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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 239 / Thursday, December 16, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 50 CFR Part 622
Docket No. 170413393848702
RTID 0648XB607

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; Reef Fish Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico; Red Grouper Commercial Quota Holdback in the Gulf of Mexico National Marine Fisheries Service NMFS, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA, Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; commercial quota holdback.
AGENCY:

NMFS issues this temporary rule to withhold a portion of the red grouper commercial allocation for the 2022 fishing year in anticipation of an upcoming rulemaking that would, among other measures, reduce the commercial annual catch limit ACL
and annual catch target ACT through Amendment 53 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico FMP.
This action would withhold the distribution of red grouper and gag multi-use individual fishing quota IFQ
allocation on January 1, 2022, in the amount equal to the anticipated reduction in the allocation for shareholders in the groupers and tilefishes IFQ GTIFQ program.
DATES: This temporary rule is effective from 12:01 a.m., local time, on January 1, 2022, through 12:01 a.m., local time, on June 1, 2022.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Peter Hood, NMFS Southeast Regional Office, telephone: 7278245305, email:
peter.hood@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Gulf of Mexico Gulf reef fish fishery, which includes red grouper, is managed under the FMP. The FMP was prepared by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council 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.
The Council has submitted Amendment 53 to the FMP for review, approval, and implementation by NMFS. If approved by the Secretary of Commerce Secretary, Amendment 53
would modify the allocation of Gulf red grouper catch between the commercial and recreational sectors, specify a lower
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overfishing limit and acceptable biological catch, and reduce both sectors ACLs and ACTs. The final rule for Amendment 53 is not expected to be effective until after January 1, 2022, but prior to June 1, 2022. With respect to the commercial ACL and ACT, Amendment 53 proposes to reduce the current commercial ACL from 3.16 million lb 1.43 million kg to 2.53 million lb 1.15
million kg and the current commercial ACT from 3.00 million lb 1.36 million kg to 2.40 million lb 1.09 million kg.
Amendment 36A to the FMP
addressed how to distribute allocation to IFQ shareholders in years in which there is an anticipated reduction of the commercial allocation 83 FR 27297;
June 12, 2018. This situation would generally occur if the Council approved an action to reduce the commercial allocation for any IFQ species or multispecies share category but NMFS could not complete the associated rulemaking before January 1, the start of the fishing year. Under the GTIFQ program, annual allocation is distributed to IFQ
shareholders on January 1, and most IFQ program participants begin to use or transfer their allocation early in each year. After shareholders begin transferring or landing allocation, NMFS
is not able to retroactively withdraw allocation from shareholder accounts if a commercial quota decrease became effective after the beginning of the fishing year. Thus, Amendment 36A
and the regulations at 50 CFR
622.22a4 allow NMFS to anticipate a decrease in the commercial allocation of GTIFQ species or multi-species share categories after the start of a fishing year and withhold distribution of allocation equal to the amount of the expected decrease. NMFS would distribute the remaining portion of the annual allocation to shareholders on January 1.
If the final rule to implement the associated commercial allocation reduction is not effective by June 1, 2022, then NMFS would distribute the withheld allocation back to the current shareholders, as determined on the date the withheld IFQ allocation is distributed.
The Amendment 53 notice of availability published on December 9, 2021, and solicits public comments through February 7, 2021 86 FR 70078, December 9, 2021. NMFS anticipates publishing a proposed rule to implement Amendment 53 shortly with a 30-day public comment period. NMFS
must approve, partially approve, or disapprove Amendment 53 by March 9, 2021 16 U.S.C. 1854a. Therefore, to allow the catch limits in Amendment 53
to be effective for the 2022 fishing year, this temporary rule will withhold 0.60

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million lb 0.27 million kg from the commercial allocation of 3.00 million lb 1.36 million kg on January 1, 2022. In addition, this temporary rule will withhold 30,048 lb 13,630 kg from the commercial gag multi-use allocation of 159,582 lb 72,385 kg on January 1, 2022. The gag multi-use quota is calculated by the following equation:
gag multi-use allocation = 100 red grouper commercial ACL-red grouper commercial quota / gag commercial quota where the gag commercial quota is 939,000 lb 425,923 kg. If NMFS
disapproves Amendment 53 or Amendment 53 is not implemented by June 1, 2022, NMFS will distribute withheld red grouper and gag multi-use IFQ allocation to current shareholders based on the date the withheld IFQ
allocation is distributed.
It is unnecessary to take any action with respect to the recreational ACL and ACT at this time because, if necessary, NMFS will constrain recreational landings to the applicable catch limit through a temporary rule during the 2022 fishing year to close the recreational sector. The analysis in Amendment 53 indicates that the earliest NMFS would expect to close the recreational sector would be the end of July 2022, with a closure most likely in November or December of 2022.
Classification NMFS issues this action pursuant to section 305d of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. This action is taken under 50 CFR
622.22a4, which was issued pursuant to section 304b of the MagnusonStevens Act, and is exempt from review under Executive Order 12866, and other applicable laws.
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553bB, there is good cause to waive prior notice and an opportunity for public comment on this action, as notice and comment is unnecessary and contrary to the public interest. Such procedures are unnecessary because the regulation at 50 CFR 622.22a4 has already has already been subject to notice and public comment, and the public is aware that NMFS is reviewing Amendment 53 for approval and implementation. Therefore, all that remains is to notify the public that a portion of the commercial Gulf red grouper and the gag multi-use IFQ
allocation in 2022 will be withheld to allow for the implementation of
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