64128 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 208 / Tuesday, October 28, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

interest because of the need to 

immediately implement this action to 

protect the king mackerel resource 

because the capacity of the fishing fleet 

allows for rapid harvest of the quota. 

Prior notice and opportunity for public 

comment would require time and would 

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 the effectiveness of this 

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

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

Dated: October 22, 2014. 

Emily H. Menashes, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–25600 Filed 10–23–14; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 130919816–4205–02] 

RIN 0648–XD570 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Atlantic Herring Fishery; 2014 

Sub-Annual Catch Limit (ACL) 

Harvested for Management Area 1A 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; directed fishery 

closure. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is closing the directed 

herring fishery in management Area 1A, 

because it projects that 92 percent of the 

2014 catch limit for that area will have 

been caught by the effective date of this 

action. This action is necessary to 

comply with the regulations 

implementing the Atlantic Herring 

Fishery Management Plan and is 

intended to prevent excess harvest in 

Area 1A. 

DATES: Effective 0001 hr local time, 

October 26, 2014, through December 31, 

2014. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Carly Bari, Fishery Management 

Specialist, (978) 281–9224. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The reader 

can find regulations governing the 

herring fishery at 50 CFR part 648. The 

regulations require annual specification 

of the overfishing limit, acceptable 

biological catch, annual catch limit 

(ACL), optimum yield, domestic harvest 

and processing, U.S. at-sea processing, 

border transfer, and sub-ACLs for each 

management area. The 2014 Domestic 

Annual Harvest is 107,800 metric tons 

(mt); the 2014 sub-ACL allocated to 

Area 1A is 31,200 mt (but was reduced 

to 12,775 mt to account for an overage 

in 2011), and 936 mt of the Area 1A subACL is set aside for research (78 FR 

61828, October 4, 2013). The 2014 Area 

3 sub-ACL was increased to 33,967 mt 

to account for a 3,366 mt underharvest 

in 2012 (79 FR 15253, March 19, 2014). 

The regulations at § 648.201 require 

that when the NMFS Administrator of 

the Greater Atlantic Region (Regional 

Administrator) projects herring catch 

will reach 92 percent of the sub-ACL 

allocated in any of the four management 

areas designated in the Atlantic Herring 

Fishery Management Plan (FMP), NMFS 

will prohibit herring vessel permit 

holders from fishing for, catching, 

possessing, transferring, or landing more 

than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of herring per 

trip or calendar day in or from the 

specified management area for the 

remainder of the fishing year. The 

Regional Administrator monitors the 

herring fishery catch in each of the 

management areas based on dealer 

reports, state data, and other available 

information. NMFS publishes 

notification in the Federal Register of 

the date that the catch is projected to 

reach 92 percent of the management 

area sub-ACL and closure of the 

directed fishery in the management area 

for the remainder of the fishing year. 

After the closure, no vessel may offload 

and/or sell more than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) 

of herring from Area 1A unless that 

vessel entered port before the closure. 

During the directed fishery closure, 

vessels may transit Area 1A with more 

than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of herring on 

board only under the conditions 

specified below. 

The Regional Administrator has 

determined, based on dealer reports and 

other available information, that the 

herring fleet will have caught 92 percent 

of the total herring sub-ACL allocated to 

Area 1A (31,249 mt) for 2014 by October 

26, 2014. Therefore, effective 0001 hr 

local time, October 26, 2014, vessel 

issued a Federal herring permit may not 

fish for, catch, possess, transfer, or land 

more than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of herring 

per trip or calendar day, in or from Area 

1A through December 31, 2014, except 

that vessels that have entered port 

before 0001 hr on October 26, 2014, may 

offload and sell more than 2,000 lb 

(907.2 kg) of herring from Area 1A from 

that trip after the closure. During the 

directed fishery closure, October 26, 

2014, through December 31, 2014, a 

vessel may transit through Area 1A with 

more than 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of herring 

on board, provided the vessel did not 

fish for or catch more than 2,000 lb 

(907.2 kg) of herring in Area 1A and the 

vessel’s gear is not available for 

immediate use as defined by § 648.2. 

Effective 0001 hr, October 26, 2014, 

federally permitted dealers may not 

receive herring from federally permitted 

herring vessels that harvest more than 

2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of herring from Area 

1A through 2400 hr local time, 

December 31, 2014, unless it is from a 

trip landed by a vessel that entered port 

before 0001 hr on October 26, 2014. 

During the seasonal period January 1, 

2015, through May 31, 2015, vessels are 

prohibited from fishing for herring in or 

from Area 1A. Beginning on June 1, 

2015, the 2015 allocation for Area 1A 

becomes available. 

Classification 

This action is required by 50 CFR part 

648 and is exempt from review under 

Executive Order 12866. 

NMFS finds good cause pursuant to 5 

U.S.C. 553(b)(B) to waive prior notice 

and the opportunity for public comment 

because it would be contrary to the 

public interest and impracticable. This 

action closes the directed herring 

fishery for Management Area 1A 

through December 31, 2014, under 

current regulations. The regulations at 

§ 648.201(a) require such action to 

ensure that herring vessels do not 

exceed the 2014 sub-ACL allocated to 

Area 1A. The herring fishery opened for 

the 2014 fishing year on January 1, 

2014. Data indicating the herring fleet 

will have landed at least 92 percent of 

the 2014 sub-ACL allocated to Area 1A 

have only recently become available. If 

implementation of this closure is 

delayed to solicit prior public comment, 

the sub-ACL for Area 1A for this fishing 

year may be exceeded, thereby 

undermining the conservation 

objectives of the FMP. If sub-ACLs are 

exceeded, the excess must also be 

deducted from a future sub-ACL and 

would reduce future fishing 

opportunities. NMFS further finds, 

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

cause to waive the 30-day delayed 

effectiveness period for the reasons 

stated above. 

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

Dated: October 22, 2014. 

Emily H. Menashes, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–25635 Filed 10–23–14; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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