75070 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 242 / Wednesday, December 17, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

TABLE 1—2015 ANNUAL QUOTAS AND OPENING DATES FOR THE ATLANTIC SHARK FISHERIES—Continued 

[All quotas and landings are dressed weight (dw), in metric tons (mt), unless specified otherwise] 

Region Management 

group 

2014 Annual 

quota 

Preliminary 2014 

landings 1 Adjustments 2015 Base annual 

quota 

2015 Final annual 

quota 

Season opening 

dates 

(A) (B) (C) (D) (D + C) 

Non-Blacknose 

Small Coastal 

Sharks.

264.1 mt dw 

(582,333 lb dw).

103.1 mt dw 

(227,202 lb dw).

............................. 176.1 mt dw 

(388,222 lb dw).

176.1 mt dw 

(388,222 lb dw).

January 1, 2015. 

Blacknose Sharks 17.5 mt dw 

(38,638 lb dw).

17.4 mt dw 

(38,437 lb dw).

¥0.5 mt dw 

(¥1,111 lb 

dw) 4.

18.0 mt dw 

(39,749 lb dw).

17.5 mt dw 

(38,638 lb dw).

No regional quotas Non-Sandbar LCS 

Research.

50.0 mt dw 

(110,230 lb dw).

14.3 mt dw 

(31,543 lb dw).

............................. 50.0 mt dw 

(110,230 lb dw).

50.0 mt dw 

(110,230 lb dw).

January 1, 2015. 

Sandbar Shark 

Research.

116.6 mt dw 

(257,056 lb dw).

37.5 mt dw 

(82,737 lb dw).

............................. 116.6 mt dw 

(257,056 lb dw).

116.6 mt dw 

(257,056 lb dw).

Blue Sharks ......... 273.0 mt dw 

(601,856 lb dw).

7.8 mt dw (17,157 

lb dw).

............................. 273.0 mt dw 

(601,856 lb dw).

273.0 mt dw 

(601,856 lb dw).

Porbeagle Sharks 1.2 mt dw (2,820 

lb dw).

2.5 mt dw (5,586 

lb dw).

¥1.3 mt dw 

(¥2,766 lb dw).

1.7 mt dw (3,748 

lb dw).

0.4 mt dw (982 lb 

dw).

Closed 5

Pelagic Sharks 

Other Than 

Porbeagle or 

Blue.

488 mt dw 

(1,075,856 lb 

dw).

126.7 mt dw 

(279,276 lb dw).

............................. 488.0 mt dw 

(1,075,856 lb 

dw).

488.0 mt dw 

(1,075,856 lb 

dw).

January 1, 2015. 

1All landings except for the porbeagle shark landings are from January 1, 2014, through October 15, 2014, and are subject to change. Porbeagle shark landings 

are from January 1, 2014, through December 10, 2014. 2This adjustment accounts for underharvest in 2014. Therefore, the Gulf of Mexico blacktip shark adjusted quota will be 328.6 mt dw for the 2015 fishing season. 

3This adjustment accounts for overharvests from 2013 and 2014. In the final rule establishing the 2014 quotas (78 FR 70500; November 26, 2013), the 2013 Gulf 

of Mexico aggregated LCS quota was overharvested by 6.2 mt dw (13,489 lb dw). After the final rule establishing the 2014 quotas published, late dealer reports indicated the quota was overharvested by an additional 0.1 mt dw (408 lb dw), for a total overharvest of 6.3 mt dw (13,897 lb dw). Recently, NMFS determined that the 

2014 final rule overestimated the overharvest from 2013 by 1.3 mt dw (2,758 lb dw). In 2014, the Gulf of Mexico aggregated LCS quota was overharvested by 2.3 mt 

dw (5,095 lb dw). Therefore, this final rule reduces the Gulf of Mexico aggregated LCS quota by 1.0 mt dw (2.3 mt dw overharvest in 2014—1.3 mt dw overestimated 

from 2013). NMFS will adjust the 2015 base annual quota based on the updated overharvest estimates from 2013 and 2014. 4This adjustment accounts for overharvest in 2012. After the final rule establishing the 2012 quotas published, late dealer reports indicated the blacknose shark 

quota was overharvested by 3.5 mt dw (7,742 lb dw). In the final rule establishing the 2014 quotas, NMFS implemented a 5-year adjustment of the overharvest 

amount by the percentage of landings in 2012. Thus, NMFS will reduce the Gulf of Mexico blacknose shark quota by 0.2 mt dw (437 lb dw) and the Atlantic 

blacknose shark quota by 0.5 mt dw (1,111 lb dw) each year from 2014 through 2018. NMFS will reduce the 2015 base annual quota based on overharvest from 

