Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 57 / Wednesday, March 25, 2015 / Rules and Regulations 15691 

regulations change will not interfere 

with Tribes’ abilities to manage 

themselves or their funds or to regulate 

migratory bird activities on Tribal lands. 

Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use 

(Executive Order 13211) 

This rule will affect only two 

depredation orders for migratory birds, 

and will not affect energy supplies, 

distribution, or use. This is not a 

significant energy action, and no 

Statement of Energy Effects is required. 

Compliance With Endangered Species 

Act Requirements 

Section 7 of the Endangered Species 

Act (ESA) of 1973, as amended (16 

U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), requires that ‘‘The 

Secretary [of the Interior] shall review 

other programs administered by him 

and utilize such programs in 

furtherance of the purposes of this 

chapter’’ (16 U.S.C. 1536(a)(1)). It 

further states that the Secretary must 

‘‘insure that any action authorized, 

funded, or carried out . . . is not likely 

to jeopardize the continued existence of 

any endangered species or threatened 

species or result in the destruction or 

adverse modification of [critical] 

habitat’’ (16 U.S.C. 1536(a)(2)). The 

regulations change will not affect listed 

species. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 21 

Exports, Hunting, Imports, Reporting 

and recordkeeping requirements, 

Transportation, Wildlife. 

Regulation Promulgation 

For the reasons described in the 

preamble, we amend subchapter B of 

chapter I, title 50 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations, as set forth below: 

PART 21—MIGRATORY BIRD PERMITS 

■ 1. The authority for part 21 continues 

to read as follows: 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 703–712. 

■ 2. Amend § 21.41 by revising 

paragraph (a) to read as follows: 

§ 21.41 Depredation permits. 

(a) Permit requirement. Except as 

provided in §§ 21.43, 21.44, and 21.46, 

a depredation permit is required before 

any person may take, possess, or 

transport migratory birds for 

depredation control purposes. No 

permit is required merely to scare or 

herd depredating migratory birds other 

than endangered or threatened species 

or bald or golden eagles. 

* * * * * 

§ 21.42 [Removed and reserved] 

■ 3. Remove and reserve § 21.42. 

§ 21.45 [Removed and reserved] 

■ 4. Remove and reserve § 21.45. 

§ 21.53 [Amended] 

■ 5. Amend § 21.53 by removing the 

fourth sentence of paragraph (c)(2). 

Dated: February 2, 2015. 

Michael J. Bean, 

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish 

and Wildlife and Parks. 

[FR Doc. 2015–06639 Filed 3–24–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 622 

[Docket No. 140903744–5258–02] 

RIN 0648–BE46 

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of 

Mexico, and South Atlantic; Shrimp 

Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico; 

Amendment 16 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: NMFS issues this final rule to 

implement Amendment 16 to the 

Fishery Management Plan for the 

Shrimp Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico 

(FMP), as prepared and submitted by 

the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) Fishery 

Management Council (Council). This 

final rule revises the annual catch limit 

(ACL) for royal red shrimp, removes the 

royal red shrimp quota, and revises the 

accountability measures (AMs) for royal 

red shrimp to remove an inconsistency 

in the regulations. The purpose of this 

rule is to prevent overfishing of the 

royal red shrimp resource while helping 

to achieve optimum yield and reconcile 

conflicting Federal regulations. 

DATES: This rule is effective April 24, 

2015. 

ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of 

Amendment 16, which includes an 

supplemental environmental impact 

statement, a Regulatory Flexibility Act 

analysis, and a regulatory impact 

review, may be obtained from the 

Southeast Regional Office Web site at 

http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_

fisheries/gulf_fisheries/shrimp/2014/

am16/index.html. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Susan Gerhart, telephone: 727–824– 

5305, or email: Susan.Gerhart@

noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

shrimp fishery in the Gulf is managed 

under the FMP. The FMP was prepared 

by the Council and implemented 

through regulations at 50 CFR part 622 

under the authority of the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens 

Act). 

