12416 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 43 / Friday, March 4, 2022 / Proposed Rules 

United States Coast Guard Notice to 

Mariners. The Notice to Mariners will 

be broadcast three times daily for four 

days. This action will also be published 

in the Federal Register as soon as 

practicable. In-season actions will be 

effective from the time specified in the 

actual notice of the action (i.e., website 

posting and United States Coast Guard 

Notice to Mariners), or at the time the 

in-season action published in the 

Federal Register is effective, whichever 

comes first. 

(8) Reversal of in-season actions. If an 

in-season action taken under paragraphs 

(g)(2) through (6) of this section is based 

on overestimate of actual catch, NMFS 

will reverse that action in the timeliest 

possible manner, provided NMFS finds 

that reversing that action is consistent 

with the management objectives for the 

affected species. The fishery will be 

subject to the change in trip limit or 

reopened effective on the date provided 

in the actual notice in accordance with 

paragraph (g)(7) of this section. 

(9) State of California fish landing 

receipts. If landing Pacific bluefin tuna 

into the State of California, fish landing 

receipts must be submitted within 24 

hours to the California Department of 

Fish and Wildlife in accordance with 

the requirements of applicable State 

regulations. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2022–04434 Filed 3–3–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 220228–0063; RTID 0648– 

XX078] 

Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Northeast Multispecies 

Fishery; 2022 Allocation of Northeast 

Multispecies Annual Catch 

Entitlements 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: We propose to approve 

allocations of annual catch entitlements 

to groundfish sectors for the 2022 

fishing year and approve changes to 

previously approved sector operations 

plans. This rule also proposes to 

disapprove four novel sector exemption 

requests. The action is necessary 

because sectors must receive allocations 

in order to operate in fishing year 2022. 

This action is intended to allow limited 

access permit holders to continue to 

operate or form sectors, as authorized 

under the Northeast Multispecies 

Fishery Management Plan, and to 

exempt sectors from certain effort 

control regulations to improve the 

efficiency and economics of sector 

vessels. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before March 21, 2022. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on this document, identified by NOAA– 

NMFS–2022–0026, by either of the 

following methods: 

• Electronic Submission: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to 

www.regulations.gov and enter NOAA– 

NMFS–2022–0026 in the Search box. 

Click on the ‘‘Comment’’ icon, complete 

the required fields, and enter or attach 

your comments. 

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). 

Copies of each sector’s operations 

plan and contract, as well as the 

programmatic environmental 

assessment for sectors operations in 

fishing years 2015 to 2020 and other 

supporting documents are available 

from the NMFS Greater Atlantic 

Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO): 

Contact Kyle Molton at Kyle.Molton@

noaa.gov. These documents are also 

accessible via the Federal eRulemaking 

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

To review Federal Register 

documents referenced in this rule, you 

can visit: https://

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/managementplan/northeast-multispeciesmanagement-plan. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kyle 

Molton, Fishery Management Specialist, 

(978) 281–9236. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The Northeast Multispecies Fishery 

Management Plan (FMP) defines a 

sector as ‘‘a group of persons holding 

limited access Northeast multispecies 

permits who have voluntarily entered 

into a contract and agree to certain 

fishing restrictions for a specified period 

of time, and which has been granted a 

TAC(s) [sic] in order to achieve 

objectives consistent with applicable 

FMP goals and objectives.’’ A sector 

must be comprised of at least three 

Northeast multispecies permits issued 

to at least three different persons, none 

of whom have any common ownership 

interest in the permits, vessels, or 

businesses associated with the permits 

issued [to] the other two or more 

persons in that sector. Sectors are selfselecting, meaning participation is 

voluntary, and each sector can choose 

its members. 

The Northeast multispecies sector 

management system annually allocates a 

portion of the Northeast multispecies 

stocks to each sector. These annual 

sector allocations are known as annual 

catch entitlements (ACE) and are based 

on the collective fishing history of a 

sector’s members. Sectors may receive 

allocations of large-mesh Northeast 

multispecies stocks with the exception 

of Atlantic halibut, windowpane 

flounder, Atlantic wolffish, and ocean 

pout, which are non-allocated species 

managed under separate effort controls. 

ACEs are portions of a stock’s annual 

catch limit (ACL) available to 

commercial Northeast multispecies 

vessels. A sector determines how to 

harvest its ACE. 