2012. 5This closure accounts for overharvest in 2014. After the final rule establishing the 2015 quotas published, dealer reports indicated that the porbeagle quota was 

overharvested by 1.3 mt dw (2,766 lb dw). Accounting for this large overharvest would result in a 2015 commercial quota of 0.4 mt dw (3,748¥2,766 lb dw = 982 lb 

dw). It would be difficult to monitor such a small amount of quota and to timely assess when landings are projected to reach 80 percent of it in a way that allows 

NMFS to close the fishery before overharvests would occur (i.e., when landings reach 0.3 mt dw or 786 lb dw; § 635.28(b)(1)). 

During the closure, retention of 

porbeagle sharks is prohibited for 

persons fishing aboard vessels issued a 

commercial shark limited access permit 

(LAP) under § 635.4. However, persons 

aboard a commercially-permitted vessel 

that is also properly permitted to 

operate as a charter vessel or headboat 

for HMS and is engaged in a for-hire trip 

could fish under the recreational 

retention limits for sharks and ‘‘no sale’’ 

provisions (§ 635.22(a) and (c)). A shark 

dealer issued a permit pursuant to 

§ 635.4 may not purchase or receive 

porbeagle sharks from a vessel issued an 

Atlantic shark LAP, except that a 

permitted shark dealer or processor may 

possess porbeagle sharks that were 

harvested, off-loaded, and sold, traded, 

or bartered, prior to the effective date of 

the closure and were held in storage. 

Under this closure, a shark dealer issued 

a permit pursuant to § 635.4 may, in 

accordance with state regulations, 

purchase or receive a porbeagle sharks 

if the sharks were harvested, off-loaded, 

and sold, traded, or bartered from a 

vessel that fishes only in state waters 

and that has not been issued an Atlantic 

Shark LAP, HMS Angling permit, or 

HMS Charter/Headboat permit pursuant 

to § 635.4. 

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

Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, 

NOAA (AA), finds that providing prior 

notice and public comment for this 

action is impracticable and contrary to 

the public interest because the fishery is 

currently underway and any delay in 

this action would result in further 

overharvest of the quota and be 

inconsistent with management 

requirements and objectives. Similarly, 

affording prior notice and opportunity 

for public comment on this action is 

contrary to the public interest because if 

the quota is further exceeded, the stock 

may be negatively affected and 

fishermen ultimately could experience 

reductions in the available quota and a 

lack of fishing opportunities in future 

seasons. For these reasons, the AA also 

finds good cause to waive the 30-day 

delay in effective date pursuant to 5 

U.S.C. 553(d)(3). This action is required 

under § 635.28(b)(2) and is exempt from 

review under Executive Order 12866. 

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

Dated: December 12, 2014. 

Emily H. Menashes, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–29552 Filed 12–12–14; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 660 

[Docket No. 140904753–4999–01] 

RIN 0648–BE34 

Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; 

Fisheries off West Coast States; 

Regulatory Amendment to Pacific 

Coast Groundfish Fisheries Trawl 

Rationalization Program for the Start of 

2015 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: This action revises 

regulations for the Pacific coast 


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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 242 / Wednesday, December 17, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 75071 

groundfish fishery with an 

implementation date of January 1, 2015. 

Final implementation of the 2015–2016 

biennial harvest specifications and 

management measures will be delayed 

beyond January 1, 2015. NMFS has 

identified two issues that must be 

addressed prior to January 1, 2015, to 

prevent interruption of ongoing fisheries 

and to allow harvest of the total 

allowable and available groundfish. 

