Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 128 / Wednesday, July 6, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 40139 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

RIN 0648–BL05 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Atlantic Mackerel; 2022 Interim 

Action Extension 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; interim 

measures extended. 

SUMMARY: This temporary rule extends 

the interim specifications for the 2022 

fishing year to address new assessment 

information regarding the status of the 

Atlantic mackerel stock. This action 

continues to reduce potential Atlantic 

mackerel overfishing based on new 2021 

assessment findings while a revised 

rebuilding plan is being developed. 

DATES: The expiration date of the 

temporary rule published January 12, 

2022 (87 FR 1700), is extended to 

Friday, January 13, 2023. 

ADDRESSES: The supporting documents 

for the action are available upon request 

from Dr. Christopher M. Moore, 

Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic 

Fishery Management Council, Suite 201, 

800 N State Street, Dover, DE 19901. 

These documents are also accessible via 

the internet at https://www.mafmc.org. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Aly 

Pitts, Fishery Management Specialist, 

(978) 281–9352. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council (Council) manages 

the Atlantic mackerel fishery under the 

Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish (MSB) 

Fishery Management Plan (FMP). 

Section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act allows the Secretary to implement 

interim measures to reduce or address 

overfishing. In situations such as this, in 

which the Mid-Atlantic Council is 

finalizing a new rebuilding plan, section 

304(e)(6) allows the Council to request 

the Secretary to implement interim 

measures to reduce overfishing, even if 

such measures are not sufficient 

themselves to stop overfishing, until 

such measures can be replaced by the 

rebuilding plan. As further described 

below, NMFS implements this action to 

extend the interim rule that adjusts the 

domestic annual harvest (DAH, or 

commercial quota) from the previously 

implemented amount of 17,312 metric 

tons (mt) to 4,963 mt in order to 

minimize overfishing while the 

Council’s revised rebuilding plan can be 

implemented (87 FR 1700; January 12, 

2022). The initial interim rule for this 

action included additional background 

on specifications and the details of how 

the Council derived its recommended 

specifications for Atlantic mackerel. 

Those details are not repeated here. For 

additional information, please refer to 

the initial interim rule for this action. 

Interim Atlantic Mackerel 

Specifications for 2022 

Based on the recommendations of the 

Scientific and Statistical Committee 

(SSC), the MSB Monitoring Committee, 

and the Council, this action sets the 

2022 Atlantic mackerel specifications, 

specifically the DAH to 4,963 mt. These 

specifications also maintain the 129-mt 

river herring and shad catch cap for 

2022. There is an Atlantic mackerel 

stock assessment update scheduled for 

2022 that will inform future 

specifications. 

The initial temporary rule has an 

effective period limited by the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act to 180 days, 

with a potential extension of an 

additional 186 days. The Council has 

approved a revised rebuilding plan, 

which it intends to be implemented by 

January 1, 2023. However, the expected 

rulemaking implementing the 

rebuilding plan will not be in place 

before the expiration of the initial 

interim rule, on July 11, 2022. 

Therefore, we are extending the interim 

measures for 186 days to ensure the 

revised 2022 specifications remain in 

place for the full 2022 fishing year. 

Justification for Extended Interim 

Measures 

Section 305(c) of the MagnusonStevens Act (16 U.S.C. 1855(c) 

authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to 

implement interim measures to address 

overfishing. This action meets the 305(c) 

requirements for interim measures 

because it is necessary to minimize 

overfishing on the Atlantic mackerel 

stock that remains overfished while the 

Council develops a new rebuilding 

program for the stock. 

While some changes resulting from 

the 2021 stock assessment were 

expected, the magnitude of the shift in 

the perception of stock status 

necessitating changes to the catch limits 

was not, and could not have been, 

foreseen. The assessment results only 

recently became available, after the 

Council took final action on, and we 

implemented, the 2022 specifications. 

Based on this new information, and 

only two years after the implementation 

of the original rebuilding program for 

mackerel, the Council needed to 

develop a new rebuilding plan to 

incorporate the most recent scientific 

information. However, given that the 

new information only recently became 

available, the Council could not 

complete an action to develop a new 

rebuilding plan and adjust 

specifications in time for the 2022 

fishing year. Because of unforeseen 

specification adjustments necessary to 

address the recent stock assessment, the 

Council requested that NMFS take 

action to reduce potential additional 

Atlantic mackerel harvest in 2022 via a 

reduction in the commercial quota 

while the Council developed a new 

Atlantic mackerel rebuilding plan for 

2023. If this temporary rule is not 

implemented by July 11, 2022, the 2022 

specifications will revert to those 

previously implemented based on 

information that does not include the 

most recent 2021 assessment results. 

Delayed implementation of these 

measures increases the risk and 

magnitude of overfishing for 2022 by 

allowing the original 17,312 mt 

commercial catch rather than 4,963 mt, 

implemented by the initial interim rule. 

