Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 109 / Tuesday, June 7, 2022 / Proposed Rules 34629 

population will be treated as if it were 

listed as a threatened species for 

purposes of establishing protective 

regulations under section 4(d) of the Act 

with respect to such population. The 

species-specific rules (protective 

regulations) adopted for an 

experimental population under § 17.81 

will contain applicable prohibitions, as 

appropriate, and exceptions for that 

population. 

■ 5. Amend § 17.83 by revising 

paragraph (b) and adding paragraph (c) 

to read as follows: 

§ 17.83 Interagency cooperation. 

* * * * * 

(b) For a listed species, any 

experimental population that, pursuant 

to § 17.81(c)(2), has been determined to 

be essential to the survival of the 

species or that occurs within the 

National Park System or the National 

Wildlife Refuge System, as now or 

hereafter constituted, will be treated for 

purposes of section 7 of the Act as a 

threatened species. 

(c) For purposes of section 7 of the 

Act, any consultation or conference on 

a proposed Federal action will treat any 

experimental and nonexperimental 

populations as a single listed species for 

the purposes of conducting the analyses 

and making agency determinations 

pursuant to section 7(a) of the Act. 

■ 6. Amend § 17.84 by: 

■ a. Revising the section heading; and 

■ b. Removing the word ‘‘special’’ 

where it appears in the heading and first 

sentence of paragraph (l)(1) and in the 

headings to paragraphs (l)(16) and (x)(8). 

The revision reads as follows: 

§ 17.84 Species-specific rules— 

vertebrates. 

* * * * * 

■ 7. Amend § 17.85 by revising the 

section heading and paragraph (a)(2)(i) 

to read as follows: 

§ 17.85 Species-specific rules— 

invertebrates. 

(a) * * * 

(2) * * * 

(i) Except as expressly allowed in the 

rule in this paragraph (a), all the 

prohibitions of § 17.31(a) and (b) apply 

to the mollusks identified in the rule in 

this paragraph (a). 

* * * * * 

§ 17.86 [Removed and Reserved] 

■ 8. Remove and reserve § 17.86. 

Shannon A. Estenoz, 

Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and 

Parks. 

[FR Doc. 2022–12061 Filed 6–6–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4333–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

RIN 0648–BK20 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

Provisions; Fisheries of the 

Northeastern United States; 

Amendment 22 to the Mackerel, Squid, 

and Butterfish Fishery Management 

Plan 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Announcement of the 

availability of a proposed fishery 

management plan amendment; request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the 

Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management 

Council submitted Amendment 22 to 

the Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish 

Fishery Management Plan to the 

Secretary of Commerce for review and 

approval. We are requesting comments 

from the public on this amendment in 

accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act. This amendment would implement 

updated and reformatted goals and 

objectives for the fishery management 

plan, a tiered permit system for vessels 

currently issued an Illex squid 

moratorium permit, a fish hold volume 

baseline, a fish hold volume upgrade 

restriction for the highest tier Illex squid 

moratorium permits, and clarify that all 

Illex squid moratorium permits must 

submit daily catch reports via the vessel 

monitoring system. The purpose of this 

action is to align the fishery goals/ 

objectives with current Council vision 

and priorities and to revise the number 

and types of Illex squid moratorium 

permits to reduce the negative effects 

from a race to fish in recent years. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before August 8, 2022. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on this document, identified by NOAA– 

NMFS–2022–0056, by the following 

method: 

Electronic Submission: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to 

www.regulations.gov/ 

#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2022- 

0056, click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ 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). 

The Mid-Atlantic Council prepared an 

environmental assessment (EA) for 

Amendment 22 that describes the 

proposed action and provides an 

analysis of the impacts of the proposed 

measures and other alternatives 

considered. Copies of Amendment 22, 

including the EA, the Regulatory Impact 

Review, and the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act analysis, are available from: 

Christopher Moore, Executive Director, 

Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management 

Council, Suite 201, 800 State Street, 

Dover, DE 19901. The EA and associated 

analysis is accessible via the internet 

http://www.mafmc.org/supportingdocuments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Carly Bari, Fishery Policy Analyst, 978– 

281–9150. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The original goals and objectives for 

the Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish 

Fishery Management Plan (FMP) were 

developed in 1981 when the individual 

fisheries were merged into one FMP. 

