Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 248 / Monday, December 29, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 77943 

be required to submit daily reports to 

NMFS that would not serve any useful 

purpose, which would be contrary to 

the public interest. 

Further, NMFS has determined that 

good cause exists to waive the 30-day 

delay in effectiveness of this rule under 

5 U.S.C. 553(d) because, as explained 

previously, this rule relieves a reporting 

requirement on the regulated 

community. 

Because prior notice and opportunity 

for public comment for this correction 

to the final rule under 5 U.S.C. 553 have 

been waived, and are not required by 

any other law, the analytical 

requirements of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq. are 

inapplicable. 

Correction 

Accordingly, the final rule, Federal 

Register Document Number 2014– 

28105, published on December 2, 2014, 

at 79 FR 71327, to be effective January 

1, 2015, is corrected as follows: 

On page 71330, in column 3, 

§ 300.218(g) is correctly added to read as 

follows: 

§ 300.218 Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

* * * * * 

(g) Daily FAD reports. If NMFS issues 

a notice in the Federal Register 

announcing that the requirement of this 

paragraph is in effect, the owner or 

operator of any fishing vessel of the 

United States equipped with purse seine 

gear must, within 24 hours of the end 

of each day that the vessel is at sea in 

the Convention Area, report to NMFS, 

in the format and manner directed by 

the Pacific Islands Regional 

Administrator, how many purse seine 

sets were made on FADs during that 

day. 

Dated: December 16, 2014. 

Samuel D. Rauch III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–30227 Filed 12–24–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 635 

[Docket No. 120328229–4949–02] 

RIN 0648–XD653 

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; 

Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Fisheries 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; inseason 

General category bluefin tuna quota 

transfer and retention limit adjustment. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is transferring 21 

metric tons (mt) of Atlantic bluefin tuna 

(BFT) quota from the General category 

December 2015 subquota period to the 

January 2015 subquota period (from 

January 1 through March 31, 2015, or 

until the available subquota for this 

period is reached, whichever comes 

first). NMFS also is adjusting the 

Atlantic tunas General category BFT 

daily retention limit for the January 

2015 subquota period to three large 

medium or giant BFT from the default 

retention limit of one. This action is 

based on consideration of the regulatory 

determination criteria regarding 

inseason adjustments and applies to 

Atlantic tunas General category 

(commercial) permitted vessels and 

Highly Migratory Species (HMS) 

Charter/Headboat category permitted 

vessels when fishing commercially for 

BFT. 

DATES: The quota transfer is effective 

January 1, 2015. The General category 

retention limit adjustment is effective 

January 1, 2015, through March 31, 

2015. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Sarah McLaughlin or Brad McHale, 

978–281–9260. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Regulations implemented under the 

authority of the Atlantic Tunas 

Convention Act (ATCA; 16 U.S.C. 971 et 

seq.) and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act; 16 U.S.C. 1801 

et seq.) governing the harvest of BFT by 

persons and vessels subject to U.S. 

jurisdiction are found at 50 CFR part 

635. Section 635.27 divides the U.S. 

BFT quota recommended by the 

International Commission for the 

Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) 

among the various domestic fishing 

categories, per the allocations 

established in the 2006 Consolidated 

Highly Migratory Species Fishery 

Management Plan (2006 Consolidated 

HMS FMP) (71 FR 58058, October 2, 

2006), as amended by the recently 

published Amendment 7 to the 2006 

Consolidated HMS FMP (Amendment 7) 

(79 FR 71510, December 2, 2014,) and 

in accordance with implementing 

regulations. NMFS is required under 

ATCA to provide U.S. fishing vessels 

with a reasonable opportunity to harvest 

the ICCAT-recommended quota. 

Inseason Transfer to the General 

Category 

The 2010 ICCAT recommendation 

regarding western BFT management 

resulted in baseline U.S. quotas for 2011 

and for 2012 of 923.7 mt (not including 

the separate 25 mt that ICCAT allocated 

to the United States to account for 

bycatch of BFT in pelagic longline 

fisheries in the Northeast Distant Gear 

Restricted Area). The allocation formula 

applied in the 2011 BFT quota rule (76 

FR 39019, July 5, 2011) resulted in a 

codified quota of 435.1 mt for the 

General category fishery (a commercial 

tunas fishery in which handgear is 

used), which was then further divided 

according to the time-period allocations 

established in the 2006 Consolidated 

HMS FMP. The General category quota 

and time period subquotas as codified 

were not modified for 2012, 2013, or 

2014. Although the 2014 ICCAT 

recommendation regarding western BFT 

management would result in an increase 

to the baseline U.S. BFT quota and 

subquotas for 2015, domestic 

implementation of that recommendation 

will take place in a separate rulemaking, 

likely in mid-2015. 