Extending these interim measures 

minimizes overfishing in the Atlantic 

mackerel fishery and additional 

negative impacts to the already 

overfished fishery resource, as well as 

ensures mackerel specifications are 

based on the best scientific information 

available. Therefore, avoiding the 

serious conservation and management 

problem of subjecting the overfished 

Atlantic mackerel stock to continued 

overfishing conditions due to previously 

unforeseen circumstances justifies these 

interim measures, and outweighs the 

benefit of advance notice and comment. 

Renewal of Interim Regulations 

The Magnuson-Stevens Act limits 

NMFS’ authority to implement interim 

measures for an initial period of 180 

days, with a potential extension up to 

an additional 186 days, if warranted. 

The public had an opportunity to 

comment on the specification measures 

in this temporary rule upon issuance of 

the initial interim rule, and we did not 

receive any comments in response to the 

public notice on the initial interim rule. 

In accordance with Magnuson-Stevens 

Act section 305(c)(3)(B), NMFS is 

extending the interim measures for one 

additional period of not more than 186 

days to maintain the interim measures 

until permanent rulemaking can be 

implemented. 


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40140 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 128 / Wednesday, July 6, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 

Classification 

NMFS issues this action pursuant to 

section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act. This action is required by 50 CFR 

part 648, which was issued pursuant to 

section 304(b). 

The Assistant Administrator for 

Fisheries, NOAA, finds that it would be 

unnecessary and contrary to the public 

interest to provide for prior notice and 

an opportunity for public comment, 

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

implemented an interim rule on January 

7, 2022, effective through July 11, 2022, 

that set Atlantic mackerel commercial 

harvest levels for 2022 that would 

maintain total catch similar to 2021 

levels. This action would extend the 

interim measures to reduce catch rates 

to ensure 2022 catch does not exceed 

harvest levels to minimize overfishing. 

This rule would maintain the 

commercial DAH of 4,963 mt to 

maintain total 2022 harvest levels and 

incorporate new estimates of Canadian 

landings and U.S. recreational harvest. 

Harvest levels have been well below the 

DAH in recent years, and based on 

recent fishery operations and trends, 

this action is not expected to 

substantially change overall effort or 

harvest levels. 

This action is being implemented 

pursuant to section 305(c) of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act in order to 

minimize overfishing while the Council 

responds to the new, updated 

information. These provisions of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act anticipate that 

interim provisions like these can be 

extended by publication in the Federal 

Register if the public had been provided 

an opportunity to comment on the 

original measures. A delay would be 

contrary to the public interest for the 

Atlantic mackerel fishery. Implementing 

a reduced DAH for fishing year 2022 

was anticipated and discussed during 

development and implementation of the 

original specifications action (86 FR 

38586, June 22, 2021), as well as at the 

August and October 2021 Council 

meetings. Fishery stakeholders are 

anticipating action to reduce mackerel 

harvest for the entirety of 2022, and they 

were provided the opportunity to 

comment on this in response to the 

public notice for the original interim 

rule. 

Where the public has had an 

opportunity to review the development 

of the Council action to reduce Atlantic 

mackerel catch for 2022 based on the 

best available science (the purpose of 

this action), as well as the original 

interim rule, the value of a delay in its 

effectiveness would be outweighed by 

the need to implement this adjustment 

as quickly as possible. Failure to 

implement this action as quickly as 

possible for the remainder of the 2022 

fishing year could result in 2022 catch 

that could have potential negative 

biological impacts, as well as the 

potential to hinder the efficacy of the 

Council’s new rebuilding plan, which 

presumed the interim measures would 

apply to the entirety of 2022. Given the 

high-volume nature of the fishery and 

the reduced DAH, there is a risk that the 

fishery will exceed the DAH if there is 

a lapse of the interim rule. A delay 

would be contrary to the public interest 

while we take action to implement the 

Council’s new rebuilding plan for this 

species. For the same reasons, the 

Assistant Administrator finds good 

cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to waive 

the 30-day delay of effectiveness period 

for this. This rule should be effective as 

close to and not after, July 11, 2022, as 

possible, to fully realize the intended 

benefits to this high-volume fishery. 

This action is being taken pursuant to 

the 305(c) emergency action and interim 

measures provision of the MagnusonStevens Act and is exempt from Office 

of Management and Budget (OMB) 

review. 

This temporary rule has been 

determined to be not significant for 

purposes of Executive Order 12866. 

This rule does not duplicate, conflict, 

or overlap with any existing Federal 

rules. 

This action would not establish any 

new reporting or recordkeeping 

requirements. 

This interim rule contains no 

information collection requirements 

under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995. 

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

Dated: June 28, 2022. 

Samuel D. Rauch, III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2022–14181 Filed 7–5–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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