Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 190 / Tuesday, October 1, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 79783 

stocks and suggested that the allocations 

should be managed solely by the 

Commission or jointly by the MidAtlantic and New England Councils. 

Response: NMFS agrees that the 

Commission should retain management 

of the state commercial allocations to 

ensure an equitable process and have 

disapproved the addition of the 

commercial state black sea bass 

allocations into the Federal FMP. 

General Comments 

Comment 15: MADMF fully 

supported NMFS’ rationale, as provided 

in 88 FR 28456 (May 4, 2023), for 

disapproving the addition of the 

commercial black sea bass state 

allocations into the Federal FMP. 

Response: NMFS agrees and has 

disapproved the addition of the 

commercial state black sea bass 

allocations into the Federal FMP. 

Comment 16: One commenter stated 

that NMFS’ proposal will complicate 

things for fishermen and black sea bass 

issues should have been addressed two 

decades ago. 

Response: NMFS agrees that 

duplicating the state allocations in the 

Federal FMP would create a more 

complicated process for black sea bass 

fishermen and have disapproved this 

measure. 

Changes From the Proposed Rule 

The proposed rule included all of the 

Council’s recommended changes to the 

FMP and proposed implementing 

regulations deemed necessary by the 

Council. As described above, NMFS has 

determined that the adjustment to the 

process for setting the state allocations 

and the addition of the state allocations 

and payback provisions to the Council’s 

(Federal) FMP were inconsistent with 

the National Standards and disapproved 

those measures. The final rule only 

implements the proposed change to the 

commercial in-season closure trigger, 

and removes the disapproved measures 

that were in the proposed rule’s 

regulatory text. 

Classification 

Pursuant to section 304(b)(3) of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act, the NMFS 

Assistant Administrator has determined 

that this final rule is consistent with the 

Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea 

Bass FMP, other provisions of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other 

applicable law. 

This final rule has been determined to 

be not significant for purposes of 

Executive Order 12866. 

The Chief Counsel for Regulation of 

the Department of Commerce certified 

to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the 

Small Business Administration during 

the proposed rule stage that this action 

would not have a significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities. The factual basis for the 

certification was published in the 

proposed rule and is not repeated here. 

No comments were received regarding 

this certification. As a result, a 

regulatory flexibility analysis was not 

required and none was prepared. 

This final rule contains no 

information collection requirements 

under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648 

Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

Dated: September 24, 2024. 

Samuel D. Rauch, III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, NMFS amends 50 CFR part 

648 as follows: 

PART 648—FISHERIES OF THE 

NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 648 

continues to read as follows: 

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

■ 2. In § 648.142, revise paragraph (a) 

introductory text and add paragraph 

(a)(15) to read as follows: 

§ 648.142 Black sea bass specifications. 

(a) Specifications. Commercial quota, 

recreational landing limit, research setaside, and other specification measures. 

The Monitoring Committee will 

recommend to the MAFMC and the 

ASMFC, through the specification 

process, for use in conjunction with the 

ACL and ACT, sector-specific research 

set-asides, estimates of the sector-related 

discards, a recreational harvest limit, a 

commercial quota, along with other 

measures, as needed, that are projected 

to prevent overages of the applicable 

specified limits or targets for each sector 

as prescribed in the FMP. The following 

measures are to be considered by the 

Monitoring Committee: 

* * * * * 

(15) A commercial quota overage 

buffer, of up to 5 percent, that would be 

used to determine when a Federal inseason closure would be triggered. 

* * * * * 

■ 3. In § 648.143, revise paragraph (a) 

introductory text to read as follows: 

§ 648.143 Black sea bass accountability 

measures. 

(a) Commercial sector fishery closure. 

The Regional Administrator will 

monitor the harvest of commercial quota 

based on dealer reports, state data, and 

other available information. All black 

sea bass landed for sale in the states 

from North Carolina through Maine by 

a vessel with a moratorium permit 

issued under § 648.4(a)(7) shall be 

applied against the commercial annual 

coastwide quota, regardless of where the 

black sea bass were harvested. All black 

sea bass harvested north of 35°15.3′ N. 

lat., and landed for sale in the states 

from North Carolina through Maine by 

any vessel without a moratorium permit 

and fishing exclusively in state waters, 

will be counted against the quota by the 

state in which it is landed, pursuant to 

the FMP for the black sea bass fishery 

adopted by the ASMFC. The Regional 

Administrator will determine the date 

on which the annual coastwide quota, 

plus a buffer up to 5 percent as specified 

in the annual specifications, is projected 

to be harvested; and beginning on that 

date and through the end of the calendar 

year, the EEZ north of 35°15.3′ N lat. 

will be closed to the possession of black 

sea bass. The Regional Administrator 

will publish a notification in the 

Federal Register advising that, upon 

and after that date, no vessel may 

possess black sea bass in the EEZ north 

of 35°15.3′ N lat. during a closure, nor 

may vessels issued a moratorium permit 

land black sea bass during the closure. 

