[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 245 (Monday, December 21, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 82944-82946]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-27852]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 201214-0337]
RIN 0648-BJ98
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Golden Tilefish
Fishery; Final 2021 and Projected 2022 Specifications and Emergency
Action
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces final specifications for the 2021 commercial
golden tilefish fishery and projected specifications for 2022. This
action also implements temporary emergency measures for the golden
tilefish fishery at the request of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management
Council. This action establishes allowable harvest levels and other
management measures to prevent overfishing while allowing optimum
yield, consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act and the Tilefish Fishery Management Plan. The emergency
measures allow a limited one-time carryover of up to 5 percent of
unharvested fishing quota from the 2020 fishing year into the 2021
fishing year.
DATES: This rule is effective December 21, 2020. Emergency action
measures expire June 19, 2021. The 2021 specification measures expire
November 1, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the Supplemental Information Report prepared for
this action are available from Dr. Christopher M. Moore, Executive
Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 800 North State
Street, Suite 201, Dover, DE 19901. These documents are also accessible
via the internet at http://www.mafmc.org.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Douglas Potts, Fishery Policy Analyst,
(978) 281-9341.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council manages the golden
tilefish fishery under the Tilefish Fishery Management Plan (FMP),
which outlines the Council's process for establishing annual
specifications. The FMP requires the Council to recommend acceptable
biological catch (ABC), annual catch limit (ACL), annual catch target
(ACT), total allowable landings (TAL), and other management measures,
for up to 3 years at a time. The directed fishery is managed under an
individual fishing quota (IFQ) program, with small amounts of non-IFQ
catch allowed under an incidental permit. Detailed background
information regarding the development of the 2021-2022 specifications
for this fishery was provided in the specifications proposed rule (85
FR 72616; November 13, 2020). That information is not repeated here.
Specifications
The table below shows the 2021 and projected 2022 specifications
including the ABC, ACL, ACT, and TAL for the commercial Mid-Atlantic
golden tilefish fishery. NMFS will publish a notice in the Federal
Register before the 2022 fishing year notifying the public of the final
specifications.
Table 1--2021 and Projected 2022 Golden Tilefish Specifications
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2021 Projected 2022
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million lb mt million lb mt
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ABC........................................................ 1.636 742 1.636 742
ACL........................................................ 1.636 742 1.636 742
IFQ ACT.................................................... 1.554 705 1.554 705
Incidental ACT............................................. 0.082 37 0.082 37
IFQ TAL.................................................... 1.554 705 1.554 705
Incidental TAL............................................. 0.070 32 0.070 32
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Under the FMP, 95 percent of the ACL is allocated for the IFQ
fishery, and the remaining 5 percent is allocated for the incidental
fishery. This results in the ACT for each. The TAL for each of these
sectors of the fishery is derived by deducting anticipated discards of
tilefish from the ACT.
This action makes no changes to possession limits in the golden
tilefish fishery. The incidental trip limit remains 500 lb (226.8 kg)
(live weight), or 50 percent of the weight of all fish being landed,
whichever is less, and the recreational catch limit remains eight fish
per angler per trip.
Emergency Action
At its April 2020 meeting, the Council requested that NMFS take
emergency action to allow a 5 percent carryover of unharvested IFQ
quota from fishing year 2020 to 2021. The tilefish IFQ program does not
normally allow any carryover of unharvested allocation from one fishing
year into the next. Unforeseen changes in the market for seafood
resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly the loss of
restaurant sales due to local closure orders, have substantially
reduced demand for golden tilefish. A review of golden tilefish IFQ
landings from November 1, 2019, through June 30, 2020, shows that
landings were approximately 18.5-percent below the same date in 2018
and 2019. Because of this unprecedented impact on the fishery, we are
implementing this one-time carry over under our emergency rulemaking
authority specified in section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
Each IFQ quota shareholder will be able to carry over 2020 IFQ
quota pounds that are not used to land tilefish before the end of the
fishing year, up to a maximum amount of 5 percent of their initial 2020
IFQ quota pounds. Final IFQ accounting is normally completed in
December or January, after all landings data has been submitted and
undergone normal reviews for quality control and quality assurance.
Following that accounting, IFQ quota
[[Page 82945]]
shareholders that land less than 95 percent of their initial 2020 quota
pounds will receive the full 5-percent carryover. Those that land
between 95 and 100 percent of their initial 2020 quota pounds will
receive the amount they were under. Revised 2020 allocation permits
indicating the amount of any carryover will be issued to each IFQ quota
shareholder. Any increase in the 2021 IFQ TAL reflects 2020 IFQ TAL
that was not harvested. Thus, total landings for 2020 and 2021 will
remain at or below the combined IFQ TAL for the 2 years.
