the 

Texas regional management area ACL is 

not exceeded. 

On and after the effective dates of this 

closure in the EEZ off Texas, the harvest 

and possession of red snapper in the 

EEZ off Texas by the private angling 

component is prohibited and the bag 

and possession limits for the red 

snapper private angling component in 

the closed area is zero. 

Classification 

NMFS issues this action pursuant to 

section 305(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act. This action is required by 50 CFR 

622.23(c), which was issued pursuant to 

304(b), and is exempt from review 

under Executive Order 12866, and other 

applicable laws. 

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), there 

is good cause to waive prior notice and 

an opportunity for public comment on 

this action, as notice and comment are 

unnecessary and contrary to the public 

interest. Such procedures are 

unnecessary because the rule 

implementing the area closure authority 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1