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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 149 / Friday, August 6, 2021 / Rules and Regulations Regulation Promulgation
DATES:

Accordingly, we amend part 17, subchapter B of chapter I, title 50 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as follows:

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

PART 17ENDANGERED AND
THREATENED WILDLIFE AND PLANTS

Daniel Luers, NMFS Southeast Regional Office, telephone: 7278245305, email:
daniel.luers@noaa.gov.

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 13611407; 1531
1544; and 42014245, unless otherwise noted.
Amended
2. Amend 17.12 in paragraph h by removing the entry for Trifolium stoloniferum under FLOWERING
PLANTS from the List of Endangered and Threatened Plants.

Madonna Baucum, Regulations and Policy Chief, Division of Policy, Economics, Risk Management, and Analytics, Joint Administrative Operations, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
FR Doc. 202116818 Filed 8521; 8:45 am BILLING CODE 433315P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 50 CFR Part 622
Docket No. 2001240029; RTID 0648
XB279

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; Reef Fish Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico; 2021
Red Snapper Private Angling Component Closure in Federal Waters Off Texas National Marine Fisheries Service NMFS, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA, Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; closure.
AGENCY:

NMFS announces a closure for the 2021 fishing season for the red snapper private angling component in the exclusive economic zone EEZ off Texas in the Gulf of Mexico Gulf through this temporary rule. The red snapper recreational private angling component in the Gulf EEZ off Texas closes on August 5, 2021 until 12:01
a.m., local time, on January 1, 2022.
This closure is necessary to prevent the private angling component from exceeding the Texas regional management area annual catch limit ACL and to prevent overfishing of the Gulf red snapper resource.

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SUMMARY:

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The Gulf reef fish fishery, which includes red snapper, is managed under the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico FMP.
The FMP was prepared by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council and is implemented by NMFS under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act Magnuson-Stevens Act by regulations at 50 CFR part 622.
The final rule implementing Amendment 40 to the FMP established two components within the recreational sector fishing for Gulf red snapper: the private angling component, and the Federal for-hire component 80 FR
22422, April 22, 2015. Amendment 40
also allocated the red snapper recreational ACL recreational quota between the components and established separate seasonal closures for the two components. On February 6, 2020, NMFS implemented Amendments 50 AF to the FMP, which delegated authority to the Gulf states Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Texas to establish specific management measures for the harvest of red snapper in Federal waters of the Gulf by the private angling component of the recreational sector 85 FR 6819, February 6, 2020. These amendments allocate a portion of the private angling ACL to each state, and each state is required to constrain landings to its allocation.
As described at 50 CFR 622.23c, a Gulf state with an active delegation may request that NMFS close all, or an area of, Federal waters off that state to the harvest and possession of red snapper by private anglers. The state is required to request the closure by letter to NMFS, providing dates and geographic coordinates for the closure. If the request is within the scope of the analysis in Amendment 50A, NMFS
publishes a notice in the Federal Register implementing the closure for the fishing year. Based on the analysis in Amendment 50A, Texas may request a closure of all Federal waters off the state to allow a year-round fishing season in state waters. As described at 50 CFR 622.2, off Texas is defined as the waters in the Gulf west of a rhumb line from 2932.1 N Lat., 9347.7 W
long. to 2611.4 N Lat., 9253 W long.,
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. The authority citation for part 17
continues to read as follows:

17.12

This closure is effective on August 5, 2021, until 12:01 a.m., local time, on January 1, 2022.

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which line is an extension of the boundary between Louisiana and Texas.
On December 7, 2020, NMFS received a request from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department TPWD to close the EEZ off Texas to the red snapper private angling component for the first part of the 2021 fishing year. Texas requested that the closure be effective from January 1, 2021, until June 1, 2021.
NMFS determined that the TPWD
request was within the scope of analysis contained within Amendment 50A, and subsequently published a temporary rule in the Federal Register implementing that closure request 85
FR 78792; December 7, 2020. In that rule, NMFS noted that TPWD would monitor private recreational landings, and if necessary, request that NMFS
again close the EEZ in 2021 to ensure the Texas regional management area ACL is not exceeded.
On July 28, 2021, NMFS received a new request from the TPWD to close the EEZ off Texas to the red snapper private angling component for the remainder of the 2021 fishing year. Texas requested that the closure be effective on August 5, 2021, through the end of the fishing year. NMFS has determined that this request is within the scope of analysis contained within Amendment 50A, which analyzed the potential impacts of a closure of all Federal waters off Texas when a portion of the Texas quota has been landed. As explained in Amendment 50A, Texas intends to maintain a year-round fishing season in state waters during which the remaining part of Texas ACL could be caught.
Therefore, the red snapper recreational private angling component in the Gulf EEZ off Texas will close on August 5, 2021, until 12:01 a.m., local time, on January 1, 2022. This closure applies to all private-anglers those on board vessels that have not been issued a valid charter vessel/headboat permit for Gulf reef fish regardless of which state they are from or where they intend to land.
On and after the effective dates of the closure in the EEZ off Texas, the harvest and possession red snapper in the EEZ
off Texas by the private angling component is prohibited and the bag and possession limits for the red snapper private angling component in the closed area is zero.
Classification NMFS issues this action pursuant to section 305d of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. This action is required by 50 CFR
622.23c, which was issued pursuant to section 304b of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and is exempt from review under Executive Order 12866.

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