Because sectors elect to receive an 

allocation under a quota-based system, 

the FMP grants sector vessels several 

universal exemptions from the FMP’s 

effort controls. These universal 

exemptions apply to: Trip limits on 

allocated stocks; portions of the Gulf of 

Maine (GOM) Cod Protection Closures; 

Northeast multispecies days-at-sea 

(DAS) restrictions; the requirement to 

use a 6.5-inch (16.5-cm) mesh codend 

when fishing with selective gear on 

Georges Bank (GB); and the requirement 

to use a 6.5-inch (16.5-cm) mesh codend 

when fishing under the provisions of 

the Redfish Exemption Program. The 

FMP allows the Council to add 

universal exemptions using the 

framework adjustment procedure. 

Sectors may request additional 

exemptions annually as part of their 

sector operations plans to increase 

flexibility and fishing opportunities. 

Sectors are prohibited from requesting 

exemptions from permitting restrictions, 

gear restrictions designed to minimize 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 43 / Friday, March 4, 2022 / Proposed Rules 12417 

habitat impacts, and most reporting 

requirements. 

In addition to the sectors, there are 

several state-operated permit banks that 

each receive an allocation based on the 

fishing history of permits they hold. The 

final rule implementing Amendment 17 

to the FMP allowed a state-operated 

permit bank to receive an allocation 

without needing to comply with sector 

administrative and procedural 

requirements (77 FR 16942; March 23, 

2012). Instead, permit banks are 

required to submit a list of permits to 

NMFS, as specified in the permit bank’s 

Memorandum of Agreement between 

NMFS and the state. These permits are 

not assigned to active vessels; instead, 

the allocations associated with the 

permits may be leased to vessels 

enrolled in sectors. State-operated 

permit banks contribute to the total 

allocation under the sector system. 

We have previously approved 16 

sectors to operate in fishing years 2021 

and 2022 and also approved 19 

requested exemptions for sectors (86 FR 

22898; April 30, 2021). Because all 

approved operations plans cover two 

fishing years, approved sectors may 

continue operations and the approved 

exemptions in fishing year 2022. Copies 

of the operations plans and contracts, 

the environmental assessment (EA), and 

other supporting documents are 

available at: https://

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/ 

northeast-multispecies and from NMFS 

(see ADDRESSES). This action proposes 

2022 allocations to sectors based on the 

specifications proposed by the New 

England Fishery Management Council 

in Framework Adjustment 63 to the 

FMP. This action also proposes several 

changes to already approved sector 

operations plans and proposes to deny 

four requests for novel sector 

exemptions. 

Operations Plan Submissions and 

Changes 

Annually, we solicit operations plan 

submissions for consideration for 

approval; however, sectors already 

approved to operate in fishing years 

2021 and 2022 were not required to 

submit operations plans for 2022. We 

did not receive any new operations 

plans for approval for fishing year 2022. 

As a result, we are not proposing to 

approve any additional sectors to 

operate in fishing year 2022 beyond 

those previously approved. 

Although no new operations plans 

were submitted we did receive several 

requests to modify existing sector 

operations plans that we propose to 

approve. Sectors may request changes to 

operations plans as needed to 

implement administrative changes to 

their operations. Several sectors have 

requested changes related to electronic 

monitoring (EM), including adding 

audit model EM plans to their existing 

operations plans, updates to methods 

used to estimate discards, and revised 

language authorizing the sharing of 

confidential data to support EM 

program operations. Additionally, 

several sectors requested modifications 

that would add NMFS-approved 

maximized retention electronic 

monitoring (MREM) program language 

to their sector operations plans. The 

addition of MREM language would 

allow for a more seamless transition to 

MREM for sectors vessels should it be 

approved for operation for all sectors in 

fishing year 2022. Several sectors also 

requested operations plan modifications 

to add a description of a gear conflict 

reduction agreement that sector 

members have agreed to in order to limit 

gear conflicts between sector groundfish 

and lobster vessels. We propose to 

approve these changes to existing sector 

operations plans. 

Sector Allocations for Fishing Year 

2022 

This rule proposes 2022 ACE 

allocations to all sectors based on their 

2021 sector rosters, as sectors have not 

yet submitted 2022 rosters. The 

preliminary allocations will be based on 

the expected 2022 ACL for each stock. 

Because sectors are operating under 2- 

year operations plans for fishing years 

2021 and 2022, these allocations would 

allow vessels enrolled in sectors to 

operate under their existing operations 

plan, as approved. 

For fishing year 2022, we set a 

deadline for sectors to submit 

preliminary sector rosters by February 

28, 2022, in order to determine rosters 

for final rulemaking and allocations. 

Sectors may set a more restrictive 

enrollment deadline for their members. 

Any changes in sector rosters will be 

reflected in ACE allocations in the final 

rule; roster changes may result in 

significant changes in sector allocations. 

Rosters published in the final rule may 

still not reflect the final ACE allocation 

for fishing 2022 because all permits 

enrolled in a sector, and the vessels 

associated with those permits, have 

until April 30, 2022, to withdraw from 

a sector and fish in the common pool for 

fishing year 2022. 

We calculate the sector’s allocation 

for each stock by summing its members’ 

potential sector contributions (PSC) for 

a stock and then multiplying that total 

percentage by the available commercial 

sub-ACL for that stock. Table 1 shows 

the preliminary projected total PSC for 

each sector by stock for fishing year 

2022. Tables 2 and 3 show an estimate 

of the preliminary allocations that each 

sector will be allocated, in pounds and 

metric tons, respectively, for fishing 

year 2022, based on their fishing year 

2021 rosters. We provide the final 

allocations, to the nearest pound, to 

each sector based on their final May 1 

rosters. We use these final allocations, 

along with later adjustments including 

ACE transfers, reductions for overages, 

or increases for carryover, to monitor 

sector catch. The common pool subACLs are also included in each of these 

tables. The common pool sub-ACL is 

managed separately from sectors and 

does not contribute to available ACE for 

leasing or harvest by sector vessels. 

We do not assign a permit separate 

PSCs for the Eastern GB cod or Eastern 

GB haddock; instead, we assign each 

permit a PSC for the GB cod stock and 

GB haddock stock. Each sector’s GB cod 

and GB haddock allocations are then 

divided into an Eastern ACE and a 

Western ACE, based on each sector’s 

percentage of the GB cod and GB 

haddock ACLs. For example, if a sector 

is allocated 4 percent of the GB cod 

ACL, the sector is allocated 4 percent of 

the commercial Eastern U.S./Canada 

Area GB cod total allowable catch (TAC) 

as its Eastern GB cod. The Eastern GB 

haddock allocations are determined in 

the same way. These amounts are then 

subtracted from the sector’s overall GB 

cod and haddock allocations to 

determine its Western GB cod and 

haddock ACEs. A sector may only 

harvest its Eastern GB cod and haddock 

ACEs in the Eastern U.S./Canada Area. 

A sector may also ‘‘convert,’’ or transfer, 

its Eastern GB cod or haddock allocation 

into Western GB allocation and fish that 

converted ACE outside the Eastern GB 

area. 

We expect to finalize 2021 catch 

information for sectors in summer 2022. 

We will allow sectors to transfer fishing 

year 2021 ACE for two weeks upon our 

completion of year-end catch 

accounting to reduce or eliminate any 

fishing year 2021 overages. If necessary, 

we will reduce any sector’s fishing year 

2022 allocation to account for a 

remaining overage in fishing year 2021. 

Each year we notify the Council and 

sector managers of this deadline and 

announce this decision on our website 

at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/ 

species/northeast-multispecies. 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1

EP04MR22.000</GPH>lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1

Table 1 -- Cumulative PSC (Percentage) Each Sector Would Receive by Stock for Fishing Year 2022* 

i 

Fixed Gear Sector 

:\,[ainc! C0at.l 

Community Sector 

Maine Pcmnt Bank 

Moon.cusser Sector 

NJ:,.FS 2 

NEFS4 

NEVS 5 NFFS 6 NEFS 7 

NJ:,.FS 8 

NEfS 10 NEVill 

NFFS 12 

NEFS13 

Sllitamable Harvest 

Sector 1 

Sllitamable Harvest 

Scctor2 

Sllitainable Harvest 

Scctor1 

Common Pool 

= g 

u 

66 

100 

11 

48 

127 

58 

22 

" 

52 

29 43 22 

70 

10 

28 

58 

511 

i 1 'g u " :,: :;j " 0 " "' " " 

1291201525 0.69970954 l.96267839 

2 46465820 14 32831077 3-41760008 

013361161 l 15527371 0.04432773 

11 95940509 6.22441724 3.83051665 

(, 5037773() 26.606,12,1-H l0.68672011 

7 40278746 ll.14715279 5.81741902 0 47171697 0.32173996 0.58091379 

; 11400760 2 92154892 3.58633261 

0 46305698 0.02291312 0.39735538 

971710165 2.3615560,1 9.19,178219 052585353 2.47139968 0.17673209 03%31081 11 55197634 0.03469810 0629';6609 :\ 13:\40099 0.09375956 

1265390016 0.80182096 21.35179272 

0()()()82216 l.l,155188,1 0.00003,106 

"i "i7800D20 2 98581817 7.5.5457484 3 67707499 l.67621458 1.80758272 

1698068153 7.39596460 26.16564167 

4 38456235 3.04883932 3.29653828 

.,; = i i :,: :,: " :,. 