Since that time, the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) has been 

amended several times and the MidAtlantic Fishery Management Council 

has developed several strategic plans to 

reflect updated priorities and strategic 

initiatives such as integrating an 

ecosystem approach to fisheries 

management into its FMPs. In 

September 2020, Atlantic chub mackerel 

was formally integrated into the FMP, 

along with updated goals and objectives 

for managing this species. The Council 

initiated Amendment 22 in January 

2019 in part to update the FMP’s goals 

and objectives to reflect current Council 

vision and priorities, make them 

consistent with the formats used in 

other FMPs managed by the Council, 

and to merge the original FMP goals and 

objectives with those developed for 

Atlantic chub mackerel. 

Amendment 22 is also intended to 

reconsider the appropriate number of 


jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
34630 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 109 / Tuesday, June 7, 2022 / Proposed Rules 

Illex squid moratorium permits. 

Originally implemented in 1997 under 

Amendment 5 to the FMP (May 27, 

1997; 62 FR 28638), there are currently 

about 75 Illex moratorium permits 

remaining in the fishery. Since 2017, we 

have closed the Illex squid fishery in 

August or September of each year 

because the fishery fully harvested the 

available quota, with more vessels 

actively participating in the fishery in 

recent years. Because not all vessels 

issued an Illex moratorium permit have 

actively participated in the fishery in 

recent years, the Council is concerned 

that these other permits may become 

active in the fishery, exacerbating the 

race to fish observed since 2017 and the 

negative impacts to participants caused 

by early fishery closures. 

To address these issues, Amendment 

22 proposes the following measures, 

which are outlined in further detail in 

the EA prepared for this action (see 

ADDRESSES): 

• Updated FMP goals and objectives 

reformatted to reflect current Council 

vision and priorities and the integration 

of approved Atlantic chub mackerel 

goals and objectives; 

• A Tier 1 Illex squid moratorium 

permit for any existing Illex moratorium 

permit that landed at least 500,000 lb 

(226.8 mt) of Illex squid in one year 

from 1997–2013 or purchased and 

installed a refrigerated seawater system, 

plate freezing system, or blast freezer 

between January 1 and August 2, 2013, 

that also landed at least 200,000 lb (90.7 

mt) of Illex squid before December 31, 

2013; 

• A Tier 2 Illex squid moratorium 

permit for any existing Illex moratorium 

permit that landed at least 100,000 lb 

(45.4 mt) of Illex squid in one year from 

1997–2018; 

• A Tier 3 Illex squid moratorium 

permit for any existing Illex moratorium 

permit that landed at least 50,000 lb 

(22.7 mt) of Illex squid in one year from 

1997–2018; 

• Illex squid possession limits for 

new Illex squid moratorium permits 

proposed in this action, including an 

unlimited initial possession limit for 

Tier 1 permits, a 62,000-lb (28,123-kg) 

possession limit for Tier 2 permits, and 

a 20,000-lb (9,072-kg) possession limit 

for Tier 3 permits; 

• A fish hold volume baseline 

measurement and 10-percent upgrade 

restriction for proposed Tier 1 Illex 

squid moratorium permits; and 

• Clarification that Illex squid 

moratorium permits must report daily 

catch via the vessel monitoring system 

on declared Illex squid trips. 

In accordance with section 304(a)(1) 

of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, we are 

soliciting public comments on 

Amendment 22 to the Mackerel, Squid, 

and Butterfish FMP and its incorporated 

documents through the end of the 

comment period specified in the DATES

section of this notice of availability 

(NOA). Under this provision of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act (section 

304(a)(3)), the Secretary may approve, 

partially approve, or disapprove the 

amendment as submitted by the 

Council. All comments received by the 

end of the comment period of the NOA 

will be considered in the approval/ 

disapproval decision on the 

amendment. Comments received after 

the end of the comment period for the 

NOA will not be considered in the 

approval/disapproval decision. 

In a letter dated April 22, 2020, and 

available on the Council’s website (see 

the July 16, 2020, meeting at 

www.mafmc.org/meetings), we 

expressed concerns with the 

requalification and tiered permitting 

measures considered by the Council in 

the development of this action. These 

concerns remain, and we invite public 

input on whether this action satisfies 

the requirements of the MagnusonStevens Act’s National Standards, is 

consistent with the Mackerel, Squid, 

and Butterfish FMP’s goals and 

objectives, and accomplishes the 

Amendment’s statements of need, 

purpose, and objectives. If, after 

reviewing public comments received in 

response to this NOA, we approve this 

action, we will publish a proposed rule 

in the Federal Register that would 

implement the amendment’s 

management measures and solicit 

additional public comment at that time 

on the proposed regulations. 

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

Dated: June 2, 2022. 

Jennifer M. Wallace, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2022–12226 Filed 6–6–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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