Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 206 / Friday, October 24, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 63563 

conservation and management of highly 

migratory fish resources in the EPO. 

The IATTC adopted Resolution C–13– 

01, which establishes an annual catch 

limit of bigeye tuna for large U.S. 

longline vessels. For calendar years 

2014, 2015, and 2016, the catch of 

bigeye tuna by longline gear in the 

IATTC Convention Area by fishing 

vessels of the United States that are over 

24 meters in overall length is limited to 

500 metric tons per year. With the 

approval of the DOS, NMFS 

implemented this catch limit by noticeand-comment rulemaking under the Act 

(79 FR 19487, April 9, 2014, and 

codified at 50 CFR 300.25). 

NMFS monitored the retained catches 

of bigeye tuna using logbook data 

submitted by vessel captains and other 

available information from the longline 

fisheries in the IATTC Convention Area, 

and determined that the 2014 catch 

limit is expected to be reached on 

October 31, 2014. In accordance with 50 

CFR 300.25(b), this Federal Register 

notice announces that the U.S. longline 

fishery for bigeye tuna in the IATTC 

Convention Area will be closed for 

vessels over 24 meters in overall length 

starting on October 31, 2014, through 

the end of the 2014 calendar year. The 

2015 fishing year is scheduled to open 

on January 1, 2015. The bigeye tuna 

catch limit for longline vessels over 24 

meters in overall length for 2015 will be 

500 metric tons. 

During the closure, a U.S. fishing 

vessel over 24 meters in overall length 

may not be used to retain on board, 

transship, or land bigeye tuna captured 

by longline gear in the IATTC 

Convention Area, except as follows: 

• Any bigeye tuna already on board a 

fishing vessel upon the effective date of 

the prohibitions may be retained on 

board, transshipped, and/or landed, to 

the extent authorized by applicable laws 

and regulations, provided that they are 

landed within 14 days after the 

prohibitions become effective, that is, by 

November 14, 2014. 

• In the case of a vessel that has 

declared to NMFS that the current trip 

type is shallow-set longlining, the 14- 

day limit is waived, but the number of 

bigeye tuna retained on board, 

transshipped, or landed must not 

exceed the number on board the vessel 

upon the effective date of the 

prohibitions, as recorded by the NMFS 

observer on board the vessel. 

• Bigeye tuna caught by longline gear 

used on a vessel of the United States 

over 24 meters in the IATTC Convention 

Area may not be transshipped to a 

fishing vessel unless that fishing vessel 

is operated in compliance with a valid 

permit issued under 50 CFR 660.707 or 

665.801 (the rule implementing 

Resolution C–13–1 incorrectly cited 

§ 665.21, which has been re-codified as 

§ 665.801). 

• A fishing vessel of the United States 

over 24 meters, other than a vessel for 

which a declaration has been made to 

NMFS that the current trip is shallowsetting, may not be used to fish in the 

Pacific Ocean using longline gear both 

inside and outside the IATTC 

Convention Area during the same 

fishing trip, with the exception of a 

fishing trip during which the 

prohibitions were put into effect. 

• If a vessel over 24 meters that is not 

on a declared shallow-set trip is used to 

fish in the Pacific Ocean using longline 

gear outside the IATTC Convention 

Area and the vessel enters the IATTC 

Convention Area at any time during the 

same fishing trip, the longline gear on 

the fishing vessel must be stowed in a 

manner so as not to be readily available 

for fishing. Specifically, the hooks, 

branch lines, and floats must be stowed 

and not available for immediate use, 

and any power-operated mainline 

hauler on deck must be covered in such 

a manner that it is not readily available 

for use. 

Classification 

There is good cause to waive prior 

notice and opportunity for public 

comment pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B). 

This action is based on the best 

available information and is necessary 

for the conservation and management of 

bigeye tuna. Compliance with the notice 

and comment requirement would be 

impracticable and contrary to the public 

interest because NMFS would be unable 

to ensure that the 2014 bigeye tuna 

catch limit applicable to large longline 

vessels is not exceeded. The annual 

catch limit is an important mechanism 

to ensure that the United States 

complies with its international 

obligations in preventing overfishing 

and managing the fishery at optimum 

yield. Moreover, NMFS previously 

solicited public comments on the rule 

that established the catch limit (79 FR 

19487, April 9, 2014), including a 

provision for issuing a notice to close 

the fishery, if necessary, to prevent 

exceeding the catch limit. For the same 

reasons, there is good cause to establish 

an effective date less than 30 days after 

date of publication of this notice. 

This action is required by § 300.25(b) 

and is exempt from review under 

Executive Order 12866. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 951–962 et seq. 

Dated: October 15, 2014. 

Alan D. Risenhoover, 

Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–25293 Filed 10–21–14; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 140624530–4848–01] 

RIN 0648–XD354 

Revisions to Framework Adjustment 

51 to the Northeast Multispecies 

Fishery Management Plan and Sector 

Annual Catch Entitlements; Updated 

Annual Catch Limits for Sectors and 

the Common Pool for Fishing Year 

2014 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary final rule; 

adjustment to specifications. 

SUMMARY: Based on the final Northeast 

multispecies sector rosters, we are 

adjusting the fishing year 2014 

specification of annual catch limits for 

commercial groundfish vessels, as well 

as sector annual catch entitlements for 

groundfish stocks by adding carried 

over catch from fishing year 2013 and 

reducing quotas for some stocks by the 

amount of overages exceeding their 

limits in fishing year 2013, among other 

adjustments. This revision to fishing 

year 2014 catch levels is necessary to 

account for changes in the number of 

participants electing to fish in sectors. 