Among other things, Amendment 7 

revised the allocations to all quota 

categories, effective January 1, 2015. As 

a result, based on the currently codified 

quota of 923.7 mt, the General category 

quota is 403 mt. See § 635.27(a). Each of 

the General category time periods 

(January, June through August, 

September, October through November, 

and December) is allocated a portion of 

the annual General category quota. 

Although it is called the ‘‘January’’ 

subquota, the regulations allow the 

General category fishery under this 

quota to continue until the subquota is 

reached or March 31, whichever comes 

first. Based on the General category 

quota of 403 mt, the subquotas for each 

time period are as follows: 21.4 mt for 

January; 201.5 mt for June through 

August; 106.8 mt for September; 52.4 mt 

for October through November; and 21 

mt for December. Any unused General 

category quota rolls forward within the 

fishing year, which coincides with the 

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77944 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 248 / Monday, December 29, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

calendar year, from one time period to 

the next, and is available for use in 

subsequent time periods. 

During the Amendment 7 rulemaking, 

NMFS received comment from General 

category participants that NMFS should 

provide more quota to the January 

subquota period and should consider 

shifting subquota from December to the 

January period. Some of the comments 

expressed concern that, due to the 

timing of NMFS’ implementation of 

quota rules and/or quota specifications 

(which are usually finalized mid-year), 

General category participants in the 

January period do not benefit from any 

increased opportunities that may 

become available to those fishing in the 

summer and fall. The final rule 

implementing Amendment 7 responded 

to this concern and allows NMFS to 

proactively transfer General category 

quota from one time period to an earlier 

time period in the same calendar year. 

Under § 635.27(a)(9), NMFS has the 

authority to transfer quota among 

fishing categories or subcategories, after 

considering determination criteria 

provided under § 635.27(a)(8), including 

the five new criteria recently added in 

Amendment 7, which include: The 

usefulness of information obtained from 

catches in the particular category for 

biological sampling and monitoring of 

the status of the stock; the catches of the 

particular category quota to date and the 

likelihood of closure of that segment of 

the fishery if no adjustment is made; the 

projected ability of the vessels fishing 

under the particular category quota to 

harvest the additional amount of BFT 

before the end of the fishing year; the 

estimated amounts by which quotas for 

other gear categories of the fishery might 

be exceeded; effects of the adjustment 

on BFT rebuilding and overfishing; 

effects of the adjustment on 

accomplishing the objectives of the 

fishery management plan; variations in 

seasonal distribution, abundance, or 

migration patterns of BFT; effects of 

catch rates in one area precluding 

vessels in another area from having a 

reasonable opportunity to harvest a 

portion of the category’s quota; review 

of dealer reports, daily landing trends, 

and the availability of the BFT on the 

fishing grounds; optimizing fishing 

opportunity; accounting for dead 

discards, facilitating quota monitoring, 

supporting other fishing monitoring 

programs through quota allocations and/ 

or generation of revenue; and support of 

research through quota allocations and/ 

or generation of revenue. 

NMFS has considered the relevant 

determination criteria regarding 

inseason adjustments and their 

applicability to the General category 

fishery for the January 2015 subquota 

period. A principal consideration is the 

objective of providing opportunities to 

harvest the full annual U.S. BFT quota 

without exceeding it based on the goals 

of the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and 

Amendment 7, including to achieve 

optimum yield on a continuing basis 

and to optimize the ability of all permit 

categories to harvest their full BFT 

quota allocations. 

