Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 41 / Wednesday, March 2, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 11597 

mackerel prior to 12 p.m. local time on 

March 2, 2022. 

Persons on a vessel using hook-andline gear in the southern zone for which 

a Federal commercial permit for Gulf 

king mackerel has been issued, except 

persons on such a vessel also issued a 

Federal commercial permit to harvest 

Gulf king mackerel using run-around 

gillnet gear, may fish for or retain Gulf 

king mackerel unless the southern zone 

commercial quota for hook-and-line gear 

has been met and the hook-and-line 

component of the commercial sector has 

been closed. In addition, as long as the 

recreational sector for Gulf king 

mackerel is open (50 CFR 622.384(e)(1)), 

a person on a vessel that has a valid 

Federal commercial gillnet permit for 

king mackerel may continue to retain 

king mackerel under the recreational 

bag and possession limits set forth in 50 

CFR 622.382(a)(1)(ii) and (a)(2). 

During the commercial closure, Gulf 

king mackerel harvested using runaround gillnet gear in the southern zone 

may not be purchased or sold. This 

prohibition does not apply to Gulf king 

mackerel harvested using run-around 

gillnet gear in the southern zone that 

were harvested, landed ashore, and sold 

prior to the closure and were held in 

cold storage by a dealer or processor (50 

CFR 622.384(e)(2)). 

Classification 

NMFS issues this action pursuant to 

section 305(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act. This action is required by 50 CFR 

622.388(a)(1), which was issued 

pursuant to section 304(b) of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act, 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 is 

unnecessary and contrary to the public 

interest. Such procedure is unnecessary 

because the regulations associated with 

the commercial quota and associated 

AM for Gulf king mackerel have already 

been subject to notice and public 

comment, and all that remains is to 

notify the public of the closure. Prior 

notice and opportunity for public 

comment on this action is contrary to 

the public interest because of the need 

to immediately implement the closure 

to protect the Gulf king mackerel 

resource. The capacity of the 

commercial fishing fleet allows for rapid 

harvest of the commercial quota, and 

any delay in the closure could result in 

the commercial quota being exceeded. 

Prior notice and opportunity for public 

comment would require time and would 

potentially result in a harvest that 

exceeds the commercial quota. 

For the previously stated reasons, 

there is good cause under 5 U.S.C. 

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

effectiveness of this action. 

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

Dated: February 25, 2022. 

Ngagne Jafnar Gueye, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2022–04394 Filed 2–25–22; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 660 

[Docket No. 220223–0055] 

RIN 0648–BK73 

Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; 

Fisheries Off West Coast States; 

Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Pink 

Shrimp and Midwater Trawl 

Exemptions to Vessel Monitoring 

System Requirements for the West 

Coast Groundfish Fishery 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: This rule revises monitoring 

provisions that specify exemptions for 

non-groundfish trawl vessels 

participating in the Pacific coast pink 

shrimp fishery and for groundfish 

midwater trawl vessels. In a final rule 

on vessel movement, monitoring, and 

declaration management for the Pacific 

coast groundfish fishery published on 

June 11, 2020, vessels in the pink 

shrimp trawl fishery were incorrectly 

included with other open access nongroundfish trawl vessels that became 

subject to a higher position transmission 

rate on their NMFS type-approved 

vessel monitoring system (VMS) units. 

This final rule corrects the error and 

returns the required transmission rate 

for vessels in the pink shrimp trawl 

fishery to once every 60 minutes, as 

recommended by the Pacific Fishery 

Management Council (Council). This 

action also corrects a citation error in 

the VMS regulations with regards to 

exemptions for midwater trawl vessels, 

as well as a typographical error in the 

trawl fishery prohibitions. 

DATES: Effective April 1, 2022. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of the analytic 

document supporting this action, are 

available via the Federal eRulemaking 

Portal: https://www.regulations.gov, 

docket NOAA–NMFS–2021–0085, or by 

contacting the Pacific Fishery 

Management Council, 7700 NE 

Ambassador Place, Suite 101, Portland, 

OR 97220–1384. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matt 

Dunlap, Fishery Policy Analyst, 206– 

526–6019, or matthew.dunlap@

noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On June 11, 2020, NMFS published a 

final rule on vessel movement, 

monitoring, and declaration 

management that revised reporting and 

monitoring provisions for vessels 

participating in the Pacific coast 

groundfish fishery (85 FR 35594). The 

rule increased the vessel position 

frequency to improve NMFS’s ability to 

enforce fishing activity around 

restricted areas. The rule required an 

increase in the position transmission 

rate from once every 60 minutes to once 

every 15 minutes for groundfish vessels 

using NMFS type-approved VMS units. 

