13806 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 51 / Tuesday, March 17, 2015 / Proposed Rules 

potential costs and benefits, both 

quantitative and qualitative, of this 

regulatory action. The potential costs 

associated with this regulatory action 

are those resulting from statutory 

requirements and those we have 

determined as necessary for 

administering the Department’s 

programs and activities. 

Intergovernmental Review: This 

program is subject to Executive Order 

12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR 

part 79. One of the objectives of the 

Executive order is to foster an 

intergovernmental partnership and a 

strengthened federalism. The Executive 

order relies on processes developed by 

State and local governments for 

coordination and review of proposed 

Federal financial assistance. 

This document provides early 

notification of our specific plans and 

actions for this program. 

Accessible Format: Individuals with 

disabilities can obtain this document in 

an accessible format (e.g., braille, large 

print, audiotape, or compact disc) on 

request to the program contact person 

listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT. 

Electronic Access to This Document: 

The official version of this document is 

the document published in the Federal 

Register. Free Internet access to the 

official edition of the Federal Register 

and the Code of Federal Regulations is 

available via the Federal Digital System 

at: www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site you 

can view this document, as well as all 

other documents of this Department 

published in the Federal Register, in 

text or Adobe Portable Document 

Format (PDF). To use PDF you must 

have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is 

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You may also access documents of the 

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Register by using the article search 

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Specifically, through the advanced 

search feature at this site, you can limit 

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Dated: March 11, 2015. 

Nadya Chinoy Dabby, 

Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and 

Improvement. 

[FR Doc. 2015–05956 Filed 3–16–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Parts 223 and 648 

[Docket No. 141125999–5195–01] 

RIN 0648–BE68 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery 

and Northeast Multispecies Fishery; 

Framework Adjustment 26; 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife; 

Sea Turtle Conservation 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS proposes to approve 

and implement through regulations 

measures included in Framework 

Adjustment 26 to the Atlantic Sea 

Scallop Fishery Management Plan, 

which the New England Fishery 

Management Council adopted and 

submitted to NMFS for approval. The 

purpose of Framework 26 is to prevent 

overfishing, improve yield-per-recruit, 

and improve the overall management of 

the Atlantic sea scallop fishery. The 

Framework 26 proposed measures 

would also: Close a portion of the 

Elephant Trunk Access Area and extend 

the boundaries of the Nantucket 

Lightship Access Area to protect small 

scallops; adjust the State Waters 

Exemption Program; allow for Vessel 

Monitoring System declaration changes 

for vessels to steam home with product 

on board; implement a proactive 

accountability measure to protect 

windowpane flounder and yellowtail 

flounder; align two gear measures 

designed to protect sea turtles; and 

implement other measures to improve 

the management of the scallop fishery. 

Aligning the gear designed to protect sea 

turtles involves modifying existing 

regulations implemented under the 

Endangered Species Act; therefore, this 

action would be implemented under 

joint authority of the Endangered 

Species Act and the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

April 1, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: The Council developed an 

environmental assessment (EA) for this 

action that describes the proposed 

measures and other considered 

alternatives and provides a thorough 

analysis of the impacts of the proposed 

measures and alternatives. Copies of the 

Framework, the EA, and the Initial 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA), 

are available upon request from Thomas 

A. Nies, Executive Director, New 

England Fishery Management Council, 

50 Water Street, Newburyport, MA 

01950. 

You may submit comments on this 

document, identified by NOAA–NMFS– 

2015–0002, by either of the following 

methods: 

• Electronic Submission: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to 

www.regulations.gov/

#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2015- 

0002, click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon, 

complete the required fields, and enter 

or attach your comments. 

• Mail: John K. Bullard, Regional 

Administrator, NMFS, Greater Atlantic 

Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great 

Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. 

Mark the outside of the envelope, 

‘‘Comments on Scallop Framework 26 

Proposed Rule.’’ 

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 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). 

Written comments regarding the 

burden-hour estimates or other aspects 

of the collection-of-information 

requirements contained in this proposed 

rule may be submitted to the Greater 

Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office and 

by email to OIRA_Submission@

omb.eop.gov or fax to (202) 395–5806. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Emily Gilbert, Fishery Policy Analyst, 

978–281–9315. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The scallop fishery’s management 

unit ranges from the shorelines of Maine 

through North Carolina to the outer 

boundary of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone. The Scallop Fishery Management 

Plan (FMP), established in 1982, 

includes a number of amendments and 

framework adjustments that have 

revised and refined the fishery’s 

management. The Council sets scallop 


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fishery specifications through 

framework adjustments that occur 

annually or biennially. This annual 

action includes allocations for fishing 

year 2015, as well as other scallop 

fishery management measures. 

The Council adopted Framework 26 

on November 20, 2014, and submitted it 

to NMFS on February 17, 2015, for 

review and approval. Framework 26 

specifies measures for fishing year 2015, 

but includes fishing year 2016 measures 

that will go into place as a default, 

should the next specifications-setting 

framework be delayed beyond the start 

of fishing year 2016. NMFS will 

implement Framework 26, if approved, 

after the start of fishing year 2015; 2015 

default measures concerning allocations 

have been in place as of March 1, 2015. 

These default measures are more 

conservative than the Framework 26 

proposed allocations and would be 

replaced by the higher Framework 26 

allocations if this action is approved. 

The Council has reviewed the 

Framework 26 proposed rule regulations 

as drafted by NMFS and deemed them 

to be necessary and appropriate as 

specified in section 303(c) of the MSA. 

Specification of Scallop Overfishing 

Limit (OFL), Acceptable Biological 

Catch (ABC), Annual Catch Limits 

(ACLs), Annual Catch Targets (ACTs), 

and Set-Asides for the 2015 Fishing 

Year and Default Specifications for 

Fishing Year 2016 

The proposed allocations incorporate 

new biomass reference points that 

resulted from the Northeast Fisheries 

Science Center’s most recent scallop 

stock benchmark assessment that was 

completed in July 2014. The assessment 

reviewed and updated the data and 

models used to assess the scallop stock 

and ultimately updated the reference 

points for status determinations. The 

scallop stock is considered overfished if 

the biomass is less than half of the 

biomass at maximum sustainable yield 

(Bmsy), and overfishing is occurring if 

fishing mortality (F) is above the fishing 

mortality at maximum sustainable yield 

(Fmsy). The assessment continues to find 

that the scallop resource is not 

overfished and overfishing is not 

occurring, but the estimates for Fmsy and 

Bmsy have changed. A comparison of the 

old and new reference points is outlined 

in Table 1. 

TABLE 1—SUMMARY OF OLD AND NEW

SCALLOP REFERENCE POINTS FROM

THE LAST TWO BENCHMARK SCALLOP STOCK ASSESSMENTS IN 2010 

AND 2014 

2010 

Assessment 

2014 

Assessment 

Fmsy ................ 0.38 0.48. 

Bmsy ................ 125,000 mt 96,480 mt. 

1/2 Bmsy ......... 62,000 mt 48,240 mt. 

Due to these reference point updates, 

the fishing mortality rates that the 

Council uses to set OFL, ABC, and ACL 

would be updated through this action. 

The proposed OFL was set based on an 

F of 0.48, equivalent to the F threshold 

updated through the 2014 assessment. 

The proposed ABC and the equivalent 

total ACL for each fishing year are based 

on an F of 0.38, which is the F 

associated with a 25-percent probability 

of exceeding the OFL. The Council’s 

Scientific and Statistical Committee 

recommended scallop fishery ABCs for 

the 2015 and 2016 fishing years of 55.9 

M lb (25,352 mt) and 70.1 M lb (31,807 

mt), respectively, after accounting for 

discards and incidental mortality. The 

Scientific and Statistical Committee will 

reevaluate an ABC for 2016 when the 

Council develops the next framework 

adjustment. 

Table 2 outlines the proposed scallop 

fishery catch limits that are derived 

from the ABC values. After deducting 

the incidental target total allowable 

catch (TAC) and the research and 

observer set-asides, the remaining ACL 

available to the fishery is allocated 

according to the fleet proportions 

established in Amendment 11 to the 

Scallop FMP (72 FR 20090; April 14, 

2008): 94.5 percent allocated to the 

limited access (LA) scallop fleet (i.e., the 

larger ‘‘trip boat’’ fleet); 5 percent 

allocated to the limited access general 

category (LAGC) individual fishing 

quota (IFQ) fleet (i.e., the smaller ‘‘day 

boat’’ fleet); and the remaining 0.5 

percent allocated to LA scallop vessels 

that also have LAGC IFQ permits. These 

separate ACLs and their corresponding 

ACTs are referred to as sub-ACLs and 

sub-ACTs, respectively, throughout this 

action. Amendment 15 to the Scallop 

FMP (76 FR 43746; July 21, 2011) 

specified that no buffers to account for 

management uncertainty are necessary 

in setting the LAGC sub-ACLs, meaning 

that the LAGC sub-ACL would equal the 

LAGC sub-ACT. As a result, the LAGC 

sub-ACL values in Table 2, based on an 

F of 0.38, represent the amount of catch 

from which IFQ percentage shares will 

be applied to calculate each vessel’s IFQ 

for a given fishing year. For the LA fleet, 

the management uncertainty buffer is 

based on the F associated with a 75- 

percent probability of remaining below 

the F associated with ABC/ACL, which, 

using the updated Fs applied to the 

ABC/ACL, now results in an F of 0.34. 

TABLE 2—SCALLOP CATCH LIMITS FOR FISHING YEARS 2015 AND 2016 FOR THE LA AND LAGC IFQ FLEETS

2015 

(mt) 

2016 

(mt) 

Overfishing Limit .................................................................................................................................................. 38,061 45,456 

ABC/ACL w/discards removed ............................................................................................................................ 25,352 31,807 

Incidental TAC ..................................................................................................................................................... 22 .7 22 .7 

Research Set-Aside (RSA) .................................................................................................................................. 567 567 

Observer Set-aside (1 percent of ABC/ACL) ...................................................................................................... 254 318 

LA sub-ACL (94.5 percent of total ACL, after deducting set-asides and incidental catch) ................................ 23,161 29,200 

LA sub-ACT (adjusted for management uncertainty) .......................................................................................... 19,311 23,016 

LAGC IFQ sub-ACL (5.0 percent of total ACL, after deducting set-asides and incidental catch) ..................... 1,225 1,545 

LAGC IFQ sub-ACL for vessels with LA scallop permits (0.5 percent of total ACL, after deducting set-asides 

and incidental catch) ........................................................................................................................................ 123 154 

This action would deduct 567 mt of 

scallops annually for 2015 and 2016 

from the ABC and set it aside as the 

Scallop RSA to fund scallop research 

and to compensate participating vessels 

through the sale of scallops harvested 

under RSA projects. As of March 1, 

2015, this set-aside was available for 

harvest by RSA-funded projects in open 

areas. Framework 26 would allow RSA 

to be harvested from the Mid-Atlantic 

Access Areas that is proposed to be 

open for 2015, once this action is 

approved and implemented, but would 

prevent RSA harvesting from access 

areas under 2016 default measures. Of 

this 1.25 M lb (567 mt) allocation, 

NMFS has already allocated 397,470 lb 


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(180.3 mt) to previously funded multiyear projects as part of the 2014 RSA 

awards process. NMFS has reviewed 

proposals submitted for consideration of 

2015 RSA awards and will be selecting 

projects for funding in the near future. 

This action would also set aside 1 

percent of the ABC for the industryfunded observer program to help defray 

the cost of scallop vessels that carry an 

observer. The observer set-asides for 

fishing years 2015 and 2016 are 254 mt 

and 318 mt, respectively. The 2016 

observer set-aside may be adjusted by 

the Council when it develops specific, 

non-default measures for 2016. 

Open Area Days-at-Sea (DAS) 

Allocations 

This action would implement vesselspecific DAS allocations for each of the 

three LA scallop DAS permit categories 

(i.e., full-time, part-time, and 

occasional) for 2015 and 2016 (Table 3). 

Proposed 2015 DAS allocations are 

almost identical to those allocated to the 

LA fleet in 2014 (31 DAS for full-time, 

12 DAS for part-time, and 3 DAS for 

occasional vessels). Fishing year 2016 

DAS allocations are precautionary, and 

are set at 75 percent of what current 

biomass projections indicate could be 

allocated to each LA scallop vessel for 

the entire fishing year. This is to avoid 

over-allocating DAS to the fleet in the 

event that the framework that would set 

those allocations, if delayed past the 

start of the 2016 fishing year, estimates 

that DAS should be less than currently 

projected. The proposed allocations in 

Table 3 exclude any DAS deductions 

that are required if the LA scallop fleet 

exceeded its 2014 sub-ACL. In addition, 

these DAS values take into account a 

slight DAS reduction necessary for the 

implementation of another proposed 

measure discussed later on in this rule 

(See Adjustment to Vessel Monitoring 

System (VMS) Declaration Procedures 

for Some Open Area Trips). If this 

measure, which would allow for vessels 

on specific trips to end their open area 

trip and DAS accrual sooner than they 

can under current regulations, is not 

approved, the DAS allocations in Table 

3 would increase by 0.14 DAS and 0.06 

DAS for full-time and part-time vessels, 

respectively (there would be no change 

for occasional vessels, and there are 

currently no vessels issued the 

occasional permit type in the LA scallop 

fleet). In addition, the Council requested 

that DAS allocations now be specified to 

the hundredth decimal place, rather 

than rounding up or down to whole 

DAS. This is consistent with DAS 

accounting as vessels use DAS 

throughout the year. 