DATES: Effective October 23, 2014, 

through April 30, 2015. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Allison Murphy, Sector Policy Analyst, 

(978) 281–9122. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The New 

England Fishery Management Council 

developed Amendment 16 to the 

Northeast (NE) Multispecies Fishery 

Management Plan (FMP), in part, to 

establish a process for setting 

groundfish annual catch limits (also 

referred to as ACLs or catch limits) and 

accountability measures. The Council 

has a biennial review process to develop 

catch limits and revise management 

measures. Framework Adjustment 51 

and concurrent emergency actions set 

annual catch limits for nine groundfish 

stocks and three jointly managed U.S./ 

Canada stocks for fishing years 2014– 


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63564 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 206 / Friday, October 24, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

2015. Recently, we partially approved 

Framework 51, which became effective 

on May 1, 2014 (79 FR 22421; April 22, 

2014), and also approved fishing year 

2014 sector operations plans and 

allocations (79 FR 23278; April 28, 

2014; ‘‘sector rule’’). A sector receives 

an allocation of each stock, or annual 

catch entitlement (referred to as ACE, or 

allocation), based on its members’ catch 

histories. State-operated permit banks 

also receive an allocation that can be 

transferred to qualifying sector vessels 

(for more information, see the final rule 

implementing Amendment 17 (77 FR 

16942; March 23, 2012)). The sum of all 

sector and state-operated permit bank 

allocations is referred to as the sector 

sub-ACL in the FMP. Whatever 

groundfish allocation remains after 

sectors and state-operated permit banks 

receive their allocations is then 

allocated to vessels not enrolled in a 

sector (referred to as the common pool). 

This allocation is also referred to as the 

common pool sub-ACL. This rule 

adjusts the both the sector and common 

pool fishing year 2014 sub-ACLs based 

on final sector membership, which was 

established as of May 1, 2014. 

Permitted vessels that wish to fish in 

a sector must enroll by December 1 of 

each year, with the fishing year 

beginning the following May 1 and 

lasting through April 30 of the next 

year. However, due to a delay in 

distributing each vessel’s potential 

contribution to a sector’s quota for 

fishing year 2014, we extended the 

deadline to join a sector until March 6, 

2014. Because of this extended 

deadline, and the fact that vessels had 

until April 30, 2014, to drop out of a 

sector and fish in the common pool, 

fishing year 2013 membership was used 

to estimate sector ACEs in the 

Framework 51 final rule. The fishing 

year 2014 sector final rule, which 

published later than the Framework 51 

final rule, used March 6, 2014, rosters 

to estimate sector ACEs. 

The final number of permits enrolled 

in a sector or state-operated permit bank 

for fishing year 2014 is 845, which is 4 

less than the March 6, 2013, roster. All 

sector allocations assume that each NE 

multispecies vessel enrolled in a sector 

has a valid permit for fishing year 2014. 

Tables 1, 2, and 3 (below) explain the 

revised fishing year 2014 allocations as 

a percentage and absolute amount (in 

metric tons and pounds). 

Table 4 compares the preliminary 

allocations based on fishing year 2013 

membership published in the 

Framework 51 proposed and final rules, 

with the revised allocations based on 

the final sector and state-operated 

permit bank rosters as of May 1, 2014. 

The table shows that changes in sector 

allocations due to updated rosters range 

from a decrease of 0.86 percent of 

Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic 

(SNE/MA) yellowtail flounder, to an 

increase of 0.40 percent of Georges Bank 

(GB) yellowtail flounder. Common pool 

allocation adjustments range between a 

2.94-percent decrease in GB cod, to a 

15.79-percent increase in redfish. The 

changes in the common-pool allocations 

are greater because the common pool 

has a significantly lower allocation for 

all stocks. 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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Table 1. Final Percentage (%) of ACE for Each Sector by Stock for Fishing Year 20141 

Sector MRI GB GOM GB GOM GB SNE/MA CC/GOM Witch GB GOM SNE

Name Count Cod Cod Haddock Haddock Yellowtail Yellowtail Yellowtail Plaice Flounder Winter Winter Win

Flounder Flounder Flounder Flounder Flounder Flou

FGS 110 27.72 2.51 5.76 1.84 0.01 0.31 2.90 0.98 2.13 0.03 12.87 

MCCS 46 0.21 4.60 0.04 2.55 0.00 0.67 1.05 7.56 5.06 0.01 1.96 

MPB 11 0.13 1.15 0.04 1.12 O.Dl 0.03 0.32 1.16 0.73 0.00 0.42 

NCCS 27 0.17 0.85 0.12 0.36 0.84 0.73 0.63 0.16 0.22 0.07 0.93 

NEFS 1 3 0.00 0.03 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.04 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.05 

