17106 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 70 / Tuesday, April 14, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

substantially less than the total number 

of active vessels in the groundfish 

fishery. Only these 24 vessels will be 

subject to the regulatory exemptions and 

operational restrictions proposed for the 

Hook Sector for FY 2009. 

Description of the Projected Reporting, 

Record-keeping, and Other 

Requirements of the Rule 

This rule contains no collection-ofinformation requirement subject to the 

Paperwork Reduction Act. 

Description of Steps the Agency Has 

Taken to Minimize the Economic 

Impact on Small Entities Consistent 

With the Stated Objectives of Applicable 

Statutes 

This action allocates a GB cod TAC of 

350.1 mt to the Hook Sector, unless 

changed through the Secretarial interim 

final rule, as discussed in this preamble. 

Once the GB cod TAC is harvested, 

participating vessels would not be 

allowed to fish under a NE multispecies 

DAS, possess or land GB cod, or other 

regulated species managed under the NE 

multispecies FMP, or use gear capable 

of catching groundfish (unless fishing 

under recreational or charter/party 

regulations). Vessel owners intending to 

fish in the Hook Sector during FY 2009 

may only fish with hook gear. Under the 

proposed Operations Plan, members 

would be exempt from several 

restrictions of the FMP described in the 

preamble to this rule and in the EA. 

This action will positively impact the 

24 vessels that have voluntarily joined 

the Hook Sector. The approval of the 

Hook Sector and allocation of GB cod 

TAC will indirectly benefit the 

communities of Chatham, MA, and 

Harwichport, MA, and to a lesser extent 

other Cape Cod communities involved 

in the groundfish fishery. The Hook 

Sector fishermen and the communities 

of Chatham, MA, and Harwichport, MA, 

are dependent upon GB cod and other 

groundfish. The Amendment 13 

restrictions that reduced the GB cod trip 

limit had a disproportionate affect on 

these fishermen and communities. 

According to Amendment 13, 

Chatham’s overall community 

dependence on NE multispecies as a 

percentage of total fisheries revenues 

from federally permitted vessels 

averaged about 71 percent, and it was 

likely that at least some of the active 

groundfish vessels in Chatham and 

Harwichport were even more than 71– 

percent dependent on the NE 

multispecies fishery. 

Haddock and cod comprised the 

largest proportion of Hook Sector 

landings (62.47 percent and 32.46 

percent, respectively, in FY 2007). 

During FY 2007, members of the Hook 

Sector made 239 trips; landed 155,453 

lb (70,512 kg) of cod and 299,126 lb 

(135,681 kg) of haddock; and generated 

approximately $ 290,697 and $ 523,471 

in revenue from those species, 

respectively (assuming a dockside price 

of $ 1.87 and $ 1.75 per lb ($4.11 and 

$ 3.85 per kg), respectively). The FY 

2007 data indicated a 34–percent 

decline in the number of trips, a 13– 

percent decline in cod landings, and a 

16–percent increase in haddock 

landings compared to FY 2006. The net 

effect was a 3.2–percent increase in 

revenue from cod and haddock, and a 

55–percent increase in revenue per trip 

from these species compared to FY 

2006. Hook Sector members also landed 

various other species, which increased 

their revenue. In general, the operation 

of the Hook Sector would continue to 

mitigate the negative economic impacts 

that result from the current suite of 

regulations that apply to the groundfish 

fishery (most recently FW 42; October 

23, 2006; 71 FR 62156). The Hook 

Sector, by fishing under rules that are 

designed to meet their needs (as well as 

the conservation requirements of the 

FMP), is afforded a larger degree of 

flexibility and efficiency, which result 

in economic gains. For example, Hook 

Sector members are able to plan their 

fishing activity and income in advance 

with more certainty due to the fact that 

there is a cod TAC, which is 

apportioned to each month of the year. 

They are able to maximize their 

efficiency (revenue per trip) due to the 

exemption from trip limits and limits on 

the number of hooks fished. Forty-one 

of the Hook Sector’s 239 trips (17 

percent) in FY 2007 landed more than 

the daily GB cod trip limit (1,000 lb/ 

day; 454 kg/day) in place for the 

common pool vessels (non-sector 

vessels). This resulted in an additional 

77,429 lb (35,121 kg) (49.8 percent of 

the Hook Sector’s FY 2007 cod landings) 

being landed, rather than discarded. For 

some vessel owners in the Hook Sector, 

participation in the Hook Sector enables 

their businesses to remain economically 

viable. 