TABLE 3—SCALLOP OPEN AREA DAS 

ALLOCATIONS FOR 2015 AND 2016 

Permit 

category 2015 2016 

Full-Time ... 30.86 26.00 

Part-Time .. 12.94 10.40 

Occasional 2.58 2.17 

On March 1, 2015, full-time, parttime, and occasional vessels received 

17, 7, and 1 DAS, respectively. These 

allocations would increase as soon as 

Framework 26 is implemented, if 

approved. 

LA Allocations and Trip Possession 

Limits for Scallop Access Areas 

For fishing year 2015 and the start of 

2016, Framework 26 would close all 

three Georges Bank Access Areas (i.e., 

Nantucket Lightship (NLS), Closed Area 

1, and Closed Area 2 Access Areas) and 

open all three Mid-Atlantic Access 

Areas (i.e., Elephant Trunk, Delmarva, 

and Hudson Canyon Access Areas). This 

action proposes to extend the 

boundaries of the NLS Access Area that 

would close to the scallop fleet to 

include a concentration of small 

scallops near the existing boundary 

along the southeast corner, currently 

considered part of the open area. This 

proposed closure area, which would 

increase the NLS Access Area boundary 

by 158 square miles, would be 

reconsidered in a future framework 

action when the scallops are larger and 

ready for harvest. 

As for the Mid-Atlantic Access Areas, 

this action proposes that all three access 

areas be open to both the LA and LAGC 

IFQ fleet, and be treated as one single 

area, which this rule will now refer to 

as the Mid-Atlantic Access Area. 

Scallop vessels would be able to fish 

across all three areas in a single access 

area trip. There is one the exception: 

This action proposes six 10-minute 

squares (i.e., 549 square nautical miles) 

in the northwest corner of the Elephant 

Trunk Access Area be closed to protect 

small scallops. This area constitutes 

roughly 35 percent of the current 

Elephant Trunk Access Area. The 

closure would allow for the small 

concentrations of scallops in this 

portion of the access area to be 

protected as they grow to a more 

harvestable size. This action proposes 

that no transiting be allowed across this 

small area due to its small size and the 

incentive to fish in the area is relatively 

high due to the high abundance of 

scallops. 

Table 4 outlines the proposed LA 

allocations that can be fished from the 

Mid-Atlantic Access Area, which could 

be taken in as many trips as needed, so 

long as the trip possession limits (also 

in Table 4) are not exceeded. These 

proposed access area allocations for 

2015 represent a 112-percent increase in 

access area allocations compared to 

2014. 

TABLE 4—SCALLOP ACCESS AREA POUNDAGE ALLOCATIONS AND TRIP POSSESSION LIMITS FOR 2015 AND 2016 

Permit category Possession limits 2015 Allocation 2016 Allocation 

Full-Time ........................................ 17,000 lb (7,711 kg) ..................... 51,000 lb (23,133 kg) ................... 17,000 lb (7,711 kg). 

Part-Time ....................................... 10,200 lb ( 4,627 kg) .................... 20,400 lb ( 9,253 kg) .................... 10,200 lb (4,627 kg). 

Occasional ..................................... 1,420 lb (644 kg) .......................... 4,250 lb ( 1,928 kg) ...................... 1,420 lb ( 644 kg). 

This action also proposes to modify 

access area trip reporting procedures by 

requiring that each LA vessel submit a 

pre-landing notification form through its 

VMS unit prior to returning to port at 

the end of each access area trip, 

including trips where no scallops were 

landed. These pre-landing notifications 

would replace the current broken trip 

and compensation trip procedures. 

Vessels would no longer be required to 

submit a broken trip notification form if 

they are unable to land their full 

possession limits on an access area trip. 

Vessels would also no longer need to 

apply to NMFS to receive, or wait for 

NMFS to issue, a compensation trip to 

fish their remaining access area scallop 

allocation. 

For example, under Framework 26 

access area allocations, a full-time 

vessel receives 51,000 lb (23,133 kg) in 

the Mid-Atlantic Access Area, which 

can be landed on as many or as few trips 

as needed, so long as the 17,000-lb 

(7,711-kg) possession limit is not 

exceeded on any one trip. The vessel 

may choose to fish its full allocation 

over the course of three trips, landing 


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the maximum allowance of 17,000 lb 

(7,711 kg) on each trip, or it can choose 

to fish its full allocation over the course 

of four, five, or more trips, landing less 

than the trip possession limit on each 

trip. Regardless, the vessel must submit 

a pre-landing notification form prior to 

returning to port for each access area 

trip, and would not have to wait for 

NMFS to issue a compensation trip 

prior to starting its next access area trip. 

This action would also modify the 

procedures for when scallop access area 

allocation can be carried over to the 

next fishing year. Under the current 

regulations, vessel may fish for a 

previous year’s unharvested scallop 

access area allocation in the first 60 

days of a fishing year if the vessel broke 

a trip in the last 60 days of the previous 

fishing year or open season for an access 

area. In many cases, vessels in the last 

60 days of the fishing year simply 

crossed the VMS Demarcation Line, 

submitted a broken trip report through 

their VMS unit, and returned to port. 

This caused confusion and created a 

high number of cases for NMFS to 

review as the fishing year came to an 

end. Under the proposed measures, each 

vessel would automatically carry over 

unharvested access area allocation that 

the vessel could fish in the first 60 days 

of the subsequent fishing year, as long 

as the access area is open for scallop 

fishing during that time. This change 

would result in little change to the 

amount of carryover NMFS expects from 

year to year because most vessels took 

advantage of the broken trip provisions. 

Also, Framework 26 accounts for the 

uncertainty associated with carryover by 

setting the LA fishery’s ACT lower than 

the fishery’s ACL. This ensures that 

carryover would not cause an ACL to be 

exceeded from year to year. 

Although vessel owners would 

ultimately be responsible for tracking 

their own scallop access area landings 

and ensuring they do not exceed their 

annual allocations, NMFS would match 

dealer-reported scallop landing records 

with access area trip declarations and 

make that information available on FishOn-Line. 

Additional Measures To Reduce 

Impacts on Small Scallops 

1. Crew Limit Restrictions in Access 

Areas. Similar to the crew limit 

restrictions NMFS implemented in 

Delmarva in 2014, this action proposes 

crew limits for all access areas. 

Currently, LA scallop vessels have crew 

size limits when fishing in open areas: 

Vessels are limited to seven individuals 

when fishing on a DAS, or five 

individuals if the vessel is on a DAS and 

participating in the small dredge 

program. These limits have been in 

place to restrict the shucking capacity of 

a vessel to help reduce landings per unit 

effort while on DAS. In an effort to 

protect small scallops and discourage 

vessels from high-grading (discarding 

smaller scallops in exchange for larger 

ones), Framework 26 would impose a 

crew limit of eight individuals per LA 

vessel, including the captain, when 

fishing in any scallop access area. If a 

vessel is participating in the small 

dredge program, it may not have more 

than six people on board, including the 

operator, on an access area trip. These 

crew limits may be reevaluated in a 

future framework action. 

2. Delayed Harvesting of Default 2016 

Mid-Atlantic Access Area Allocations. 

Although the Framework would include 

precautionary access area allocations for 

the 2016 fishing year (see 2016 

allocations in Table 4), vessels would 

have to wait to fish these allocations 

until April 1, 2016. This precautionary 

measure is designed to protect scallops 

when scallop meat weights are lower 

than other times of the year (generally, 

this change in meat-weight is a 

physiological change in scallops due to 

spawning). However, if a vessel has not 

fully harvested its 2015 scallop access 

area allocation in fishing year 2015, it 

may still fish the remainder of its 

allocation in the first 60 days of 2016 

(i.e., March 1, 2016, through April 29, 

2016). 

3. 2016 RSA Harvest Restrictions. 

This action proposes that vessels 

participating in RSA projects would be 

prohibited from harvesting RSA under 

default 2016 measures. At the start of 

2016, RSA could only be harvested from 

open areas. This would be re-evaluated 

for the remainder of 2016 in the 

framework action that would set final 

2016 specifications. 

LAGC Measures 

1. Sub-ACL for LAGC vessels with IFQ 

permits. For LAGC vessels with IFQ 

permits, this action proposes a 1,225-mt 

ACL for 2015 and an initial ACL of 

1,545 mt for 2016 (Table 2). We 

calculate IFQ allocations by applying 

each vessel’s IFQ contribution 

percentage to these ACLs. These 

allocations assume that no LAGC IFQ 

AMs are triggered. If a vessel exceeds its 

IFQ in a given fishing year, its IFQ for 

the subsequent fishing year would be 

reduced by the amount of the overage. 

Because Framework 26 would not go 

into effect until after the March 1 start 

of fishing year 2015, the default 2015 

IFQ allocations were automatically 

triggered. These default 2015 IFQ 

allocations are lower than those 

proposed in Framework 26. If approved, 

this action would increase the current 

vessel IFQ allocations. NMFS sent a 

letter to IFQ permit holders providing 

both March 1, 2015, IFQ allocations and 

Framework 26 proposed IFQ allocations 

so that vessel owners know what midyear adjustments would occur if 

Framework 26 is approved. 

2. Sub-ACL for LA Scallop Vessels 

with IFQ Permits. For LA scallop vessels 

with IFQ permits, this action proposes 

a 123 mt ACL for 2015 and an initial 

154 mt ACL for 2016 (Table 2). We 

calculate IFQ allocations by applying 

each vessel’s IFQ contribution 

percentage to these ACLs. These 

allocations assume that no LAGC IFQ 

AMs are triggered. If a vessel exceeds its 

IFQ in a given fishing year, its IFQ for 

the subsequent fishing year would be 

reduced by the amount of the overage. 

3. LAGC IFQ Trip Allocations and 

Possession Limits for Scallop Access 

Areas. Framework 26 proposes that 

LAGC IFQ vessels would receive a 

fleetwide number of trips that could be 

taken in the Mid-Atlantic Access Area. 

Framework 26 would allocate 2,065 and 

602 trips in 2015 and 2016, respectively, 

to this area. Under default 2016 

measures, LAGC IFQ vessels must wait 

to fish these trips until April 1, 2016. 

These trip allocations are equivalent 

to the overall proportion of total catch 

from access areas compared to total 

catch. For example, the total projected 

catch for the scallop fishery in 2015 is 

20,865 mt, and 8,700 mt are projected to 

come from access areas, roughly 41.7 

percent. If the same proportion is 

applied to total LAGC IFQ catch, the 

total allocation to LAGC IFQ vessels 

from access areas would be about 600 

mt, roughly 44.5 percent of the total 

LAGC IFQ sub-ACL for 2015 (1,348 mt). 

4. NGOM TAC. This action proposes 

a 70,000-lb (31,751-kg) annual NGOM 

TAC for fishing years 2015 and 2016. 

The allocation for 2015 assumes that 

there are no overages in 2014, which 

would trigger a pound-for-pound 

deduction in 2015 to account for the 

overage. 

5. Scallop Incidental Catch Target 

TAC. This action proposes a 50,000-lb 

(22,680-kg) scallop incidental catch 

target TAC for fishing years 2015 and 

2016 to account for mortality from this 

component of the fishery, and to ensure 

that F targets are not exceeded. The 

Council and NMFS may adjust this 

target TAC in a future action if vessels 

catch more scallops under the 

incidental target TAC than predicted. 

Adjustments to Gear Modifications To 

Protect Sea Turtles 

This action proposes to adjust season 

regulations for the sea turtle deflector 


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dredge (TDD) and area regulations for 

the sea turtle chain mat to make them 

consistent. Currently, turtle chain mats 

are required in the area south of 41°9′ 

N. lat. from May through November, and 

the TDD is required west of 71° W. long. 

from May through October. When used 

together, chain mats and TDDs are 

thought to increase the conservation 

benefit to sea turtles, because chain 

mats help reduce the impact to turtles 

from interactions occurring in the water 

column, and the TDD helps reduce the 

impact to turtles from interactions with 

the dredge frame on the sea floor 

(DuPaul et al. 2004; Smolowitz et al. 

2010). By making the area and season 

for these two gear modifications 

consistent, west of 71° W. long. from 

May through November, the 

conservation benefit of the current chain 

mat and TDD requirements is 

maintained, while reducing the 

regulatory complexity of differing 

seasons and areas. Any reduction in the 

size of the area that chain mats would 

be required (east of 71° W. long. and 

south of 41°9′ N. lat.) is balanced by an 

extension of the season that TDDs 

would be required (the month of 

November). In addition, this action also 

proposes a very slight modification to 

the TDD gear regulations for safety 

purposes. When the Council first 

approved the TDD, it included the 

allowance of a flaring bar to ensure safe 

handling of the dredge. At the time, the 

Council specified that this flaring bar 

should only be attached to the dredge 

frame on one side. Since the TDD’s 

implementation, there has been some 

interest to attach the flaring bar in a ‘‘u’’ 

shape, which could be attached on the 

inside or outside of the bale bar, but the 

current regulations unnecessarily 

prohibit this. This action proposes to 

adjust this regulation to allow for a bar 

or ‘‘u’’-shaped flaring mechanism to 

support safety at sea. Allowing a ushaped flaring mechanism should not 

have an impact on sea turtles and the 

effectiveness of the TDD because the 

flaring bar or mechanism would still be 

prohibited from being attached within 

12 inches (30.5 cm) of the ‘‘bump out’’ 

of the TDD and not between the bale 

bars. This change would require that 

each side of the bar or mechanism be no 

more than 12 inches (30.5 cm) in length. 

