96910 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 235 / Friday, December 6, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

(f) Restrictions on FAD deployments, 

removals, and recovery. 

* * * * * 

(3) U.S. vessel owners and operators 

may recover FADs for final disposal or 

recycling. Recovery activities must be 

limited to the collection of FADs for 

final disposal or recycling and may not 

include any type of maintenance or 

adjustment on deployed FADs. 

(g) Non-entangling FAD materials. 

Beginning January 1, 2025, U.S. purse 

seine vessel owners and operators must 

ensure that the design and construction 

of any FAD to be deployed or 

redeployed (i.e., placed in the water) in 

the IATTC Convention Area uses only 

non-entangling FAD materials. 

(h) Biodegradable FAD materials. In 

addition to complying with the 

requirement to use non-entangling 

materials specified in paragraph (g) of 

this section, vessel owners and 

operators must ensure that the design 

and construction of any FAD to be 

deployed or redeployed in the IATTC 

Convention Area meets the following 

specifications: 

(1) Beginning January 1, 2026, all 

FADs deployed or redeployed in the 

IATTC Convention Area must be 

designed and constructed according to 

one of the following sets of 

specifications: 

(i) The surface part of the FAD must 

be made of fully biodegradable 

materials, except for flotation 

components (e.g., plastic buoys, foam, 

purse-seine corks), whereas the 

subsurface part of the FAD may contain 

non-biodegradable materials (e.g., 

synthetic raffia, metallic frame, plastic 

floats, nylon ropes); or 

(ii) The subsurface part of the FAD 

must be made of fully biodegradable 

materials, whereas the surface part and 

any flotation components (e.g., plastic 

buoys, foam, purse-seine corks) of the 

FAD may contain non-biodegradable 

materials (e.g., synthetic raffia, metallic 

frame, plastic floats, nylon ropes); or 

(iii) The surface part, except for 

flotation components (e.g., plastic 

buoys, foam, purse-seine corks), and 

subsurface part must be made of fully 

biodegradable materials. Nonbiodegradable materials, in particular 

nylon ropes, can be used exclusively to 

strengthen the structure of the floating 

or underwater component of the FAD. 

(2) Beginning January 1, 2029, all 

FADs deployed or redeployed in the 

IATTC Convention Area must be made 

of fully biodegradable materials, except 

for flotation components (e.g., plastic 

buoys, foam, purse seine corks), which 

may be made of non-biodegradable 

material. Non-biodegradable materials, 

in particular nylon ropes, can be used 

exclusively to strengthen the structure 

of the floating or underwater component 

of the FAD. 

(3) Restrictions on biodegradable FAD 

materials set forth in paragraphs (h)(1) 

and (2) of this section do not apply to 

satellite buoys that are attached to FADs 

in order to track them. 

[FR Doc. 2024–28466 Filed 12–5–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 240405–0100; RTID 0648– 

XE509] 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish 

Fishery; 2024 Commercial Atlantic 

Mackerel Fishery Closure 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; closure. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is closing the 

commercial Atlantic mackerel fishery 

through December 31, 2024. This 

closure is required by regulation 

because NMFS projects that 80 percent 

of the mackerel domestic annual harvest 

is harvested. This action is necessary to 

comply with the regulations 

implementing the Mackerel, Squid, and 

Butterfish Fishery Management Plan 

and is intended to prevent overharvest 

of Atlantic mackerel. 

DATES: Effective 0001 hours (hr) local 

time, December 6, 2024, through 2400 

hr local time on December 31, 2024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Colette Tweeddale, Fishery 

Management Specialist, 978–281–9335. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

procedures for setting initial annual 

specifications for the species managed 

under the Mackerel, Squid, and 

Butterfish Fishery Management Plan 

(FMP) are described at 50 CFR 648.22. 

The regulations at § 648.22(a)(3) require 

annual catch limits, commercial annual 

catch targets (including research setaside, domestic annual harvest (DAH), 

Tier 3 landings caps, and domestic 

annual processing), joint venture 

processing, total allowable levels of 

foreign fishing, and recreational annual 

catch targets (including research setaside) to be specified for the Atlantic 

mackerel fishery for a period of up to 3 

years. 

The Regional Administrator monitors 

mackerel fishery catch based on dealer 

reports and other available information. 