General category landings in the 

winter BFT fishery, which typically 

occurs in the mid-Atlantic beginning in 

December or January each year, are 

highly variable and depend on 

availability of commercial-sized BFT to 

participants. As of early December, 

commercial-sized BFT are actively being 

landed. For the last three years, under 

a daily retention limit of two large 

medium or giant BFT, the available 

January subquota (23.1 mt) was reached 

on January 22, 2012, February 15, 2013, 

and March 21, 2014. For these same 

three years, the General category did not 

reach its available quota by the end of 

the year. 

A quota transfer from the December 

2015 to January 2015 period would 

provide additional opportunities to 

harvest the available U.S. BFT quota 

without exceeding it, while preserving 

the opportunity for General category 

fishermen to participate in the winter 

BFT fishery. NMFS also anticipates that 

up to 94.9 mt of underharvest of the 

2014 adjusted U.S. BFT quota will be 

carried forward to 2015 to the Reserve, 

in accordance with the regulations 

implementing Amendment 7. This, in 

addition to the fact that any unused 

General category quota will roll forward 

to the next subperiod within the 

calendar year, and the anticipated 

increase in the U.S. quota and subquotas 

for 2015 as a result of ICCAT 

recommendations, make it very likely 

that General category quota will remain 

available through the end of 2015 for 

December fishery participants, even 

with the quota transfer. NMFS also may 

choose to transfer unused quota from 

the Reserve or other categories, 

inseason, based on consideration of the 

determination criteria. Therefore, NMFS 

anticipates that General category 

participants in all areas and time 

periods will have opportunities to 

harvest the General category quota. 

Thus, the quota transfer would allow 

fishermen to take advantage of the 

availability of fish on the fishing 

grounds now, consider the expected 

increases in available quota later in the 

year, and provide a reasonable 

opportunity to harvest the full U.S. BFT 

quota. 

Other considerations consistent with 

the regulatory criteria include, but are 

not limited to, the following: 

Biological samples collected from 

BFT landed by General category 

fishermen and provided by BFT dealers 

continue to provide NMFS with 

valuable parts and data for ongoing 

scientific studies of BFT age and 

growth, migration, and reproductive 

status. Continued BFT landings would 

support the collection of a broad range 

of data for these studies and for stock 

monitoring purposes. Without a quota 

transfer at this time, the quota available 

for the January through March 2015 

period would be 21.4 mt (5.3 percent of 

the General category quota), and 

participants would have to stop BFT 

fishing activities once that amount is 

met, while commercial-sized BFT may 

remain available in the areas General 

category permitted vessels operate. 

Transferring the 21-mt quota available 

for December 2015 (5.2 percent of the 

General category quota) would result in 

42.4 mt (10.5 percent of the General 

category quota) being available for the 

January subquota period. 

This action will be taken consistent 

with the quotas previously implemented 

and analyzed in the 2011 BFT quota 

final rule, as adjusted by the final rule 

to implement Amendment 7, and 

consistent with the objectives of the 

2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and 

Amendments, and is not expected to 

negatively impact stock health. It is also 

supported by the Supplemental 

Environmental Assessment prepared for 

the 2013 quota specifications and the 

Final Environmental Impact Statement/ 

Regulatory Impact Review/Final 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis prepared 

for Amendment 7. 

Based on the considerations above, 

NMFS has decided to transfer 21 mt of 

General category quota allocated for the 

December period to the January period. 

The transfer will provide a reasonable 

opportunity to harvest the U.S. quota of 

BFT, without exceeding it, while 

maintaining an equitable distribution of 

fishing opportunities; allow the 

collection of a broad range of data for 

stock monitoring purposes; and be 

consistent with the objectives of the 

2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and 

Amendments. Therefore, NMFS 

transfers the 21 mt to the General 

category January 2015 period, resulting 

in a subquota of 42.4 mt for that period 

and a December period subquota of 0 mt 

for the 2015 fishing year. NMFS will 

close the General category fishery when 

the adjusted General category January 

period subquota has been reached, or it 

will close automatically on March 31, 

2015, and it will remain closed until the 

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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 248 / Monday, December 29, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 77945 

General category fishery reopens on 

June 1, 2015. 

