1036 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 6 / Tuesday, January 9, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

§ 831.15 [Amended] 

■ 2. Amend § 831.15 by removing the 

dollar amount ‘‘$1,993’’ and add in its 

place ‘‘$2,058’’. 

William T. McMurry, Jr., 

General Counsel. 

[FR Doc. 2024–00228 Filed 1–8–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7533–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 230810–0190; RTID 0648–BL95] 

Temporary Rule To Extend Gulf of 

Maine Haddock Emergency Action for 

the Northeast Multispecies Fishery 

Management Plan 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; emergency 

action. 

SUMMARY: This temporary rule 

implements an extension of the Gulf of 

Maine haddock emergency action for 

the Northeast multispecies fishery 

through the remainder of the 2023 

fishing year. The emergency action 

extension is necessary to minimize the 

potential economic consequences 

associated with a substantial reduction 

in the Gulf of Maine haddock annual 

catch limit compared to recent years for 

a stock that remains at a very high level 

of biomass, while still preventing 

overfishing. 

DATES: Effective January 9, 2024, 

through April 30, 2024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Claire Fitz-Gerald, Fishery Policy 

Analyst, (978) 281–9255. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: At the 

New England Fishery Management 

Council’s request, NMFS took 

emergency action to increase the Gulf of 

Maine (GOM) haddock acceptable 

biological catch (ABC). NMFS increased 

the ABC to 100 percent of the fishing 

mortality associated with the maximum 

sustainable yield (FMSY) (2,515 metric 

tons (mt)) for fishing year 2023. The 

emergency measures were included in 

the final rule for Framework Adjustment 

65 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery 

Management Plan (FMP) (88 FR 56527; 

August 18, 2023). 

The Council took final action on 

Framework 65 at its December 2022 

meeting. Framework 65 set fishing year 

2023 specifications for 16 groundfish 

stocks, including GOM haddock. The 

ABC for GOM haddock included in 

Framework 65 for fishing year 2023 was 

1,936 mt. This ABC represented an 83- 

percent reduction from the fishing year 

2022 ABC. The recommendation was 

based on the results of the 2022 

management track assessment for the 

stock and a 75-percent FMSY, which is 

consistent with the Council’s ABC 

control rule for stocks that are not in a 

rebuilding plan. 

Following the December 2022 Council 

meeting, members of the fishing 

industry started reporting an 

unanticipated increase in interactions 

with GOM haddock and raising 

concerns that the fishery may either 

meet or exceed its allocation of GOM 

haddock mid-fishing year due to the low 

quota, which could result in the closure 

of the GOM broad stock area to the 

commercial groundfish fleet or forgoing 

other fishing opportunities in the GOM 

in an effort to avoid haddock, both of 

which would have severely negative 

impacts for the fishery. 

At its April meeting, in response to 

fishing industry concerns, the Council 

voted to request that NMFS implement 

an emergency action to set the GOM 

haddock ABC for fishing year 2023 at 90 

percent of FMSY, or 2,281 mt, rather than 

the ABC that was recommended in 

Framework 65 (1,936 mt, based on 75- 

percent of FMSY). On May 2, 2023, the 

Council sent a letter requesting the 

emergency action. NMFS reviewed the 

request and determined that this 

situation met the criteria specified for 

emergency rulemaking (62 FR 44421; 

August 21, 1997). NMFS based this 

decision on the robust status of the 

stock, which is estimated to be at 270 

percent of its biomass target, recent 

survey trends indicating that the stock 

may have experienced another episodic 

positive recruitment event in 2020, and 

the temporary nature of the emergency 

action and any potential extension. 

NMFS determined that the GOM 

haddock ABC could be set as high as 

100 percent of FMSY (2,515 mt) for 

fishing year 2023 to minimize economic 

harm to industry to the extent 

practicable, while still preventing 

overfishing. The emergency action 

implementing the increased fishing year 

2023 GOM haddock ABC published on 

August 18, 2023. 