This action would not change any 

other regulatory requirements for the 

use of chain mats and TDDs. 

Adjustment to Vessel Monitoring System 

(VMS) Declaration Procedures for Some 

Open Area Trips 

This action would enable a vessel to 

declare out of a DAS trip at or south of 

Cape May, NJ (specifically, at or south 

of 39° N. lat.), once it goes inside the 

VMS demarcation line, and then, with 

scallops on board, steam seaward of the 

VMS demarcation line to ports south of 

Cape May, NJ, without being charged 

DAS. This measure does not apply to 

vessels that intend to land scallops in 

ports north of Cape May, NJ. Once this 

change in declaration to ‘‘declare out of 

fishery’’ has been made, vessels would 

be required to submit a scallop prelanding notification form through VMS, 

return directly to port and offload 

scallops immediately, and stow all gear. 

In addition, such vessels would be 

prohibited from having on board any inshell scallops. 

The purpose of this measure is to help 

increase incentive for vessels to land 

scallops in the southern part of the midAtlantic by reducing some of the 

steaming time to return to those more 

distant ports. Due to the location of the 

access areas in the mid-Atlantic, which 

were at one point primary traditional 

open area fishing grounds, vessels from 

Virginia and North Carolina fishing on 

open area DAS trips have to steam for 

a long period of time to reach 

productive open area fishing grounds. 

Vessels are currently allowed to start 

their open area DAS trip landward of 

the VMS Demarcation Line, but not 

necessarily from port, but are required 

to accrue DAS when harvested scallops 

are on board, so their return steam from 

an open area trip counts against their 

DAS allocation. Over time, as DAS have 

been reduced dramatically and with 

increased fuel costs, vessels have more 

incentive to land near these primary 

fishing grounds (i.e., in New Bedford, 

MA, or Cape May, NJ) to avoid being 

charged for DAS steaming back to 

southern ports farther away that would 

most impact their DAS allocations. This 

decrease in landings to particular states 

over time has had a great impact on 

shoreside businesses that depend upon 

a stable stream of landings. 

Because this change in when some 

vessels may ‘‘clock out’’ of their DAS 

could impact overall DAS allocations to 

the fleet, this action also proposes an 

overall DAS deduction to each LA 

scallop vessel. The proposed DAS 

adjustment (which has already been 

calculated into the DAS allocations 

proposed in Table 3) would be a 

decrease of 0.14 DAS for full-time 

vessels and 0.06 DAS for part-time 

vessels. This entire measure, including 

the appropriate DAS deductions, was 

supported by the Council’s Advisory 

Panel. 

Adjustments to the State Water 

Exemption Program To Include 

Northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM) 

Management Area Exemptions 

Framework 26 proposes to modify the 

State Water Exemption Program to 

include a new exemption that would 

enable scallop vessels to continue to 

fish in state waters after the NGOM hard 

TAC is reached. 

The current State Water Exemption 

Program has been in place since 

Framework 2 to the Scallop FMP 

(November 21, 1994; 59 FR 59967). At 

that time, the purpose of the program 

was to allow Federal permit holders to 

compete in the state waters fishery on 

a more equitable basis where Federal 

and state laws are inconsistent and to 

encourage vessels with general category 

permits (open access, at the time) to fish 

under the exemption program and 

continue to submit catch and effort data. 

This program specifies that a state with 

a scallop fishery may be eligible for state 

waters exemptions if it has a scallop 

conservation program that does not 

jeopardize the biomass and fishing 

mortality/effort limit objectives of the 

Scallop FMP. If a state is found to be 

eligible for the State Waters Exemption 

Program, federally permitted scallop 

vessels fishing in that state’s waters may 

be exempted from a limited number of 

Federal scallop regulations: LA scallop 

vessels could fish in state waters outside 

of scallop DAS, and LA and LAGC 

scallop vessels could be exempt from 

Federal gear and possession limit 

restrictions. 

This action proposes to expand the 

exemptions to include this new measure 

related to the NGOM. Specifically, states 

within the NGOM management area 

(i.e., Massachusetts, New Hampshire, 

and Maine) could request an exemption 

from the regulations requiring that 

scallop vessels must stop fishing in the 

state waters portion of the NGOM once 

the Federal TAC has been reached. 

States would have to apply for this 

exemption and specify to which vessels 

this would apply (i.e., vessels with 

NGOM permits, IFQ permits, incidental 

permits, and/or LA permits). 

Currently, a vessel issued a NGOM or 

IFQ permit can declare a state-only 

NGOM scallop trip and fish for scallops 

exclusively in state waters without 

those landings being attributed to the 

Federal TAC, but must cease scallop 

fishing entirely for the remainder of the 

year, along with all other scallop 

vessels, once the Federal TAC is 

reached. To date this has not been an 

issue because the Federal NGOM catch 

has been well below the TAC. However, 

total catch in both Federal and state 


rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
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waters in this area is increasing, and 

Maine permit holders are concerned 

about their ability to fish in state waters 

when the state season is open in the 

winter if the NGOM TAC is reached. 

This measure would alleviate those 

concerns by giving the state the ability 

to apply for an exemption through the 

State Water Exemption Program. 

Because the NGOM Federal TAC is set 

based only on the Federal portion of the 

resource, NMFS does not expect this 

measure to compromise the FMP’s 

limits on catch and mortality. 

The process for applying to the State 

Waters Exemption Program, as outlined 

in the regulations, would remain the 

same. In order for NMFS to make a 

determination of whether or not a state 

waters exemption is warranted for a 

particular state’s waters, a state must 

submit a request for the exemption so 

that we can fully evaluate the scope of 

the potential fishery in the state’s 

waters. Such a request would need to 

include the following information: A 

complete description of scallop fishing 

regulations in state waters; the number 

of vessels and trips that could be 

expected in state waters; the average 

landings per trip for vessels fishing in 

state waters; and the average per-pound 

value of scallops landed by vessels 

fishing for scallops in state waters. If the 

information provided supports a 

conclusion that a particular state’s 

scallop fishery is consistent with the 

FMP relative to the State Waters 

Exemption Program, NMFS would then 

publish the requested exemptions from 

DAS, gear, and possession limits, and 

NGOM closures, in a notice in the 

Federal Register, consistent with the 

Administrative Procedure Act. 

Proactive Accountability Measures 

(AMs) for Flatfish Protection 

Currently, all scallop vessels (i.e., LA 

and LAGC) fishing for scallops with 

dredges in open areas west of 71° W. 

long. are required to have their dredges 

configured so that no dredge has more 

than seven rows of rings in the apron 

(i.e., the area between the terminus of 

the dredge (clubstick) and the twine top) 

on the topside of the dredge. The twine 

top helps finfish (flatfish in particular) 

escape from the dredge during fishing 

and the maximum number of rows of 

rings prevents fishermen from making 

the twine top small and ineffective in 

reducing bycatch. Framework 26 

proposes to extend this proactive 

accountability measure to all areas 

where scallop fishing occurs (i.e., all 

access and open areas). This increased 

spatial coverage may further reduce 

flatfish bycatch by preventing dredge 

configurations using more than seven 

rows of rings, which is currently 

required east of 71° W. long. for some 

scallop vessels fishing in open areas. 

This is considered to be a proactive AM 

because it may help the fishery stay 

below the sub-ACLs for flatfish 

(yellowtail flounder and windowpane 

flounder, currently). Additionally, this 

measure would enable vessels to 

voluntarily fish with an even shorter 

apron (less than seven rings), to 

proactively reduce flatfish bycatch in 

any area or season. 

Regulatory Corrections Under Regional 

Administrator Authority 

This proposed rule includes several 

revisions to the regulatory text to 

address text that is unnecessary, 

outdated, unclear, or otherwise could be 

improved. NMFS proposes these 

changes consistent with section 305(d) 

of the MSA which provides that the 

Secretary of Commerce may promulgate 

regulations necessary to ensure that 

amendments to an FMP are carried out 

in accordance with the FMP and the 

MSA. Two revisions clarify how to 

apply and measure gear modifications to 

ensure compliance. The first revision at 

§ 648.51 would clarify where to measure 

meshes to ensure twine top compliance. 

The second revision at § 648.53 clarifies 

an example on how the hanging ratio 

should be applied and measured if the 

windowpane reactive AM implemented 

through Framework 25 (June 26, 2014; 

79 FR 34251) is triggered. 

This action would also modify the 

VMS catch report requirements at 

§ 648.10(f)(4)(i) to only include the 

information actually used by NMFS to 

monitor flatfish bycatch. The form 

currently requires that the amount of 

yellowtail flounder discards be reported 

daily. This requirement has been in 

place since Amendment 15 (76 FR 

43746; July 21, 2011), which established 

the yellowtail flounder AMs in the FMP. 

However, since Amendment 15, the 

scallop fishery now has other bycatch 

sub-ACLs and AMs (e.g., SNE/MA 

windowpane flounder) which are not 

captured in this form. In addition, 

current bycatch monitoring relies solely 

on observer reports to determine 

bycatch discards for these species. In 

order to minimize confusion and 

because this information is not 

necessary for bycatch monitoring, we 

propose to remove the reference to 

reporting yellowtail discards. Instead, 

the vessels will report daily scallop 

catch and the amount of all other 

species kept. 

In addition, this action would adjust 

the regulations at § 648.53(a) to clarify 

that the values for ABC/ACL stated in 

the regulations reflect the levels from 

which ACTs are set, thus they do not 

include estimates of discards and 

incidental mortality. This regulatory 

clarification is at the request of the 

Council and would more accurately 

reflect the process for establishing ABCs 

and ACLs in the scallop fishery. 

Classification 

Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the 

MSA, the NMFS Assistant 

Administrator has made a preliminary 

determination that this proposed rule is 

consistent with the FMP, other 

provisions of the MSA, and other 

applicable law. In making the final 

determination, NMFS will consider the 

data, views, and comments received 

during the public comment period. 

This proposed rule does not contain 

policies with Federalism or ‘‘takings’’ 

implications as those terms are defined 

in E.O. 13132 and E.O. 12630, 

respectively. 

This proposed rule has been 

determined to be not significant for 

purposes of Executive Order 12866. 

An IRFA has been prepared, as 

required by section 603 of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA). The 

IRFA consists of Framework 26 

analyses, its draft IRFA, and the 

preamble to this action. 

Statement of Objective and Need 

This action proposes the management 

measures and specifications for the 

Atlantic sea scallop fishery for 2015, 

with 2016 default measures. A 

description of the action, why it is being 

considered, and the legal basis for this 

action are contained in Framework 26 

and the preamble of this proposed rule 

and are not repeated here. 

Description and Estimate of Number of 

Small Entities to Which the Rule Would 

Apply 

The proposed regulations would 

affect all vessels with LA and LAGC 

scallop permits. The Framework 26 

document provides extensive 

information on the number and size of 

vessels and small businesses that would 

be affected by the proposed regulations, 

by port and state (see ADDRESSES). There 

were 313 vessels that obtained full-time 

LA permits in 2013, including 250 

dredge, 52 small-dredge, and 11 scallop 

trawl permits. In the same year, there 

were also 34 part-time LA permits in the 

sea scallop fishery. No vessels were 

issued occasional scallop permits. 

NMFS issued 212 LAGC IFQ permits in 

2013 and 155 of these vessels actively 

fished for scallops that year (the 

remaining permits likely leased out 

scallop IFQ allocations with their 

permits in Confirmation of Permit 


rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
13812 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 51 / Tuesday, March 17, 2015 / Proposed Rules 

History). The RFA defines a small 

business in shellfish fishery as a firm 

that is independently owned and 

operated and not dominant in its field 

of operation, with receipts of up to $5.5 

M annually. Individually-permitted 

vessels may hold permits for several 

fisheries, harvesting species of fish that 

are regulated by several different fishery 

management plans, even beyond those 

impacted by the proposed action. 

Furthermore, multiple permitted vessels 

and/or permits may be owned by 

entities affiliated by stock ownership, 

common management, identity of 

interest, contractual relationships, or 

economic dependency. For the purposes 

of this analysis, ‘‘ownership entities’’ 

are defined as those entities with 

common ownership as listed on the 

permit application. Only permits with 

identical ownership are categorized as 

an ‘‘ownership entity.’’ For example, if 

five permits have the same seven 

persons listed as co-owners on their 

permit applications, those seven 

persons would form one ‘‘ownership 

entity,’’ that holds those five permits. If 

two of those seven owners also co-own 

additional vessels, that ownership 

arrangement would be considered a 

separate ‘‘ownership entity’’ for the 

purpose of this analysis. 

On June 1 of each year, ownership 

entities are identified based on a list of 

all permits for the most recent complete 

calendar year. The current ownership 

dataset is based on the calendar year 

2013 permits and contains average gross 

sales associated with those permits for 

calendar years 2011 through 2013. 