This increase in frequency produces 

more course, location, and speed data to 

improve NMFS’s ability to identify 

whether vessels are continuously 

transiting in restricted areas or not. The 

Council discussed and recommended an 

exemption to the increased transmission 

rate for vessels fishing in the pink 

shrimp trawl fishery because this 

fishery is not subject to restrictions 

against trawling in Rockfish 

Conservation Areas (RCAs) and because 

the Council and NMFS Office of Law 

Enforcement did not have concerns with 

enforcing pink shrimp trawling 

restrictions in Essential Fish Habitat 

(EFH) Conservation Areas. However, the 

exemption for pink shrimp trawl vessels 

was inadvertently not included in the 

original proposed or final rule. This 

final rule adds the exemption to the 

increased ping rate for pink shrimp 

trawl vessels, corrects a citation error in 

the midwater trawl exemption at 50 CFR 

660.14(d)(3)(ii)(B), and corrects a 

typographical error in the prohibitions 

section of the trawl fishery regulations 

at 50 CFR 660.112(b)(1)(x). 

Between September 2014 and April 

2016, the Council developed and 

considered management measures to 

address a range of vessel and gear 

movement issues and aggregated these 

issues under a single vessel movement 

monitoring agenda item. Additional 

details about the Council’s 

considerations are included in the 

Council’s analytical document (see 

ADDRESSES). The Council’s public 


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11598 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 41 / Wednesday, March 2, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 

scoping document includes several 

references to making an exemption for 

the increase in ping rate for pink shrimp 

trawl vessels, specifically in Section 

1.5.6. 

During the development of the 

management measures for the Vessel 

Movement and Monitoring Rule 

finalized in 2020, the Council noted that 

the pink shrimp fishery was required to 

maintain a VMS unit at a ping rate of 

one per hour. This ping rate is sufficient 

to allow enforcement of the closed EFH 

Conservation Areas that vessels in this 

fishery are subject to. The Council 

considered that there are no restrictions 

for the pink shrimp trawl fishery from 

fishing in RCAs and that a vessel is 

required to declare the type of gear 

being used for each trip, which verifies 

its authorization to fish in the RCA. 

Therefore, the Council decided that 

additional monitoring for vessels 

participating in the pink shrimp trawl 

fishery is not necessary. 

Summary of the Regulatory Changes 

This section discusses the regulatory 

revisions that will carry out the 

Council’s recommendation. The 

regulatory changes in this final rule are 

identical to the regulatory changes 

specified in the proposed rule published 

on October 26, 2021 (86 FR 59109). 

This final rule: 

• Restores the position transmission 

rate requirement of once every 60 

minutes for vessels participating in the 

pink shrimp trawl fishery; 

• Corrects a citation in the ping rate 

exemption for midwater trawl fishing 

vessels at 50 CFR 660.14(d)(3)(ii)(B); 

and 

• Corrects a typographical error in the 

prohibitions section of the trawl fishery 

regulations at 50 CFR 660.112(b)(1)(x). 

These revisions relieve vessels 

participating in the pink shrimp fishery 

from the added burden of more frequent 

position transmissions, consistent with 

the Council’s recommendation and 

clarify a cross-citation from the previous 

rulemaking on this issue. 

Comments and Responses 

NMFS received one comment letter 

during the comment period for the 

proposed rule. The comment letter came 

from Oceana, an environmental 

organization, and can be viewed along 

with the proposed rule and supporting 

documents for this action at 

www.regulations.gov. Following are the 

specific comments in the comment 

letter, along with the response to each: 

Comment 1: Oceana opposed the rule 

based on the statement in the proposed 

rule that pink shrimp trawlers do not 

have restrictions on where they can 

trawl. 

Response: NMFS clarifies that pink 

shrimp trawlers do have restrictions on 

where they can trawl, including EFH 

Conservation Areas, as well as state 

conservation areas. NMFS does not 

enforce state regulations within state 

waters, including trawling within a state 

conservation area, though NMFS would 

refer observed violations to the 

appropriate agency. NMFS does enforce 

the appropriate federal regulations, 

including VMS carriage and declaration 

requirements. However, as the proposed 

rule stated, pink shrimp trawlers do not 

have restrictions against trawling in 

RCAs, the largest of the groundfish 

closed areas. The Council decision 

documents establishing the Alternatives 

for the Vessel Movement and 

Monitoring Rule from November 14–15, 

2015, and the decision document for the 

Final Action on Regulations for Vessel 

Movement Monitoring (VMM) from 

April 9–14, 2016, include an exemption 

for pink shrimp trawl vessels from the 

increased VMS ping rate because the 

Council determined that the higher ping 

rates were not necessary for enforcing 

the EFH Conservation Area closures for 

pink shrimp vessels, and because 

vessels in this sector are not held to the 

scale of closed areas that other vessels 

in Federal fisheries off the West Coast 

are held to. 