C "' " " 

0.18099559 0.01093447 

11-09853612 2.62555258 

1_12456784 0.01377701 

3.68870155 1.22307304 

22.23639211 1.90722660 

8.8?488520 2.16178984 

0.11414072 1.05907256 

4.39667574 3.30346794 

0.016825?9 1.30011492 

5.08??0917 I 22_13250390 

1.28210628 I 0.00114846 

2.78851224 I 0.00148374 

1 .08960389 I 0.00042909 

o.9??39231 I 36.32284531 0.0323'1889 0.00002026 

JS 

.s • s 

~§ 

I 

0.19005237 

2.56811874 

0.03180705 

0.85547320 

1.65680176 

2.26424835 

18.39722054 

"i.1147961:\ 

1.03798542 

7.55578310 

0.54787117 0.01147434 

0.0:\4H699 

23.98638456 

0.00001788 

9.03142800 3_19074027 I 1.07671984 

1.49630004 5.08889227 I 4.55761667 

23.9?3?0662 11.63547821 I 7.10548269 

2.50917190 8.02144893 I 23 00790920 

81~ 

Q"' § u~.S: 

u:,.<-

l.70866378 

498632158 

0 31794656 

3.01233271 

25.065-12516 

6.38868785 

0.94737902 

4 IR474608 

0.05122608 

6.8868292-1 

4.28071114 2 43786953 

8 58774919 

7.00125506 

0.02180780 

2 8:\579743 

5.67454721 

9.62314826 

5 98755633 

_l, 

i': 

0.50303247 

13.90683769 

Ll6407704 

0.85789918 

11.18795860 

9.5151%83 

0.46136022 

4.55131759 

0.25069186 

7.6126-1285 

1.08110214 

l.58857268 

0.79724602 

8.74395988 

0.028'17787 

11 .36677073 

2.88513497 

20.13175298 

3.36596842 

1 

.: 

M 

1.09848991 

1L13417790 

0_72688466 

l.81231812 

1,1.6,12'153?8 

8.856?8156 

0.65508997 6.00691065 

0.25401118 

6.36103?10 

2.04602336 

1.60337452 

0.62375273 

9.6596?443 0.006159?0 9.28674()73 

2.4606306? 

19.4112564? 

3.35423255 

i -"' ~5 ,..s c,"-

0.02003390 

1.20530346 

0.00021715 0.94550207 3.21713'132 

0.69256896 0.31546201 

1.721901"i4 

0.30163925 

29.71215982 

0.01083157 

0.00305958 0.00060"i4"i 

19.43367782 

0.0000032'1 

7.82278738 

8.67082704 

17.60739462 

8.28889083 

* This table is based on fishing year 2021 sector rosters and will be based on preliminary 2022 sector rosters in the final rule. 

t 

:s~ ~. 8! 

" 

8.02535090 

5 56725060 

0 42663133 

2.84735133 

2'1.52911050 

7.43025795 

0.84237741 

4 7"i2082.'59 

0.05425034 

3.95221381 9.10605344 

2 04949811 

n 1994'5"i44 

2.32792940 

0.060705-15 

2 "i6491779 

4.21283994 

3.10048367 

495120998 

a 

.E " 

-d'. § 

~.s o,"-

1):; 

l.0274716

2 0090007

0 0178912

2.4444558

-1.1752570

0.9912207

ll.3062621

1 9063:\96

0.1887585

Hi.2111853,

0.60104210 02122330 2592060

17.6634848

0.0000363

:\ 0443030

8.3219404

21.6741428

14 1367779

EP04MR22.001</GPH>lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1

Table 2 -- Estimated ACE I in 1,000 lb), by Stock, for Each Sector for Fishine Year 2022*#A 

.:.I .. .. ... :; "' ... .:.I .:.I .., <.l .. "' .5 J.-4 

-:, .., .., 0 "O .. "' "' ::, 0 0 "O ..... = .. ::;:: = .. i::: "' .. .5 

:g "O ... "O "' = "' 0 ,!! .g °' :::s ... "' u ;::;~ 

::, "O ... "O :., C .5 "O ~-g Sector 

"O "O "O"' = ~; § == i::: 

