67672 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 230 / Friday, November 30, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 

[FR Doc. E7–23268 Filed 11–29–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 040112010–4114–02] 

RIN 0648–XE06 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

Provisions; Fisheries of the 

Northeastern United States; Northeast 

Multispecies Fishery; Modification of 

the Yellowtail Flounder Landing Limit 

for the U.S./Canada Management Area 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; trip limit 

change. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the 

Administrator, Northeast (NE) Region, 

NMFS (Regional Administrator), is 

increasing the Georges Bank (GB) 

yellowtail flounder trip limit to 7,500 lb 

(3,402 kg) for NE multispecies days-atsea (DAS) vessels fishing in the U.S./ 

Canada Management Area. This action 

is authorized by the regulations 

implementing Amendment 13 to the NE 

Multispecies Fishery Management Plan 

and is intended to prevent underharvesting of the Total Allowable Catch 

(TAC) for GB yellowtail flounder while 

ensuring that the TAC will not be 

exceeded during the 2007 fishing year. 

This action is being taken to provide 

additional opportunities for vessels to 

fully harvest the GB yellowtail flounder 

TAC under the authority of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act). 

DATES: Effective November 27, 2007, 

through April 30, 2008. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mark Grant, Fishery Management 

Specialist, (978) 281–9145, fax (978) 

281–9135. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Regulations governing the GB yellowtail 

flounder landing limit within the U.S./ 

Canada Management Area are found at 

§ 648.85(a)(3)(iv)(C) and (D). The 

regulations authorize vessels issued a 

valid Federal limited access NE 

multispecies permit and fishing under a 

NE multispecies DAS to fish in the U.S./ 

Canada Management Area, as defined at 

§ 648.85(a)(1), under specific 

conditions. The TAC for GB yellowtail 

flounder for the 2007 fishing year (May 

1, 2007 - April 30, 2008) is 900 mt. The 

regulations at § 648.85(a)(3)(iv)(D) 

authorize the Regional Administrator to 

increase or decrease the trip limits in 

the U.S./Canada Management Area to 

prevent over-harvesting or underharvesting the TAC allocation. 

On April 24, 2007 (72 FR 20287), 

based upon the reduced 2007 TAC for 

GB yellowtail flounder (a 43 reduction 

from 2006) and projections of harvest 

rates in the fishery, the trip limit for GB 

yellowtail flounder was set at 3,000 lb 

(1,361 kg) for the 2007 fishing year, to 

prevent the over-harvest of the 2007 GB 

yellowtail flounder TAC, to prevent a 

premature closure of the Eastern U.S./ 

Canada Management Area and, 

therefore, reduced opportunities to fish 

for Eastern GB cod and haddock in the 

Eastern U.S./Canada Area. 

According to the most recent Vessel 

Monitoring System (VMS) reports and 

other available information, only 45 

percent of the TAC had been harvested 

as of November 21, 2007. Of this total, 

discards account for over 36 percent of 

the GB yellowtail harvest to date. Based 

on this information, the Regional 

Administrator has determined that the 

current rate of harvest will result in the 

under-harvest of the GB yellowtail 

flounder TAC during the 2007 fishing 

year. Increasing the GB yellowtail 

flounder trip limit from 3,000 lb (1,361 

kg) to 7,500 lb (3,402 kg) is expected to 

increase landings of GB yellowtail 

flounder, reduce discards, and result in 

the achievement of the TAC during the 

fishing year without exceeding it. Based 

on this information, the Regional 

Administrator is increasing the current 

3,000–lb (1,361–kg) trip limit in the 

U.S./Canada Area to 7,500 lb (3,402 kg), 

effective November 27, 2007, through 

April 30, 2008. GB yellowtail flounder 

landings will continue to be closely 

monitored. Should 100 percent of the 

TAC allocation for GB yellowtail 

flounder be projected to be harvested, 

the Eastern U.S./Canada Management 

Area will close to all groundfish DAS 

vessels, and all vessels will be 

prohibited from harvesting, possessing, 

or landing yellowtail flounder from the 

U.S./Canada Management Area for the 

remainder of the fishing year. 

Classification 

This action is authorized by 50 CFR 

part 648 and is exempt from review 

under Executive Order 12866. 

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B) and 

(d)(3), there is good cause to waive prior 

notice and opportunity for public 

comment, as well as the delayed 

effectiveness for this action, because 

prior notice and comment and a delayed 

effectiveness would be impracticable 

and contrary to the public interest. This 

action would relieve a restriction by 

increasing the trip limit for GB 

yellowtail flounder for all NE 

multispecies DAS vessels through April 

30, 2008, to facilitate the harvest of the 

TAC for GB yellowtail flounder while 

ensuring that the TAC will not be 

exceeded during the 2007 fishing year. 

This will result in decreased regulatory 

discards of GB yellowtail flounder, 

increased revenue for the NE 

multispecies fishery, and an increased 

chance of achieving optimum yield in 

the groundfish fishery. 

This action is authorized by the 

regulations at § 648.85(a)(3)(iv)(D) to 

facilitate achieving the U.S./Canada 

Management Area TACs. It is important 

to take this action immediately because 

the current restrictive GB yellowtail 

flounder trip limit (3,000 lb, 1,361 kg) 

has resulted in a high discard rate of GB 

yellowtail flounder (36 percent) and has 

prevented the NE multispecies fishery 

from harvesting the TAC at a rate that 

will result in complete harvest by the 

end of the 2007 fishing year. Delay in 

the implementation of this action could 

result in further wasteful discards of GB 

yellowtail flounder and decrease the 

opportunity available for vessels to fully 

harvest the 2007 GB yellowtail flounder 

TAC. 

The time necessary to provide for 

prior notice, opportunity for public 

comment, and delayed effectiveness for 

this action would prevent NE 

multispecies DAS vessels from 

efficiently targeting GB yellowtail 

flounder in the U.S./Canada 

Management Area. The Regional 

Administrator’s authority to increase 

trip limits for GB yellowtail flounder in 

the U.S./Canada Management Area to 

help ensure that the shared U.S./Canada 

stocks of fish are harvested, but not 

exceeded, was considered and open to 

public comment during the 

development of Amendment 13 and 

Framework Adjustment 42. Further, the 

potential of increasing the GB yellowtail 

flounder trip limit was announced to 

the public when the 3,000–lb (1,361–kg) 

trip limit was announced prior to the 

start of the 2007 fishing year. Therefore, 

any negative effect the waiving of public 

comment and delayed effectiveness may 

have on the public is mitigated by these 

factors. 

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


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 230 / Friday, November 30, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 67673 

Dated: November 27, 2007. 

Emily H. Menashes, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 07–5887 Filed 11–27–07; 2:08 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with RULES