NEFS2 81 5.78 18.24 10.69 16.36 1.91 1.42 19.31 7.87 12.80 3.22 18.43 

NEFS 3 78 1.26 14.42 0.15 9.28 0.01 0.36 8.86 4.06 2.84 0.03 9.49 

NEFS4 50 4.14 9.59 5.32 8.35 2.16 2.38 5.47 9.29 8.50 0.69 6.24 

NEFS 5 29 0.78 0.01 1.05 0.29 1.61 22.53 0.48 0.49 0.67 0.52 0.07 

NEFS 6 22 2.87 2.95 2.92 3.85 2.70 5.31 3.74 3.88 5.20 1.51 4.55 

NEFS 7 22 4.66 0.39 4.62 0.47 10.08 4.11 2.35 3.53 3.24 12.97 0.75 

NEFS 8 20 6.14 0.46 6.00 0.20 11.26 6.05 6.40 1.72 2.57 15.55 3.16 

NEFS 9 60 14.24 1.73 11.61 4.80 26.79 8.01 10.41 8.27 8.28 39.51 2.43 

NEFS 10 43 0.73 5.21 0.25 2.53 0.02 0.55 12.67 1.70 2.39 0.01 17.84 

NEFS 11 56 0.41 13.62 0.04 3.21 0.00 0.02 2.59 2.10 2.07 0.00 2.25 

NEFS 13 53 7.92 0.95 15.96 0.99 24.73 18.78 5.03 5.14 6.20 7.26 2.34 

NHPB 4 0.00 1.14 0.00 0.03 0.00 0.00 0.02 0.03 0.01 0.00 0.06 

SHS 1 117 20.65 19.66 34.34 42.71 14.10 8.41 13.22 39.51 34.45 17.31 10.38 

SHS3 13 0.29 0.15 0.40 0.07 2.21 2.27 1.13 0.66 0.61 0.46 1.32 

Sector Total 845 98.11 97.67 99.31 99.01 98.45 81.92 96.61 98.13 97.97 99.14 95.54 8

Common 

Pool 528 1.89 2.33 0.69 0.99 1.55 18.08 3.39 1.87 2.03 0.86 4.46 

-Georges Bank Cod Fixed Gear Sector (FGS), Maine Coast Community Sector (MCCS), Maine Permit Bank (M PB), Northeast Coastal Communities Sector (NCCS

(NEFS), New Hampshire Permit Bank (NH PB), and Sustainable Harvest Sector (SHS) 

1 All ACE values for sectors outlined in Table 1 assume that each sector permit is valid for fishing year 2014. 

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Table 2. Final ACE for Each Sector by Stock for Fishing Year 2014 (mt)1•2 

GB GB GOM GB GB GOM GB SNE/MA CC/GOM Witch GB GOM 

Sector Name Cod Cod Haddock Haddock Yellowtail Yellowtail Yellowtail Plaice Winter Winter 

East West Cod East West Haddock Flonnder Flonnder Flonnder Flonnder Flounder Flounder 

FGS 41 449 21 577 413 4 0 2 14 14 13 I 92 

MCCS 0 3 38 4 3 6 0 4 5 104 31 0 14 

MPB 0 2 10 4 3 2 0 0 2 16 4 0 3 

NCCS 0 3 7 12 9 I 2 4 3 2 I 2 7 

NEFS I 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 NEFS2 9 94 151 1070 766 36 5 8 92 109 78 109 132 NEFS3 2 20 120 15 10 20 0 2 42 56 17 I 68 NEFS4 6 67 80 532 381 18 6 13 26 128 52 24 45 NEFS5 I 13 0 105 76 I 4 127 2 7 4 17 0 

NEFS6 4 46 25 293 210 8 7 30 18 54 32 51 33 

NEFS7 7 76 3 462 331 I 26 23 II 49 20 439 5 NEFS8 9 100 4 600 430 0 29 34 31 24 16 526 23 

NEFS9 21 231 14 1161 832 11 68 45 50 114 50 1337 17 

NEFS 10 I 12 43 25 18 6 0 3 61 24 15 0 127 

NEFS II I 7 113 4 3 7 0 0 12 29 13 0 16 

NEFS 13 12 128 8 1596 1144 2 63 106 24 71 38 246 17 

NHPB 0 0 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

SHS I 31 335 163 3435 2461 94 36 47 63 546 210 586 74 SHS3 0 5 1 40 29 0 6 13 5 9 4 16 9 Sector Total 145 1590 811 9935 7117 218 251 462 463 1356 598 3356 683 

Common Pool 3 31 19 69 50 2 4 102 16 26 12 29 32 

TAll ACE values for sectors outlined in Table 2 assume that each sector permit is valid for fishing year 2014. 

2These values do not include any potential ACE carryover or deductions from fishing year 2013 sector ACE underages or overages. 

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Table 3. Final ACE for Each Sector by Stock for Fishing Year 2014 (1,000 lb) 1'2 

GB GB GOM GB GB GOM GB SNE/MA CC/GOM Witch GB GOM S

Sector Name Cod Cod Cod Haddock Haddock Haddock Yellowtail Yellowtail Yellowtail Plaice Flounder Winter Winter 

East West East West Flounder Flounder Flounder Flounder Flounder F

FGS 90 991 46 1271 911 9 0 4 31 30 29 2 203 

MCCS 1 8 84 9 6 12 0 8 11 230 68 1 31 

MPB 0 5 21 10 7 5 0 0 3 35 10 0 7 

NCCS 1 6 16 27 19 2 5 9 7 5 3 5 15 

NEFS 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 

NEFS2 19 207 334 2358 1689 79 11 18 204 240 172 240 290 NEFS3 4 45 264 32 23 45 0 4 94 124 38 2 150 NEFS4 14 148 176 1173 840 41 12 30 58 283 114 52 98 NEFS5 3 28 0 233 167 1 9 280 5 15 9 38 1 NEFS6 9 102 54 645 462 19 15 66 40 118 70 113 72 NEFS7 15 167 7 1018 729 2 57 51 25 107 44 968 12 NEFS8 20 220 8 1323 948 I 63 75 68 52 35 1160 50 NEFS9 46 509 32 2560 1834 23 150 100 110 252 111 2948 38 

NEFS 10 2 26 95 55 40 12 0 7 134 52 32 I 281 

NEFS 11 1 15 249 8 6 16 0 0 27 64 28 0 35 

NEFS 13 26 283 17 3519 2521 5 139 233 53 157 83 542 37 

NHPB 0 0 21 0 0 0 0 0 0 I 0 0 1 

SHS 1 67 738 360 7573 5426 207 79 105 140 1204 463 1292 163 

SHS 3 I 10 3 89 63 0 12 28 12 20 8 34 21 

Sector Total 320 3506 1787 21903 15691 480 552 1019 1020 2990 1317 7399 1505 

Common Pool 6 67 43 152 109 5 9 225 36 57 27 64 70 

All ACE values for sectors outlined in Table 3 assume that each sector permit is valid for fishing year 2014. 