Adjustment of General Category Daily 

Retention Limit 

Unless changed, the General category 

daily retention limit starting on January 

1 would be the default retention limit of 

one large medium or giant BFT 

(measuring 73 inches (185 cm) curved 

fork length (CFL) or greater) per vessel 

per day/trip (§ 635.23(a)(2)). This 

default retention limit would apply to 

General category permitted vessels and 

to HMS Charter/Headboat category 

permitted vessels when fishing 

commercially for BFT. For the 2014 

fishing year, NMFS adjusted the daily 

retention limit from the default level of 

one large medium or giant BFT to two 

large medium or giant BFT for the 

January subquota period (78 FR 77362, 

December 23, 2013), which closed 

March 21, 2014, when the subquota was 

met (79 FR 15924, March 24, 2014); and 

four large medium or giant BFT for the 

June through August period (79 FR 

30745, May 29, 2014) as well as the 

September, October through November, 

and December periods (79 FR 50854, 

August 26, 2014). 

Under § 635.23(a)(4), NMFS may 

increase or decrease the daily retention 

limit of large medium and giant BFT 

over a range of zero to a maximum of 

five per vessel based on consideration of 

the relevant criteria provided under 

§ 635.27(a)(8), and listed above. NMFS 

has considered the relevant criteria and 

their applicability to the General 

category BFT retention limit for the 

January 2015 subquota period. These 

considerations include, but are not 

limited to, the following: 

As described above with regard to the 

quota transfer, additional opportunity to 

land BFT would support the collection 

of a broad range of data for the 

biological studies and for stock 

monitoring purposes. In 2012, 2013, and 

2014, under a two-fish limit, the 

available January subquota (23.1 mt) 

was reached on January 22, February 15, 

and March 21, respectively, and in each 

of these years the General category did 

not reach its available quota by the end 

of the year. For the remainder of the 

2014 General category fishery (i.e., June 

through December), NMFS adjusted the 

daily retention limit to four fish, and 

preliminary landings information 

indicate that the General category will 

be close to but likely not fill its quota. 

As this action would be taken consistent 

with the previously implemented and 

analyzed quotas, it is not expected to 

negatively impact stock health. It is also 

supported by the Environmental 

Analysis for the 2011 final rule 

regarding General and Harpoon category 

management measures, which increased 

the General category maximum daily 

retention limit from three to five fish (76 

FR 74003, November 30, 2011). 

As above, the winter BFT fishery is 

variable, but as of early December 2014, 

commercial-sized BFT are actively being 

landed. Considering this information 

and the transfer of the December 2015 

subquota to the quota for the January 

2015 time period (for an adjusted total 

of 42.4 mt), the default one-fish limit 

likely would be overly restrictive. 

Increasing the daily retention limit from 

the default may mitigate rolling an 

excessive amount of unused quota from 

one time-period subquota to the next 

and thus help maintain an equitable 

distribution of fishing opportunities. 

Although NMFS has the authority to set 

the daily retention limit to up to five 

fish, the rate of harvest of the January 

subquota could be accelerated under a 

high limit (and higher fish availability), 

and result in a relatively short fishing 

season. A short fishing season may 

preclude or reduce fishing opportunities 

for some individuals or geographic areas 

because of the migratory nature and 

seasonal distribution of BFT. 

Based on these considerations, NMFS 

has determined that a three-fish General 

category retention limit is warranted for 

the January 2015 subquota. It would 

provide a reasonable opportunity to 

harvest the U.S. quota of BFT without 

exceeding it, while maintaining an 

equitable distribution of fishing 

opportunities, help optimize the ability 

of the General category to harvest its full 

quota, allow collection of a broad range 

of data for stock monitoring purposes, 

and be consistent with the objectives of 

the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and 

Amendments. Therefore, NMFS 

increases the General category retention 

limit from the default limit (one) to 

three large medium or giant BFT per 

vessel per day/trip, effective January 1, 

2015, through March 31, 2015, or until 

the 42.4-mt January subquota is 

harvested, whichever comes first. 

Regardless of the duration of a fishing 

trip, the daily retention limit applies 

upon landing. For example, during the 

January 2015 subquota period, whether 

a vessel fishing under the General 

category limit takes a two-day trip or 

makes two trips in one day, the day/trip 

limit of three fish applies and may not 

be exceeded upon landing. This General 

category retention limit is effective in all 

areas, except for the Gulf of Mexico, 

where NMFS prohibits targeted fishing 

for BFT, and applies to those vessels 

permitted in the General category, as 

well as to those HMS Charter/Headboat 

permitted vessels fishing commercially 

for BFT. 

Monitoring and Reporting 

NMFS will continue to monitor the 

General category BFT fishery closely 

through the mandatory landings and 

catch reports. Dealers are required to 

submit landing reports within 24 hours 

of a dealer receiving BFT. Consistent 

with the regulations implementing 

Amendment 7, General and HMS 

Charter/Headboat category vessel 

operators are required to report the 

number and length of all BFT catch (i.e., 

retained or discarded dead) through an 

online catch reporting system within 24 

hours of the landing(s) or end of each 

trip, by accessing hmspermits.noaa.gov. 

Depending on the level of fishing effort 

and catch rates of BFT, NMFS may 

determine that additional retention limit 

adjustments or closures are necessary to 

ensure available quota is not exceeded 

or to enhance scientific data collection 

from, and fishing opportunities in, all 

geographic areas. Subsequent actions, if 

any, will be published in the Federal 

Register. In addition, fishermen may 

call the Atlantic Tunas Information Line 

at (888) 872–8862 or (978) 281–9260, or 

access hmspermits.noaa.gov, for 

updates on quota monitoring and 

inseason adjustments. 

Classification 

The Assistant Administrator for 

NMFS (AA) finds that it is impracticable 

and contrary to the public interest to 

provide prior notice of, and an 

opportunity for public comment on, this 

action for the following reasons: 

The regulations implementing the 

2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and 

Amendments provide for inseason 

retention limit adjustments to respond 

to the unpredictable nature of BFT 

availability on the fishing grounds, the 

migratory nature of this species, and the 

regional variations in the BFT fishery. 

Affording prior notice and opportunity 

for public comment to implement the 

quota transfer and daily retention limit 

for the January subquota time period is 

impracticable as NMFS needs to wait 

until it has necessary data and 

information about the fishery before it 

can select the appropriate retention 

limit for a time period prescribed by 

regulation. By the time NMFS has the 

necessary data, implementing the 

retention limit following a public 

comment period would preclude 

fishermen from harvesting BFT that are 

legally available consistent with all of 

the regulatory criteria. Analysis of 

available data shows that the General 

category BFT retention limits may be 

increased with minimal risks of 

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77946 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 248 / Monday, December 29, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

exceeding the ICCAT-allocated U.S. BFT 

quota. 

Delays in increasing these retention 

limits would adversely affect those 

General and HMS Charter/Headboat 

category vessels that would otherwise 

have an opportunity to harvest more 

than the default retention limit of one 

BFT per day/trip and may exacerbate 

the problem of low catch rates and 

quota rollovers. Limited opportunities 

to harvest the respective quotas may 

have negative social and economic 

impacts for U.S. fishermen that depend 

upon catching the available quota 

within the designated time periods. 

Adjustment of the retention limit needs 

to be effective January 1, 2015, or as 

soon as possible thereafter, to minimize 

any unnecessary disruption in fishing 

patterns, to allow the impacted sectors 

to benefit from the adjustment, and to 

provide fishing opportunities for 

fishermen in geographic areas with 

access to the fishery only during this 

time period. Therefore, the AA finds 

good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) to 

waive prior notice and the opportunity 

for public comment. For these reasons, 

there is good cause under 5 U.S.C. 

553(d) to waive the 30-day delay in 

effectiveness. 

This action is being taken under 50 

CFR 635.23(a)(4) and 635.27(a)(9), and 

is exempt from review under Executive 

Order 12866. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq. and 1801 

et seq. 

Dated: December 22, 2014. 

Emily H. Menashes, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–30341 Filed 12–22–14; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 141002822–4999–02] 

RIN 0648–BE56 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

Provisions; Fisheries of the 

Northeastern United States; Northeast 

Groundfish Fishery; Fishing Year 2014; 

Interim Gulf of Maine Cod Management 

Measures; Correction 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule, correction; 

extension of expiration date. 

SUMMARY: This document makes 

corrections to the Gulf of Maine cod 

interim regulations published in the 

Federal Register on November 13, 2014. 