Matching the potentially impacted 2013 

fishing year permits described above 

(LA and LAGC IFQ) to calendar year 

2013 ownership data results in 172 

distinct ownership entities for the LA 

fleet and 115 distinct ownership entities 

for the LAGC IFQ fleet. Of these, and 

based on the Small Business 

Administration (SBA) guidelines, 154 of 

the LA distinct ownership entities and 

all 115 of the LAGC IFQ entities are 

categorized as small. The remaining 18 

of the LA entities are categorized as 

large entities, all of which are shellfish 

businesses. 

Description of Projected Reporting, 

Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance 

Requirements of the Proposed Rule 

The proposed action contains 

collection-of-information requirements 

subject to review and approval by the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction 

Act (PRA). Two requirements will be 

submitted to OMB for approval under 

the NMFS Northeast Region Scallop 

Report Family of Forms (OMB Control 

No. 0648–0491). 

Under the proposed action, all 347 LA 

vessels would be required to submit a 

pre-landing notification form for each 

access area trip through their VMS 

units. This information collection is 

intended to improve access area trip 

monitoring, as well as streamline a 

vessel’s ability to fish multiple access 

area trips. Although this is a new 

requirement, it would replace other 

reporting procedures currently required 

for breaking an access area trip and 

receiving permission to take a 

compensation trip to harvest remaining 

unharvested scallop pounds from an 

access area trip. The proposed action 

also includes a new requirement for 

some LA vessels to report a pre-landing 

notification form through their VMS 

unit before changing their open area trip 

declaration to a ‘‘declared out of fishery 

declaration,’’ which is expected to add 

a burden to a very small portion of the 

fleet. This requirement would only 

apply to a few vessels that intend to 

land open area scallops at ports south of 

Cape May, NJ, and want to steam to 

those ports while not using DAS. This 

new pre-landing requirement is 

necessary to enforce a measure intended 

to assist shoreside businesses in 

southern ports by providing an 

incentive for vessels to steam to ports 

far away from popular open area fishing 

grounds. 

Notification requires the 

dissemination of the following 

information: Operator’s permit number; 

amount of scallop meats and/or bushels 

to be landed; the estimated time of 

arrival; the landing port and state where 

the scallops will be offloaded; and the 

vessel trip report (VTR) serial number 

recorded from that trip’s VTR. This 

information would be used by the Office 

of Law Enforcement to monitor vessel 

activity and ensure compliance with the 

regulations. 

The burden estimates for these new 

requirements apply to all LA vessels. In 

a given fishing year, NMFS estimates 

that for access area reporting, each of 

the 313 full-time LA vessels would 

submit a pre-landing report 5 times 

(1,565 responses) and each of the 34 

part-time LA vessel would submit a prelanding report up to 3 times (102 

responses), for a total of 1,667 

responses. Public reporting burden for 

submitting these pre-landing 

notification forms is estimated to 

average 5 minutes per response with an 

associated cost of $1.25, that includes 

the time for reviewing instructions, 

searching existing data sources, 

gathering and maintaining the data 

needed, and completing and reviewing 

the collection of information. 

Therefore, 1,667 responses would 

impose total compliance costs of $2,084. 

While this is a new requirement, it 

would replace current trip termination 

and compensation trip reporting 

procedures, which were estimated to 

cost a total of $300 annually, so the 

additional burden for this new prelanding requirement would be $1,785 

($2,085¥$300), or $5.14 per vessel. This 

is likely an overestimate, but would 

account for the potential of higher 

access area scallop allocations in future 

fishing years. For the new DAS prelanding requirements, NMFS estimates 

that this would likely impact 30 vessels 

and result in each of those vessels 

reporting one time a year. Public 

reporting burden for submitting these 

pre-landing notification forms is also 

estimated to average 5 minutes per 

response with an associated cost of 

$1.25. Therefore, the total cost of this 

would impose total compliance costs of 

$38 (30 vessels × $1.25). The total 

additional burden from both of these 

new pre-landing requirements would be 

$1,823. 

Public comment is sought regarding: 

whether this proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

agency, including whether the 

information shall have practical utility; 

the accuracy of the burden estimate; 

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and ways to minimize the 

burden of the collection of information, 

including through the use of automated 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology. Send comments 

on these or any other aspects of the 

collection of information to the Regional 

Administrator (See ADDRESSES above), 

and email to OIRA_Submission@

omb.eop.gov, or fax to (202) 395–5806. 

Notwithstanding any other provision 

of the law, no person is required to 

respond to, nor shall any person be 

subject to a penalty for failure to comply 

with, a collection of information subject 

to the requirements of the PRA, unless 

that collection of information displays a 

currently valid OMB Control Number. 

All currently approved NOAA 

collections of information may be 

viewed at: http://www.cio.noaa.gov/

services_programs/prasubs.html. 

This action contains no other 

compliance costs. It does not duplicate, 

overlap, or conflict with any other 

Federal law. 


rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 51 / Tuesday, March 17, 2015 / Proposed Rules 13813 

Federal Rules Which May Duplicate, 

Overlap or Conflict With This Proposed 

Rule 

The proposed regulations do not 

create overlapping regulations with any 

state regulations or other federal laws. 

Description of Significant Alternatives 

to the Proposed Action 

The preferred alternative for LA 

allocations, which would allocate 

includes 30.86 DAS and 23,133 kg of 

scallops to be harvested in access areas 

to full-time vessels, as well as close a 

portion of the Elephant Trunk Access 

Area and extend the NLS closure, is 

expected to positively impact 

profitability of small entities regulated 

by this action. The estimated revenues 

and net revenue for scallop vessels and 

small business entities under all 

considered allocations alternatives, 

including the preferred alternative, are 

expected to be higher than both the No 

Action alternative (i.e., 2015 default 

measures conservatively set through 

Framework 25) and status quo levels 

(i.e., assuming same level of access as 

2014). There are four different LA 

allocation alternative in Framework 26. 

Alternative 1 is the no action alternative 

which would allocate scallops based on 

the conservative default measures in 

Framework 25. Alternative 2 is the basic 

run alternative and it would have 

allocated the fleet access area trips 

similar to past years (one access area per 

trip; split trips for the fleet). Alternative 

3 (preferred alternative) combines all 

three Mid-Atlantic Access Areas and 

allows vessels to fish their trips in the 

combined area. Under Alternative 3 

there are multiple options for closures 

to protect small scallops. The preferred 

alternative includes the options for a 

closure inside the combine Mid-Atlantic 

Access Area and an extension of the 

NLS. Finally, Alternative 4 would have 

set allocations similar to the basic run 

alternative, but reduced the overall F. 

The preferred alternative would have 

the largest revenue compared to all 

other alternatives in the 2015 fishing 

year, which would translate to higher 

profits (Table 5). 

TABLE 5—ESTIMATED FLEET REVENUE AND REVENUE PER LIMITED ACCESS VESSEL IN 2014 DOLLARS

Fishing year Alternative 

Fleet scallop 

revenue (*) 

($ million) 

Revenue per 

FT vessel 

Change from 

no action (%) 

% Ch. from 

SQ levels 

2015 .................................................. ALT1. No Action ............................... 263.0 748,731 0 ¥45 

ALT2. Basic Run .............................. 557.8 1,592,242 113 17 

ALT3. NL + ETA (Preferred alt.) ...... 578.1 1,650,451 120 21 

ALT3. 3 new closures ...................... 567.1 1,618,858 116 19 

ALT3. CA2 + NL ............................... 570.3 1,627,986 117 20 

ALT4. Reduced F ............................. 557.6 1,591,748 113 17 

SQ. Status quo ................................. 477.2 1,361,611 82 0 

Overall LAGC IFQ allocations for the 

preferred alternative will be 5.8 percent 

higher than the No Action (i.e., 2015 

default allocations) and is 23 percent 

higher than the 2014 fishing year 

allocations. As a result, the preferred 

alternative is expected to have positive 

economic impacts on LAGC IFQ fishery. 

There are no other alternatives that 

would generate higher economic 

benefits for the scallop fishery as a 

whole, including the small business 

entities in the LAGC IFQ fishery. As for 

LAGC IFQ access area allocations, the 

preferred alternative would provide 

proportional access for LA and LAGC 

IFQ within the Mid-Atlantic Access 

Area (i.e., the LAGC fishery is projected 

to catch roughly 6.5 percent of the total 

2015 projected catch of the fishery, so 

roughly 6.5 percent of the total access 

area catch available to the entire fishery 

could be landed on IFQ fleetwide trips), 

which should have positive impacts on 

the small business entities of the LAGC 

IFQ fishery by increasing flexibility and 

lowering costs. The preferred alternative 

would have higher economic benefits 

than No Action and compared to the 

2014 access area fleetwide IFQ trip 

allocations, but would have lower 

allocations than the alternative that 

would have increased the number of 

fleetwide trips to 10.4 percent of the 

total access area catch. 

Because the NGOM and incidental 

TACs are unchanged from previous 

years, those proposed allocations are not 

expected to directly impact small 

business entities. 

Literature Cited 

DuPaul, W. D., D. B. Rudders, and R. J. 

Smolowitz. 2004. Industry trials of a 

modified sea scallop dredge to minimize 

the catch of sea turtles. Final Report. 

November 2004. VIMS Marine Resources 

Report, No. 2004–12. 35 pp. 

Smolowitz, R., H. Haas, H. O. Milliken, M. 

Weeks and E. Matzen. 2010. Using Sea 

Turtle Carcasses to Assess the 

Conservation Potential of a Turtle 

Deflector Dredge. North American 

Journal of Fisheries Management 30: 

993–1000. 

List of Subjects 

50 CFR Part 223 

Endangered and threatened species, 

Exports, Imports, Transportation. 

50 CFR Part 648 

Fisheries, Fishing, Recordkeeping and 

reporting requirements. 

Dated: March 6, 2015. 

Samuel D. Rauch III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, 50 CFR parts 223 and 648 are 

proposed to be amended as follows: 

PART 223—THREATENED MARINE 

AND ANADROMOUS SPECIES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 223 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1531 1543; subpart B, 

§ 223.201–202 also issued under 16 U.S.C. 

1361 et seq.; 16 U.S.C. 5503(d) for 

§ 223.206(d)(9).2. 

■ 2. In § 223.206 paragraph (d)(11) is 

revised to read as follows: 

§ 223.206 Exceptions to prohibitions 

relating to sea turtles. 

* * * * * 

(d) * * * 

(11) Restrictions applicable to sea 

scallop dredges in the mid-Atlantic—(i) 

Gear Modification. During the time 

period of May 1 through November 30, 

any vessel with a sea scallop dredge and 

required to have a Federal Atlantic sea 

scallop fishery permit, regardless of 

dredge size or vessel permit category, 

that enters waters west of 71° W. long., 

from the shoreline to the outer boundary 


rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
13814 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 51 / Tuesday, March 17, 2015 / Proposed Rules 

of the Exclusive Economic Zone must 

have on each dredge a chain mat 

described as follows. The chain mat 

must be composed of horizontal 

(‘‘tickler’’) chains and vertical (‘‘up-anddown’’) chains that are configured such 

that the openings formed by the 

intersecting chains have no more than 

four sides. The vertical and horizontal 

chains must be hung to cover the 

opening of the dredge bag such that the 

vertical chains extend from the back of 

the cutting bar to the sweep. The 

horizontal chains must intersect the 

vertical chains such that the length of 

each side of the openings formed by the 

intersecting chains is less than or equal 

to 14 inches (35.5 cm) with the 

exception of the side of any individual 

opening created by the sweep. The 

chains must be connected to each other 

with a shackle or link at each 

intersection point. The measurement 

must be taken along the chain, with the 

chain held taut, and include one shackle 

or link at the intersection point and all 

links in the chain up to, but excluding, 

the shackle or link at the other 

intersection point. 

(ii) Any vessel that enters the waters 

described in paragraph (d)(11)(i) of this 

section and that is required to have a 

Federal Atlantic sea scallop fishery 

permit must have the chain mat 

configuration installed on all dredges 

for the duration of the trip. 

(iii) Vessels subject to the 

requirements in paragraphs (d)(11)(i) 

and (d)(11)(ii) of this section transiting 

waters west of 71° W. long., from the 

shoreline to the outer boundary of the 

Exclusive Economic Zone, will be 

exempted from the chain-mat 

requirements provided the dredge gear 

is stowed in accordance with § 648.2 

and there are no scallops on-board. 

PART 648—FISHERIES OF THE 

NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES 

■ 3. The authority citation for part 648 

continues to read as follows: 

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

■ 4. In § 648.10, paragraphs (e)(5)(iii) 

and (f)(4) are revised, and (f)(6) is added 

to read as follows: 

§ 648.10 VMS and DAS requirements for 

vessel owners/operators. 