In contrast, under the No Action 

alternative, all Hook Sector members 

would have remained in the common 

pool of vessels and fished under all the 

rules implemented by Amendment 13 

and subsequent actions. Under the 

regulatory scenario of the No Action 

alternative, relative to the alternative 

implemented by this rule, Hook Sector 

members would likely have faced 

increased economic uncertainty, loss of 

efficiency, and loss of revenue, as noted 

above. Because cod usually represents a 

high proportion of total fishing income 

for hook gear vessels, revenues for Hook 

Sector members are sensitive to 

regulations that impact how and when 

they can fish for cod, such as possession 

limits and restrictions on the number of 

hooks that can be fished. A copy of this 

analysis is available from NMFS (see 

ADDRESSES). 

Section 212 of the Small Business 

Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 

1996 states that, for each rule or group 

of related rules for which an agency is 

required to prepare a FRFA, the agency 

shall publish one or more guides to 

assist small entities in complying with 

the rule, and shall designate such 

publications as ‘‘small entity 

compliance guides.’’ The agency shall 

explain the actions a small entity is 

required to take to comply with a rule 

or group of rules. As part of this 

rulemaking process, a letter to Hook 

Sector members that also serves as small 

entity compliance guide (the guide) was 

prepared. Copies of this final rule are 

available from the Regional 

Administrator. The guide and this final 

rule will be available upon request. 

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

Dated: April 8, 2009. 

John Oliver, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Operations, National Marine Fisheries 

Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–8521 Filed 4–13–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 061228342–7068–02] 

RIN 0648–XO47 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Atlantic Herring Fishery; Total 

Allowable Catch Harvested for 

Management Area 2 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; Closure. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that, 

effective 0001 hours, April 15, 2009, 

federally permitted vessels may not fish 

for, catch, possess, transfer, or land 

more than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of Atlantic 

herring in or from Management Area 2 

(Area 2) per trip or calendar day until 

January 1, 2010, when the 2010 total 

allowable catch (TAC) becomes 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 70 / Tuesday, April 14, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 17107 

available, except for transiting purposes 

as described in this notice. This action 

is based on the determination that 95 

percent of the Atlantic herring TAC 

allocated to Area 2 for 2009 is projected 

to be harvested by April 14, 2009. 

Regulations governing the Atlantic 

herring fishery require publication of 

this notification to advise vessel and 

dealer permit holders that no TAC is 

available for the directed fishery for 

Atlantic herring harvested from Area 2. 

DATES: Effective 0001 hrs local time, 

April 15, 2009, through January 1, 2010. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Aja 

Peters-Mason, Fishery Management 

Specialist, (978) 281–9195. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Regulations governing the Atlantic 

herring fishery are found at 50 CFR part 

648. The regulations require annual 

specification of optimum yield, 

domestic and foreign fishing, domestic 

and joint venture processing, and 

management area TACs. The 2009 TAC 

allocated to Area 2 (72 FR 17807, April 

10, 2007) is 30,000 mt. The initial TAC 

included a Research Set Aside of 900 mt 

that was restored to the fishery when it 

was not allocated for research (73 FR 

74631, December 9, 2008). 

The regulations at § 648.201 require 

the Administrator, Northeast Region, 

NMFS (Regional Administrator), to 

monitor the Atlantic herring fishery in 

each of the four management areas 

designated in the Fishery Management 

Plan (FMP) for the Atlantic herring 

fishery and, based upon dealer reports, 

state data, and other available 

information, to determine when the 

harvest of Atlantic herring is projected 

to reach 95 percent of the TAC 

allocated. When such a determination is 

made, NMFS is required to publish 

notification in the Federal Register of 

this determination. Effective upon a 

specific date, NMFS must notify vessel 

and dealer permit holders that vessels 

are prohibited from fishing for, catching, 

possessing, transferring, or landing more 

than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of herring per 

trip or calendar day in or from the 

specified management area for the 

remainder of the closure period. 