2 These values do not include any poteotial ACE carryover or deductions from fishing year 2013 sector ACE underages or overages. 

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Table 4. Comparison of Allocations Between the Framework 51 Final Rule and May 1, 2014, Sector Rosters (mt)1 

GB GOM GB SNE/MA CC/GOM Witch GB Winter GOM SNE/MA 

GBCod GOMCod Haddock Haddock Yellowtail Yellowtail Yellowtail Plaice Flounder Flounder Winter Winter 

Flounder Flounder Flounder Flounder Flounder 

Total 

Commercial 1769 1316 17171 307 254.5 564 479 1382 610 3385 715 1210 

Allocation 

FY2014 

Common 

Pool 

Allocation 34 19 122 2 4 98 16 25 12 26 32 138 

based on 

FY2013 

sector 

membership 

Adjusted 

FY2014 

Common 33 19 119 2 4 102 16 26 12 29 32 147 

Pool 

Allocation 

%Change -2.94% 0.00% -2.46% 0.00% 0.00% 4.08% 0.00% 4.00% 0.00% 11.54% 0.00% 6.52% 

FY 2014 

Sector 

Allocation 

based on 1735 811 17049 218 250 466 463 1357 598 3359 683 1072 

FY 2013 

sector 

membership 

Adjusted 

FY2014 1736 811 17052 218 251 462 463 1356 598 3356 683 1063 

Sector 

Allocation 

%Change 0.06% 0.00% 0.02% 0.00% 0.40% -0.86% 0.00% -0.07% 0.00% -0.09% 0.00% -0.84% 

I All values for sectors outlined in Table 4 assume that each sector permit is valid for fishing year 2014. 
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 206 / Friday, October 24, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 63569 

We have completed fishing year 2013 

data reconciliation with sectors and 

allowed a 2-week window for any sector 

with an overage to trade fishing year 

2013 ACE to balance the overage. We 

have since determined final fishing year 

2013 sector catch and the amount of 

quota that sectors may carry from 

fishing year 2013 into fishing year 2014. 

A recent emergency rule (79 FR 36433; 

June 27, 2014) described changes to 

carryover and catch accounting in 

response to litigation by Conservation 

Law Foundation (Conservation Law 

Foundation v. Pritzker, et al. (Case No. 

1:13–CV–0821–JEB)). The Court 

invalidated the previous carryover 

measures because those measures failed 

to prevent total potential catches of 

certain stocks (ACEs plus carryover) 

from exceeding their annual biological 

catch (ABC). This rule ensures that 

catch does not exceed the ABC for any 

stock. Because of this, the maximum 

carryover for certain stocks may be 

lower than what a sector expects. Table 

5 includes the maximum amount of 

quota that sectors may carry over from 

fishing year 2013 into fishing year 2014. 

Table 6 includes the de minimis amount 

of quota that sectors may carry over 

from fishing year 2013 into fishing year 

2014. 


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Table 5. Maximum Carryover ACE from Fishing Year 2013 to Fishing Year 2014 (lbs) 

GB GB SNE/MA CC/GOM GOM SNE 

GBCod GOM Haddock GOM Yellowtail Yellowtail Yellowtail Witch GB Winter Winter Winter 

Sector West Cod West Haddock Flounder Flounder Flounder Plaice Flounder Flounder Flounder Flounder 

FGS 57,920 4,440 116,954 757 0 284 1,575 993 0 64 3,275 2,646 

MCCS 441 8,390 800 1,051 0 618 601 12,735 2,439 16 1,721 311 

NCCS 359 1,368 2,461 143 0 677 349 70 0 160 792 481 

NEFS 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

NEFS2 12,937 33,635 242,197 6,831 0 1,406 11,076 13,654 0 7,684 16,203 5,959 NEFS3 2,621 26,311 2,957 3,974 0 333 4,887 6,843 4 62 8,175 1,236 NEFS4 8,644 10,160 107,880 3,443 0 2,118 3,127 15,662 0 1,617 5,471 1,402 NEFS5 1,642 23 21,378 120 0 21,456 277 834 88 1,210 59 19,890 NEFS6 5,985 5,331 59,313 1,580 0 4,824 2,037 6,536 0 3,393 3,832 3,045 

NEFS 7 10,889 717 100,537 194 0 4,266 1,633 6,053 574 34,608 732 10,201 

NEFS8 12,849 899 115,071 88 0 5,454 3,659 2,782 357 34,078 2,936 15,080 NEFS9 29,765 1,050 235,454 1,977 0 7,428 5,955 13,944 0 92,027 2,136 29,933 NEFS10 1,523 9,617 5,101 1,045 0 0 7,332 2,967 0 33 23,661 1,208 

NEFS 11 739 15,551 724 227 0 16 1,203 1,997 0 2 1,696 29 

NEFS12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

NEFS 13 16,633 1,315 326,360 407 0 17,666 2,876 8,700 115 17,377 2,053 17,743 

SHS 1 41,165 35,655 671,390 17,390 0 7,691 7,341 66,247 0 38,010 9,008 29,676 

SHS3 918 839 13,061 76 0 2,924 1,190 918 0 1,147 2,024 2,255 

Sector Total 205,030 155,300 2,021,639 39,303 0 77,162 55,116 160,937 3,577 231,485 83,776 141,096 