* * * * * 

(e) * * * 

(5) * * * 

(iii) DAS counting for a vessel that is 

under the VMS notification 

requirements of paragraph (b) of this 

section, with the exception of vessels 

that have elected to fish exclusively in 

the Eastern U.S./Canada Area on a 

particular trip, as described in 

paragraph (e)(5) of this section, begins 

with the first location signal received 

showing that the vessel crossed the 

VMS Demarcation Line after leaving 

port. DAS counting ends with the first 

location signal received showing that 

the vessel crossed the VMS Demarcation 

Line upon its return to port, unless the 

vessel is declared into a limited access 

scallop DAS trip and, upon its return to 

port, declares out of the scallop fishery 

shoreward of the VMS Demarcation 

Line at or south of 39° N. lat., as 

specified in paragraph (f)(6) of this 

section, and lands in a port south of 39° 

N. lat. 

* * * * * 

(f) * * * 

(4) Catch reports. (i) The owner or 

operator of a limited access or LAGC 

IFQ vessel that fishes for, possesses, or 

retains scallops, and is not fishing under 

a NE Multispecies DAS or sector 

allocation, must submit reports through 

the VMS, in accordance with 

instructions to be provided by the 

Regional Administrator, for each day 

fished, including open area trips, access 

area trips as described in § 648.60(a)(9), 

and trips accompanied by a NMFSapproved observer. The reports must be 

submitted for each day (beginning at 

0000 hr and ending at 2400 hr) and not 

later than 0900 hr of the following day. 

Such reports must include the following 

information: 

(A) VTR serial number; 

(B) Date fish were caught; 

(C) Total pounds of scallop meats 

kept; 

(D) Total pounds of all fish kept. 

(ii) Scallop Pre-Landing Notification 

Form for IFQ and NGOM vessels. A 

vessel issued an IFQ or NGOM scallop 

permit must report through VMS, using 

the Scallop Pre-Landing Notification 

Form, the amount of any scallops kept 

on each trip declared as a scallop trip, 

including declared scallop trips where 

no scallops were landed. In addition, 

vessels with an IFQ or NGOM permit 

must submit a Scallop Pre-Landing 

Notification Form on trips that are not 

declared as scallop trips, but on which 

scallops are kept incidentally. A limited 

access vessel that also holds an IFQ or 

NGOM permit must submit the Scallop 

Pre-Landing Notification Form only 

when fishing under the provisions of 

the vessel’s IFQ or NGOM permit. VMS 

Scallop Pre-Landing Notification forms 

must be submitted no less than 6 hours 

prior to arrival, or, if fishing ends less 

than 6 hours before arrival, immediately 

after fishing ends. If scallops will be 

landed, the report must include the 

vessel operator’s permit number, the 

amount of scallop meats in pounds to be 

landed, the number of bushels of inshell scallops to be landed, the 

estimated time of arrival in port, the 

landing port and state where the 

scallops will be offloaded, the VTR 

serial number recorded from that trip’s 

VTR (the same VTR serial number as 

reported to the dealer), and whether any 

scallops were caught in the NGOM. If no 

scallops will be landed, a vessel issued 

an IFQ or NGOM scallop permit must 

provide only the vessel’s captain/ 

operator’s permit number, the VTR 

serial number recorded from that trip’s 

VTR (the same VTR serial number as 

reported to the dealer), and 

confirmation that no scallops will be 

landed. A vessel issued an IFQ or 

NGOM scallop permit may provide a 

corrected report. If the report is being 

submitted as a correction of a prior 

report, the information entered into the 

notification form will replace the data 

previously submitted in the prior report. 

Submitting a correction does not 

prevent NMFS from pursuing an 

enforcement action for any false 

reporting. 

(iii) Scallop Pre-Landing Notification 

Form for Limited Access Vessels fishing 

on Scallop Access Area Trips. A limited 

access vessel on a declared Sea Scallop 

Access Area trip must report through 

VMS, using the Scallop Pre-Landing 

Notification Form, the amount of any 

scallops kept on each access area trip, 

including declared access area trips 

where no scallops were landed. The 

report must be submitted no less than 6 

hours before arrival, or, if fishing ends 

less than 6 hours before arrival, 

immediately after fishing ends. If 

scallops will be landed, the report must 

include the vessel operator’s permit 

number, the amount of scallop meats in 

pounds to be landed, the number of 

bushels of in-shell scallops to be landed, 

the estimated time of arrival, the 

landing port and state where the 

scallops will be offloaded, and the VTR 

serial number recorded from that trip’s 

VTR (the same VTR serial number as 

reported to the dealer). If no scallops 

will be landed, a limited access vessel 

on a declared Sea Scallop Access Area 

trip must provide only the vessel’s 

captain/operator’s permit number, the 

VTR serial number recorded from that 

trip’s VTR (the same VTR serial number 

as reported to the dealer), and 

confirmation that no scallops will be 

landed. A limited access scallop vessel 

may provide a corrected report. If the 

report is being submitted as a correction 

of a prior report, the information 

entered into the notification form will 

replace the data previously submitted in 

the prior report. Submitting a correction 


rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
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does not prevent NMFS from pursuing 

an enforcement action for any false 

reporting. A vessel may not offload its 

catch from a Sea Scallop Access Area 

trip at more than one location per trip. 

(iv) Scallop Pre-Landing Notification 

Form for Limited Access Vessels on a 

Declared DAS Trip Landing Scallops at 

Ports Located at or South of 39° N. Lat. 

In order to end a declared Sea Scallop 

DAS trip and steam south of 39° N. lat., 

a limited access vessel must first report 

through VMS, using the Scallop PreLanding Notification Form, the amount 

of any scallops kept on its DAS trip. 

Upon crossing shoreward of the VMS 

Demarcation Line at or south of 39° N. 

lat., the Scallop Pre-Landing 

Notification form must be submitted. 

The report must include the vessel 

operator’s permit number, the amount of 

scallop meats in pounds to be landed, 

the estimated time of arrival in port, the 

landing port and state where the 

scallops will be offloaded, and the VTR 

serial number recorded from that trip’s 

VTR (the same VTR serial number as 

reported to the dealer). Prior to crossing 

seaward of the VMS Demarcation Line 

for the transit to a southern port at or 

south of 39° N. lat., the vessel must 

declare out of the scallop fishery. A 

limited access scallop vessel may 

provide a corrected report. If the report 

is being submitted as a correction of a 

prior report, the information entered 

into the notification form will replace 

the data previously submitted in the 

prior report. Submitting a correction 

does not prevent NMFS from pursuing 

an enforcement action for any false 

reporting. 

* * * * * 

(6) Limited access scallop vessels 

fishing under the DAS Program and 

landing scallops at ports south of 39° N. 

Lat. If landing scallops at a port located 

at or south of 39° N. lat., a limited 

access vessel participating in the scallop 

DAS program may end its DAS trip once 

it has crossed shoreward of the VMS 

Demarcation Line at or south of 39° N. 

lat. by declaring out of the scallop 

fishery and submitting the Scallop PreLanding Notification Form, as specified 

at paragraph (f)(4)(iv) of this section. 

Once declared out of the scallop fishery, 

and the vessel has submitted the Scallop 

Pre-Landing Notification Form, the 

vessel may cross seaward of the VMS 

Demarcation Line and steam to a port at 

or south of 39° N. lat., to land scallops 

while not on a DAS. Such vessels that 

elect to change their declaration to 

steam to ports with scallops onboard 

and not accrue DAS must comply with 

all the requirements at § 648.53(f)(3). 

* * * * * 

■ 5. In § 648.14, paragraphs (i)(2)(ii)(B), 

(i)(2)(iii)(C), (i)(2)(v)(D), (i)(3)(iii)(C), 

(i)(3)(iii)(D), (i)(4)(i)(C), (i)(5)(iii) are 

revised and paragraphs (i)(2)(iv)(F) and 

(i)(2)(v)(E) are added to read as follows: 

§ 648.14 Prohibitions. 

* * * * * 

(i) * * * 

(2) * * * 

(ii) * * * 

(B) While under or subject to the DAS 

allocation program, in possession of 

more than 40 lb (18.1 kg) of shucked 

scallops or 5 bu (1.76 hL) of in-shell 

scallops, or fishing for scallops in the 

EEZ: 

(1) Fish with, or have available for 

immediate use, trawl nets of mesh 

smaller than the minimum size 

specified in § 648.51(a)(2). 

(2) Fail to comply with any chafing 

gear or other gear obstruction 

restrictions specified in § 648.51(a)(3). 

(3) Fail to comply with the turtle 

deflector dredge vessel gear restrictions 

specified in § 648.51(b)(5), and turtle 

dredge chain mat requirements in 

§ 223.206(d)(11) of this title. 

(4) Fish under the small dredge 

program specified in § 648.51(e), with, 

or while in possession of, a dredge that 

exceeds 10.5 ft (3.2 m) in overall width, 

as measured at the widest point in the 

bail of the dredge. 

(5) Fish under the small dredge 

program specified in § 648.51(e) with 

more persons on board the vessel, 

including the operator, than specified in 

§ 648.51(e)(3),unless otherwise 

authorized by the Regional 

Administrator. 

(6) Participate in the DAS allocation 

program with more persons on board 

the vessel than the number specified in 

§ 648.51(c), including the operator, 

when the vessel is not docked or 

moored in port, unless otherwise 

authorized by the Regional 

Administrator. 

(7) Fish in the Mid-Atlantic Access 

Area, as described in § 648.59(a), with 

more persons on board the vessel than 

the number specified in § 648.51(c) or 

§ 648.51(e)(3)(i), unless otherwise 

authorized by the Regional 

Administrator. 

(8) Have a shucking or sorting 

machine on board a vessel that shucks 

scallops at sea while fishing under the 

DAS allocation program, unless 

otherwise authorized by the Regional 

Administrator. 

(9) Fish with, possess on board, or 

land scallops while in possession of 

trawl nets, when fishing for scallops 

under the DAS allocation program, 

unless exempted as provided for in 

§ 648.51(f). 

(10) Fail to comply with the gear 

restrictions described in § 648.51. 

* * * * * 

(iii) * * * 

(C) Fish for or land per trip, or possess 

at any time, scallops in the NGOM 

scallop management area after 

notification in the Federal Register that 

the NGOM scallop management area 

TAC has been harvested, as specified in 

§ 648.62, unless the vessel possesses or 

lands scallops that were harvested south 

of 42°20′ N. lat. and the vessel only 

transits the NGOM scallop management 

area with the vessel’s fishing gear 

properly stowed and unavailable for 

immediate use in accordance with 

§ 648.2 or unless the vessel is fishing 

exclusively in state waters and is 

participating in an approved state 

waters exemption program as specified 

in § 648.54. 

* * * * * 

(iv) * * * 

(D) Fail to comply with any 

requirements for declaring out of the 

DAS allocation program and steaming to 

land scallops at ports located at or south 

of 39° N. lat., as specified in 

§ 648.53(f)(3). 

(E) Possess on board or land in-shell 

scallops if declaring out of the DAS 

allocation program and steaming to land 

scallops at ports located at or south of 

39° N. lat. 

(v) * * * 

(D) Once declared into the scallop 

fishery in accordance with § 648.10(f), 

change its VMS declaration until the 

trip has ended and scallop catch has 

been offloaded, except as specified at 

§ 648.53(f)(3). 

(E) Fail to submit a scallop access area 

pre-landing notification form through 

VMS as specified at § 648.10(f)(4)(iii). 

* * * * * 

(3) * * * 

(iii) * * * 

(C) Declare into the NGOM scallop 

management area after the effective date 

of a notification published in the 

Federal Register stating that the NGOM 

scallop management area TAC has been 

harvested as specified in § 648.62, 

unless the vessel is fishing exclusively 

in state waters, declared a state-waters 

only NGOM trip, and is participating in 

an approved state waters exemption 

program as specified in § 648.54. 

(D) Fish for, possess, or land scallops 

in or from the NGOM scallop 

management area after the effective date 

of a notification published in the 

Federal Register that the NGOM scallop 

management area TAC has been 

harvested, as specified in § 648.62, 

unless the vessel possesses or lands 

scallops that were harvested south of 


rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
13816 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 51 / Tuesday, March 17, 2015 / Proposed Rules 

42°20′ N. lat., the vessel is transiting the 

NGOM scallop management area, and 

the vessel’s fishing gear is properly 

stowed and unavailable for immediate 

use in accordance with § 648.2 or unless 

the vessel is fishing exclusively in state 

waters, declared a state-waters only 

NGOM trip, and is participating in an 

approved state waters exemption 

program as specified in § 648.54. 

* * * * * 

(4) * * * 

(i) * * * 

(C) Declare into the NGOM scallop 

management area after the effective date 

of a notification published in the 

Federal Register stating that the NGOM 

scallop management area TAC has been 

harvested as specified in § 648.62, 

unless the vessel is fishing exclusively 

in state waters, declared a state-waters 

only NGOM trip, and is participating in 

an approved state waters exemption 

program as specified in § 648.54. 

* * * * * 

(5) * * * 

(iii) Fish for, possess, or land scallops 

in state or Federal waters of the NGOM 

management area after the effective date 

of notification in the Federal Register 

that the NGOM scallop management 

area TAC has been harvested as 

specified in § 648.62, unless the vessel 

is fishing exclusively in state waters, 

declared a state-waters only NGOM trip, 

and is participating in an approved state 

waters exemption program as specified 

in § 648.54. 

* * * * * 

■ 4. In § 648.51: 

■ a. Paragraphs (b)(4)(iv) and (v), 

(b)(5)(ii)(A) introductory text, 

(b)(5)(ii)(A)(3), and (c) introductory text 

are revised; 

■ b. Paragraph (c)(1) is removed and 

reserved; and 

■ c. Paragraph (e)(3)(i) is revised. 