::;:: "'"' = = ·; ii: § g 0 0 =~ =~ °' ::, -- 0 :::s ::;:: g 

Name u u 0 >- .s z = 0 u=c -= l:Q..5: 

l:Q 00.: r:.:: u ii: .., or:.:: ~r:.:: 

l:Q 0 l:Q la-, ... ~la-, c., c., 

FGS 46 24 4 287 2,975 28 0 0 26 29 32 0 50 7 

MCCS 9 5 85 499 5,180 1,726 6 1 76 806 323 15 34 13 

MOON 42 22 37 560 5,806 574 3 0 46 50 53 12 18 16 

MPB 0 0 7 6 67 175 0 0 5 67 21 0 3 0 

NEFS2 23 12 158 1,561 16,199 3,459 4 1 382 649 425 40 152 27 

NEFS4 26 14 66 850 8,818 1,381 5 1 97 552 257 9 46 6 

NEFS5 2 1 2 85 881 18 2 6 14 27 19 4 5 72 NEFS6 11 6 17 524 5,436 684 7 2 64 264 174 21 29 12 NEFS7 2 1 0 58 602 3 3 0 1 15 7 4 0 1 

NEFS 8 34 18 14 1,343 13,937 791 47 3 105 441 185 369 24 65 

NEPS 

10 2 1 15 26 268 199 0 0 65 63 59 0 56 4 

NEFS 

11 1 1 69 5 53 434 0 0 37 92 47 0 13 0 

NEFS 

12 2 1 19 14 142 169 0 0 131 46 18 0 82 2 

NEFS 

13 45 23 5 3,120 32,365 152 78 8 107 507 281 241 14 ll2 

NlIPD 0 0 7 0 0 5 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 

SHS 1 20 10 18 1,104 11,451 1,405 7 0 43 659 270 97 16 19 

SHS2 13 7 10 264 2,740 233 II 2 87 167 71 108 26 53 

SHS 3 60 31 44 3,823 39,661 3,729 25 2 147 1,167 564 219 19 138 

Common 

Pool 15 8 18 482 4,997 390 17 8 91 195 97 103 31 90 

Sector 

Total 337 177 577 14,128 146,582 15,165 197 26 1,434 5,603 2,807 1,139 589 545 

*This table is based on fishing year 2021 sector rosters and 2022 catch limits reconnnendcd by the Council in Framework 63. 

~Numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand pounds. 1n some cases, this table shows an allocation of 0, but that sector may be allocated a small amount of tha

hlllldrcds pmmds. 

" The data in the table represent potential allocations for each sector. 
BILLING CODE 3510–22–C 


EP04MR22.002</GPH>lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1

# 

- - - - -

. , - ., , -

"Cl = s.,.. i=~ -0 -0 0 .:.: .:.: .:.: <l> i 

IOI <l> "'<l> -= <l> .. <l> ::;; <l> a~ 0 ... u u CQgt; 8 "'<l> <l> .5 "Cl 

Sector = 0 

... -0 ... -0 ... -0 ,=! :J "Cl <l> -0 <l> "Cl u i'3 0-cl = = = ;::!; = a 0 = = = = 