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Table 6. De Minimis Carryover ACE from Fishing Year 2013 to Fishing Year 2014 (lbs) 

GB GB SNE/MA CC/GOM GB GOM SNE 

GBCod GOM Haddock GOM Yellowtail Yellowtail Yellowtail Witch Winter Winter Winter 

Sector West Cod West Haddock Flounder Flounder Flounder Plaice Flounder Flounder Flounder Flound

FGS 10,810 459 21,818 89 0 38 307 298 0 21 2,028 4

MCCS 82 841 149 124 0 83 Ill 2,302 681 5 309 

NCCS 68 156 460 17 0 91 66 48 0 51 146 

NEFS 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

NEFS2 2,255 3,338 40,477 793 0 177 2,039 2,397 0 2,401 2,904 8NEFS3 492 2,638 553 450 0 45 936 1,236 4 20 1,496 2NEFS4 1,614 1,755 20,126 405 0 295 577 2,832 0 518 983 3NEFS5 304 2 3,991 14 0 2,802 51 151 88 385 10 3,2NEFS6 1,118 540 11,069 187 0 660 395 1,183 0 1,127 717 5NEFS7 1,819 71 17,476 23 0 511 248 1,075 436 9,681 118 1,3NEFS8 2,395 84 22,708 10 0 752 676 523 346 11,602 498 2,7NEFS9 5,555 317 43,932 233 0 996 1,100 2,521 0 29,482 384 4,9

NEFS 10 284 953 952 123 0 0 1,338 519 0 10 2,810 1

NEFS 11 159 2,493 144 156 0 2 273 640 0 2 354 

NEFS 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

NEFS 13 3,087 173 60,409 48 0 2,335 531 1,566 115 5,418 369 2,9

SHS 1 8,055 3,598 129,987 2,072 0 1,045 1,396 12,039 0 12,919 1,635 5,2

SHS3 112 27 1,519 3 0 282 119 202 0 344 207 2

Sector 

Total 38,210 17,447 375,770 4,746 0 10,114 10,162 29,533 1,669 73,985 14,969 23,4
63572 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 206 / Friday, October 24, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

We have determined that 9 sectors 

have exceeded their fishing year 2013 

allocation of witch flounder, requiring 

reductions to those sectors’ fishing year 

2014 allocations. Because of the Court 

decision discussed above, we were 

required to reduce the amount of witch 

flounder carryover available for sectors 

to use in fishing year 2013. Some sectors 

inadvertently exceeded their fishing 

year 2013 witch flounder ACE and were 

unable to transfer a sufficient amount of 

quota to cover the overage. Reducing 

ACE by the overage amount is necessary 

to address the requirement to apply a 

pound-for-pound reduction in ACE in 

the year following an overage. Table 6 

includes a summary of the sectors with 

fishing year 2013 witch flounder 

overages, the initial fishing year 2014 

witch flounder ACE included in Table 

3, and adjusted fishing year 2014 witch 

flounder ACE, accounting for the 

overage. 

Summarizing all the information 

provided above, Tables 8 and 9 display 

the total amount of ACE available to 

sectors in fishing year 2014, including 

reductions for overages, and adding 

maximum carryover. 


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Table 8. Total ACE Available to Sectors in Fishing Year 2014 with Maximum Carryover (mt) 

Sector GBCod GB GOM GB GB GOM GB SNE/MA CC/GOM Witch GB GOM SNE

Name East Cod Cod Haddock Haddock Haddock Yellowtail Yellowtail Yellowtail Plaice Flounder Winter Winter Wi

West East West Flounder Flounder Flounder Flounder Flounder Flou

FGS 41 476 23 577 466 4 0 2 15 14 13 1 93 MCCS 0 4 42 4 3 6 0 4 5 110 32 0 15 

MPB 0 2 10 4 3 2 0 0 2 16 4 0 3 

NCCS 0 3 8 12 10 1 2 4 3 2 1 2 7 

NEFS 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

NEFS2 9 100 167 1,070 876 39 5 9 97 115 77 112 139 NEFS3 2 22 132 15 12 22 0 2 45 59 17 1 72 NEFS4 6 71 84 532 430 20 6 14 28 136 45 24 47 NEFS5 1 13 0 105 85 1 4 137 2 7 4 18 0 NEFS6 4 49 27 293 236 9 7 32 19 57 31 53 34 NEFS7 7 81 4 462 376 1 26 25 12 52 20 455 6 NEFS8 9 105 4 600 482 0 29 37 32 25 16 542 24 NEFS9 21 244 15 1,161 939 11 68 49 53 121 50 1,379 18 

NEFS 10 1 13 48 25 20 6 0 3 64 25 12 0 138 

NEFS 11 I 7 120 4 3 7 0 0 13 30 11 0 17 NEFS 13 12 136 8 1,596 1,292 2 63 114 25 75 38 254 18 

NHPB 0 0 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

SHS 1 31 353 179 3,435 2,766 102 36 51 67 576 188 603 78 

SHS3 0 5 2 40 35 0 6 14 6 10 4 16 10 

Sector 

Total 145 1,683 881 9,935 8,034 236 251 497 488 1,429 564 3,461 721 

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Table 9. Total ACE Available to Sectors in Fishing Year 2014 with Maximum Carryover (1,000 lb) 

Sector GBCod GBCod GOM GB GB GOM GB SNE/MA CC/GOM Witch GB GOM S

Haddock Haddock Yellowtail Yellowtail Yellowtail Plaice Winter Winter 

Name East West Cod East West Haddock Flounder Flounder Flounder Flounder Flounder Flounder 