Comment 2: Oceana contends that the 

higher ping rate is necessary to enforce 

pink shrimp trawling restrictions in 

EFH Conservation Areas and state 

conservation areas. 

Response: The Council recommended, 

and NMFS agrees, that the higher ping 

rate is not necessary to enforce pink 

shrimp trawl restrictions in EFH 

Conservation Areas. NMFS found no 

history of concern with enforcement of 

trawling by pink shrimp vessels in EFH 

Conservation Areas or state 

conservation areas. While NMFS may 

refer violations observed in state 

conservation areas to the appropriate 

agency, the Federal requirements for 

VMS and declarations are not used to 

enforce trawling in state conservation 

areas. 

Comment 3: Oceana commented that 

NMFS should expand its use of 

enhanced electronic monitoring 

systems, including gear sensors that can 

indicate when fishing activity is 

occurring and Global Positioning 

Satellites units that can make detailed 

and accurate records of vessel positions. 

Response: NMFS encourages all 

fishery stakeholders, including the 

Fishery Management Councils, to 

consider implementing electronic 

technology (ET) options where 

appropriate to meet science, 

management, and data needs. NMFS 

released a national Policy on Electronic 

Technologies and Fishery-dependent 

Data Collection in 2013 to provide 

guidance on the implementation of ET 

solutions and in fisheries. An updated 

policy was released in May 2019. In 

2015, NMFS implemented regional ET 

implementation plans informed by a 

series of national-level planning 

documents. These plans were created to 

help move beyond pilot projects by 

identifying, evaluating, and prioritizing 

implementation of promising ET in 

specific fisheries around the country. 

We recently updated these plans, 

highlighting the lessons learned from 

the last four years and looking forward 

to 2024. 

Classification 

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

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act), the NMFS 

Assistant Administrator has determined 

that this final rule is consistent with the 

Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery 

Management Plan (FMP), other 

provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act, and other applicable law. In 

making the final determination, NMFS 

considered the data, views, and 

comments received during the public 

comment period. 

The Office of Management and Budget 

has determined that this final rule is not 

significant for purposes of Executive 

Order 12866. As this rule is correcting 

an oversight in an earlier rule and 

would result in no change to the status 

quo for regulated entities, there are not 

expected to be any economic or 

regulatory impacts on these entities. 

The Chief Counsel for Regulation of 

the Department of Commerce certified 

to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the 

Small Business Administration during 

the proposed rule stage that this action 

would not have a significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities. The factual basis for the 

certification was published in the 

proposed rule and is not repeated here. 

No comments were received regarding 

this certification. As a result, a 

regulatory flexibility analysis was not 

required and none was prepared. 

This final rule contains no 

information collection requirements 

under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 660 

Fisheries, Fishing, Indian fisheries. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 41 / Wednesday, March 2, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 11599 

Dated: February 24, 2022. 

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 660 is amended 

as follows: 

PART 660—FISHERIES OFF WEST 

COAST STATES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 660 

continues to read as follows: 

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

773 et seq., and 16 U.S.C. 7001 et seq. 

■ 2. In § 660.14, revise paragraph 

(d)(3)(ii)(B) and add paragraph 

(d)(3)(ii)(D) to read as follows: 

§ 660.14 Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) 

requirements. 

* * * * * 

(d) * * * 

(3) * * * 

(ii) * * * 

(B) Midwater trawl exemption. If a 

limited entry trawl vessel is fishing with 

midwater trawl gear under declarations 

in § 660.13(d)(4)(iv)(A), the mobile 

transceiver unit must transmit a signal 

at least once every hour. 

* * * * * 

(D) Pink shrimp trawl exemption. If a 

vessel is fishing for pink shrimp using 

non-groundfish trawl gear under 

declarations in § 660.13(d)(4)(iv)(A), the 

mobile transceiver unit must transmit a 

signal at least once every hour. 

