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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 95 / Wednesday, May 19, 2021 / Rules and Regulations Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to https www.regulations.gov and enter NOAANMFS20210033 in the Search box. Click on the Comment icon, complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.
Instructions: Comments sent by any other method or received after the end of the comment period, may not be considered by NMFS. All comments received are a part of the public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying information e.g., name, address, etc., confidential business information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily by the sender will be publicly accessible. NMFS will accept anonymous comments enter N/
A in the required fields if you wish to remain anonymous.
Copies of the small entity compliance guide are available from Michael Pentony, Regional Administrator, NMFS, Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 019302298, or available on the internet at: https
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/
atlantic-sea-scallopcommercial.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Travis Ford, Fishery Policy Analyst, 9782819233.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background The scallop fisherys management unit ranges from the shorelines of Maine through North Carolina to the outer boundary of the Exclusive Economic Zone. The Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan FMP, established in 1982, includes a number of amendments and framework adjustments that have revised and refined the fisherys management. The New England Fishery Management Council sets scallop fishery catch limits and other management measures through specification or framework adjustments that occur annually or biennially. Due to the COVID19 global pandemic, the annual scallop surveys that were to be conducted in the summer of 2020 were delayed and some canceled outright.

Because of this, the Council had to delay final action and was not able to adopt Framework 33 until January 27, 2021. The Council submitted an environmental assessment to NMFS on April 7, 2021, for approval. The 2021
scallop fishing year began on April 1, 2021, and NMFS was unable to implement Framework 33 for the start of the fishing year. To help ensure that Framework 33 would be implemented as close as possible to April 1, 2021, the start of the fishing year, NMFS is implementing Framework 33 through this interim final rule but is also affording the public the opportunity to comment on this action by accepting public comment until June 18, 2021.
NMFS has approved all of the measures in Framework 33
recommended by the Council, as described below. The Council reviewed the regulations in this rule as drafted by NMFS and deemed them to be necessary and appropriate as specified in section 303c of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.
This interim final rule implements Framework 33, which sets scallop specifications and other measures for fishing years 2021 and 2022, including changes to the catch, effort, and quota allocations and adjustments to the rotational area management program for fishing year 2021, measures to reduce bycatch of flatfish, and default specifications for fishing year 2022. The Magnuson-Stevens Act allows NMFS to approve, partially approve, or disapprove measures proposed by the Council based on whether the measures are consistent with the FMP, the Magnuson-Stevens Act and its National Standards, and other applicable law.
NMFS generally defers to the Councils policy choices unless there is a clear inconsistency with the law or the FMP.
Specification of Scallop Overfishing Limit OFL, Acceptable Biological Catch ABC, Annual Catch Limits ACL, Annual Catch Targets ACT, Annual Projected Landings APL and Set-Asides for the 2021 Fishing Year, and Default Specifications for Fishing Year 2022
The Council set the OFL based on a fishing mortality F of 0.61, equivalent
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to the F threshold updated through the Northeast Fisheries Science Centers most recent scallop management track assessment that was completed in September 2020. The ABC and the equivalent total ACL for each fishing year are based on an F of 0.45, which is the F associated with a 25-percent probability of exceeding the OFL. The Councils Scientific and Statistical Committee SSC recommended scallop fishery ABCs of 67.3 million lb 30,517
mt for 2021 and 61.9 million lb 28,074
mt for the 2022 fishing year, after accounting for discards and incidental mortality. The SSC will reevaluate and potentially adjust the ABC for 2022
when the Council develops the next framework adjustment.
Table 1 outlines the scallop fishery catch limits derived from the ABC
values and the projected landings of the fleet. After deducting the incidental target total allowable catch TAC, the research set-aside RSA, and the observer set-aside, the remaining ACL
available to the fishery is allocated according to the following fleet proportions established in Amendment 11 to the FMP 73 FR 20090; April 14, 2008: 94.5 percent is allocated to the limited access scallop fleet i.e., the larger trip boat fleet; 5 percent is allocated to the limited access general category LAGC individual fishing quota IFQ fleet i.e., the smaller day boat fleet; and the remaining 0.5
percent is allocated to limited access scallop vessels that also have LAGC IFQ
permits. Amendment 15 to the FMP 76
FR 43746; July 21, 2011 specified that no buffers to account for management uncertainty are necessary in setting the LAGC ACLs, meaning that the LAGC
ACL is equal to the LAGC ACT. For the limited access fleet, the management uncertainty buffer is based on the F
associated with a 75-percent probability of remaining below the F associated with ABC/ACL, which, using the updated fishing mortality applied to the ABC/ACL, now results in an F of 0.39.

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TABLE 1SCALLOP CATCH LIMITS MT FOR FISHING YEARS 2021 AND 2022 FOR THE LIMITED ACCESS AND LAGC IFQ
FLEETS
2021
mt
Catch limits OFL
ABC/ACL discards removed
Incidental Catch
RSA

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45,392
30,517
23
567

2022
mt 1
41,926
28,074
23
567