CQ IOI c., "Cl = 0 "Cl ., s u~s C!I 

Name 

c., "Cl~ ;! c., "Cl z~i5 iS:: i5 = .s c., i5 ·- = 

= = = (ll (ll r£ 

c., fa;, 

PGS 21 11 2 130 1349 13 0 0 12 13 14 0 23 3 

MCCS 4 2 39 226 2.350 783 3 0 35 366 147 7 16 6 

MOON 19 10 17 254 2,634 260 1 0 21 23 24 5 8 7 

MPR 0 0 3 3 30 79 0 0 2 31 10 0 1 0 

NEFS2 10 5 72 708 7,348 1,569 2 0 173 294 193 18 69 12 NEFS4 12 6 30 386 4.000 626 2 0 44 250 117 4 21 3 

NEFS 5 1 0 1 38 399 8 1 3 7 12 9 2 2 33 

NEFS6 5 3 8 238 2,466 310 3 1 29 120 79 10 13 5 NEFS7 I 0 0 26 273 1 1 0 0 7 3 2 0 1 

NEFS 8 lo 8 6 G09 6,322 359 21 1 48 200 84 168 11 29 

NEFS 

10 1 0 7 12 122 90 0 0 30 28 27 0 26 2 

NEFS 

11 1 0 31 2 24 197 0 0 17 42 21 0 6 0 

NEFS 

12 1 1 8 6 64 77 0 0 59 21 8 0 37 1 

NEFS 

13 20 11 2 1 415 14680 69 35 4 48 230 127 109 7 51 

NHPB 0 0 3 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 

SHS 1 9 5 8 501 5.194 637 3 0 20 299 122 44 7 9 

SHS2 6 3 5 120 1,243 106 5 1 39 76 32 49 12 24 SHS3 27 14 20 1,734 17,990 1,692 11 1 67 529 256 99 9 62 

Common 

Pool 7 4 8 218 2.267 177 8 4 41 89 44 47 14 41 

Sector 

Total 153 80 262 6409 66488 6.879 89 12 651 2 542 1273 517 267 247 

*This table is based on fishing year 2021 sector rosters and 2022 catch limits recommended by the Council in Framework 63. 

#Numbers are rounded to the nearest metric ton, hut allocations are made in pound~. In some cases, this table shows a sector allocation ofO metric tons, hu

allocated a small amount of that stock in pound~. 

A The data in the table represent potential allocations for each sector. 
Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 43 / Friday, March 4, 2022 / Proposed Rules 12421 

Exemptions Previously Granted for 

Fishing Years 2021 and 2022 

Previously Granted Exemptions for 

Fishing Years 2021 and 2022 (1–18) 

We have already granted exemptions 

from the following requirements for 

fishing years 2021 and 2022, all of 

which have been requested and granted 

in previous years: (1) 120-day block out 

of the fishery required for Day gillnet 

vessels; (2) 20-day spawning block out 

of the fishery required for all vessels; (3) 

limits on the number of gillnets for Day 

gillnet vessels outside the GOM; (4) 

prohibition on a vessel hauling another 

vessel’s gillnet gear; (5) limits on the 

number of gillnets that may be hauled 

on GB when fishing under a Northeast 

multispecies/monkfish DAS; (6) limits 

on the number of hooks that may be 

fished; (7) DAS Leasing Program length 

and horsepower restrictions; (8) 

prohibition on discarding; (9) gear 

requirements in the Eastern U.S./Canada 

Management Area; (10) prohibition on a 

vessel hauling another vessel’s hook 

gear; (11) the requirement to declare an 

intent to fish in the Eastern U.S./Canada 

Special Access Program (SAP) and the 

Closed Area (CA) II Yellowtail 

Flounder/Haddock SAP prior to leaving 

the dock; (12) seasonal restrictions for 

the Eastern U.S./Canada Haddock SAP; 

(13) seasonal restrictions for the CA II 

Yellowtail Flounder/Haddock SAP; (14) 

sampling exemption; (15) prohibition on 

combining small-mesh exempted fishery 

and sector trips in southern New 

England (SNE); (16) extra-large mesh 

requirement to target dogfish on trips 

excluded from at-sea monitoring (ASM) 

in SNE and Inshore GB; (17) 

requirement that Handgear A vessels 

carry a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) 

unit when fishing in a single broad 

stock area; and (18) limits on the 

number of gillnets for Day gillnet 

vessels in the GOM. We also approved 

an exemption from the 6.5-inch (16.5- 

cm) minimum mesh size requirement 

for trawl nets to allow a 5.5-inch (14.0- 

cm) codend on directed redfish trips, 

however, that exemption was 

eliminated in 2021 when we approved 

a new universal sector exemption for 

redfish as part of Framework 

Adjustment 61 (86 FR 40353; July 28, 

2021). A detailed description of the 

previously granted exemptions and 

supporting rationale can be found in the 

applicable final rules identified in Table 

4 below. 

TABLE 4—EXEMPTIONS PREVIOUSLY GRANTED FOR FISHING YEARS 2020 AND 2021 

Exemptions Rulemaking Date of publication Citation 

1–2, 4–9 ................. Fishing Year 2011 Sector Operations Final Rule ............................... April 25, 2011 ............................... 76 FR 23076 

10–11 ..................... Fishing Year 2012 Sector Operations Final Rule ............................... May 2, 2012 ................................. 77 FR 26129 

12–14 ..................... Fishing Year 2013 Sector Operations Interim Final Rule ................... May 2, 2013 ................................. 78 FR 25591 

3, 15 ....................... Fishing Years 2015–2016 Sector Operations Final Rule ................... May 1, 2015 ................................. 80 FR 25143 

16 ........................... Framework 55 Final Rule .................................................................... May 2, 2016 ................................. 81 FR 26412 

17 ........................... Amendment 18 Final Rule .................................................................. April 21, 2017 ............................... 82 FR 18706 

18 ........................... Fishing Year 2018 Sector Operations Final Rule ............................... May 1, 2018 ................................. 83 FR 18965 

Northeast Multispecies Federal Register documents can be found at http://www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/sustainable/species/multispecies/. 

Exemption Requests We Do Not Propose 

To Approve in Fishing Year 2022 

For fishing year 2022, sectors 

requested a total of four new 

exemptions, two related to extra-large 

mesh gillnets and EM, and two related 

to MREM and existing universal 

exemptions. We are proposing to deny 

the new sector exemption requests for 

fishing year 2022. 

Sector Exemptions Related to ExtraLarge Mesh Gillnets and Electronic 

Monitoring 

We received two sector exemption 

requests that would grant exemptions 

from EM requirements for vessels 

fishing with gillnets with a minimum 

mesh size of 10-inch (25.4-cm) or larger. 

One would exempt vessels from the 

requirement to operate EM systems on 

trips using 10-inch (25.4-cm) or larger 

mesh gillnets in the Inshore Georges 

Bank and Southern New England Broad 

Stock Areas. The other would exempt 

vessels from the requirement to operate 

EM systems on trips using 10-inch 

(25.4-cm) or larger mesh gillnets in all 

broad stock areas. 

The exemption applying only to the 

Inshore Georges Bank and Southern 

New England Broad Stock Areas would 

be similar to the operation of vessels 

using ASM to meet their monitoring 

requirements. Vessels using exclusively 

10-inch (25.4-cm) or larger mesh gillnets 

in the Inshore Georges Bank and 

Southern New England Broad Stock 

Areas are not required to carry an ASM. 

However, neither exemption is 

consistent with the sector audit model 

EM program, which requires the 

operation of EM systems on all trips, 

whether or not they are required to carry 

an ASM. This is necessary to eliminate 

bias and ensure the appropriate 

application of EM video review. 

Exempting vessels from EM 

requirements in the manner requested 

under these exemptions would 

undermine the effectiveness of the EM 

programs. Additionally, in the case of 

the exemption request applying to all 

broad stock areas, there is no equivalent 

waiver from ASM coverage at this time. 

Past data reviews that supported 

removing the ASM requirement for 

extra-large mesh gillnet trips in the 

Inshore Georges Bank and Southern 

New England Broad Stock Areas found 

higher catches of groundfish in extralarge mesh gillnets in other broad stock 

areas. As a result, we are proposing to 

deny both of these exemption requests. 

Sector Exemptions Related to 

Maximized Retention Electronic 

Monitoring 

We received two other novel sector 

exemption requests that would grant 

mesh size exemptions to sector vessels 

fishing under MREM. One would 

authorize the use of 4.5-inch (11.4-cm) 

mesh codends by MREM vessels when 

fishing under the provisions of the 

Redfish Exemption Program. The other 

would authorize the use of 5.1-inch 

(13.0-cm) mesh codends by MREM 

vessels when fishing on Georges Bank 

with haddock separator or Ruhle trawl. 

Both exemptions are based on activities 

currently authorized under an exempted 

fishing permit (EFP) that is allowing 

several vessels to test the use of MREM 

in the groundfish fishery. Both 

exemptions would allow MREM vessels 

fishing under universal sector 

exemptions to fish with mesh smaller 

than that otherwise allowed by 

regulation. The Redfish Exemption 

Program universal exemption allows 

trawl vessels to target redfish using a 

5.5-inch (14.0-cm) codend under certain 

conditions, while the other universal 

exemption allows vessels fishing on 

Georges Bank with a haddock separator 

or Ruhle trawl to use a 6.0-inch (15.2- 


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12422 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 43 / Friday, March 4, 2022 / Proposed Rules 

cm) codend. The sectors requesting 

these smaller mesh exemptions hope to 

increase the harvest of Acadian redfish 

and Georges Bank haddock and suggest 

that vessels using the exemptions will 

have minimal bycatch of non-target 

stocks while being accountable for all 

catch. 