This action addresses those issues by 

revising groundfish regulations in two 

ways. First, this action reinstates a 

mechanism whereby NMFS can issue 

interim groundfish allocations at the 

beginning of the year in years when 

annual groundfish harvest specifications 

are not yet finalized, as is the case for 

January 1, 2015. Second, this action 

amends regulations to allow NMFS to 

issue that portion of the allowable catch 

currently allocated to an Adaptive 

Management Program (AMP) to quota 

shareholders until final criteria and a 

process for distribution of the AMP 

quota shares is developed and 

implemented. 

DATES: Effective December 17, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of the 

Regulatory Impact Review (RIR) and 

Regulatory Flexibility certification 

analysis, categorical exclusion 

memorandum, and Environmental 

Assessment (EA) may be obtained from 

the National Marine Fisheries Service 

(NMFS) West Coast Regional office in 

Seattle, at 7600 Sand Point Way 

Northeast, Seattle, Washington 98115, 

phone: 206–526–6150. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Miako Ushio, phone: 206–526–4644; or 

email: Miako.Ushio@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Electronic Access 

This rule is accessible via the Internet 

at the Office of the Federal Register Web 

site at https://www.federalregister.gov. 

Background information and documents 

are available at the NMFS West Coast 

Region Web site at http://

www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/

fisheries/groundfish/index.html and at 

the Council’s Web site at http://

www.pcouncil.org. 

Background 

Biennial specifications for groundfish 

harvest will not be available by January 

1, 2015. This final rule resolves two 

issues that must be addressed prior to 

January 1, 2015, to prevent interruption 

of ongoing fisheries and to allow harvest 

of the total allowable and available 

groundfish. First, this action reinstates 

provisions allowing NMFS to issue 

Pacific whiting and non-whiting 

groundfish species quota pounds (QP) to 

current quota shareholders in the 

Shorebased Individual Fishing Quota 

Program based on conservative 

estimates in years, such as 2015, when 

harvest specifications of those species 

are not known by January 1. Second, the 

10 percent of non-whiting quota share 

(QS) reserved for an AMP, that has not 

yet been established, will continue to be 

‘passed through’ to the fishery. This 10 

percent will be issued to current QS 

holders in proportion to their nonwhiting QS until implementation of 

appropriate AMP regulations. NMFS is 

extending the pro rata pass-through so 

that the fish authorized for harvest 

through the biennial specifications 

process will continue to be available to 

benefit the fishing industry, dependent 

communities, and consumers. 

This final rule implements the same 

regulations that were described in detail 

in the proposed rule that published on 

October 10, 2014 (79 FR 61272). See the 

preamble to the proposed rule for 

additional background information on 

the fishery and on the regulations 

implemented in this final rule. 

Comments and Responses 

The proposed rule for this action 

published in the Federal Register on 

October 10, 2014 at 79 FR 61272, with 

a comment period that closed on 

November 10, 2014. NMFS received no 

comments. 

Classification 

The Administrator, West Coast 

Region, NMFS, had determined that the 

regulations allowing NMFS to issue 

interim allocations and to continue 

issuance of AMP pounds to quota 

shareholders in the Shorebased IFQ 

Program, which this final rule 

implements, are consistent with the 

national standards of the MagnusonStevens Act and other applicable laws. 

NMFS finds good cause to waive part 

of the 30-day delay in effectiveness 

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

this final rule may become effective on 

December 17, 2014. Leaving the 2014 

harvest specifications and management 

measures in place could cause harm to 

some stocks because those management 

measures are not based on the most 

current scientific information; it could 

also cause drastic management changes 

later in the year to prevent exceeding 

some lower 2015 harvest specifications 

once they are implemented. Further, it 

would be contrary to the public interest 

to delay implementation of the AMP 

pass-through, because making this 

regulatory change allows harvest to 

continue as intended by the Council, 

consistent with the best scientific 

information available. Delaying this rule 

could cause economic harm to fishery 

participants because inaccurate amounts 

of QP could be issued pending 

finalization of the 2015 harvest 

specifications. This rule does not 

impose any new requirements or 

burdens on fishery participants, so there 

is no need to allow additional time for 

participants to make gear changes or 

change their fishing practices. These 

reasons constitute good cause under 5 

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

delay in effectiveness. 

