Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 41 / Tuesday, March 3, 2015 / Rules and Regulations 11331 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act) by regulations 

at 50 CFR part 622. 

On January 30, 2012 (76 FR 82058, 

December 29, 2011), NMFS 

implemented a commercial quota of 

1,102,896 lb (500,265 kg) for Gulf 

migratory group king mackerel in the 

Florida east coast subzone (50 CFR 

622.384(b)(1)(i)(A)). From November 1 

through March 31, the Florida east coast 

subzone encompasses an area of the EEZ 

south of a line extending due east of the 

boundary between Flagler and Volusia 

Counties, FL, and north of a line 

extending due east of the boundary 

between Miami-Dade and Monroe 

Counties, FL. From November 1 through 

the end of February, king mackerel in or 

from the subzone may be possessed on 

board or landed from a permitted vessel 

in amounts not exceeding 50 fish per 

day (50 CFR 622.385(a)(2)(i)(A)). 

However, beginning on March 1, if 

less than 70 percent of the Florida east 

coast subzone king mackerel 

commercial quota has been harvested by 

that date, king mackerel in or from that 

subzone may be possessed on board or 

landed from a permitted vessel in 

amounts not exceeding 75 fish per day 

(50 CFR 622.385(a)(2)(i)(B)(2)). 

NMFS has determined that less than 

70 percent of the quota for Gulf 

migratory group king mackerel in the 

Florida east coast subzone will be 

harvested by March 1, 2015. 

Accordingly, a 75-fish trip limit applies 

to vessels fishing for king mackerel in or 

from the EEZ in the Florida east coast 

subzone effective 12:01 a.m., local time, 

March 1, 2015. The 75-fish trip limit 

will remain in effect until the subzone 

closes or until the end of the current 

fishing year (March 31, 2015) for this 

subzone. 

Classification 

The Regional Administrator, 

Southeast Region, NMFS, has 

determined this temporary rule is 

necessary for the conservation and 

management of Gulf migratory group 

king mackerel and is consistent with the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act and other 

applicable laws. 

This action is taken under 50 CFR 

622.385(a)(2)(i)(B)(2) and is exempt 

from review under Executive Order 

12866. 

These measures are exempt from the 

procedures of the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act because the temporary rule is issued 

without opportunity for prior notice and 

comment. 

This action responds to the best 

scientific information available. The 

Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, 

NOAA (AA), finds that the need to 

immediately implement this 

commercial trip limit increase 

constitutes good cause to waive the 

requirements to provide prior notice 

and opportunity for public comment 

pursuant to the authority set forth in 5 

U.S.C. 553(b)(B), because prior notice 

and opportunity for public comment on 

this temporary rule is unnecessary and 

contrary to the public interest. Such 

procedures are unnecessary, because the 

rule establishing the trip limits has 

already been subject to notice and 

comment, and all that remains is to 

notify the public of the trip limit 

increase. They are contrary to the public 

interest, because prior notice and 

opportunity for public comment would 

require time, thus delaying fishermen’s 

ability to catch more king mackerel than 

the present trip limit allows and 

preventing fishermen from reaping the 

socioeconomic benefits associated with 

this increased trip limit. 

As this action allows fishermen to 

increase their harvest of king mackerel 

from 50 fish to 75 fish per day in or 

from the EEZ of the Florida east coast 

subzone, the AA finds it relieves a 

restriction and may go into effect 

without a 30-day delay in effectiveness, 

pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(1). 

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

Dated: February 26, 2015. 

Jennifer M. Wallace, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2015–04382 Filed 2–26–15; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 141002822–5169–03] 

RIN 0648–BE56 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

Provisions; Fisheries of the 

Northeastern United States; Northeast 

Groundfish Fishery; Fishing Year 2014; 

Interim Gulf of Maine Cod Management 

Measures; Correction 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule, correcting 

amendment. 

SUMMARY: This document makes 

corrections to the Gulf of Maine cod 

interim regulations published in the 

Federal Register on November 13, 2014. 

This document corrects regulatory text 

by including the exemption from certain 

seasonal interim closure areas for 

vessels fishing for whiting in the Small 

Mesh Area 1 and 2 Exempted Areas 

with a raised footrope trawl. These two 

exempted areas, which overlap with 

certain seasonal closure areas, were 

inadvertently overlooked in the interim 

rule. This action does not make any 

substantive changes to the interim rule 

regulations. 

DATES: Effective February 26, 2015, until 

May 12, 2015. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

William Whitmore, Fishery Policy 

Analyst, phone: 978–281–9182. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On November 13, 2014, we published 

interim management measures (79 FR 

67362) to increase protection for Gulf of 

Maine (GOM) cod in response to a 

recently updated stock assessment that 

concluded the stock is severely 

depleted. The management measures 

included seasonal interim closure areas 

where fishing for groundfish is 

prohibited. The regulations 

implemented through the GOM cod 

interim rule allowed vessels fishing 

with exempted gear or fishing in 

exempted fisheries to continue to fish 

within the seasonal interim closure 

areas; however, the rule mistakenly did 

not include the Small Mesh Area 1 and 

2 Exemption Areas. 

An exempted fishery is implemented 

after it is determined that a specific 

fishery utilizes a certain gear type, and/ 

or fishes in specific areas or times that 

result in a groundfish bycatch that is 

less than 5 percent and doesn’t 

jeopardize fishing mortality objectives. 

Vessels fishing in the Small Mesh Areas 

must use raised footrope trawl nets that 

result in minimal groundfish bycatch. 

Vessels fishing in these areas may not 

fish for, possess, or land any groundfish. 

