[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 203 (Monday, October 23, 2017)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 48936-48937]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-22861]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 151215999-6960-02]
RIN 0648-XF774


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Herring 
Fishery; Adjustment to the Atlantic Herring Management Area 1A Annual 
Catch Limit

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Temporary rule; inseason adjustment.

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SUMMARY: NMFS is adjusting the 2017 fishing year annual catch limit for 
Atlantic Herring Management Area 1A due to an underharvest in the New 
Brunswick weir fishery. This action is necessary to comply with the 
2016-2018 specifications and management measures for the Atlantic 
Herring Fishery Management.

DATES: Effective October 24, 2017, through December 31, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Daniel Luers, Fishery Management 
Specialist, 978-282-8457, Fax 978-281-9135.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations governing the Atlantic herring 
fishery are found at 50 CFR part 648. The regulations require annual 
specification of the overfishing limit, acceptable biological catch 
(ABC), annual catch limit (ACL), optimum yield (OY), domestic harvest 
and processing, U.S. at-sea processing, border transfer, and sub-annual 
catch limits (sub-ACL) for each management area. The 2017 Domestic 
Annual Harvest was set as 104,800 metric tons (mt); an additional 9,384 
mt was added to the sub-ACLs for the four herring management areas 
collectively from an underharvest during the 2015 fishing year, and 3 
percent of herring catch was set aside for research in the 2016-2018 
specifications (81 FR 75731, November 1, 2016). The ACL for the 2017 
fishing

[[Page 48937]]

year was 101,656 mt, and the adjusted ACL allocated to Area 1A was 
31,115 mt.
    Due to the variability of Canadian catch in the New Brunswick weir 
fishery, a 1,000-mt portion of the 4,000-mt buffer between ABC and OY 
(the buffer to account for Canadian catch) is allocated to Area 1A, 
provided New Brunswick weir landings are lower than the amount 
specified in the buffer.
    The NMFS Regional Administrator is required to monitor the fishery 
landings in the New Brunswick weir fishery each year. If New Brunswick 
weir fishery herring catch through October 1 is less than 4,000 mt, 
then 1,000 mt will be subtracted from the management uncertainty buffer 
and allocated to the ACL and Area 1A sub-ACL. When such a determination 
is made, NMFS is required to publish a notification in the Federal 
Register to adjust the ACL and the Area 1A sub-ACL upward for the 
remainder of the fishing year.
    The Regional Administrator has determined, based on the best 
available information, that the New Brunswick weir fishery catch for 
fishing year 2017 through October 1, 2017, was 1,732 mt. Therefore, 
effective October 24, 2017, through December 31, 2017, 1,000 mt will be 
allocated to the Area 1A sub-ACL, thereby increasing the fishing year 
2017 Area 1A sub-ACL from 31,115 mt to 32,115 mt. Because this increase 
to a sub-ACL also increases the stock-wide ACL, this allocation 
increases the 2017 stock-wide ACL from 101,656 mt to 102,656 mt.

Classification

    This action is required by 50 CFR part 648 and is exempt from 
review under Executive Order 12866.
    The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA (AA), finds good 
cause pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) to waive prior notice and the 
opportunity for public comment because it is impracticable and contrary 
to the public interest. This action increases the sub-ACL for Area 1A 
by 1,000 mt (31,115 mt to 32,115 mt) through December 31, 2017, thereby 
relieving a more restrictive catch limit. The regulations at 50 CFR 
648.201(f) require such action to help mitigate some of the negative 
economic effects associated with the reduction in the Area 1A sub-ACL 
in the 2016-2018 specifications process. The herring fishery extends 
from January 1 to December 31. Data indicating the New Brunswick weir 
fishery landed less than 4,000 mt through October 1, 2017, only 
recently became available. Allowing for prior notice and public comment 
on this adjustment is impracticable because regulations require this 
allocation to occur as quickly as is practicable and for the remainder 
of the fishing year. Because the Management Area 1A fishery is 
generally fully prosecuted and closed between mid-October and mid-
November, a delay in implementation of this action may result in the 
1,000-mt allocation occurring after closure of Area 1A. If this 
occurred, it is unlikely that the additional 1,000 mt would be enough 
to warrant reopening the 1A fishery, and would thus result in 
incomplete harvest of the 1A sub-ACL. Further, this is a 
nondiscretionary action required by provisions in the 2016-2018 
Atlantic Herring Specifications and Management Measures (herring 
specifications), which previously provided notice to the public that 
this 1,000 mt allocation would occur if the Canadian catch level was 
sufficiently low, and offered full opportunity to comment on this. The 
adjustment required by the regulation is formulaic. It does not change 
existing regulations, but simply puts the predetermined adjustment into 
effect. 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 17, 2017.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-22861 Filed 10-20-17; 8:45 am]
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