An Environmental Assessment (EA) 

was prepared for the pass-through of 

adaptive management quota pounds 

portion of this proposed action, and can 

be found on the NMFS’ Groundfish 

Trawl Catch Share Web site at 

www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/

fisheries/groundfish_catch_shares. In 

approving the regulations allowing 

NMFS to continue issuance of AMP 

pounds to quota shareholders in the 

Shorebased IFQ Program, NMFS issued 

a Finding of No Significant Impact 

(FONSI) identifying the selected 

alternatives. A copy of the FONSI is 

available from NMFS (see ADDRESSES). 

The Chief Counsel for Regulation of 

the Department of Commerce certified 

to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the 

Small Business Administration during 

the proposed rule stage that this action 

would not have a significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities. The factual basis for the 

certification was published in the 

proposed rule and is not repeated here. 

No comments were received regarding 

this certification. As a result, a 

regulatory flexibility analysis was not 

required and none was prepared. 

This rule has been determined to be 

not significant for purposes of Executive 

Order 12866. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 660 

Fisheries, Fishing, Indian fisheries. 

Dated: December 11, 2014. 

Samuel D. Rauch III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, NMFS amends 50 CFR part 

660 as follows: 

PART 660—FISHERIES OFF WEST 

COAST STATES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 660 

continues to read as follows: 

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

U.S.C. 773 et seq. 

■ 2. In § 660.140, revise paragraphs 

(d)(1)(ii)(A) introductory text, 


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75072 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 242 / Wednesday, December 17, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

(d)(1)(ii)(A)(1) and (2), (d)(1)(ii)(B)(1) 

and (2), and paragraph (l)(2) to read as 

follows: 

§ 660.140 Shorebased IFQ Program. 

* * * * * 

(d) * * * 

(1) * * * 

(ii) * * * 

(A) Non-whiting QP annual suballocations. NMFS will issue QP for IFQ 

species other than Pacific whiting and 

Pacific halibut annually by multiplying 

the QS permit owner’s QS for each such 

IFQ species by that year’s shorebased 

trawl allocation for that IFQ species. 

Deposits to QS accounts for IFQ species 

other than Pacific whiting and Pacific 

halibut will be made on or about 

January 1 each year. Until the 

implementation of any regulatory 

changes developed pursuant to the first 

program review for the trawl 

rationalization program, the resulting 

AMP QP will be issued to all QS permit 

owners in proportion to their nonwhiting QS. 

(1) In years where the groundfish 

harvest specifications are known by 

January 1, deposits to QS accounts for 

IFQ species will be made on or about 

January 1. 

(2) In years where the groundfish 

harvest specifications are not known by 

January 1, NMFS will issue QP in two 

parts. On or about January 1, NMFS will 

deposit QP based on the shorebased 

trawl allocation multiplied by the lower 

end of the range of potential harvest 

specifications for that year. After the 

final harvest specifications are 

established later in the year, NMFS will 

deposit additional QP to the QS 

account. 

* * * * * 

(B) * * * 

(1) In years where the Pacific whiting 

harvest specification is known by 

January 1, deposits to QS accounts for 

Pacific whiting will be made on or about 

January 1. 

(2) In years where the Pacific whiting 

harvest specification is not known by 

January 1, NMFS will issue Pacific 

whiting QP in two parts. On or about 

January 1, NMFS will deposit Pacific 

whiting QP based on the shorebased 

trawl allocation multiplied by the lower 

end of the range of potential harvest 

specifications for Pacific whiting for 

that year. After the final Pacific whiting 

harvest specifications are established 

later in the year, NMFS will deposit 

additional QP to QS accounts. 

* * * * * 

(l) * * * 

(2) AMP QP pass through. The 10 

percent of non-whiting QS will be 

reserved for the AMP, but the resulting 

AMP QP will be issued to all QS permit 

owners in proportion to their nonwhiting QS until the implementation of 

any regulatory changes developed 

pursuant to the first program review for 

the trawl rationalization program. 

[FR Doc. 2014–29555 Filed 12–16–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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