They are allowed to fish for and possess 

only whiting, red hake, and a limited 

number of other species. 

Additional information on exempted 

fisheries can be found online at 

www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/

regs/info.html. 

Correction 

We recently recognized that the GOM 

cod interim rule regulations 

inadvertently omitted two small mesh 

exemption areas utilized by groundfish 

vessels. Groundfish vessels are allowed 

to fish with small mesh nets using 

raised footrope trawls in the Small Mesh 


Rmajette on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with RULES
11332 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 41 / Tuesday, March 3, 2015 / Rules and Regulations 

Area 1 and 2 Exempted Areas, as 

described at 50 CFR 648.80(a)(9). 

Because these areas were omitted from 

the regulatory text, groundfish vessels 

would be unable to fish in the portions 

of the Small Mesh 1 and 2 Exemption 

Areas that overlap with the GOM cod 

seasonal interim closure areas. This 

correction adds the Small Mesh Area 1 

and 2 Exempted Areas to the list of 

exempted fishery areas that are exempt 

from the GOM cod seasonal interim 

closure areas. As a result, vessels can 

now fish with small mesh nets with 

raised footrope trawls in the Small Mesh 

Area 2 Exemption Area in March and 

April, and, if the interim rule were to be 

extended another six months, in the 

Small Mesh Area 1 Exemption Area July 

15 through November 15. This 

correction is consistent with the original 

intent of the GOM cod interim rule. 

Classification 

The Assistant Administrator (AA) for 

Fisheries, NOAA, finds that 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 

contrary to the public interest. This 

temporary rule adds the Small Mesh 

Area 1 and 2 Exempted Areas to the list 

of exempted fisheries that are exempt 

from the GOM cod seasonal interim 

closure areas. These two areas were 

inadvertently left out of the GOM cod 

interim action and adding these areas 

does not substantively change the 

regulations. Providing notice and 

comment on these changes is contrary to 

the public interest because any 

additional delay would cause economic 

harm to fishery participants by denying 

them opportunities to fish in the 

specified areas, which would have been 

permitted but for the previous 

inadvertent omission. Moreover, this 

action reduces a regulatory restriction 

and provides fishermen with greater 

fishing opportunities while maintaining 

the goals and objectives of the GOM cod 

interim rule and the groundfish fishery 

management plan. 

The Assistant Administrator also 

finds good cause under 5 U.S.C. 

553(d)(3) to waive the 30-day delay in 

effectiveness and makes this rule 

effective immediately upon filing for 

public inspection. In addition to the 

reasons stated above, an area within 

Small Mesh Area 2 will close on March 

1, 2015. Vessels fishing with raised 

footrope trawls would then be 

prohibited from fishing in that area 

unnecessarily. Waiving the 30-day delay 

avoids this unnecessary closure and 

allows fishery participants to fish in 

Small Mesh Area 2 without 

interruption, as was originally intended 

when the interim management measures 

were published. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648 

Fisheries, Fishing, Recordkeeping and 

reporting requirements. 

Dated: February 24, 2015. 

Samuel D. Rauch III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

Therefore, NOAA 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. Section 648.81 is amended by: 

■ A. Suspending from February 26, 

2015, unti May 12, 2015, paragraph 

(o)(2)(iv), and 

■ B. Temporarily adding from February 

26, 2015, until May 12, 2015, paragraph 

(o)(2)(vi). 

The addition reads as follows: 

§ 648.81 NE multispecies closed area and 

measures to protect EFH. 

* * * * * 

(o) * * * 

(2) * * * 

(vi) That are fishing in the Raised 

Footrope Trawl Exempted Whiting 

Fishery, ass specified in § 648.80(a)(15), 

or the Small Mesh Area 1 and 2 

Exemption Areas as specified in 

§ 648.80(a)(9). 

[FR Doc. 2015–04319 Filed 2–26–15; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 679 

[Docket No. 131021878–4158–02] 

RIN 0648–XD803 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone off Alaska; Pacific Cod in the 

Aleutian Islands Subarea of 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 cod, except for the 

Community Development Quota 

program (CDQ), in the Aleutian Islands 

subarea of the Bering Sea and Aleutian 

Islands management area (BSAI). This 

action is necessary to prevent exceeding 

the non-CDQ allocation of the 2015 

Pacific cod total allowable catch (TAC) 

in the Aleutian Islands subarea of the 

BSAI. 

DATES: Effective 1200 hrs, Alaska local 

time (A.l.t.), February 27, 2015, through 

2400 hrs, A.l.t., December 31, 2015. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Josh 

Keaton, 907–586–7269. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS 

manages the groundfish fishery in the 

BSAI 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 non-CDQ allocation of the 2015 

Pacific cod TAC in the Aleutian Islands 

subarea of the BSAI is 8,414 metric tons 

(mt) as established by the final 2014 and 

2015 harvest specifications for 

groundfish in the BSAI (79 FR 12108, 

March 4, 2014) and inseason adjustment 

(80 FR 188, January 5, 2015). In 

accordance with § 679.20(d)(1)(i), the 

Administrator, Alaska Region, NMFS, 

has determined that the non-CDQ 

allocation of the 2015 Pacific cod TAC 

in the Aleutian Islands subarea of the 

BSAI will soon be reached. Therefore, 

the Regional Administrator is 

establishing a directed fishing 

allowance of 6,414 mt, and is setting 

aside the remaining 2,000 mt as 

incidental catch in directed fishing for 

other species. 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 cod in the 

Aleutian Islands subarea of the BSAI. 

After the effective date of this closure 

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 


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