On March 11, 2014, NMFS published 

a notice of intent to prepare a 

supplemental environmental impact 

statement for Amendment 16 and 

requested public comment (79 FR 

13623). NMFS published a notice of 

availablility for Amendment 16 on 

December 24, 2014, (79 FR 77425) and 

published the proposed rule on January 

26, 2015, (80 FR 3937) and requested 

public comment. A summary of the 

actions implemented by Amendment 16 

and this final rule is provided below. 

On January 30, 2012, NMFS 

implemented regulations developed 

through the Generic ACL/AMs 

Amendment to multiple fishery 

management plans, including the 

Shrimp FMP (December 29, 2011, 76 FR 

82044). That amendment included 

actions to establish the commercial ACL 

and AM for royal red shrimp. However, 

the ‘‘no action’’ alternatives and 

discussions in the Generic ACL 

Amendment incorrectly stated that there 

were currently no catch limits or AMs 

for royal red shrimp, even though a 

quota and in-season quota closure were 

in the regulations. As a consequence, 

through the Generic ACL Amendment, 

both a royal red shrimp ACL and AM 

were added to the regulations, but the 

existing quota and in-season quota 

closure provision were not removed. 

Federal regulations currently include 

a royal red shrimp ACL of 334,000 lb 

(151,000 kg), tail weight, and a quota of 

392,000 lb (177.8 mt), tail weight. This 

final rule removes the royal red shrimp 

quota and updates the ACL to 337,000 

lb (152,861 kg), tail weight, which is 

equal to the acceptable biological catch 

as recommended by the Council’s 

Scientific and Statistical Committee. 

Federal regulations also include a 

royal red shrimp in-season closure if the 

quota is met or projected to be met, 

based on in-season monitoring (which 

functions as an AM), and include an 

AM that implements in-season 

monitoring and an ACL closure in the 

year following any ACL overage. The 

presence of two AMs in the regulations 

presents an inconsistency in the 

management of royal red shrimp. This 

final rule removes the in-season quota 

closure associated with the royal red 

shrimp quota and retains the AM 

associated with the ACL. 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with RULES
15692 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 57 / Wednesday, March 25, 2015 / Rules and Regulations 

Comments and Responses 

NMFS received one comment on the 

proposed rule related to analysis in the 

final supplemental environmental 

impact statementfrom a Federal agency. 

That comment is outside the scope of 

the rule and is addressed in the Record 

of Decision for Amendment 16. No other 

comments were received. No changes 

were made to the final rule based on 

public comment. 

Classification 

The Regional Administrator, 

Southeast Region, NMFS has 

determined that this final rule is 

necessary for the conservation and 

management of royal red shrimp and is 

consistent with Amendment 16, the 

FMP, the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and 

other applicable law. 

This final rule has been determined to 

be not significant for purposes of 

Executive Order 12866. 

The Magnuson-Stevens Act provides 

the statutory basis for this rule. No 

duplicative, overlapping, or conflicting 

Federal rules have been identified. In 

addition, no new reporting, recordkeeping, or other compliance 

requirements are introduced by this 

final rule. 

The Chief Counsel for Regulation of 

the Department of Commerce certified 

to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the 

Small Business Administration during 

the proposed rule stage that this rule 

would not have a significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities. The factual basis for this 

determination was published in the 

proposed rule and is not repeated here. 

No comments were received regarding 

the certification and NMFS has not 

received any new information that 

would affect its determination. As a 

result, a final regulatory flexibility 

analysis is not required and none was 

prepared. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 622 

Accountability measures, Annual 

catch limits, Fisheries, Fishing, Gulf of 

Mexico, Royal red shrimp, Shrimp. 