FGS 90 I,049 so I,271 I,028 10 0 4 32 3I 29 2 206 

MCCS I 8 93 9 7 13 0 9 I2 243 70 I 33 MPB 0 5 2I IO 7 5 0 0 3 35 IO 0 7 

NCCS I 7 17 27 22 2 5 10 7 5 3 5 IS 

NEFS I 0 0 I 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 I 

NEFS2 19 220 367 2,358 1,932 86 II 19 215 253 169 248 307 NEFS3 4 48 290 32 26 49 0 5 98 130 38 2 158 NEFS4 14 157 186 1,173 948 44 12 32 61 299 100 53 104 

NEFS 5 3 30 0 233 188 2 9 302 5 16 9 40 I 

NEFS6 9 108 59 645 521 20 IS 71 42 125 68 116 76 NEFS7 IS 178 8 1,018 830 2 57 55 26 114 44 1,003 13 NEFS8 20 232 9 1,323 1,063 I 63 81 71 55 35 1,194 53 NEFS9 46 539 33 2,560 2,069 25 ISO 107 116 266 Ill 3,040 41 

NEFS 10 2 28 lOS 55 45 13 0 7 141 55 27 I 305 

NEFS II I 15 265 8 7 16 0 0 29 66 25 0 37 

NEFS 13 26 300 19 3,519 2,848 5 139 251 56 165 83 559 39 

NHPB 0 0 2I 0 0 0 0 0 0 I 0 0 I 

SHS I 67 779 395 7,573 6,097 225 79 112 147 1,270 414 1,330 172 

SHS3 I II 4 89 76 0 12 31 13 21 8 36 23 

Sector 

Total 320 3711 1942 21903 17713 520 552 1096 1075 3151 1243 7630 1589 
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 206 / Friday, October 24, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 63575 

Framework 51 also specifies 

incidental catch limits (or incidental 

total allowable catches, ‘‘TACs’’) 

applicable to the common pool and NE 

multispecies Special Management 

Programs for fishing year 2013–2015, 

including the B day-at-sea (DAS) 

Program. Special Management Programs 

are designed to allow fishing for healthy 

stocks that can support additional 

fishing effort without undermining the 

other goals of the FMP. Incidental catch 

limits are specified to limit catch of 

certain stocks of concern for common 

pool vessels fishing in the Special 

Management Programs. Because these 

incidental catch limits are based on the 

changed common-pool allocation, they 

also must be revised. Final incidental 

catch limits are included in Tables 10– 

13 below. 

TABLE 10—FISHING YEAR 2014 COMMON POOL INCIDENTAL CATCH TACS

Stock 

Percentage of 

common pool 

sub-ACL 

Incidental catch 

TAC 

(mt) 

GB cod ................................................................................................................................................................... 2 0 .6 

GOM cod ............................................................................................................................................................... 1 0 .2 

GB yellowtail flounder ............................................................................................................................................ 2 0 .08 

CC/GOM yellowtail flounder .................................................................................................................................. 1 0 .2 

American Plaice ..................................................................................................................................................... 5 1 .3 

Witch Flounder ....................................................................................................................................................... 5 0 .6 

SNE/MA winter flounder ........................................................................................................................................ 1 1 .5 

TABLE 11—DISTRIBUTION OF COMMON POOL INCIDENTAL CATCH TACS TO EACH SPECIAL MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

Stock 

Regular B 

DAS program 

(%) 

Closed area I 

hook gear 

haddock SAP 

(%) 

Eastern U.S./

CA haddock 

SAP 

(%) 

GB cod ......................................................................................................................................... 50 16 34 

GOM cod ..................................................................................................................................... 100 NA NA 

GB yellowtail flounder .................................................................................................................. 50 NA 50 

CC/GOM yellowtail flounder ........................................................................................................ 100 NA NA 

American Plaice ........................................................................................................................... 100 NA NA 

Witch Flounder ............................................................................................................................. 100 NA NA 

SNE/MA winter flounder .............................................................................................................. 100 NA NA 

TABLE 12—FISHING YEAR 2014 COMMON POOL INCIDENTAL CATCH TACS FOR EACH

SPECIAL MANAGEMENT PROGRAM (mt) 

Stock Regular B DAS 

program 

Closed area I 

hook gear 

haddock SAP 

Eastern U.S./

Canada haddock SAP 

GB cod ..................................................................................................................................... 0 .3 0.1 0 .2 

GOM cod ................................................................................................................................. 0 .2 n/a n/a 

GB yellowtail flounder .............................................................................................................. 0 .04 n/a 0 .04 

CC/GOM yellowtail flounder .................................................................................................... 0.2 n/a n/a 

American Plaice ....................................................................................................................... 1 .3 n/a n/a 

Witch Flounder ......................................................................................................................... 0 .6 n/a n/a 

SNE/MA winter flounder .......................................................................................................... 1 .5 n/a n/a 

TABLE 13—FISHING YEAR 2014 COMMON POOL REGULAR B DAS PROGRAM QUARTERLY INCIDENTAL CATCH TACS (mt) 

1st Quarter 

(13%) 

2nd Quarter 

(29%) 

3rd Quarter 

(29%) 

4th Quarter 

(29%) 

GB cod ..................................................................................................... 0 .04 0 .09 0 .09 0 .09 

GOM cod ................................................................................................. 0 .02 0 .06 0 .06 0 .06 

GB yellowtail flounder .............................................................................. 0 .005 0 .011 0 .011 0 .011 

CC/GOM yellowtail flounder .................................................................... 0 .02 0 .05 0 .05 0 .05 

American Plaice ....................................................................................... 0 .17 0 .37 0 .37 0 .37 

Witch Flounder ......................................................................................... 0 .08 0 .18 0 .18 0 .18 

SNE/MA winter flounder .......................................................................... 0 .19 0 .43 0 .43 0 .43 

