2558 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 11 / Tuesday, January 18, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 

2021 commercial quotas for 

Massachusetts and Connecticut. 

DATES: Effective January 12, 2022. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Laura Deighan, Fishery Management 

Specialist, (978) 281–9184. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Regulations governing the summer 

flounder fishery are found in 50 CFR 

648.100 through 648.110. These 

regulations require annual specification 

of a commercial quota that is 

apportioned among the coastal states 

from Maine through North Carolina. The 

process to set the annual commercial 

quota and the percent allocated to each 

state is described in § 648.102 and final 

2021 allocations were published on 

December 21, 2020 (85 FR 82946). 

The final rule implementing 

Amendment 5 to the Summer Flounder 

Fishery Management Plan (FMP), as 

published in the Federal Register on 

December 17, 1993 (58 FR 65936), 

provided a mechanism for transferring 

summer flounder commercial quota 

from one state to another. Two or more 

states, under mutual agreement and 

with the concurrence of the NMFS 

Greater Atlantic Regional Administrator, 

can transfer or combine summer 

flounder commercial quota under 

§ 648.102(c)(2). The Regional 

Administrator is required to consider 

three criteria in the evaluation of 

requests for quota transfers or 

combinations: The transfer or 

combinations would not preclude the 

overall annual quota from being fully 

harvested; the transfer addresses an 

unforeseen variation or contingency in 

the fishery; and the transfer is consistent 

with the objectives of the FMP and the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act. The 

Regional Administrator has determined 

these three criteria have been met for 

the transfer approved in this 

notification. 

Massachusetts is transferring 40,000 

lb (18,144 kg) to Connecticut through 

mutual agreement of the states. This 

transfer was requested to ensure 

Connecticut would not exceed its 2021 

quota. The revised summer flounder 

quotas for 2021 are: Massachusetts, 

985,159 lb (446,861 kg) and 

Connecticut, 709,376 lb (321,768 kg). 

Given the timing of the states’ request, 

we were unable to process the transfer 

before the December 31 end of the 2021 

fishing year. The retroactively adjusted 

quotas will be used to calculate overages 

for the 2021 fishing year and adjust, as 

needed, 2022 summer flounder quotas. 

Classification 

NMFS issues this action pursuant to 

section 305(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act. This action is required by 50 CFR 

648.162(e)(1)(i) through (iii), which was 

issued pursuant to section 304(b), and is 

exempted from review under Executive 

Order 12866. 

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

Dated: January 11, 2022. 

Ngagne Jafnar Gueye, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2022–00738 Filed 1–12–22; 4:15 pm] 

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 679 

[Docket No. 210217–0022; RTID 0648– 

XB722] 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Groundfish in the 

Red King Crab Savings Subarea of the 

Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 

Management Area 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; closure. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is prohibiting directed 

fishing for groundfish by vessels using 

nonpelagic trawl gear in the Red King 

Crab Savings Subarea of the Bering Sea 

and Aleutian Islands management area 

(BSAI). This action is necessary because 

the State of Alaska, Department of Fish 

and Game did not established a 

guideline harvest level fishery for red 

king crab in the Bristol Bay area for the 

2021/2022 fishing year. 

DATES: Effective 1200 hours, Alaska 

local time (A.l.t.), January 20, 2022, 

through 2400 hours, A.l.t., December 31, 

2022. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mary Furuness, 907–586–7447. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS 

manages the groundfish fishery in the 

BSAI according to the Fishery 

Management Plan for Groundfish of the 

Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 

Management Area (FMP) prepared by 

the North Pacific Fishery Management 

Council under authority of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act. 

Regulations governing fishing by U.S. 

vessels in accordance with the FMP 

appear at subpart H of 50 CFR part 600 

and 50 CFR part 679. 

In accordance with 

§ 679.21(e)(3)(ii)(B)(1), this action is 

necessary because the State of Alaska, 

Department of Fish and Game did not 

established a guideline harvest level 

fishery for red king crab in the Bristol 

Bay area for the 2021/2022 fishing year. 

Consequently, the Regional 

Administrator is prohibiting directed 

fishing for groundfish by vessels using 

nonpelagic trawl gear in the Red King 

Crab Savings Subarea of the BSAI. 

While this closure is effective the 

maximum retainable amounts at 

§ 679.20(e) and (f) apply at any time 

during a trip. 

Classification 

NMFS issues this action pursuant to 

section 305(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act. This action is required by 50 CFR 

part 679, which was issued pursuant to 

section 304(b), and is exempt from 

review under Executive Order 12866. 

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), there 

is good cause to waive prior notice and 

an opportunity for public comment on 

this action, as notice and comment 

would be impracticable and contrary to 

the public interest, as it would prevent 

NMFS from responding to the most 

recent fisheries data in a timely fashion 

and would delay the directed fishing 

closure of groundfish by vessels using 

nonpelagic trawl gear in the Red King 

Crab Savings Subarea of the BSAI. 

NMFS was unable to publish a 

notification providing time for public 

comment because the most recent, 

relevant data only became available as 

of January 1, 2022. 

The Assistant Administrator for 

Fisheries, NOAA also finds good cause 

to waive the 30-day delay in the 

effective date of this action under 5 

U.S.C. 553(d)(3). This finding is based 

upon the reasons provided above for 

waiver of prior notice and opportunity 

for public comment. 

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

Dated: January 11, 2022. 

Ngagne Jafnar Gueye, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2022–00739 Filed 1–14–22; 8:45 am] 

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