The revisions read as follows: 

§ 648.51 Gear and crew restrictions. 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(4) * * * 

(iv) Twine top restrictions as a 

proactive accountability measure for 

bycatch. In addition to the minimum 

twine top mesh size specified in 

paragraph (b)(2) of this section, limited 

access and limited access general 

category IFQ vessels may not fish for 

scallops with a dredge having more than 

seven rows of non-overlapping steel 

rings unobstructed by netting or any 

other material between the terminus of 

the dredge (club stick) and the net 

material on the top of the dredge (twine 

top) (a copy of a diagram showing a 

schematic of a legal dredge with twine 

top is available from the Regional 

Administrator upon request). 

(v) Measurement of twine top mesh 

size. Twine top mesh size is measured 

by using a wedge-shaped gauge having 

a taper of 0.79 inches (2 cm) in 3.15 

inches (8 cm) and a thickness of 0.09 

inches (2.3 mm), inserted into the 

meshes under a pressure or pull of 17.64 

lb (8 kg). The mesh size is the average 

of the measurements of any series of 20 

consecutive meshes for twine tops 

having 75 or more meshes, and 10 

consecutive meshes for twine tops 

having fewer than 75 meshes. The mesh 

in the twine top must be measured 

along the length of the twine top, 

running parallel to a longitudinal axis, 

and be at least five meshes away from 

where the twine top mesh meets the 

rings, running parallel to the long axis 

of the twine top. 

(5) * * * 

(ii) * * * 

(A) From May 1 through November 

30, any limited access scallop vessel 

using a dredge, regardless of dredge size 

or vessel permit category, or any LAGC 

IFQ scallop vessel fishing with a dredge 

with a width of 10.5 ft (3.2 m) or greater, 

that is fishing for scallops in waters 

west of 71° W long., from the shoreline 

to the outer boundary of the EEZ, must 

use a TDD. The TDD requires five 

modifications to the rigid dredge frame, 

as specified in paragraphs (b)(5)(ii)(A)(1) 

through (b)(5)(ii)(A)(5) of this section. 

See paragraph (b)(5)(ii)(D) of this section 

for more specific descriptions of the 

dredge elements mentioned below. 

* * * * * 

(3) All bale bars must be removed, 

except the outer bale (single or double) 

bars and the center support beam, 

leaving an otherwise unobstructed space 

between the cutting bar and forward 

bale wheels, if present. The center 

support beam must be less than 6 inches 

(15.24 cm) wide. For the purpose of 

flaring and safe handling of the dredge, 

a minor appendage not to exceed 12 

inches (30.5 cm) in length may be 

attached to each of the outer bale bars. 

If the flaring bar is attached in a ushape, none of the three sides of the 

flaring bar shall exceed 12 inches (30.5 

cm) in length. The appendage shall at 

no point be closer than 12 inches (30.5 

cm) to the cutting bar. 

* * * * * 

(c) Crew restrictions. A limited access 

vessel participating in or subject to the 

scallop DAS allocation program may 

have no more than seven people aboard, 

including the operator, and a limited 

access vessel participating in the Sea 

Scallop Area Access Program as 

specified in § 648.60 may have no more 

than eight people aboard, including the 

operator, when not docked or moored in 

port, except as follows: 

* * * * * 

(e) * * * 

(3) * * * 

(i) A vessel participating in the Sea 

Scallop Area Access Program as 

specified in § 648.60 may have no more 

than six people, including the operator, 

on board. 

* * * * * 

■ 5. In § 648.53, paragraphs (a), (b)(1), 

and (b)(4) are revised, paragraph (f)(3) is 

added, and paragraph (g)(1) is revised to 

read as follows: 

§ 648.53 Acceptable biological catch 

(ABC), annual catch limits (ACL), annual 

catch targets (ACT), DAS allocations, and 

individual fishing quotas (IFQ). 

(a) Scallop fishery ABC. The ABC for 

the scallop fishery shall be established 

through the framework adjustment 

process specified in § 648.55 and is 

equal to the overall scallop fishery ACL 

minus discards. The ABC/ACL, after 

discards are removed, shall be divided 

as sub-ACLs between limited access 

vessels, limited access vessels that are 

fishing under a LAGC permit, and LAGC 

vessels as specified in paragraphs (a)(3) 

and (a)(4) of this section, after deducting 

the scallop incidental catch target TAC 

specified in paragraph (a)(2) of this 

section, observer set-aside specified in 

paragraph (g)(1) of this section, and 

research set-aside specified in 

§ 648.56(d). The ABC/ACL for the 2016 

fishing year is subject to change through 

a future framework adjustment. 

(1) ABC/ACL for fishing years 2015 

through 2016, excluding discards, shall 

be: 

(i) 2015: 25,352 mt. 

(ii) 2016: 31,807 mt. 

(2) Scallop incidental catch target 

TAC. The annual incidental catch target 

TAC for vessels with incidental catch 

scallop permits is 22.7 mt. 

(3) Limited access fleet sub-ACL and 

ACT. The limited access scallop fishery 

shall be allocated 94.5 percent of the 

ACL specified in paragraph (a)(1) of this 

section, after deducting incidental 

catch, observer set-aside, and research 

set-aside, as specified in this paragraph 

(a)(3). ACT for the limited access scallop 

fishery shall be established through the 

framework adjustment process 

described in § 648.55. DAS specified in 

paragraph (b) of this section shall be 

based on the ACTs specified in 

paragraph (a)(3)(ii) of this section. The 

limited access fleet sub-ACL and ACT 

for the 2016 fishing year are subject to 

change through a future framework 

adjustment. 


rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
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(i) The limited access fishery subACLs for fishing years 2015 and 2016 

are: 

(A) 2015: 23,161 mt. 

(B) 2016: 29,200 mt. 

(ii) The limited access fishery ACTs 

for fishing years 2015 and 2016 are: 

(A) 2015: 19,311 mt. 

(B) 2016: 23,016 mt. 

(4) LAGC fleet sub-ACL. The sub-ACL 

for the LAGC IFQ fishery shall be equal 

to 5.5 percent of the ACL specified in 

paragraph (a)(1) of this section, after 

deducting incidental catch, observer setaside, and research set-aside, as 

specified in this paragraph (a)(4). The 

LAGC IFQ fishery ACT shall be equal to 

the LAGC IFQ fishery’s ACL. The ACL 

for the LAGC IFQ fishery for vessels 

issued only a LAGC IFQ scallop permit 

shall be equal to 5 percent of the ACL 

specified in paragraph (a)(1) of this 

section, after deducting incidental 

catch, observer set-aside, and research 

set-aside, as specified in this paragraph 

(a)(4). The ACL for the LAGC IFQ 

fishery for vessels issued only both a 

LAGC IFQ scallop permit and a limited 

access scallop permit shall be 0.5 

percent of the ACL specified in 

paragraph (a)(1) of this section, after 

deducting incidental catch, observer setaside, and research set-aside, as 

specified in this paragraph (a)(4). 

(i) The ACLs for fishing years 2015 

and 2016 for LAGC IFQ vessels without 

a limited access scallop permit are: 

(A) 2015: 1,225 mt. 

(B) 2016: 1,545 mt. 

(ii) The ACLs for fishing years 2015 

and 2016 for vessels issued both a LAGC 

and a limited access scallop permits are: 

(A) 2015: 123 mt. 

(B) 2016: 154 mt. 

(b) * * * 

(1) Landings per unit effort (LPUE). 

LPUE is an estimate of the average 

amount of scallops, in pounds, that the 

limited access scallop fleet lands per 

DAS fished. The estimated LPUE is the 

average LPUE for all limited access 

scallop vessels fishing under DAS, and 

shall be used to calculate DAS specified 

in paragraph (b)(4) of this section, the 

DAS reduction for the AM specified in 

paragraph (b)(4)(ii) of this section, and 

the observer set-aside DAS allocation 

specified in paragraph (g)(1) of this 

section. LPUE shall be: 

(i) 2015 fishing year: 2,594 lb/DAS 

(1,171 kg/DAS). 

(ii) 2016 fishing year: 2,715 lb/DAS 

(1,175 kg/DAS). 

(iii) [Reserved] 

* * * * * 

(4) Each vessel qualifying for one of 

the three DAS categories specified in the 

table in this paragraph (b)(4) (full-time, 

part-time, or occasional) shall be 

allocated the maximum number of DAS 

for each fishing year it may participate 

in the open area limited access scallop 

fishery, according to its category, 

excluding carryover DAS in accordance 

with paragraph (d) of this section. DAS 

allocations shall be determined by 

distributing the portion of ACT 

specified in paragraph (a)(3)(ii) of this 

section, as reduced by access area 

allocations specified in § 648.59, and 

dividing that amount among vessels in 

the form of DAS calculated by applying 

estimates of open area LPUE specified 

in paragraph (b)(1) of this section. 

Allocation for part-time and occasional 

scallop vessels shall be 40 percent and 

8.33 percent of the full-time DAS 

allocations, respectively. The annual 

open area DAS allocations for each 

category of vessel for the fishing years 

indicated are as follows: 

SCALLOP OPEN AREA DAS 

ALLOCATIONS

Permit category 2015 2016 

Full-Time ................. 30.86 26 

Part-Time ................ 12.94 10 .40 

Occasional .............. 2.58 2 .17 

(i) [Reserved] 

(ii) Accountability measures (AM). 

Unless the limited access AM exception 

is implemented in accordance with the 

provision specified in paragraph 

(b)(4)(iii) of this section, if the ACL 

specified in paragraph (a)(3)(i) of this 

section is exceeded for the applicable 

fishing year, the DAS specified in 

paragraph (b)(4) of this section for each 

limited access vessel shall be reduced 

by an amount equal to the amount of 

landings in excess of the ACL divided 

by the applicable LPUE for the fishing 

year in which the AM will apply as 

specified in paragraph (b)(1) of this 

section, then divided by the number of 

scallop vessels eligible to be issued a 

full-time limited access scallop permit. 

For example, assuming a 300,000-lb 

(136-mt) overage of the ACL in 2011, an 

open area LPUE of 2,500 lb (1.13 mt) per 

DAS in 2012, and 313 full-time vessels, 

each full-time vessel’s DAS would be 

reduced by 0.38 DAS (300,000 lb (136 

mt)/2,500 lb (1.13 mt) per DAS = 120 lb 

(0.05 mt) per DAS/313 vessels = 0.38 

DAS per vessel). Deductions in DAS for 

part-time and occasional scallop vessels 

shall be 40 percent and 8.33 percent of 

the full-time DAS deduction, 

respectively, as calculated pursuant to 

this paragraph (b)(4)(ii). The AM shall 

take effect in the fishing year following 

the fishing year in which the overage 

occurred. For example, landings in 

excess of the ACL in fishing year 2011 

would result in the DAS reduction AM 

in fishing year 2012. If the AM takes 

effect, and a limited access vessel uses 

more open area DAS in the fishing year 

in which the AM is applied, the vessel 

shall have the DAS used in excess of the 

allocation after applying the AM 

deducted from its open area DAS 

allocation in the subsequent fishing 

year. For example, a vessel initially 

allocated 32 DAS in 2011 uses all 32 

DAS prior to application of the AM. If, 

after application of the AM, the vessel’s 

DAS allocation is reduced to 31 DAS, 

the vessel’s DAS in 2012 would be 

reduced by 1 DAS. 

(iii) Limited access AM exception. If 

NMFS determines, in accordance with 

paragraph (b)(4)(ii) of this section, that 

the fishing mortality rate associated 

with the limited access fleet’s landings 

in a fishing year is less than 0.34, the 

AM specified in paragraph (b)(4)(ii) of 

this section shall not take effect. The 

fishing mortality rate of 0.34 is the 

fishing mortality rate that is one 

standard deviation below the fishing 

mortality rate for the scallop fishery 

ACL, currently estimated at 0.38. 

(iv) Limited access fleet AM and 

exception provision timing. The 

Regional Administrator shall determine 

whether the limited access fleet 

exceeded its ACL specified in paragraph 

(a)(3)(i) of this section by July of the 

fishing year following the year for 

which landings are being evaluated. On 

or about July 1, the Regional 

Administrator shall notify the New 

England Fishery Management Council 

of the determination of whether or not 

the ACL for the limited access fleet was 

exceeded, and the amount of landings in 

excess of the ACL. Upon this 

notification, the Scallop Plan 

Development Team (PDT) shall evaluate 

the overage and determine if the fishing 

mortality rate associated with total 

landings by the limited access scallop 

fleet is less than 0.34. On or about 

September 1 of each year, the Scallop 

PDT shall notify the Council of its 

determination, and the Council, on or 

about September 30, shall make a 

recommendation, based on the Scallop 

PDT findings, concerning whether to 

invoke the limited access AM exception. 

If NMFS concurs with the Scallop PDT’s 

recommendation to invoke the limited 

access AM exception, in accordance 

with the APA, the limited access AM 

shall not be implemented. If NMFS does 

not concur, in accordance with the 

APA, the limited access AM shall be 

implemented as soon as possible after 

September 30 each year. 