Similar to the accountability measures 

for sectors when a quota overage occurs, 

if the common pool sub-ACL for any 

stock is exceeded, we are required to 

reduce the common pool sub-ACL by 

the amount of the overage in the next 

fishing year. We are reducing the fishing 

year 2014 GB cod and GOM haddock 

common pool sub-ACLs due to fishing 

year 2013 overages. The fishing year 

2013 common pool sub-ACL for GB cod 

was exceeded by 8 percent (2.3 mt) and 

the GOM haddock common pool subACL was exceeded by 118 percent (1.2 

mt). Therefore, we are reducing the 


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63576 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 206 / Friday, October 24, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

fishing year 2014 GB cod and GOM 

haddock common pool sub-ACLs due to 

the fishing year 2013 overages. Table 14 

provides the common pool overage 

adjustments for these stocks. Table 15 

provides the updated trimester Total 

Allowable Catches (TACs) for GB cod 

and GOM haddock based on the final 

FY 2014 common pool sub-ACLs. 

TABLE 14—FISHING YEAR 2014 COMMON POOL OVERAGE ADJUSTMENT (mt) 

Stock Fishing year 

2013 overage 

Initial fishing 

year 2014 

common pool 

sub-ACL 

Adjusted fishing year 2014 

common pool 

sub-ACL 

GB Cod ........................................................................................................................................ 2.3 34 31.7 

GOM Haddock ............................................................................................................................. 1.2 2 0.8 

TABLE 15—FISHING YEAR 2014 COMMON POOL TRIMESTER TACS (mt) 

Stock Trimester 1 

TAC 

Trimester 2 

TAC 

Trimester 3 

TAC 

GB Cod .................................................................................................................................. 8 .0 11 .9 12 .2 

GOM Haddock ....................................................................................................................... 0 .22 0 .21 0 .38 

We are reducing the fishing year 2014 

GB haddock sub-ACL for the herring 

mid-water trawl fishery due to a fishing 

year 2013 overage. The herring midwater trawl fishery is allocated 1 

percent of the U.S. ABC for each stock 

of GOM and GB haddock. If the herring 

mid-water trawl fishery exceeds its 

GOM or GB haddock sub-ACL, we are 

required to reduce the respective subACL by the amount of the overage in the 

following fishing year. In fishing year 

2013, the mid-water trawl fishery 

exceeded its GB haddock sub-ACL by 

16.98 mt. Therefore, this rule reduces 

the fishing year 2014 GB haddock subACL by the 16.98 mt overage for the 

herring mid-water trawl fishery. Table 

16 provides the herring mid-water trawl 

adjustments for GB haddock that this 

rule implements. 

TABLE 16—FISHING YEAR 2014 HERRING MID-WATER TRAWL OVERAGE ADJUSTMENT (mt) 

Stock Fishing year 

2013 overage 

Initial fishing 

year 2014 herring mid-water 

trawl sub-ACL 

Adjusted fishing 

year 2014 herring mid-water 

trawl sub-ACL 

GB Haddock .......................................................................................................................... 16 .98 179 162 .02 

Finally, Table 17 provides the U.S. 

ABCs for the three transboundary 

Georges Bank stocks that we jointly 

manage with Canada. The U.S./Canada 

quotas, and the corresponding ACLs/

sub-ACLs were included in the 

Framework 51 final rule; however, 

because the U.S. ABCs for GB cod, 

haddock, and yellowtail flounder were 

mis-specified, the corrected levels are 

being included here in this rule. 

TABLE 17—U.S. ACCEPTABLE BIOLOGICAL CATCHES FOR TRANSBOUNDARY STOCKS

Stock U.S. ABC 

(mt) 

GB Cod ......................................... 1,960 

GB Haddock ................................. 19,229 

GB Yellowtail Flounder ................. 328 

Classification 

Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act, the NMFS 

Assistant Administrator has determined 

that this final rule is consistent with the 

NE Multispecies FMP, other provisions 

of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other 

applicable law. 

This final rule is exempt from the 

procedures of E.O. 12866 because this 

action contains no implementing 

regulations. 

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

find good cause to waive prior public 

notice and opportunity for public 

comment on the catch limit and 

allocation adjustments because allowing 

time for notice and comment is 

impracticable and contrary to the public 

interest. We also find good cause to 

waive the 30-day delay in effectiveness 

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

this final rule may become effective 

upon filing. 

Notice and comment are 

impracticable and contrary to the public 

interest because a delay would 

potentially impair achievement of the 

management plan’s objectives of 

preventing overfishing and achieving 

optimum yield by vessels staying within 

ACLs or allocations. The proposed and 

final rules for fishing year 2014 sector 

operations plans and contracts 

explained the need and likelihood for 

adjustments of sector and common pool 

allocations based on final sector rosters. 

No comments were received on the 

potential for these adjustments, which 

provide an accurate accounting of a 

sector’s or common pool’s allocation at 

this time. Prior notice of the need to 

distribute carryover catch was also 

provided. Allowing for prior notice and 

public comment on the herring midwater trawl overage adjustment is 

impracticable because this is a nondiscretionary action required by 

provisions of Framework 46 to the NE 

Multispecies FMP, which was subject to 

public comment. The proposed rule to 

implement Framework 46 requested 

public comment on these measures 

including the specific accountability 

measure implemented by this rule, with 

the understanding that possession limit 

trigger adjustments would be required if 

an ACL overage occurred. If this rule is 

not effective immediately, the sector 

and common pool vessels will be 

operating under incorrect information 

on the catch limits for each stock for 

sectors and the common pool. This 

could cause negative economic impacts 


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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 206 / Friday, October 24, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 63577 

to the both sectors and the common 

pool, depending on the size of the 

allocation, the degree of change in the 

allocation, and the catch rate of a 

particular stock. Further, these 

adjustments are based purely on 

objective sector enrollment data and are 

not subject to our discretion, so there 

would be no benefit to allowing time for 

prior notice and comment. 

