[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 17 (Thursday, January 25, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 4834]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-01455]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 230316-0077; RTID 0648-XD685]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Herring 
Fishery; 2024 River Herring and Shad Catch Cap Reached for Midwater 
Trawl Vessels in the Cape Cod Catch Cap Closure Area

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

ACTION: Temporary rule; possession limit adjustment.

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SUMMARY: NMFS is reducing the Atlantic herring possession limit for 
herring vessels fishing with midwater trawl in the River Herring and 
Shad Cape Cod Catch Cap Closure Area. This is required because NMFS 
projects that catch of river herring and shad by midwater trawl herring 
vessels will reach the Cape Cod Catch Cap threshold for river herring 
and shad before the end of the fishing year. This action is intended to 
prevent overharvest of river herring and shad.

DATES: Effective 00:01 hours local time, January 23, 2024, through 
December 31, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Louis Forristall, Fishery Management 
Specialist, (978)-281-9321.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Regional Administrator of the Greater 
Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office monitors river herring and shad 
catch by Atlantic herring vessels. River herring and shad catch caps 
are allocated to the herring fishery by area and gear type.
    The Cape Cod Catch Cap Area river herring and shad cap is allocated 
to Atlantic herring vessels using midwater trawl gear in the Cape Cod 
Catch Cap Area. Catch from all Atlantic herring trips using midwater 
trawl gear in that area that land more than 6,600 pounds (lb), 
equivalent to 2,994 kilograms (kg), of herring is counted towards the 
river herring and shad catch cap. Regulations at 50 CFR 
648.201(a)(4)(ii) require NMFS to implement a 2,000-lb (907.2-kg) 
Atlantic herring possession limit for vessels fishing with the 
specified gear in a specified catch cap closure area beginning on the 
date that catch is projected to reach 95 percent of the river herring 
and shad catch cap for that area.
    Based on vessel reports, dealer reports, and other available 
information, the Regional Administrator projects that midwater trawl 
herring vessels will have caught 95 percent of the river herring and 
shad 2024 Cape Cod Catch Cap by January 23, 2024. Therefore, effective 
00:01 hours local time January 23, 2024, through 24:00 hours local time 
on December 31, 2024, Atlantic herring vessels using midwater trawl 
gear may not attempt or do any of the following: Fish for, possess, 
transfer, receive, land, or sell more than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of 
Atlantic herring from the Cape Cod Catch Cap Closure Area per trip; or 
land Atlantic herring from the Cape Cod Catch Cap Closure Area more 
than once per calendar day. Also effective 00:01 hours local time, 
January 23, 2024, through 24:00 hours local time, December 31, 2024, 
unless it is from a vessel that enters port before 00:01 hours local 
time on January 23, 2024, and catch is landed in accordance with state 
management measures, federally permitted dealers may not attempt or do 
any of the following: purchase; receive; possess; have custody or 
control of; sell; barter; trade; or transfer more than 2,000 lb (907.2 
kg) of Atlantic herring per trip or calendar day from an Atlantic 
herring midwater trawl vessel fishing in the Cape Cod Catch Cap Closure 
Area.
    Midwater trawl vessels may transit through or land in the Cape Cod 
Catch Cap Closure Area with more than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of Atlantic 
herring on board, provided that: The herring were caught in an area not 
subject to a 2,000-lb (907.2-kg) limit; all fishing gear is stowed and 
not available for immediate use as defined at Sec.  648.2 while the 
vessel is in the Closure Area; and the vessel is issued a permit 
appropriate to the amount of herring on board and the area where the 
herring was harvested.

Classification

    This action is required by 50 CFR part 648 and is exempt from 
review under Executive Order 12866.
    NMFS finds good cause pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B) to waive 
prior notice and the opportunity for public comment because it would be 
impracticable, unnecessary, and contrary to the public interest. Data 
only recently became available indicating that midwater trawl herring 
vessels will catch 95 percent of the river herring and shad Cape Cod 
Catch Cap before the end of the fishing year. High-volume catch and 
landings in the herring fishery can increase river herring and shad 
catch relative to catch caps quickly. If implementation of this action 
is delayed to solicit prior public comment, the 2024 Cape Cod Catch Cap 
will likely be exceeded; thereby undermining the conservation 
objectives of the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan (FMP). 
Additionally, the regulations at Sec.  648.201(a)(4)(ii) are designed 
to be implemented as quickly as possible to prevent catch from 
exceeding river herring and shad catch caps. NMFS is acting in 
accordance with those regulations to carry out the fishery management 
plan under the authority provided in section 305(d) of the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. These regulations were 
subject to public notice and opportunity to comment when they were 
first adopted in 2014. Further, Atlantic herring fishing industry 
participants monitor catch closely and anticipate potential possession 
limit adjustments as catch totals approach river herring and shad catch 
caps, and they expect these actions to occur in a timely way consistent 
with the FMP's objectives. For the reasons stated above, NMFS also 
finds good cause to waive the 30-day delayed effectiveness in 
accordance with 5 U.S.C 553(d)(3).

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

    Dated: January 22, 2024.
Everett Wayne Baxter,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-01455 Filed 1-22-24; 4:15 pm]
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