* * * * * 

■ 3. In § 660.112, revise paragraph 

(b)(1)(x) to read as follows: 

§ 660.112 Trawl fishery—prohibitions. 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(1) * * * 

(x) Use midwater groundfish trawl 

gear outside the Pacific whiting IFQ 

fishery primary season dates as 

specified at § 660.131(b). 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2022–04306 Filed 3–1–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 679 

[Docket No. 220216–0049; RTID 0648– 

XY118] 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Gulf of Alaska; Final 

2022 and 2023 Harvest Specifications 

for Groundfish 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule; harvest specifications 

and closures. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces final 2022 

and 2023 harvest specifications, 

apportionments, and Pacific halibut 

prohibited species catch limits for the 

groundfish fishery of the Gulf of Alaska 

(GOA). This action is necessary to 

establish harvest limits for groundfish 

during the remainder of the 2022 and 

the start of the 2023 fishing years and 

to accomplish the goals and objectives 

of the Fishery Management Plan for 

Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (FMP). 

The 2022 harvest specifications 

supersede those previously set in the 

final 2021 and 2022 harvest 

specifications, and the 2023 harvest 

specifications will be superseded in 

early 2023 when the final 2023 and 

2024 harvest specifications are 

published. The intended effect of this 

action is to conserve and manage the 

groundfish resources in the GOA in 

accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). 

DATES: Harvest specifications and 

closures are effective at 1200 hours, 

Alaska local time (A.l.t.), March 2, 2022, 

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

2023. 

ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of the 

Final Alaska Groundfish Harvest 

Specifications Environmental Impact 

Statement (EIS), Record of Decision 

(ROD), and the annual Supplementary 

Information Reports (SIRs) to the EIS 

prepared for this action are available 

from https://www.regulations.gov. The 

2021 Stock Assessment and Fishery 

Evaluation (SAFE) report for the 

groundfish resources of the GOA, dated 

November 2021, and SAFE reports for 

previous years are available from the 

North Pacific Fishery Management 

Council (Council) at 1007 West Third 

Avenue, Suite 400, Anchorage, AK 

99501, phone 907–271–2809, or from 

the Council’s website at https://

www.npfmc.org. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Obren Davis, 907–586–7228. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS 

manages the GOA groundfish fisheries 

in the exclusive economic zone of the 

GOA under the FMP. The Council 

prepared the FMP under the authority of 

the Magnuson-Stevens Act, 16 U.S.C. 

1801 et seq. Regulations governing U.S. 

fisheries and implementing the FMP 

appear at 50 CFR parts 600, 679, and 

680. 

The FMP and its implementing 

regulations require that NMFS, after 

consultation with the Council, specify 

the total allowable catch (TAC) for each 

target species, the sum of which must be 

within the optimum yield (OY) range of 

116,000 to 800,000 metric tons (mt) (50 

CFR 679.20(a)(1)(i)(B)). Section 

679.20(c)(1) further requires that NMFS 

publish and solicit public comment on 

proposed annual TACs and 

apportionments thereof, Pacific halibut 

prohibited species catch (PSC) limits, 

and seasonal allowances of pollock and 

Pacific cod. Upon consideration of 

public comment received under 

§ 679.20(c)(1), NMFS must publish 

notice of final harvest specifications for 

up to two fishing years as annual TACs 

and apportionments, Pacific halibut PSC 

limits, and seasonal allowances of 

pollock and Pacific cod, per 

§ 679.20(c)(3)(ii). The final harvest 

specifications set forth in Tables 1 

through 29 of this rule reflect the 

outcome of this process, as required at 

§ 679.20(c). 

The proposed 2022 and 2023 harvest 

specifications for groundfish of the GOA 

and Pacific halibut PSC limits were 

published in the Federal Register on 

December 6, 2021 (86 FR 68982). 

Comments were invited and accepted 

through January 5, 2022. NMFS did not 

receive any comments on the proposed 

harvest specifications. In December 

2021, NMFS consulted with the Council 

regarding the 2022 and 2023 harvest 

specifications. After considering public 

comment at public meetings, as well as 

biological and socioeconomic data that 

were available at the Council’s 

December 2021 meeting, NMFS is 

implementing the final 2022 and 2023 

harvest specifications, as recommended 

by the Council. For 2022, the sum of the 

TAC amounts is 448,118 mt. For 2023, 

the sum of the TAC amounts is 443,615 

mt. 

Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC) and 

TAC Specifications 

In December 2021, the Council’s 

Scientific and Statistical Committee 


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