Dated: March 18, 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 part 622 is amended 

as follows: 

PART 622—FISHERIES OF THE 

CARIBBEAN, GULF OF MEXICO, AND 

SOUTH ATLANTIC 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 622 

continues to read as follows: 

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

§ 622.57 [Removed and Reserved] 

■ 2. Section 622.57 is removed and 

reserved. 

■ 3. In § 622.58, paragraph (a)(1) is 

revised to read as follows: 

§ 622.58 Annual catch limits (ACLs), 

annual catch targets (ACTs), and 

accountability measures (AMs). 

(a) * * * 

(1) Commercial sector. If commercial 

landings, as estimated by the SRD, 

exceed the commercial ACL, then 

during the following fishing year, if 

commercial landings reach or are 

projected to reach the commercial ACL, 

the AA will file a notification with the 

Office of the Federal Register to close 

the commercial sector for the remainder 

of that fishing year. When the 

commercial sector is closed, royal red 

shrimp in or from the Gulf EEZ may not 

be retained, and the sale or purchase of 

royal red shrimp taken from the Gulf 

EEZ is prohibited. This prohibition on 

sale or purchase during a closure for 

royal red shrimp does not apply to royal 

red shrimp that were harvested, landed 

ashore, and sold prior to the effective 

date of the closure and were held in 

cold storage by a dealer or processor. 

The commercial ACL for royal red 

shrimp is 337,000 lb (152,861 kg), tail 

weight. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2015–06571 Filed 3–24–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 141103917–5223–02] 

RIN 0648–BE60 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

Provisions; Fisheries of the 

Northeastern United States; Black Sea 

Bass Fishery; Framework Adjustment 

8 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is implementing 

regulations consistent with Framework 

Adjustment 8 to the Summer Flounder, 

Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery 

Management Plan. This action allows 

the black sea bass recreational fishery to 

begin on May 15 of each year, instead 

of May 19, to provide additional fishing 

opportunities earlier in the year, unless 

otherwise modified by further 

rulemaking. 

DATES: Effective April 24, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Supplemental 

Information Report and other 

supporting documents for this action are 

available from Dr. Christopher M. 

Moore, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic 

Fishery Management Council, Suite 201, 

800 N. State Street, Dover, DE 19901. 

These documents are also accessible via 

the Internet at: http://

www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Moira Kelly, Fishery Policy Analyst, 

(978) 281–9218. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

General Background 

The summer flounder, scup, and 

black sea bass fisheries are managed 

cooperatively under the provisions of 

the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black 

Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan 

(FMP) developed by the Mid-Atlantic 

Fishery Management Council and the 

Atlantic States Marine Fisheries 

Commission, in consultation with the 

New England and South Atlantic 

Fishery Management Councils. This rule 

applies to black sea bass (Centropristis 

striata) in U.S. waters of the Atlantic 

Ocean from 35 E. 13.3′ N. lat. (the 

latitude of Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, 

Buxton, North Carolina) northward to 

the U.S./Canada border. 

The FMP is managed jointly by the 

Council and Commission. States manage 

black sea bass within 3 nautical miles 

(4.83 km) of their coasts under the 

Commission’s plan. The applicable 

Federal regulations govern vessels and 

individual anglers fishing in Federal 

waters of the exclusive economic zone 

(EEZ), as well as vessels possessing a 

Federal black sea bass charter/party 

vessel permit, regardless of where they 

fish. The recreational fishery is 

essentially managed using four tools: 

The recreational harvest limit; the open 

season; minimum fish size; and a 

recreational angler bag limit. The 

recreational harvest limit is established 

based on the specifications formula in 

the FMP. The open season, minimum 

fish size, and bag limit are collectively 

referred to as the ‘‘recreational 

management measures,’’ which are 

designed to ensure that the recreational 

harvest limit is not exceeded. Because of 

the way we collect recreational fisheries 

data along the Atlantic coast, 

recreational fishing years are divided 

into 2-month waves: Wave 1 (January/

February); Wave 2 (March/April); Wave 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with RULES