Individual states will have the 

responsibility to close their ports to 

commercial landings of black sea bass 

during a closure, pursuant to the FMP 

for the black sea bass fishery adopted by 

the ASMFC. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2024–22233 Filed 9–30–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 679 

[Docket No. 240304–0068; RTID 0648– 

XE302] 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone off Alaska; Several Groundfish 

Species in the Bering Sea and Aleutian 

Islands Management Area 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 


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79784 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 190 / Tuesday, October 1, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

ACTION: Temporary rule; apportionment 

of reserves; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS apportions amounts of 

the non-specified reserve to the initial 

total allowable catch (ITAC) of Bering 

Sea (BS) ‘‘other rockfish’’, BS Pacific 

ocean perch, Bering Sea and Aleutian 

Islands (BSAI) Kamchatka flounder, and 

BSAI skates. This action is necessary to 

allow the fisheries to continue 

operating. It is intended to promote the 

goals and objectives of the fishery 

management plan for the BSAI 

management area. 

DATES: Effective September 30, 2024, 

through 2400 hours, Alaska local time, 

December 31, 2024. Comments must be 

received at the following address no 

later than 4:30 p.m., Alaska local time, 

October 15, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on this document, identified by docket 

number NOAA–NMFS–2023–0124, by 

any of the following methods: 

Electronic Submission: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e- Rulemaking Portal. Go to 

https://www.regulations.gov and enter 

NOAA–NMFS–2023–0124 in the Search 

box. Click on the ‘‘Comment’’ icon, 

complete the required fields, and enter 

or attach your comments. 

Mail: Submit written comments to 

Gretchen Harrington, Assistant Regional 

Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries 

Division, Alaska Region NMFS. Mail 

comments to P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, 

AK 99802–1668. 

Instructions: Comments sent by any 

other method, to any other address or 

individual, or received after the end of 

the comment period, may not be 

considered by NMFS. All comments 

received are a part of the public record 

and will generally be posted for public 

viewing on https://www.regulations.gov 

without change. All personal identifying 

information (e.g., name, address, etc.), 

confidential business information, or 

otherwise sensitive information 

submitted voluntarily by the sender will 

be publicly accessible. NMFS will 

accept anonymous comments (enter ‘‘N/ 

A’’ in the required fields if you wish to 

remain anonymous). 

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 BSAI 

Management Area (FMP) prepared by 

the North Pacific Fishery Management 

Council under authority of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act). Regulations 

governing fishing by U.S. vessels in 

accordance with the FMP appear at 

subpart H of 50 CFR parts 600 and 679. 

The 2024 ITAC of BS ‘‘other rockfish 

was established as 748 metric tons (mt), 

the 2024 ITAC of BS Pacific ocean perch 

was established as 9,891 metric tons mt, 

the 2024 ITAC of BSAI Kamchatka 

flounder was established as 6,373 mt, 

and the 2023 ITAC of BSAI skates was 

established as 25,941 mt, by the final 

2024 and 2025 harvest specifications for 

groundfish of the BSAI (89 FR 17287, 

March 11, 2024). In accordance with 

§ 679.20(a)(3) the Regional 

Administrator, Alaska Region, NMFS, 

has reviewed the most current available 

data and finds that the ITACs for BS 

‘‘other rockfish,’’ BS Pacific ocean 

perch, BSAI Kamchatka flounder, and 

BSAI skates need to be supplemented 

from the non-specified reserve to 

promote efficiency in the utilization of 

fishery resources in the BSAI and allow 

fishing operations to continue. 

Therefore, in accordance with 

§ 679.20(b)(3), NMFS apportions from 

the non-specified reserve of groundfish 

to ITACs in the BSAI management area 

as follows: 132 mt to BS ‘‘other 

rockfish,’’ 1,745 mt to BS Pacific ocean 

perch, 1,125 mt to BSAI Kamchatka 

flounder, and 4,578 mt to BSAI skates. 

These apportionments are consistent 

with § 679.20(b)(1)(i) and do not result 

in overfishing of any target species 

because the revised ITACs and total 

allowable catches (TACs) are equal to or 

less than the specifications of the 

acceptable biological catch in the final 

2024 and 2025 harvest specifications for 

groundfish in the BSAI (89 FR 17287, 

March 11, 2024). 

The harvest specification for the 2024 

ITACs and TACs included in the harvest 

specifications for groundfish in the 

BSAI are revised as follows 880 mt for 

BS ‘‘other rockfish,’’ 11,636 mt for BS 

Pacific ocean perch, 7,498 mt for BSAI 

Kamchatka flounder, and 30,519 mt for 

BSAI skates. 

Classification 

NMFS issues this action pursuant to 

section 305(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act. This action is required by 50 CFR 

part 679, which was issued pursuant to 

section 304(b), and is exempt from 

review under Executive Order 12866. 

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 

would be 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 apportionment of 

the non-specified reserves of groundfish 

to BS ‘‘other rockfish,’’ BS Pacific ocean 

perch, BSAI Kamchatka flounder, and 

BSAI skates NMFS was unable to 

publish a notice providing time for 

public comment because the most 

recent, relevant data only became 

available as of September 13, 2024. 

The Assistant Administrator for 

Fisheries, NOAA 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. 

Under § 679.20(b)(3)(iii), interested 

persons are invited to submit written 

comments on this action (see ADDRESSES

section) until October 15, 2024. 

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

Dated: September 26, 2024. 

Karen H. Abrams, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–22518 Filed 9–30–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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