65580 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 206 / Tuesday, October 26, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

fishery for coastal migratory pelagic fish 

(king mackerel, Spanish mackerel, cero, 

cobia, little tunny, and, in the Gulf of 

Mexico (Gulf) only, dolphin and 

bluefish) is managed under the Fishery 

Management Plan for the Coastal 

Migratory Pelagic Resources of the Gulf 

of Mexico and South Atlantic (FMP). 

The FMP was prepared by the Gulf of 

Mexico and South Atlantic Fishery 

Management Councils (Councils) 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. 

On April 27, 2000, NMFS 

implemented the final rule (65 FR 

16336, March 28, 2000) that divided the 

Florida west coast subzone of the Gulf 

of Mexico eastern zone into northern 

and southern subzones, and established 

their separate commercial quotas. The 

northern Florida west coast subzone is 

located in Federal waters of the Gulf 

north of 26°19.8′ N lat. (a line directly 

west from the Lee/Collier County, FL 

boundary) and east of 87°31.1′ W long. 

(a line directly south from the Alabama/ 

Florida boundary). The quota for the 

northern subzone is 168,750 lb (76,544 

kg) (50 CFR 622.42(c)(1)(ii)). 

In accordance with 50 CFR 

622.44(a)(2)(ii)(B)(2), from the date that 

75 percent of the northern Florida west 

coast subzone’s quota has been 

harvested until a closure of the subzone 

has been effected or the fishing year 

ends, king mackerel in or from the EEZ 

may be possessed on board or landed 

from a permitted vessel in amounts not 

exceeding 500 lb (227 kg) per day. 

NMFS has determined that 75 percent 

of the quota for Gulf group king 

mackerel from the northern Florida west 

coast subzone has been reached. 

Accordingly, a 500-lb (227-kg) trip limit 

applies to vessels harvesting 

commercial quantities of king mackerel 

in or from the EEZ in the northern 

Florida west coast subzone effective 

12:01 a.m., local time, October 26, 2010. 

The 500-lb (227-kg) trip limit will 

remain in effect until the northern 

Florida west coast subzone closes or 

until the end of the current fishing year 

(June 30, 2011), whichever occurs first. 

Classification 

This action responds to the best 

available information recently obtained 

from the fishery. The Assistant 

Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA, 

(AA), finds the need to immediately 

implement this commercial trip limit 

reduction 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 would be unnecessary 

because the rule itself already has been 

subject to notice and comment, and all 

that remains is to notify the public of 

the trip limit reduction. 

Allowing prior notice and 

opportunity for public comment is 

contrary to the public interest because 

of the need to immediately implement 

this action to protect the fishery 

resource because the capacity of the 

commercial fleet allows for rapid 

harvest of the quota. Prior notice and 

opportunity for public comment would 

require time and potentially result in a 

harvest well in excess of the established 

quota. 

For the aforementioned reasons, the 

AA also finds good cause to waive the 

30-day delay in effectiveness of this 

action under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3). 

This action is taken under 50 CFR 

622.43(a) and is exempt from review 

under Executive Order 12866. 

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

Dated: October 21, 2010. 

Carrie Selberg, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–27081 Filed 10–21–10; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 900124–0127] 

RIN 0648–XZ16 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Atlantic Surfclam and Ocean 

Quahog Fisheries; Suspension of 

Minimum Atlantic Surfclam Size Limit 

for Fishing Year 2011 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; suspension of 

the Atlantic surfclam minimum size 

limit. 

SUMMARY: NMFS suspends the 

minimum size limit for Atlantic 

surfclams for the 2011 fishing year. This 

action is taken under the authority of 

the implementing regulations for this 

fishery, which allow for the annual 

suspension of the minimum size limit 

based upon set criteria. The intended 

effect is to relieve the industry from a 

regulatory burden that is not necessary, 

as the majority of surfclams harvested 

are larger than the minimum size limit. 

DATES: Effective January 1, 2011, 

through December 31, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: Written inquiries may be 

sent to: Regional Administrator, 

National Marine Fisheries Service, 

Northeast Regional Office, 55 Great 

Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930– 

2298. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Anna Macan, Fishery Management 

Specialist, (978) 281–9165; fax (978) 

281–9135. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

648.72(c) of the regulations 

implementing the Fishery Management 

Plan (FMP) for the Atlantic Surfclam 

and Ocean Quahog Fisheries authorizes 

the Administrator, Northeast Region, 

NMFS (Regional Administrator), to 

suspend annually, by publication of a 

notification in the Federal Register, the 

minimum size limit for Atlantic 

surfclams. This action may be taken 

unless discard, catch, and biological 

sampling data indicate that 30 percent 

of the Atlantic surfclam resource is 

smaller than 4.75 inches (120 mm) and 

the overall reduced size is not 

attributable to harvest from beds where 

growth of the individual clams has been 

reduced because of density-dependent 

factors. 

At its June 2010 meeting, the MidAtlantic Fishery Management Council 

voted to recommend that the Regional 

Administrator suspend the minimum 

size limit for the 2011 fishing year. 

Commercial surfclam data for 2010 were 

analyzed to determine the percentage of 

surfclams that were smaller than the 

minimum size requirement. The 

analysis indicated that 8.10 percent of 

the overall commercial landings were 

composed of surfclams that were less 

than 4.75 inches (120 mm). Based on 

these data, the Regional Administrator 

adopts the Council’s recommendation 

and suspends the minimum size limit 

for Atlantic surfclams from January 1 

through December 31, 2011. 

Classification 

This action is authorized by 50 CFR 

part 648 and is exempt from review 

under Executive Order 12866. 

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

Dated: October 21, 2010. 

Carrie Selberg, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–27076 Filed 10–25–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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