The emergency measures will expire 

on February 14, 2024, under the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act’s 

initial 180-day limit on the duration of 

an emergency action. The MagnusonStevens Act allows an extension of 

emergency actions for up to 186 days 

provided that the public had an 

opportunity to comment on the 

emergency action and, for Councilrecommended actions, the Council is 

actively preparing measures to address 

the emergency. The Council has 

developed measures to address on an 

ongoing basis the underlying conditions 

for the emergency action, and the public 

had an opportunity to comment on the 

emergency action as noted below. 

At its December 2023 meeting, the 

Council took final action on Framework 

66 to the groundfish FMP, which 

intends to set specifications for the 2024 

fishing year. Recognizing the increased 

interactions with a robust GOM 

haddock stock and the steep reductions 

from the 2022 fishing year limits, the 

GOM haddock ABC included in 

Framework 66 is based on 90 percent of 

FMSY (2,406 mt). The fishing year 2024 

GOM haddock ABC under Framework 

65 is 2,038 mt. 

Extending the August 18, 2023, 

emergency action prevents the GOM 

haddock ABC from reverting to 75- 

percent of FMSY (1,936 mt) when the 

emergency action expires. The 

underlying emergency conditions have 

not changed. Fishing vessel owners and 

operators have relied on the emergency 

action and have changed their fishing 

behavior in anticipation of the 

emergency action’s continuation 

through the end of the fishing year. 

Specifically, fishing vessel operators 

have avoided GOM haddock and 

focused on other available stocks in 

order to conserve GOM haddock 

allocation for the upcoming spring 

season. While shifts in GOM haddock 

interactions are difficult to predict, in 

both timing and magnitude, this is 

consistent with increases in fishing 

effort and GOM haddock catch in past 

springs. Allowing the emergency action 

to expire and the ABC to revert to the 

lower amount approved in Framework 

65 mid-year could prevent the fishery 

from realizing the benefits of increased 

fishing opportunities for which this 

action was promulgated. Therefore, we 

are extending the emergency measures 

through the end of the 2023 fishing year 

(April 30, 2024), consistent with the 

Council’s emergency action request and 

our analysis for fishing year 2023. For 

the same reasons noted in the August 

18, 2023, emergency rule, NMFS has 

determined that extending the 

emergency action to maintain the GOM 

haddock ABC associated with 100- 

percent of FMSY meets the criteria for 

emergency action. 

Comments and Responses 

NMFS received two comments in 

response to the emergency action. 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 6 / Tuesday, January 9, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 1037 

Neither comment was relevant to this 

action. 

Classification 

The NMFS Assistant Administrator 

has determined that this rule is 

necessary to respond to an emergency 

situation and is consistent with the 

national standards and other provisions 

of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and other 

applicable laws. 

The NMFS Assistant Administrator 

finds good cause under 5 U.S.C. 

553(b)(B) that it is contrary to the public 

interest and impracticable to provide 

prior notice and opportunity for the 

public to comment. As more fully 

explained above, the reasons justifying 

promulgation of this action on an 

emergency basis, coupled with the fact 

that the public has had the opportunity 

to comment on NMFS’ emergency 

action that this is extending, make 

solicitation of public comment 

unnecessary, impractical, and contrary 

to the public interest. In the interest of 

receiving public input on this action, 

the Supplemental Environmental 

Assessment analyzing this emergency 

action was made available to the public 

and the original emergency action 

solicited public comment. 

For these same reasons stated above, 

pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), NMFS 

finds good cause to waive the full 30- 

day delay in effectiveness for this 

action. This action extends the 

emergency measures currently in place 

through the remainder of the 2023 

fishing year (April 30, 2024). A 30-day 

delay in effectiveness would be contrary 

to the public interest because the GOM 

haddock ABC would temporarily revert 

to the amount approved in Framework 

65, which may disrupt the fishery and 

lead to confusion for the fishing 

industry. Because of this, there is good 

cause to waive the requirement for 

delayed effectiveness. 

This action is being taken pursuant to 

the emergency provision of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act and is exempt 

from review by the Office of 

Management and Budget. 

Because notice and opportunity for 

comment are not required pursuant to 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. Therefore, a 

regulatory flexibility analysis is not 

required and none has been prepared. 

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

Dated: January 3, 2024. 

Samuel D. Rauch, III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–00187 Filed 1–8–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES