Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 38 / Friday, February 25, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 10717 

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. 

New York is transferring 1,944 lb (882 

kg) to Massachusetts through mutual 

agreement of the states. This transfer 

was requested to repay landings made 

by a vessel with landing privileges in 

both states that landed catch in 

Massachusetts in excess of the state 

limit under a safe harbor agreement 

when weather prevented the vessel from 

landing in the intended New York port. 

The revised summer flounder quotas for 

2022 are: New York, 1,468,835 lb 

(666,252 kg) and Massachusetts, 

1,393,790 lb (632,213 kg). 

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: February 17, 2022. 

Ngagne Jafnar Gueye, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2022–03918 Filed 2–23–22; 11:15 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 210723–0150; RTID 0648– 

XB805] 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Northeast Multispecies 

Fishery; Possession and Trip Limit 

Increases for the Common Pool 

Fishery 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; inseason 

adjustment. 

SUMMARY: This action increases the 

possession and trip limits of Gulf of 

Maine cod, Cape Cod/Gulf of Maine 

yellowtail flounder, and witch flounder 

for Northeast multispecies common 

pool vessels for the remainder of the 

2021 fishing year. This action will 

provide the common pool fishery 

greater opportunity to harvest, but not 

exceed, the annual quotas for these 

stocks. 

DATES: These possession and trip limit 

adjustments are effective February 24, 

2022, through April 30, 2022. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Spencer Talmage, Fishery Management 

Specialist, 978–281–9232. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

regulations at § 648.86(o) authorize the 

Regional Administrator to adjust the 

possession and trip limits for common 

pool vessels in order to help avoid 

overharvest or underharvest of the 

common pool quotas. 

Based on the most recent catch 

information, the common pool fishery 

has caught low amounts of the following 

species relative to the annual quotas for 

each of these stocks (Table 1): Gulf of 

Maine (GOM) cod; Cape Cod (CC)/GOM 

yellowtail flounder; and witch flounder. 

At the current rate of fishing, we project 

that the common pool fishery will not 

fully harvest the annual quotas for these 

stocks by the end of fishing year 2021. 

Providing vessels an opportunity to 

possess and land greater amounts of 

catch should provide greater incentive 

to fish and more opportunity to catch 

available quota. Based on our review of 

past fishing effort and performance 

under various possession and trip 

limits, we project that this action’s 

increases in the possession and trip 

limits for these stocks should provide 

additional fishing opportunities and 

flexibility to facilitate catching available 

quota while ensuring that the common 

pool does not exceed its annual quotas. 

TABLE 1—SUMMARY OF COMMON POOL CATCH THROUGH JANUARY 18, 2022 

Stock FY 2021 catch 

(mt) 

Sub-ACL 

(mt) Percent caught 

GOM cod ............................................................................................................................. 2.6 8.2 31.4 

CC/GOM yellowtail flounder ................................................................................................ 14.8 41.4 35.7 

Witch flounder ...................................................................................................................... 20.3 44.2 46 

Effective February 24, 2022, until 

April 30, 2022, NMFS increases the 

possession and trip limits summarized 

in Tables 2 and 3. 

TABLE 2—PREVIOUS FY 2021 POSSESSION AND TRIP LIMITS

Stock A Days-at-Sea 

(DAS) Handgear A Small vessel category Handgear B 

GOM cod .................. 100 lb (45.4 kg) per DAS, up to 200 lb 

(90.7 kg) per trip.

100 lb (45.4 kg) per trip. 25 lb (11.3 kg) per trip. 

CC/GOM yellowtail 

flounder.

1,000 lb (453.6 kg) per DAS, up to 2,000 

lb (907.2 kg) per trip.

1,000 lb (453.6 kg) per 

trip.

300 lb (136.1 kg) per 

trip.

1,000 lb (453.6 kg) per 

trip. 

Witch flounder ........... 1,500 lb (680.4 kg) per trip. 


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10718 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 38 / Friday, February 25, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 

TABLE 3—NEW FY 2021 POSSESSION AND TRIP LIMITS

Stock A Days-at-Sea 

(DAS) Handgear A Small vessel category Handgear B 

GOM cod .................. 200 lb (90.7 kg) per DAS, up to 400 lb 

(181.4 kg) per trip.

200 lb (90.7 kg) per trip. 25 lb (11.3 kg) per trip. 

CC/GOM yellowtail 

flounder.

1,500 lb (680.4 kg) per DAS, up to 3,000 

lb (1,360.8 kg) per trip.

1,500 lb (680.4 kg) per 

trip.

300 lb (136.1 kg) per 

trip.

1,500 lb (680.4 kg) per 

trip. 

Witch flounder ........... 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) per trip. 

Weekly quota monitoring reports for 

the common pool fishery can be found 

on our website at: https://

www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/ 

ro/fso/reports/h/nemultispecies.html. 

We will continue to monitor common 

pool catch through vessel trip reports, 

dealer-reported landings, Vessel 

Monitoring System catch reports, and 

other available information and, if 

necessary, we will make additional 

adjustments to common pool 

management measures. 

Classification 

NMFS issues this action pursuant to 

section 305(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act consistent with 50 CFR 648.86(o), 

which was issued pursuant to section 

304(b), and is exempt from review 

under Executive Order 12866. The 

Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, 

NOAA, finds good cause pursuant to 5 

U.S.C. 553(b)(B) and 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) 

to waive prior notice and the 

opportunity for public comment and the 

30-day delayed effectiveness period 

because this action relieves possession 

and landing restrictions, and delayed 

implementation would be impracticable 

and contrary to the public interest. 

The regulations at § 648.86(o) 

authorize the Regional Administrator to 

adjust the possession and trip limits for 

common pool vessels in order to help 

avoid overharvest or underharvest of the 

common pool quotas. Our analysis 

indicates that this action’s increased 

possession and trip limit adjustments 

for these stocks should help the fishery 

achieve catching the allocated amounts 

for each stock. Any delay in this action 

would limit the benefits to common 

pool vessels that the increased landing 

and possession limits are intended to 

provide. 

The time necessary to provide for 

prior notice and comment, and a 30-day 

delay in effectiveness, would keep 

NMFS from implementing the necessary 

possession and trip limit before the end 

of the fishing year on April 30, 2022, 

which could prevent the fishery from 

catching the allocated amounts for each 

stock and cause negative economic 

impacts to the common pool fishery. 

This would undermine management 

objectives of the Northeast Multispecies 

Fishery Management Plan and cause 

unnecessary negative economic impacts 

to the common pool fishery. The public 

received prior notice and an 

opportunity to comment on the Regional 

Administrator’s exercise of this 

authority. The fishing industry 

participants have experienced these 

adjustments and have become 

accustomed to this process. There is 

additional good cause to waive the 

delayed effective period because this 

action relieves restrictions on fishing 

vessels by increasing a trip limit. 

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

Dated: February 17, 2022. 

Ngagne Jafnar Gueye, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2022–03921 Filed 2–23–22; 11:15 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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