57802 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 191 / Tuesday, October 4, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 

Issued: September 29, 2005. 

Jacqueline Glassman, 

Deputy Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 05–19843 Filed 10–3–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 622 

[I.D. 092605B] 

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of 

Mexico, and South Atlantic; Reef Fish 

Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico; Closure 

of the 2005 Shallow-Water Grouper 

Commercial Fishery 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; closure. 

SUMMARY: NMFS has determined that 

the red grouper quota for the 

commercial fishery will have been 

reached by October 10, 2005, and 

therefore closes the commercial fishery 

for shallow-water grouper (red, black, 

gag, scamp, yellowfin, yellowmouth, 

rock hind, and red hind) in the 

exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the 

Gulf of Mexico. The existing regulations 

require closure of the entire shallowwater grouper commercial fishery when 

either the red grouper quota or the 

shallow-water grouper quota is reached 

or is projected to be reached. This 

closure is necessary to protect the 

shallow-water grouper resource. 

DATES: Closure is effective 12:01 a.m., 

local time, October 10, 2005, until 12:01 

a.m., local time, on January 1, 2006. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jason Rueter, telephone 727–824–5305, 

fax 727–824–5308, e-mail 

Jason.Rueter@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The reef 

fish fishery of the Gulf of Mexico is 

managed under the Fishery 

Management Plan for the Reef Fish 

Resources of the Gulf of Mexico (FMP). 

The FMP was prepared by the Gulf of 

Mexico Fishery Management Council 

and is implemented under the authority 

of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act) by regulations 

at 50 CFR part 622. Those regulations 

set the commercial quota for red grouper 

in the Gulf of Mexico at 5.31 million lb 

(2,413,636 kg) for the current fishing 

year, January 1 through December 31, 

2005. Those regulations also require 

closure of the entire shallow-water 

grouper commercial fishery when either 

the red grouper quota or the shallowwater grouper quota is reached. 

Under 50 CFR 622.43(a), NMFS is 

required to close the commercial fishery 

for a species or species group when the 

quota for that species or species group 

is reached, or is projected to be reached, 

by filing a notification to that effect with 

the Office of the Federal Register. Based 

on current statistics, NMFS has 

determined the available commercial 

quota of 5.31 million lb (2,413,636 kg) 

for red grouper will be reached on or 

before October 10, 2005. Accordingly, 

NMFS is closing the commercial 

shallow-water grouper fishery in the 

Gulf of Mexico EEZ from 12:01 a.m., 

local time, on October 10, 2005, until 

12:01 a.m., local time, on January 1, 

2006. The operator of a vessel with a 

valid reef fish permit having shallowwater grouper aboard must have landed 

and bartered, traded, or sold such 

shallow-water grouper prior to 12:01 

a.m., local time, October 10, 2005. 

During the closure: (1) the sale or 

purchase of shallow-water grouper 

taken from the EEZ is prohibited; (2) 

when the recreational grouper fishery is 

open, the bag and possession limits 

specified in 50 CFR 622.39(b) apply to 

all harvest or possession of red grouper 

and shallow-water grouper in or from 

the Gulf of Mexico EEZ; and (3) when 

the recreational grouper fishery is 

closed, all harvest or possession of 

grouper in or from the Gulf EEZ is 

prohibited. The prohibition on sale or 

purchase does not apply to sale or 

purchase of red grouper or shallowwater grouper that were harvested, 

landed ashore, and sold prior to 12:01 

a.m., local time, October 10, 2005, and 

were held in cold storage by a dealer or 

processor. 

Classification 

This action is required under 50 CFR 

622.43(a) and is exempt from review 

under Executive Order 12866. 

This action responds to the best 

available information recently obtained 

from the fishery. The Assistant 

Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA, 

finds the need to immediately 

implement this action to close the 

fishery constitutes good cause to waive 

the requirements to provide prior notice 

and opportunity for public comment 

pursuant to the authority set forth in 5 

U.S.C. 553(b)(B), as such procedures 

would be unnecessary and contrary to 

the public interest. Such procedures are 

unnecessary because the rule itself has 

been subject to notice and comment, 

and all that remains is to notify the 

public of the closure. Allowing prior 

notice and opportunity for public 

comment is contrary to the public 

interest because it requires time during 

which harvest would likely exceed the 

quota. Similarly, there is a need to 

implement this measure in a timely 

fashion to prevent an overage of the 

commercial quota of Gulf red grouper, 

given the capacity of the fishing fleet to 

exceed the quota quickly. Any delay in 

implementing this action would be 

impractical and contrary to the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act, the FMP, and 

the public interest. For these reasons, 

NMFS finds good cause that the 

implementation of this action cannot be 

delayed for 30 days. Accordingly, under 

5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), a delay in the 

effective date is waived. 

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

Dated: September 28, 2005. 

Alan D. Risenhoover, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 05–19849 Filed 9–29–05; 2:43 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 030912231; I.D. 071905B] 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Scup Fishery; Adjustment to 

the 2005 Winter II Quota; Correction 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; inseason 

adjustment. 

SUMMARY: NMFS published a temporary 

rule in the Federal Register on August 

2, 2005, to adjust the 2005 Winter II 

commercial scup quota and possession 

limit. NMFS has since received 

information that a substantial amount of 

scup landed during the 2005 Winter I 

period were misreported as porgies via 

the Electronic Dealer Reporting System. 

This action corrects the adjusted 2005 

Winter II commercial scup quota and 

possession limit. 

DATES: This rule is effective November 

1, 2005, through December 31, 2005. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Sarah McLaughlin, Fishery Policy 

Analyst, (978) 281–9279. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS 

published a final rule in the Federal 

Register on November 3, 2003 (68 FR 

62250) implementing a process for years