45358 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 151 / Tuesday, August 5, 2008 / Rules and Regulations 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 071130780–8013–02] 

RIN 0648–XJ51 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

Provisions; Fisheries of the 

Northeastern United States; Atlantic 

Sea Scallop Fishery; Closure of the 

Nantucket Lightship Scallop Access 

Area to Scallop Vessels 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; closure. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces the closure 

of the Nantucket Lightship Scallop 

Access Area (NLCA) to scallop vessels 

until June 15, 2010. This closure is 

based on a determination by the 

Northeast Regional Administrator (RA) 

that scallop vessels will have caught the 

yellowtail flounder (yellowtail) total 

allowable catch (TAC) for the NLCA on 

August 3, 2008. Effective 0001 hours, 

August 4, 2008, vessels may not fish for 

scallops in the NLCA. Vessels on a 

NLCA scallop trip at the time of this 

announcement must leave the NLCA 

prior to 0001 hour, August 4, 2008. This 

action is being taken to prevent the 

scallop fleet from exceeding the 

yellowtail TAC allocated to the NLCA 

for the 2008 scallop fishing year in 

accordance with the regulations 

implementing the Atlantic Sea Scallop 

Fishery Management Plan (FMP), 

Northeast (NE) Multispecies FMP and 

the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act. 

DATES: The closure of the NLCA to all 

scallop vessels is effective 0001 hr local 

time, August 4, 2008, until June 15, 

2010. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Don 

Frei, Fishery Management Specialist, 

(978) 281–9326, fax (978) 281–9135. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Commercial scallop vessels fishing in 

access areas are allocated 9.8 percent of 

the annual yellowtail TACs established 

in the (NE) Multispecies FMP. Given 

current fishing effort by scallop vessels 

in the NLCA, the RA has made a 

determination that the NLCA yellowtail 

TAC of 67,409 lb (30.58 mt) is projected 

to be caught on August 3, 2008. 

Pursuant to 50 CFR 648.60(a)(5)(ii)(C) 

and 648.85(c)(3)(ii), this Federal 

Register notice notifies scallop vessel 

owners that, effective 0001 hours on 

August 4, 2008, federally permitted 

scallop vessels are prohibited from 

declaring or initiating a trip into the 

NLCA until June 15, 2010. 

If a vessel with a limited access 

scallop permit has an unused trip(s) into 

the NLCA, it will be allocated 7.7 

additional open areas days-at-sea (DAS) 

for each unused trip. If a vessel has been 

allocated a broken trip compensation 

trip that cannot be made, it will be 

allocated prorated open area DAS based 

on the remaining allocation and the 

above listed access area DAS conversion 

rate. For example, if a full-time vessel 

had an unused 9,000–lb NLCA 

compensation trip (half of the full 

possession limit) at the time of a NLCA 

yellowtail TAC closure, the vesselwould 

be allocated 3.85 DAS (half of the 7.7 

DAS that would be allocated for a full 

NLCA trip). A separate letter will be 

sent to notify vessel owners of their 

allocations for unused trips in the 

NLCA. 

Classification 

This action is required by 50 CFR part 

648 and is exempt from review under 

Executive Order 12866. 

Due to the need to take immediate 

action to close the NLCA once the 

yellowtail TAC has been taken, 

pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3) proposed 

rulemaking is waived because it would 

be impracticable and contrary to the 

public interest to allow a period for 

public comment. The NLCA opened for 

the 2008 fishing year on June 15, 2008. 

Data indicating the scallop fleet has 

taken, or is projected to take, all of the 

NLCA yellowtail TAC have only 

recently become available. To allow 

scallop vessels to continue to take trips 

in the NLCA during the period 

necessary to publish and receive 

comments on a proposed rule would 

result in vessels taking more yellowtail 

than allocated to the scallop fleet. 

Excessive yellowtail harvest from the 

NLCA would result in excessive fishing 

effort on the Southern New England/ 

Mid-Atlantic yellowtail stock, where 

tight effort controls are critical for the 

rebuilding program. Should excessive 

fishing effort occur, future management 

measures may need to be more 

restrictive. Based on the above, under 5 

U.S.C. 553(d)(3), proposed rule making 

is waived because it would be 

impracticable and contrary to the public 

interest to allow a period for public 

comment. Furthermore, for the same 

reasons, there is good cause under 5 

U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to waive the 30-day 

delayed effectiveness period for this 

action. 

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

Dated: July 30, 2008. 

Alan D. Risenhoover, 

Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E8–17947 Filed 7–31–08; 4:15 pm] 

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