Transiting of Area 2 with more than 

2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of herring on board 

is allowed under the conditions 

specified below. 

The Regional Administrator has 

determined, based upon dealer reports 

and other available information, that 95 

percent of the total Atlantic herring TAC 

allocated to Area 2 for the 2009 fishing 

year is projected to be harvested. 

Therefore, effective 0001 hrs local time, 

April 15, 2009, federally permitted 

vessels may not fish for, catch, possess, 

transfer, or land more than 2,000 lb 

(907.2 kg) of Atlantic herring in or from 

Area 2 per trip or calendar day through 

January 1, 2010. Vessels transiting Area 

2 with more than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of 

herring on board may land this amount 

provided such herring was not caught in 

Area 2 and provided all fishing gear is 

stowed and not available for immediate 

use as required by § 648.23(b). Effective 

April 15, 2009, federally permitted 

dealers are also advised that they may 

not purchase Atlantic herring from 

federally permitted Atlantic herring 

vessels that harvest more than 2,000 lb 

(907.2 kg) of Atlantic herring from Area 

2 through 2400 hrs local time, January 

1, 2010. 

Classification 

This action is required by 50 CFR part 

648 and is exempt from review under 

Executive Order 12866. 

The Assistant Administrator for 

Fisheries, NOAA (AA), finds good cause 

pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) to waive 

prior notice and the opportunity for 

public comment because it would be 

contrary to the public interest. This 

action closes the Atlantic herring fishery 

for Management Area 2 until January 1, 

2010, under current regulations. The 

regulations at § 648.201(a) require such 

action to ensure that Atlantic herring 

vessels do not exceed the 2009 TAC. 

The Atlantic herring fishery opened for 

the 2009 fishing year at 0001 hours on 

January 1, 2009. Data indicating the 

Atlantic herring fleet will have landed 

at least 95 percent of the 2009 TAC have 

only recently become available. 

If implementation of this closure is 

delayed to solicit prior public comment, 

the quota for this fishing year will be 

exceeded, thereby undermining the 

conservation objectives of the FMP. The 

AA further finds, pursuant to 5 U.S.C 

553(d)(3), good cause to waive the thirty 

(30) day delayed effectiveness period for 

the reasons stated above. 

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

Dated: April 8, 2009. 

Alan D. Risenhoover, 

Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–8496 Filed 4–9–09; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 090123054–9591–02 ] 

RIN 0648–XM12 

Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Northeast Multispecies 

Fishery; 2009 Georges Bank Cod Fixed 

Gear Sector Operations Plan and 

Agreement, and Allocation of Georges 

Bank Cod Total Allowable Catch 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: This final rule implements 

the Georges Bank (GB) Cod Fixed Gear 

Sector (Fixed Gear Sector) Fishing Year 

(FY) 2009 Operations Plan and 

Agreement, approved by the 

Administrator, Northeast (NE) Region, 

NMFS (Regional Administrator), and 

allocates a hard total allowable catch 

(TAC) of GB cod to the Fixed Gear 

Sector. Framework Adjustment 42 (FW 

42) to the NE Multispecies Fishery 

Management Plan (FMP) authorized 

allocation of up to 20 percent of the 

annual GB cod TAC to the Fixed Gear 

Sector. Pursuant to that authorization, 

the Fixed Gear Sector submitted an 

Operations Plan and Sector Contract, 

entitled ‘‘Georges Bank Cod Fixed Gear 

Sector Fishing Year 2009–2010 

Operations Plan and Agreement’’ 

(together referred to as the Sector 

Agreement), and an Environmental 

Assessment (EA), and requested an 

allocation of GB cod, consistent with the 

FMP. This action results in 

authorization of the Sector Operations 

Plan for FY 2009 and allocation of 503.8 

mt of GB cod to the Fixed Gear Sector. 

DATES: Effective May 1, 2009, through 

April 30, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Sector 

Agreement, EA, and the Final 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (FRFA) 

are available from the Northeast 

Regional Office: Patricia A. Kurkul, 

Regional Administrator, National 

Marine Fisheries Service, 55 Great 

Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. 

These documents are also accessible via 

the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Melissa Vasquez, Fishery Management 

Specialist, phone (978) 281–9166, fax