NMFS's policy guidelines for the use of emergency rules (62 FR
44421; August 21, 1997) specify the following three criteria that
define what an emergency situation is, and justification for final
rulemaking: (1) The emergency results from recent, unforeseen events or
recently discovered circumstances; (2) the emergency presents serious
conservation or management problems in the fishery; and (3) the
emergency can be addressed through emergency regulations for which the
immediate benefits outweigh the value of advance notice, public
comment, and deliberative consideration of the impacts on participants
to the same extent as would be expected under the normal rulemaking
process. NMFS's policy guidelines further provide that emergency action
is justified for certain situations where emergency action would
prevent significant direct economic loss, or to preserve a significant
economic opportunity that otherwise might be foregone. NMFS has
determined that allowing the carryover of unharvested tilefish IFQ
quota pounds as described above meets the three criteria for emergency
action for the reasons outlined below.
The emergency results from recent, unforeseen events or recently
discovered circumstances. On March 13, 2020, a national emergency was
declared in response to the global spread of a novel coronavirus (SARS-
CoV-2), and the outbreaks of the disease caused by this virus, COVID-
19. State governors across the Greater Atlantic region declared states
of emergency and implemented health and travel restrictions in
recognition of the growing impacts and risks of COVID-19. The tilefish
industry began to experience impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic in
March 2020. These impacts were unforeseen during the development of
management measures for the 2020 fishing year that began on November 1,
2019.
The emergency presents serious conservation or management problems
in the fishery. When state governors across the Greater Atlantic region
declared states of emergency, it became exceedingly difficult for
members of the tilefish industry to complete fishing trips and sell
their catch to federally permitted tilefish dealers. Even after some
tilefish dealer activity resumed, the ability of tilefish IFQ quota
holders to harvest their quota remained very limited, and a number of
fishermen were unable to harvest their full quota for the 2020 fishing
year. This emergency action would help prevent additional economic
losses to industry participants, shoreside businesses, and fishing
communities, and help offset lost fishing opportunities during the 2020
fishing year.
Although the Council has the authority to develop a management
action to authorize carryover, an emergency action can be developed and
implemented by NMFS more swiftly than a Council action that is subject
to requirements not applicable to the Secretary. If the normal Council
process is used to implement carryover provisions, it would take
substantially longer for those provisions to be implemented and could
prevent vessels from harvesting carryover at an opportune time in the
upcoming fishing year. It was not possible to implement these changes
for the start of the 2021 fishing year through rulemaking following the
normal Council process because of time required for the Council to
develop a FMP amendment or framework adjustment. If implemented through
emergency action, carryover allocation will be available to fishermen
early in the tilefish fishing year, which allows maximum flexibility
and ensures the intended benefits of this action are realized. Making
carryover quota available for as much of the fishing year as possible
is important to allow tilefish permit holders to plan to use additional
quota when it is most beneficial to them. Section 305(c) of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act specifies that emergency regulations may only
remain in effect for 180 days from the date of publication and may be
extended for one additional period of not more than 186 days.
Comments
The public comment period for the proposed rule ended on November
30, 2020. We received no relevant comments on the proposed rule.
Changes from Proposed to Final Rule
There are no changes from the proposed rule.
Classification
NMFS is issuing this rule pursuant to sections and 304(b) and
305(c) of the Magnuson Stevens Act, which provide specific authority
and procedure for implementing this action. Section 304(b) authorizes
NMFS to implement regulations implementing a fishery management plan or
plan amendment. Section 305(c) authorizes NMFS to implement regulations
at the request of the Council to address an emergency in the fishery.
The NMFS Assistant Administrator has determined that this rule is
consistent with the Tilefish FMP, other provisions of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act, and other applicable law, subject to further consideration
after public comment.
The Assistant Administrator Fisheries, NOAA (AA) finds the need to
implement these measures in a timely manner to implement the final
harvest limits for the 2021 fishing year that started on November 1,
2020, and to implement emergency measures to allow the carryover of up
to 5 percent of unharvested IFQ quota, constitutes good cause under
authority contained in 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), to waive the 30-day delay in
effective date and make the rule effective immediately upon publication
in the Federal Register. The 2021 tilefish fishing year is already
underway and delaying the effective date for this rule would undermine
the intent of this rule. A full assessment of the potential impacts of
the emergency measures in this action was not available until late
October, delaying the publication of the proposed rule for this action.
The 30-day delay in implementation for this rule is also
unnecessary because this rule contains no new measures (e.g., requiring
new nets or equipment) for which regulated entities need time to
prepare or revise their current practices.
This final rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
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 final rule contains no information collection requirements
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
[[Page 82946]]
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: December 14, 2020.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs,National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-27852 Filed 12-18-20; 8:45 am]
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