This notice allows gillnet vessels to 

switch their designation as either a Day 

or Trip gillnet vessel, an opportunity 

that was inadvertently not provided in 

the original interim action. This notice 

also makes several corrections and 

clarifications, including where the Gulf 

of Maine cod trip limit applies, to 

ensure consistency with measures 

implemented in the interim action. In 

this document, we extend the expiration 

date of certain temporary amendments. 

DATES: Effective December 29, 2014, 

until May 12, 2015, except for 

amendatory instruction 2 of this rule, 

which expires on April 30, 2015. The 

expiration dates in amendatory 

instructions 2, 4a and c, and 5 through 

12, published in FR Rule Doc. No. 

2014–26844, November 13, 2014, at 79 

FR 67362, for the amendments to 

§§ 648.2, 648.14, 648.80, 648.81, 648.82, 

648.85, 648.86, 648.87, 648.88, and 

648.89, respectively, are extended until 

May 12, 2015. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Brett Alger, Fishery Management 

Specialist, phone: 978–675–9315. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On November 13, 2014, we published 

interim management measures (79 FR 

67362) to increase protection for Gulf of 

Maine (GOM) cod in response to a 

recently updated stock assessment that 

concluded the stock is severely 

depleted. The management measures 

included seasonal interim closure areas 

and a 200-lb (90.7-kg) GOM cod trip 

limit for all limited access commercial 

groundfish vessels. This document 

makes corrections to those measures; 

specifically, we are: 

• Allowing gillnet vessels to change 

their annual declaration for the 

remainder of the 2014 fishing year; 

• Clarifying that the 200-lb (90.7-kg) 

GOM cod trip limit applies specifically 

to the GOM Broad Stock Area (BSA); 

• Correcting several labeling and 

typographical errors pertaining to the 

seasonal interim closure areas; 

• Extending the effective dates noted 

for regulations implemented by the 

interim action consistent with the 

effective date published in the Federal 

Register; and 

• Correcting the prohibitions and 

other regulations to clarify their 

meaning or correct cross-references. 

Gillnet Category Designations 

The Northeast Multispecies Fishery 

Management Plan (FMP) requires 

groundfish vessels fishing with gillnet 

gear to make an annual declaration as 

either a Day gillnet or Trip gillnet 

vessel. There are specific regulations 

and tagging requirements associated 

with each of these categories. For 

example, a Trip gillnet vessel is not 

limited in the number of nets may fish, 

but it must set and retrieve all of its 

gillnet gear in each trip. On the other 

hand, a Day gillnet vessel is limited in 

the number of nets it may fish, but can 

return to port while allowing the gear to 

remain in the water for a period of time, 

and then retrieve the gear on a 

subsequent trip. Once a vessel owner 

has elected one of these designations, 

the owner may not change the 

designation or fish under the other 

gillnet category for the remainder of the 

fishing year. 

The interim rule modified gillnet 

management measures mid-season by 

reducing the number of nets that may be 

fished by Day gillnet vessels enrolled in 

a sector (see page 67367 of the interim 

rule) and instituting GOM cod trip 

limits. Vessel owners did not have a 

prior opportunity to consider these 

changes when they made their 

designation as a Day or Trip gillnet 

vessel at the beginning of the fishing 

year. This correction provides a onetime opportunity for gillnet vessels to 

change their designation after 

considering management changes made 

by the interim rule. Gillnet vessels can 

change their declaration for the 

remainder of the 2014 fishing year by 

submitting a revised gillnet tag form 

from December 29, 2014, through 

January 28, 2015. 

Clarification on GOM Cod Trip Limits 

The groundfish Regulated Mesh Area 

(RMA) boundaries were historically 

used for gear restrictions, and for setting 

trip limits in the commercial fishery and 

bag limits in the recreational fishery. In 

addition, Broad Stock Areas (BSA) were 

implemented in Amendment 16 to the 

FMP (75 FR 18262; April 9, 2010) to 

better attribute catch to specific 

groundfish stocks. There is a specific 

area northeast of Cape Cod where the 

GOM RMA and GOM BSA boundaries 

do not align (Figure 1), and which 

results in the GOM RMA overlapping 

the Inshore Georges Bank BSA. In this 

case, a vessel may be fishing in the 

Inshore Georges Bank BSA, but under 

the GOM RMA gear and trip regulations. 

The interaction of these overlapping 

areas was not addressed when 

developing the GOM cod interim rule, 

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