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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 137 / Wednesday, July 21, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
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Sound and North Coast subareas are August 1921, 2628; September 24, 911, 1618, and 2324. WDFW
recommended these dates to NMFS after consultation with their stakeholders.
These dates were determined in consultation with WDFW, the Council, and IPHC. Notice of these and potential additional dates and closure of the fisheries will also be announced on the NMFS hotline at 2065266667 or 800
6629825.
Weekly quota monitoring reports for the recreational fisheries in Washington, Oregon, and California are available on their respective state Fish and Wildlife agency websites. NMFS and the IPHC
will continue to monitor recreational catch obtained via state sampling procedures.
Classification NMFS issues this action pursuant to the Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1982. This action is taken under the regulatory authority at 50 CFR 300.63c, and is exempt from review under Executive Order 12866.
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553b3B, there is good cause to waive prior notice and an opportunity for public comment on this action, as notice and comment would be impracticable and contrary to the public interest. WDFW provided updated landings data to NMFS on June 10, 2021, and requested additional fishing dates be added before the close of the recreational halibut fishery on September 30, 2021, as the fishery participants in the North Coast and Puget Sound subareas have only caught 35 percent of the two areas combined allocation. NMFS uses fishing rates from previous years to determine the number of recreational fishing dates needed to attain subarea allocations. The level of attainment of the allocation for 2021 is much lower than past years for this same point in time, and was not anticipated when the 2021 final rule setting the 2021 recreational fishery season dates was developed. This action should be implemented as soon as possible to allow fishery participants to take advantage of the additional fishing dates prior to the end of the season. As the fishery closes on September 30, 2021, implementing this action through proposed and final rulemaking would limit the benefit this action would provide to fishery participants. Without implementation of additional season dates, the Puget Sound and North Coast subareas would not harvest their full subarea allocations, limiting economic benefits to the participants and not meeting the goals of the Catch Share Plan and the 2021 management measures. It is necessary that this
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rulemaking be implemented in a timely manner so that planning for these new fishing days can take place, and for business and personal decision making by the regulated public impacted by this action, which includes recreational charter fishing operations, associated port businesses, and private anglers who do not live near the coastal access points for this fishery, among others. To ensure the regulated public is fully aware of this action, notice of this regulatory action will also be provided to anglers through a telephone hotline, news release, and by the relevant state fish and wildlife agencies. NMFS will receive public comments for 15 days after publication of this action, in accordance with 50 CFR 300.63c4ii.
No aspect of this action is controversial, and changes of this nature were anticipated in the process described in regulations at 50 CFR 300.63c.
For the reasons discussed above, there is also good cause under 5 U.S.C.
553d3 to waive the 30-day delay in effective date and make this action effective immediately upon filing, as a delay in effectiveness of this action would constrain fishing opportunity and be inconsistent with the goals of the Catch Sharing Plan and current management measures, as well as potentially limit the economic opportunity intended by this rule to the associated fishing communities. NMFS
regulations allow the Regional Administrator to modify sport fishing periods, bag limits, size limits, days per calendar week, and subarea quotas, provided that the action allows allocation objectives to be met and will not result in exceeding the catch limit for the subarea. NMFS recently received information on the progress of landings in the recreational fisheries in Washington subareas, indicating additional dates should be added to the fishery to ensure optimal and sustainable harvest of the quota. As stated above, it is in the public interest that this action is not delayed, because a delay in the effectiveness of these new dates would not allow the allocation objectives of this fishery to be met.
Dated: July 15, 2021.
Jennifer M. Wallace, Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 50 CFR Part 622
Docket No. 2107130147
RIN 0648BK01

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; Reef Fish Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico;
Framework Action National Marine Fisheries Service NMFS, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA, Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:

NMFS is implementing management measures described in a framework action to the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish FMP, as prepared and submitted by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council Council. This final rule will prohibit certain fishing activities and, with one exception, the possession of Gulf of Mexico Gulf reef fish within the Madison-Swanson and Steamboat Lumps Marine Protected Areas MPAs. The purpose of this final rule is to protect spawning aggregations of mature reef fish species by reducing the potential for illegal fishing activities within these MPAs.
DATES: This final rule is effective on August 20, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of this framework action to the FMP for the Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico may be obtained from www.regulations.gov or from the NMFS
Southeast Regional Office website at https www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/
modification-fishing-access-easterngulf-mexico-marine-protected-areas.
The framework action includes an environmental assessment, regulatory impact review, and Regulatory Flexibility Act RFA analysis.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rich Malinowski, NMFS Southeast Regional Office, telephone: 7278245305, or email: rich.malinowski@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS and the Council manage the reef fish fishery under the Reef Fish FMP. The Reef Fish FMP was prepared by the Council and is implemented by NMFS through regulations at 50 CFR part 622 under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act Magnuson-Stevens Act 16 U.S.C.
1801 et seq..
SUMMARY:

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