* * * * * 


rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
13818 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 51 / Tuesday, March 17, 2015 / Proposed Rules 

(f) * * * 

(3) Limited access scallop vessels 

fishing under the DAS Program and 

landing scallops at a port located at or 

south of 39° N. Lat. If landing scallops 

at a port located at or south of 39° N. 

lat., a limited access vessel participating 

in the scallop DAS program may end its 

DAS trip once shoreward of the VMS 

Demarcation Line at or south of 39° N. 

lat. by declaring out of the scallop 

fishery. Once declared out of the scallop 

fishery, the vessel may cross seaward of 

the VMS Demarcation Line and steam to 

ports at or south of 39° N. lat., to land 

scallops while not on a DAS, provided 

that the vessel complies with the 

following requirements: 

(i) The vessel must submit a Scallop 

Pre-landing Notification Form, as 

specified at § 648.10(f)(4)(iv); 

(ii) The vessel’s fishing gear is stowed 

and not available for immediate use as 

defined in § 648.2; 

(iii) The vessel must return directly to 

port and offload scallops; 

(iv) The vessel must land scallops at 

a port located at or south of 39° N. lat.; 

and 

(v) The vessel may not possess inshell scallops. 

(g) Set-asides for observer coverage. 

(1) To help defray the cost of carrying 

an observer, 1 percent of the ABC/ACL 

specified in paragraph (a)(1) of this 

section shall be set aside to be used by 

vessels that are assigned to take an atsea observer on a trip. The total TAC for 

observer set aside is 254 mt in fishing 

year 2015, and 318 mt in fishing year 

2016. 

* * * * * 

■ 6. In § 648.54, paragraphs (a)(4) and 

(b) through (g) are revised and 

paragraph (h) is added to read as 

follows: 

§ 648.54 State waters exemption. 

* * * * * 

(a) * * * 

(4) The Regional Administrator has 

determined that the State of Maine has 

a scallop fishery conservation program 

for its scallop fishery that does not 

jeopardize the biomass and fishing 

mortality/effort limit objectives of the 

Scallop FMP. A vessel fishing in State 

of Maine waters may fish under the 

State of Maine state waters exemption, 

subject to the exemptions specified in 

paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, 

provided the vessel is in compliance 

with paragraphs (e) through (g) of this 

section. 

(b) Limited access scallop vessel 

exemption. Any vessel issued a limited 

access scallop permit is exempt from the 

DAS requirements specified in 

§ 648.53(b) while fishing exclusively 

landward of the outer boundary of the 

waters of a state that has been issued a 

state waters exemption under paragraph 

(a)(4) of this section, provided the vessel 

complies with paragraphs (f) through (h) 

of this section. 

(c) Gear and possession limit 

restrictions. Any vessel issued a limited 

access scallop permit, an LAGC NGOM, 

or an LAGC IFQ scallop permit is 

exempt from the minimum twine top 

mesh size for scallop dredge gear 

specified in §§ 648.51(b)(2) and 

(b)(4)(iv) while fishing exclusively 

landward of the outer boundary of the 

waters of the State of Maine under the 

state waters exemption specified in 

paragraph (a)(4) of this section, 

provided the vessel is in compliance 

with paragraphs (d) through (g) of this 

section. 

(d) NGOM closure exemption. Any 

vessel issued a Federal scallop permit 

may be exempt from the regulations 

specified in § 648.52(b)(2) requiring that 

once the NGOM Federal hard TAC is 

reached, no vessel issued a scallop 

permit may fish in the NGOM area. This 

exemption, which a state must apply for 

through the process specified in 

paragraph (a) of this section, would 

allow vessels to continue to fish for 

scallops within a state’s waters inside 

the NGOM. A state applying for this 

exemption must clarify to which scallop 

permit types this exemption would 

apply. 

(e) Notification requirements. Vessels 

fishing under the exemptions specified 

in paragraph (b) and/or (c) of this 

section must notify the Regional 

Administrator in accordance with the 

provisions of § 648.10(e). 

(f) Restriction on fishing in the EEZ. 

A vessel fishing under a state waters 

exemption may not fish in the EEZ 

during the time in which it is fishing 

under the state waters exemption, as 

declared under the notification 

requirements of this section. 

(g) Duration of exemption. An 

exemption expires upon a change in the 

vessel’s name or ownership, or upon 

notification through VMS by the 

participating vessel’s owner. 

(h) Applicability of other provisions of 

this part. A vessel fishing under the 

exemptions provided by paragraphs (b) 

and/or (c) of this section remains subject 

to all other requirements of this part. 

■ 7. Section 648.58 is revised to read as 

follows: 

§ 648.58 Rotational Closed Areas. 

(a) Closed Area I Closed Area— No 

vessel may fish for scallops in, or 

possess or land scallops from, the area 

known as the Closed Area I Closed Area. 

No vessel may possess scallops in the 

Closed Area I Closed Area, unless such 

vessel is only transiting the area as 

provided in paragraph (e) of this 

section. The Closed Area I Closed Area 

is defined by straight lines connecting 

the following points in the order stated 

(copies of a chart depicting this area are 

available from the Regional 

Administrator upon request), and so 

that the line connecting points CAIA3 

and CAIA4 is the same as the portion of 

the western boundary line of Closed 

Area I, defined in § 648.81(a)(1), that 

lies between points CAIA3 and CAIA4: 

Point Latitude Longitude Note 

CAIA1 ........................................................................................................................................................... 41°26′ N. 68°30′ W. ............

CAIA2 ........................................................................................................................................................... 40°58′ N. 68°30′ W. ............

CAIA3 ........................................................................................................................................................... 40°54.95′ N. 68°53.37′ W. (1) 

CAIA4 ........................................................................................................................................................... 41°04.32′ N. 69°01.27′ W. (1) 

CAIA1 ........................................................................................................................................................... 41°26′ N. 68°30′ W. ............

1From Point CAIA3 to Point CAIA4 along the western boundary of Closed Area I, defined in § 648.81(a)(1). 

(b) Closed Area II Closed Area— No 

vessel may fish for scallops in, or 

possess or land scallops from, the area 

known as the Closed Area II Closed 

Area. No vessel may possess scallops in 

the Closed Area II Closed Area. The 

Closed Area II Closed Area is defined by 

straight lines, except where noted, 

connecting the following points in the 

order stated (copies of a chart depicting 

this area are available from the Regional 

Administrator upon request): 


rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
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Point Latitude Longitude Note 

CAIIA1 .......................................................................................................................................................... 41°00′ N. 67°20′ W. ............

CAIIA2 .......................................................................................................................................................... 41°00′ N. 66°35.8′ W. ............

CAIIA3 .......................................................................................................................................................... 41°18.6′ N. (1) (2) 

CAIIA4 .......................................................................................................................................................... 41°30′ N. (3) (2) 

CAIIA5 .......................................................................................................................................................... 41°30′ N. 67°20′ W. ............

CAIIA1 .......................................................................................................................................................... 41°00′ N. 67°20′ W. ............

1The intersection of 41°18.6′ N. lat. and the U.S.-Canada Maritime Boundary, approximately 41°18.6′ N. lat. and 66°25.01′ W. long. 2From Point CAIIA3 connected to Point CAIIA4 along the U.S.-Canada Maritime Boundary. 

3The intersection of 41°30′ N. lat. and the U.S.-Canada Maritime Boundary, approximately 41°30′ N. lat., 66°34.73′ W. long. 

(c) Nantucket Lightship Closed Area— 

No vessel may fish for scallops in, or 

possess or land scallops from, the area 

known as the Nantucket Lightship 

Closed Area. No vessel may possess 

scallops in the Nantucket Lightship 

Closed Area, unless such vessel is only 

transiting the area as provided in 

paragraph (e) of this section. The 

Nantucket Lightship Closed Area is 

defined by straight lines connecting the 

following points in the order stated 

(copies of a chart depicting this area are 

available from the Regional 

Administrator upon request), 

Point Latitude Longitude 

NLAA1 ........... 40°50′ N. 69°30′ W. 

NLAA2 ........... 40°50′ N. 69°00′ W. 

NLAA3 ........... 40°33′ N. 69°00′ W. 

NLAA4 ........... 40°33′ N. 68°48′ W. 

NLAA5 ........... 40°20′ N. 68°48′ W. 

NLAA6 ........... 40°20′ N. 69°30′ W. 

NLAA1 ........... 40°50′ N. 69°30′ W. 

(d) Elephant Trunk Closed Area— No 

vessel may fish for scallops in, or 

possess or land scallops from, the area 

known as the Elephant Trunk Closed 

Area. No vessel may possess scallops in 

Elephant Trunk Closed Area. The 

Elephant Trunk Closed Area is defined 

by straight lines connecting the 

following points in the order stated 

(copies of a chart depicting this area are 

available from the Regional 

Administrator upon request). 

Point Latitude Longitude 

ETCA 1 .......... 38°50′ N. 74°20′ W. 

ETCA 2 .......... 38°50′ N. 73°40′ W. 

ETCA 3 .......... 38°40′ N. 73°40′ W. 

ETCA 4 .......... 38°40′ N. 73°50′ W. 

ETCA 5 .......... 38°30′ N. 73°50′ W. 

ETCA 6 .......... 38°30′ N. 74°20′ W. 

ETCA 1 .......... 38°50′ N. 74°20′ W. 

(e) Transiting. No vessel possessing 

scallops may enter or be in the area(s) 

specified in paragraphs (a) and (c) of 

this section unless the vessel is 

transiting the area and the vessel’s 

fishing gear is stowed and not available 

for immediate use as defined in § 648.2, 

or there is a compelling safety reason to 

be in such areas without such gear being 

stowed. A vessel may only transit the 

Closed Area II Closed Area, as described 

in paragraph (b) of this section, or the 

Elephant Trunk Closed Area, as 

described in paragraph (d) of this 

section, if there is a compelling safety 

reason for transiting the area and the 

vessel’s fishing gear is stowed and not 

available for immediate use as defined 

in § 648.2. 

(f) Vessels fishing for species other 

than scallops. A vessel may fish for 

species other than scallops within the 

closed areas specified in paragraphs (a) 

through (d) of this section as allowed in 

this part, provided the vessel does not 

fish for, catch, or retain scallops or 

intend to fish for, catch, or retain 

scallops. Declaration through VMS that 

the vessel is fishing in the LAGC scallop 

fishery is deemed to be an intent to fish 

for, catch, or retain scallops. 

■ 8. In § 648.59: 

■ a. Paragraphs (a), (b) introductory text, 

(b)(1), (c) introductory text, and (c)(1) 

are revised; 

■ b. Paragraph (c)(2) is removed and 

reserved; 

■ c. Paragraphs (d) introductory text and 

(d)(1) are revised; and 

■ d. Paragraphs (d)(2) and (e) are 

removed and reserved. 

The revisions read as follows: 

§ 648.59 Sea Scallop Access Areas. 

(a) Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access 

Area—(1) Beginning March 1, 2015, 

through February 28, 2017 (i.e., fishing 

years 2015 and 2016), a vessel issued a 

scallop permit may not fish for, possess, 

or land scallops in or from the area 

known as the Mid-Atlantic Access Area 

unless the vessel is participating in, and 

complies with the requirements of, the 

area access program described in 

§ 648.60. The Mid-Atlantic Access Area 

is comprised of the following scallop 

access areas: The Delmarva Scallop 

Access Area, as described in paragraph 

(a)(2) of this section; the Elephant Trunk 

Scallop Access Area, as described in 

paragraph (a)(3) of this section; and the 

Hudson Canyon Scallop Access Area, as 

described in paragraph (a)(4) of this 

section. 

(2) Delmarva Scallop Access Area. 

The Delmarva Scallop Access Area is 

defined by straight lines connecting the 

following points in the order stated 

(copies of a chart depicting this area are 

available from the Regional 

Administrator upon request): 

Point Latitude Longitude 

DMV1 ............. 38°10′ N. 74°50′ W. 

DMV2 ............. 38°10′ N. 74°00′ W. 

DMV3 ............. 37°15′ N. 74°00′ W. 

DMV4 ............. 37°15′ N. 74°50′ W. 

DMV1 ............. 38°10′ N. 74°50′ W. 

(i) Season. A vessel issued a scallop 

permit may not fish for, possess, or land 

scallops in or from the area known as 

the Delmarva Sea Scallop Access Area, 

described in paragraph (a)(2) of this 

section, during the period of March 1, 

2016, through March 31, 2016. 

(3) Elephant Trunk Scallop Access 

Area. The Elephant Trunk Scallop 

Access Area is defined by straight lines 

connecting the following points in the 

order stated (copies of a chart depicting 

this area are available from the Regional 

Administrator upon request): 

Point Latitude Longitude 

ETAA1 ........... 38°30′ N. 74°20′ W. 

ETAA2 ........... 38°30′ N. 73°50′ W. 

ETAA3 ........... 38°40′ N. 73°50′ W. 

ETAA4 ........... 38°40′ N. 73°40′ W. 

ETAA5 ........... 38°50′ N. 73°40′ W. 

ETAA6 ........... 38°50′ N. 73°30′ W. 

ETAA7 ........... 38°10′ N. 73°30′ W. 

ETAA8 ........... 38°10′ N. 74°20′ W. 

ETAA1 ........... 38°30′ N. 74°20′ W. 