Waiving the 30-day delay in 

effectiveness allows harvesting in a 

manner that prevents catch limits of 

species from being exceeded in fisheries 

that are important to coastal 

communities. Until the final stock 

allocations are made, the affected 

fishing entities will not know how many 

fish of a particular stock they can catch 

without going over their ultimate limits. 

Fishermen may make both short- and 

long-term business decisions based on 

the catch limits in a given sector or the 

common pool. Any delays in adjusting 

these limits may cause the affected 

fishing entities to slow down, or speed 

up, their fishing activities during the 

interim period before this rule becomes 

effective. Both of these reactions could 

negatively affect the fishery and the 

businesses and communities that 

depend on them. The fishing industry 

and the communities it supports could 

be affected by potentially reducing 

harvests and delaying profits. Lastly, the 

catch limit and allocation adjustments 

are not controversial and the need for 

them was clearly explained in the 

proposed and final rules for fishing year 

2014 sector operations plans and 

contracts. As a result, the NE 

multispecies permit holders are 

expecting these adjustments and 

awaiting their implementation. 

Therefore, it is important to implement 

adjusted catch limits and allocations as 

soon as possible. For these reasons, we 

are waiving the public comment period 

and the 30-day delay in effectiveness for 

this rule, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 

553(b)(3)(B) and (d), respectively. 

Because advanced notice and the 

opportunity for public comment are not 

required under the Administrative 

Procedure Act, or any other law, the 

analytical requirements of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601, 

et seq., do not apply to this rule. 

Therefore, no final regulatory flexibility 

analysis is required and none has been 

prepared. 

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

Dated: October 20, 2014. 

Samuel D. Rauch III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–25307 Filed 10–23–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 679 

[Docket No. 131021878–4158–02] 

RIN 0648–XD565 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Reallocation of 

Halibut Prohibited Species Catch 

Allowances in the Bering Sea and 

Aleutian Islands Management Area 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; reallocation. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is reallocating 

projected unused amounts of the 2014 

halibut prohibited species catch (PSC) 

allowance from the Bering Sea and 

Aleutian Islands trawl (BSAI) limited 

access sector to the Amendment 80 

cooperatives in the BSAI management 

area. This action is necessary to allow 

the Amendment 80 cooperatives to fully 

harvest their 2014 groundfish 

allocations. 

DATES: Effective October 21, 2014, 

through 2400 hrs, Alaska local time 

(A.l.t.), December 31, 2014. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Steve Whitney, 907–586–7269. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS 

manages the groundfish fishery in the 

BSAI according to the Fishery 

Management Plan for Groundfish of the 

Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 

Management Area (FMP) prepared by 

the North Pacific Fishery Management 

Council under authority of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act. 

Regulations governing fishing by U.S. 

vessels in accordance with the FMP 

appear at subpart H of 50 CFR part 600 

and 50 CFR part 679. 

The Administrator, Alaska Region, 

NMFS, has determined that 80 metric 

tons of halibut PSC allowance from the 

BSAI trawl limited access sector will 

not be needed to support BSAI trawl 

limited access fisheries. Therefore, in 

accordance with § 679.91(f)(4), NMFS is 

reallocating this halibut PSC allowance 

from the BSAI trawl limited access 

sector to the Amendment 80 

cooperatives in the BSAI. 

In accordance with § 679.91(f)(1), 

NMFS will reissue cooperative quota 

permits for the reallocated halibut PSC 

allowances following the procedures set 

forth in § 679.91(f)(4). 

In accordance with § 679.91(f)(4)(i), 

NMFS will reallocate 95 percent of the 

halibut PSC reallocated from the BSAI 

trawl limited access sector to the 

Amendment 80 cooperatives, which is 

76 metric tons. 

The 2014 harvest specifications for 

halibut PSC allowances included in the 

final 2014 and 2015 harvest 

specifications in the BSAI (79 FR 12108, 

March 4, 2014 and 79 FR 35958, June 

25, 2014) are revised as follows in 

Tables 10, 12, and 14: 

TABLE 10—FINAL 2014 AND 2015 APPORTIONMENT OF PROHIBITED SPECIES CATCH ALLOWANCES TO NON-TRAWL GEAR, 

THE CDQ PROGRAM, AMENDMENT 80, AND THE BSAI TRAWL LIMITED ACCESS SECTORS

PSC species and area 1 Total non-trawl 

PSC 

Non-trawl PSC 

remaining after 

CDQ PSQ 2

Total trawl 

PSC 

Trawl PSC 

remaining after 

CDQ PSQ 2

CDQ PSQ 

reserve 2

Amendment 

80 sector 3

BSAI trawl 

limited access 

fishery 

2014 Halibut mortality 

(mt) BSAI .................. 900 832 3,675 3,349 393 2,401 795 

2015 Halibut mortality 

(mt) BSAI .................. 900 832 3,675 3,349 393 2,325 875 

Herring (mt) BSAI ........ n/a n/a 2,172 n/a n/a n/a n/a 

Red king crab (animals) 

Zone 1 ...................... n/a n/a 97,000 86,621 10,379 43,293 26,489 

C. opilio (animals) 

COBLZ ...................... n/a n/a 11,185,892 9,989,002 1,196,890 4,909,594 3,210,465 

C. bairdi crab (animals) 

Zone 1 ...................... n/a n/a 980,000 875,140 104,860 368,521 411,228 


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