We do not have sufficient information 

to support approval of these sector 

exemption requests at this time. While 

several vessels have been testing the use 

of the smaller meshes under a MREM 

EFP, there is still insufficient catch data 

for an in-depth analysis of catch 

composition comparing catch by mesh 

authorized under the universal 

exemptions and the mesh sizes sectors 

have requested. Initial findings suggest 

that there may not be substantial 

benefits from using smaller mesh and 

indicate the possibility of higher catch 

of some non-target stocks, including 

white hake and ocean pout which are 

both overfished and in a rebuilding 

plan. It will likely be necessary to 

collect additional data, potentially 

under an EFP or other cooperative 

research, to more thoroughly evaluate 

the potential impacts of approving 

either of these exemptions. 

We are also concerned that both of 

these exemptions would directly 

modify, for a subset of sector vessels, 

the provisions of universal sector 

exemptions developed by the Council. 

Universal exemptions are management 

provisions that are set in regulation. 

Amendment 16 to the FMP provided 

that listed universal exemptions should 

be modified or removed under a 

framework adjustment to the FMP in 

order to minimize sector and NMFS’ 

administrative burden. It is unclear if 

the Council intended for GARFO to 

have the authority to modify universal 

exemptions, but we maintain that 

changes to universal exemptions should 

be made by the Council. This is 

consistent with the recently adopted 

universal redfish exemption, which has 

been in place for less than one year, was 

developed by the Council with the 

intent of increasing Council oversight 

over the redfish exemption. These 

exemption requests seek to change 

provisions of the universal exemptions 

outside the framework adjustment 

process. As a result of these 

circumstances we proposing to deny 

both of these novel sector exemptions. 

Classification 

The NMFS Assistant Administrator 

has preliminarily determined that this 

proposed rule is consistent with the 

Northeast Multispecies FMP, other 

provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act, and other applicable law, subject to 

further consideration after public 

comment. 

This proposed action is exempt from 

the procedures of Executive Order (E.O.) 

12866. 

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. 

The Chief Counsel for Regulation of 

the Department of Commerce certified 

to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the 

Small Business Administration that this 

proposed rule, if adopted, would not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities. 

The proposed rule would allocate 

ACE to sectors for fishing year 2022 

(May 1, 2022, through April 30, 2023) 

and would make minor modifications to 

existing sector operations plans. 

Approved sectors are exempt from 

certain effort control regulations, like 

trip limits and days-at-sea, and fish 

under the sector provisions of the 

Northeast Multispecies FMP and their 

sector’s harvest rules. This action is 

expected to have positive impacts on 

fishing vessels and purchasers of 

seafood products. 

For Regulatory Flexibility Act 

purposes only, NMFS established a 

small business size standard for 

businesses, including their affiliates, 

whose primary industry is commercial 

fishing (see 50 CFR 200.2). A business 

primarily engaged in commercial fishing 

(NAICS code 11411) is classified as a 

small business if it is independently 

owned and operated, is not dominant in 

its field of operation (including its 

affiliates), and has combined annual 

receipts less than $11 million for all its 

affiliated operations worldwide. The 

determination of whether the entity is 

large or small is based on the average 

annual revenue for the most recent three 

years for which data are available (from 

2018 through 2020). 

To participate in the Northeast 

Multispecies Sector Program, vessels 

must possess a limited access 

multispecies permit and operate as a 

member of a sector. Therefore, entities 

holding one or more limited access 

multispecies permits are the entities 

that have the potential to be directly 

impacted by this action. Ownership data 

collected from permit holders indicates 

that there are 579 distinct business 

entities that hold at least one permit 

impacted by the proposed action. Of 

these, 577 are categorized as small 

entities and 2 are categorized as large 

entities, per NMFS guidelines. 

The allocation of fishing year 2022 

annual catch entitlement to groundfish 

sectors will have a positive impact on 

all 577 entities, as it will allow them to 

participate in the sector groundfish 

fishery rather than fish under the 

common pool effort control regulations, 

which include limits of days-at-sea, trip 

limits, gear restrictions, size limits, and 

closures intended to control overall 

fishing mortality. In addition, these 

effort controls would be subject to inseason modifications and fishery 

closures based on industry-wide 

landings. Conversely, the ability to 

participate in the sector fishery would 

provide increased efficiency and 

flexibility to fishing businesses. 

This action would provide 

preliminary ACE to previously 

approved groundfish sectors for fishing 

year 2022. 

The proposed rule will not have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. As 

a result, an initial regulatory flexibility 

analysis is not required and none has 

been prepared. 

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

Dated: February 28, 2022. 

Samuel D. Rauch, III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2022–04643 Filed 3–3–22; 8:45 am] 

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