(4) Hudson Canyon Scallop Access 

Area. The Hudson Canyon Scallop 

Access Area is defined by straight lines 

connecting the following points in the 

order stated (copies of a chart depicting 

this area are available from the Regional 

Administrator upon request): 

Point Latitude Longitude 

H1 .................. 39°30′ N. 73°10′ W. 

H2 .................. 39°30′ N. 72°30′ W. 

H3 .................. 38°30′ N. 73°30′ W. 

H4 .................. 38°50′ N. 73°30′ W. 

H5 .................. 38°50′ N. 73°42′ W. 

H1 .................. 39°30′ N. 73°10′ W. 


rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
13820 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 51 / Tuesday, March 17, 2015 / Proposed Rules 

(b) Closed Area I Scallop Access 

Area—(1) From March 1, 2015, through 

February 28, 2017 (i.e., fishing years 

2015 and 2016), a vessel issued a 

scallop permit may not fish for, possess, 

or land scallops in or from, the area 

known as the Closed Area I Scallop 

Access Area, described in paragraph 

(b)(3) of this section, unless transiting in 

accordance with paragraph (f) of this 

section. A vessel issued both a NE 

multispecies permit and an LAGC 

scallop permit may not fish in an 

approved SAP under § 648.85 and under 

multispecies DAS in the scallop access 

area, unless it complies with restrictions 

in paragraph (b)(5)(ii)(C) of this section. 

* * * * * 

(c) Closed Area II Scallop Access 

Area—(1) From March 1, 2015, through 

February 28, 2017 (i.e., fishing years 

2015 and 2016), a vessel issued a 

scallop permit may not fish for, possess, 

or land scallops in or from, the area 

known as the Closed Area II Access 

Area, described in paragraph (c)(3) of 

this section, unless transiting in 

accordance with paragraph (f) of this 

section. A vessel issued both a NE 

multispecies permit and an LAGC 

scallop permit may not fish in an 

approved SAP under § 648.85 and under 

multispecies DAS in the scallop access 

area, unless it complies with restrictions 

in paragraph (c)(5)(ii)(C) of this section. 

* * * * * 

(d) Nantucket Lightship Scallop 

Access Area—(1) From March 1, 2015, 

through February 28, 2017 (i.e., fishing 

years 2015 and 2016), a vessel issued a 

scallop permit may not fish for, possess, 

or land scallops in or from the area 

known as the Nantucket Lightship 

Access Area, described in paragraph 

(d)(3) of this section, unless transiting 

pursuant to paragraph (f) of this section. 

A vessel issued both a NE multispecies 

permit and an LAGC scallop permit may 

not fish in an approved SAP under 

§ 648.85 and under multispecies DAS in 

the scallop access area, unless it 

complies with restrictions in paragraph 

(d)(5)(ii)(C) of this section. 

* * * * * 

■ 9. In § 648.60, paragraphs (a)(1), (a)(3), 

(a)(5)(i), (a)(9), (c), (e)(1), (g)(3)(i) are 

revised to read as follows: 

§ 648.60 Sea scallop access area program 

requirements. 

(a) * * * 

(1) VMS. Each vessel participating in 

the Sea Scallop Access Area Program 

must have installed on board an 

operational VMS unit that meets the 

minimum performance criteria specified 

in §§ 648.9 and 648.10, and paragraphs 

(a)(9) and (f) of this section. 

* * * * * 

(3) Sea Scallop Access Area 

Allocations—(i) Limited access vessel 

allocations. 

(A) Except as provided in paragraph 

(c) of this section, paragraphs (a)(3)(i)(B) 

through (E) of this section specify the 

total amount of scallops, in weight, that 

a limited access scallop vessel may 

harvest from Sea Scallop Access Areas 

during applicable seasons specified in 

§ 648.59. A vessel may not possess or 

land in excess of its scallop allocation 

assigned to specific Sea Scallop Access 

Areas, unless authorized by the 

Regional Administrator, as specified in 

paragraph (d) of this section, unless the 

vessel owner has exchanged an areaspecific scallop allocation with another 

vessel owner for additional scallop 

allocation in that area, as specified in 

paragraph (a)(3)(ii) of this section. A 

vessel may harvest its scallop allocation, 

as specified in paragraph (a)(3)(B) of this 

section, on any number of trips in a 

given fishing year, provided that no 

single trip exceeds the possession limits 

specified in paragraph (a)(5) of this 

section, unless authorized by the 

Regional Administrator, as specified in 

paragraphs (c) and (d) of this section, 

(B) Full-time scallop vessels. (1) In 

fishing year 2015, each full-time vessel 

shall have a total of 51,000 lb (23,133 

kg) of scallops that may be harvested 

from the Mid-Atlantic Access Area, as 

defined in § 648.59(a). 

(2) For the 2016 fishing year, each 

full-time vessel shall have a total of 

17,000 lb (7,711 kg) of scallops that may 

be harvested from the Mid-Atlantic 

Access Area, as defined in § 648.59(a), 

starting on April 1, 2016. 

(C) Part-time scallop vessels. (1) For 

the 2015 fishing year, each part-time 

scallop vessel shall have a total of 

20,400 lb (9,253 kg) of scallop that may 

be harvested from the Mid-Atlantic 

Access Area, as defined in § 648.59(a). 

(2) For the 2015 fishing year, each 

part-time scallop vessel shall have a 

total of 10,200 lb (4,627 kg) of scallop 

that may be harvested from the MidAtlantic Access Area, as defined in 

§ 648.59(a), starting on April 1, 2016. 

(D) Occasional scallop vessels. (1) For 

the 2015 fishing year, each occasional 

scallop vessel shall have a total of 4,250 

lb (1,928 kg) of scallop that may be 

harvested from the Mid-Atlantic Access 

Area, as defined in § 648.59(a). 

(2) For the 2016 fishing year, each 

occasional scallop vessel shall have a 

total of 1,420 lb (644 kg) of scallop that 

may be harvested from the Mid-Atlantic 

Access Area, as defined in § 648.59(a), 

starting on April 1, 2016. 

(ii) One-for-one area access allocation 

exchanges. The owner of a vessel issued 

a limited access scallop permit may 

exchange unharvested scallop pounds 

allocated into one access area for 

another vessel’s unharvested scallop 

pounds allocated into another Sea 

Scallop Access Area. These exchanges 

may only be made for the amount of the 

current trip possession limit, as 

specified in paragraph (a)(5) of this 

section. For example, if the access area 

trip possession limit for full-time 

vessels is 17,000 lb (7,711 kg), a fulltime vessel may exchange no less than 

17,000 lb (7,711 kg), from one access 

area for no more or less than 17,000 lb 

(7,711 kg) allocated to another vessel for 

another access area. In addition, these 

exchanges may be made only between 

vessels with the same permit category: 

A full-time vessel may not exchange 

allocations with a part-time vessel, and 

vice versa. Vessel owners must request 

these exchanges by submitting a 

completed Access Area Allocation 

Exchange Form at least 15 days before 

the date on which the applicant desires 

the exchange to be effective. Exchange 

forms are available from the Regional 

Administrator upon request. Each vessel 

owner involved in an exchange is 

required to submit a completed Access 

Area Allocation Form. The Regional 

Administrator shall review the records 

for each vessel to confirm that each 

vessel has enough unharvested 

allocation remaining in a given access 

area to exchange. The exchange is not 

effective until the vessel owner(s) 

receive a confirmation in writing from 

the Regional Administrator that the 

allocation exchange has been made 

effective. A vessel owner may exchange 

equal allocations up to the current 

possession limit between two or more 

vessels under his/her ownership. A 

vessel owner holding a Confirmation of 

Permit History is not eligible to 

exchange allocations between another 

vessel and the vessel for which a 

Confirmation of Permit History has been 

issued. 

* * * * * 

(5) Possession and landing limits—(i) 

Scallop possession limits. Unless 

authorized by the Regional 

Administrator, as specified in paragraph 

(d) of this section, after declaring a trip 

into a Sea Scallop Access Area, a vessel 

owner or operator of a limited access 

scallop vessel may fish for, possess, and 

land, per trip, scallops, up to the 

maximum amounts specified in the 

table in this paragraph (a)(5). No vessel 

declared into the Access Areas as 

described in § 648.59(a) through (e) may 

possess more than 50 bu (17.62 hL) of 


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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 51 / Tuesday, March 17, 2015 / Proposed Rules 13821 

in-shell scallops outside of the Access Areas described in § 648.59(a) through 

(e). 

Fishing year 

Permit category possession limit 

Full-time Part-time Occasional 

2015 ............................................... 17,000 lb (57,711 kg) ................... 10,200 lb (4,627 kg) ..................... 1,420 lb (644kg). 

2016 ............................................... 17,000 lb (57,711 kg) ................... 10,200 lb (4,627 kg) ..................... 1,420 lb (644kg). 

* * * * * 

(9) Reporting. The owner or operator 

must submit scallop catch reports 

through the VMS, as specified in 

§ 648.10(f)(4)(i), and limited access 

scallop access area pre-landing 

notification forms, as specified in 

§ 648.10(f)(4)(iii). 

* * * * * 

(c) Access area scallop allocation 

carryover. Unless otherwise specified in 

§ 648.59, a limited access scallop vessel 

operator may fish any unharvested 

Scallop Access Area allocation from a 

given fishing year within the first 60 

days of the subsequent fishing year if 

the Access Area is open. For example, 

if a full-time vessel has 7,000 lb (3,175 

kg) remaining in the Hudson Canyon 

Access Area at the end of fishing year 

2013, that vessel may harvest 7,000 lb 

(3,175 kg) from its 2014 fishing year 

scallop access area allocation during the 

first 60 days that the Hudson Canyon 

Access Area is open in fishing year 2014 

(March 1, 2014, through April 29, 2014). 

Unless otherwise specified in § 648.59, 

if an Access Area is not open in the 

subsequent fishing year, then the 

unharvested scallop allocation would 

expire at the end of the fishing year that 

the scallops were allocated. For 

example, if a full-time vessel has 7,000 

lb (3,175 kg) remaining in Closed Area 

II Access Area at the end of a given 

fishing year, and that access area would 

not open the subsequent fishing year, 

the 7,000 lb (3,175 kg) of scallops would 

expire on the last day of the fishing 

year. 

* * * * * 

(e) Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside 

Harvest in Access Areas—(1) Access 

Areas available for harvest of research 

set-aside (RSA). Unless otherwise 

specified, RSA may be harvested in any 

access area that is open in a given 

fishing year, as specified through a 

framework adjustment and pursuant to 

§ 648.56. The amount of scallops that 

can be harvested in each access area by 

vessels participating in approved RSA 

projects shall be determined through the 

RSA application review and approval 

process. The access areas open for RSA 

harvest for fishing years 2015 and 2016 

are: 

(i) 2015: The Mid-Atlantic Scallop 

Access Area, as specified in § 648.59(a) 

(ii) 2016: None. 

* * * * * 

(g) * * * 

(3) LAGC IFQ Access Area Trips. (i) 

An LAGC scallop vessel authorized to 

fish in the Access Areas specified in 

§ 648.59(a) through (e) may land 

scallops, subject to the possession limit 

specified in § 648.52(a), unless the 

Regional Administrator has issued a 

notice that the number of LAGC IFQ 

access area trips have been or are 

projected to be taken. The total number 

of LAGC IFQ trips in a specified Access 

Area for fishing year 2015 and 2016 are: 

Access area 2015 2016 

Mid-Atlantic Access Area ......................................................................................................................................... 2,065 602 

Closed Area 1 .......................................................................................................................................................... 0 0 

Closed Area 2 .......................................................................................................................................................... 0 0 

Nantucket Lightship ................................................................................................................................................. 0 0 

* * * * * 

■ 10. In § 648.64, paragraph (a) is 

revised to read as follows: 

§ 648.64 Yellowtail flounder sub-ACLs and 

AMs for the scallop fishery. 

(a) As specified in § 648.55(d), and 

pursuant to the biennial framework 

adjustment process specified in 

§ 648.90, the scallop fishery shall be 

allocated a sub-ACL for the Georges 

Bank and Southern New England/MidAtlantic stocks of yellowtail flounder. 

The sub-ACLs are specified in 

§ 648.90(a)(4)(iii)(C) of the NE 

multispecies regulations. 

* * * * * 

■ 10. In § 648.65, paragraph (b)(3)(ii) is 

revised to read as follows: 

§ 648.64 Windowpane flounder sub-ACLs 

and AMs for the scallop fishery. 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(3) * * * 

(ii) The maximum hanging ratio for a 

net, net material, or any other material 

on the top of a scallop dredge (twine 

top) possessed or used by vessels fishing 

with scallop dredge gear does not 

exceed 1.5:1 overall. An overall hanging 

ratio of 1.5:1 means that the twine top 

is attached to the rings in a pattern of 

alternating 2 meshes per ring and 1 

mesh per ring (counted at the bottom 

where the twine top connects to the 

apron), for an overall average of 1.5 

meshes per ring for the entire width of 

the twine top. For example, an apron 

that is 40 rings wide subtracting 5 rings 

one each side of the side pieces, 

yielding 30 rings, would only be able to 

use a twine top with 45 or fewer meshes 

so that the overall ratio of meshes to 

rings did not exceed 1.5 (45 meshes/30 

rings = 1.5). 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2015–05650 Filed 3–16–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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