Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 193 / Thursday, October 6, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 58351 

Dated: September 29, 2005. 

Matt Hogan, 

Acting Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 05–20049 Filed 10–5–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 040804229–4300–02; I.D. 

100305A] 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

Provisions; Fisheries of the 

Northeastern United States; Northeast 

Multispecies Fishery; Closure of the 

Regular B Days-at-Sea Pilot Program 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; closure. 

NMFS announces that 1,000 Regular 

Days-at-Sea (DAS) have been used 

under the Regular B DAS Pilot Program. 

Therefore, all Northeast (NE) 

multispecies DAS vessels are prohibited 

from using Regular B DAS under the 

Regular B DAS Pilot Program through 

the end of the current calendar quarter 

on October 31, 2005. The intended 

effect of this action is to prevent the 

quarterly DAS use limit of 1,000 Regular 

B DAS for this program from being 

exceeded. 

DATES: Effective 0001 hr local time, 

October 6, 2005, through October 31, 

2005. (See requirements under 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for 

additional details). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mark Grant, Fishery Management 

Specialist, phone (978) 281–9145, fax 

(978) 281–9135. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Regulations governing the Regular B 

DAS Pilot Program are found at 50 CFR 

648.85(b)(6). These regulations 

authorize vessels issued a valid limited 

access NE multispecies DAS permit and 

allocated Regular B DAS, including 

vessels also issued a limited access 

monkfish Category C or D permit, to use 

a NE multispecies Regular B DAS 

throughout the NE multispecies 

regulated mesh areas outside of 

approved Special Access Programs 

under the conditions of the Regular B 

DAS Pilot Program. A total of 1,000 

Regular B DAS may be used in this 

program during each calendar quarter. 

According to the regulations at 

§ 648.85(b)(6)(iv)(H), once 1,000 Regular 

B DAS have been used during the 

calendar quarter, the use of Regular B 

DAS shall be prohibited for the duration 

of the current quarter. The Regular B 

DAS Pilot Program expires, and the 

current calendar quarter ends, on 

October 31, 2005. 

Based upon available information, the 

Regional Administrator has determined 

that 1,000 Regular B DAS will be used 

by October 6, 2005. Therefore, effective 

October 6, 2005, the use of Regular B 

DAS under the Regular B DAS Pilot 

Program is prohibited through the end 

of the current calendar quarter and the 

expiration of the Regular B DAS Pilot 

Program on October 31, 2005. A NE 

multispecies DAS vessel that has 

already declared its intent to fish in the 

Georges Bank Cod Stock Area under the 

Regular B DAS Pilot Program through 

VMS, departed on a trip, and crossed 

the VMS demarcation line prior to the 

effective date of this action (i.e. October 

6, 2005) must either complete its trip 

under a Regular B DAS by crossing the 

vessel monitoring system (VMS) 

demarcation line on its return to port, or 

flip to fishing under a Category A DAS, 

before 0000 hours local time on October 

6, 2005. This is the final quarter of the 

Regular B DAS Program; therefore, NE 

multispecies vessels are no longer 

authorized to fish under the B DAS Pilot 

Program unless otherwise notified by 

the Regional Administrator. 

Classification 

This action is required by 50 CFR part 

648 and is exempt from review under 

Executive Order 12866. 

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), the 

Assistant Administrator finds good 

cause to waive prior notice and 

opportunity for public comment for this 

action because any delay of this action 

would be impracticable and contrary to 

the public interest. The regulations at 

§ 648.85(b)(6)(iv)(H) require the 

Regional Administrator to prohibit the 

use of Regular B DAS under the Regular 

B DAS Pilot Program for the remainder 

of the current quarter once 1,000 

Regular B DAS have been used under 

the Regular B DAS Pilot Program. 

Accordingly, the action being taken by 

this temporary rule is non-discretionary. 

This action prohibits the use of Regular 

B DAS for the remainder of the current 

quarter (i.e., through October 31, 2005) 

to prevent the quarterly DAS use limit 

of 1,000 Regular B DAS for this program 

from being exceeded. The possibility of 

this closure was contemplated by 

Framework 40-A and commented on by 

the public. It is not practicable to allow 

for additional public comment or a 

delayed effectiveness because of the 

need to take immediate action as soon 

as the data are available indicating that 

1,000 Regular B DAS have been used. 

Information regarding Regulare B DAS 

use in this program only recently 

indicated an increased rate of DAS use 

in this program. As a result, there has 

been insufficient time to provide prior 

notice and opportunity for public 

comment on this action. If 

implementation of this action is 

delayed, NMFS would be prevented 

from carrying out its function of 

preventing the quarterly limit on 

Regular B DAS use from being 

exceeded, thereby increasing the harvest 

of stocks of concern under the Regular 

B DAS Pilot Program. Opportunity for 

public comment would allow the use of 

Regular B DAS and, therefore, the 

harvest of stocks of concern to continue 

during this quarter, resulting in the 

likelihood of exceeding the quarterly 

DAS limit and the incidental catch 

TACs for stocks of concern. Exceeding 

the quarterly TAC for these species 

increases the chance that such 

additional mortality could further delay 

the rebuilding of these overfished 

stocks. Exceeding the mortality targets 

for these species could potentially lead 

to further effort restrictions in the future 

and, therefore, further negative 

economic impacts to the fishing 

industry. Thus, any delay caused by 

further opportunity for public comment 

would be impracticable and contrary to 

the public interest. For the above 

reasons, under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3), 

proposed rulemaking is waived because 

it would be impracticable and contrary 

to the public interest. 

For the same reasons, the Assistant 

Administrator finds good cause, 

pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), to waive 

the entire 30–day delayed effectiveness 

period for this action. The effect of this 

waiver is mitigated to some degree 

because the public is able to obtain 

information from the NMFS Northeast 

Regional Office website at http:// 

www.nero.noaa.gov which provides 

catch information indicating the need 

for this action. 

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

Dated: October 3, 2005. 

Alan D. Risenhoover, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 05–20132 Filed 10–3–05; 3:18 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S