When the Regional Administrator 

projects that 80 percent of the DAH is 

harvested, the regulations at 

§ 648.24(b)(1)(i) require NMFS to close 

the commercial mackerel fishery in 

Federal waters for the remainder of the 

fishing year. The regulations at 

§ 648.26(a)(2)(i) state that while such a 

closure is in effect, vessels issued a Tier 

1, 2, or 3 limited access mackerel permit 

are prohibited from taking and 

retaining, possessing, or landing more 

than 10,000 lb (4.54 mt) of mackerel per 

trip at any time, and from landing 

mackerel more than once per calendar 

day. Additionally, the regulations at 

§ 648.26(a)(2)(ii) state that while such a 

closure is in effect, vessels issued an 

open access mackerel permit are 

prohibited from taking and retaining, 

possessing, or landing more than 2,500 

lb (1.13 mt) of mackerel per trip at any 

time, and from landing mackerel more 

than once per calendar day. The 

regulations at § 648.24(d) require that 

upon determining that a closure is 

necessary, NMFS must: Notify the 

Executive Directors of the relevant 

Fishery Management Councils; notify 

permit holders at least 72 hr before the 

effective date of the closure; provide 

adequate notice of the closure to 

recreational participants in the fishery; 

and publish notification of the closure 

in the Federal Register. 

Based on dealer reports and other 

available information, the Regional 

Administrator projects that 100.06 

percent of the mackerel DAH was 

harvested as of November 29, 2024. 

Therefore, effective 0001 local time on 

December 6, 2024, limited access 

mackerel vessels may not take and 

retain, possess, or land more than 

10,000 lb (4.54 mt) of mackerel per trip 

at any time, and may only land 

mackerel once per calendar day, 

through 2400 hr local time on December 

31, 2024. Limited access mackerel 

vessels that enter port before 0001 hr 

local time on December 6, 2024, may 

land and sell more than 10,000 lb (4.54 

mt) of mackerel from that trip, 

consistent with possession restrictions 

at § 648.26(a)(1)(i). Additionally, open 

access mackerel vessels may not take 

and retain, possess, or land more than 

2,500 lb (1.13 mt) of mackerel per trip 

at any time, and may only land 

mackerel once per calendar day, 

through 2400 hr local time on December 

31, 2024. Open access mackerel vessels 

that enter port before 0001 hr local time 

on December 6, 2024, may land and sell 

more than 2,500 lb (1.13 mt) of mackerel 


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 235 / Friday, December 6, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 96911 

from that trip, consistent with 

possession restrictions at 

§ 648.26(a)(1)(ii). 

Also, effective 0001 hr local time on 

December 6, 2024, through 2400 hr local 

time on December 31, 2024, federally 

permitted dealers may not purchase 

more than 10,000 lb (4.54 mt) of 

mackerel from a limited access mackerel 

vessel unless the vessel enters port 

before 0001 hr local time on December 

6, 2024. Federally permitted dealers 

may not purchase more than 2,500 lb 

(1.13 mt) of mackerel from an open 

access mackerel vessel unless the vessel 

enters port before 0001 hr local time on 

December 6, 2024. The possession limits 

for the mackerel fishery will reset to the 

amounts outlined at § 648.26(a)(1)(i) and 

(ii) on January 1, 2025. 

Classification 

This action is required by 50 CFR part 

648 and is exempt from review under 

Executive Order 12866. 

NMFS 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 and impracticable. The 

mackerel fishery opened for the 2024 

fishing year on January 1, 2024. Data 

and other information indicating that 

100 percent of the 2024 mackerel DAH 

was harvested have only recently 

become available. Landings data are 

updated on a weekly basis, and NMFS 

monitors catch data on a daily basis as 

catch increases toward the limit. 

Further, high-volume catch and 

landings in this fishery increase total 

catch relative to the DAH quickly. 

Atlantic mackerel is currently being 

managed under a rebuilding plan, and 

exceeding the DAH may harm the 

stock’s rebuilding progress. The 

regulations at § 648.24(b)(1)(i) require 

NMFS to implement this action to 

ensure that mackerel vessels do not 

exceed the DAH. If implementation of 

this action is delayed to solicit prior 

public comment, the 2024 mackerel 

DAH may be exceeded, thereby 

undermining the conservation 

objectives of the FMP. Furthermore, the 

public had prior notice and full 

opportunity to comment on this process 

when these provisions were put in 

place. Based on these considerations, 

NMFS further finds, pursuant to 5 

U.S.C. 553(d)(3), good cause to waive 

the 30-day delayed effectiveness period 

for the reasons stated above. 

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

Dated: December 3, 2024. 

Karen H. Abrams, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–28730 Filed 12–3–24; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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