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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 194 / Tuesday, October 12, 2021 / Rules and Regulations DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 50 CFR Part 648
Docket No. 2105130105; RTID 0648
XB444

Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery;
Closure of the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area to General Category Individual Fishing Quota Scallop Vessels National Marine Fisheries Service NMFS, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA, Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; closure.
AGENCY:

NMFS announces that the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area is closed to Limited Access General Category Individual Fishing Quota scallop vessels for the remainder of the 2021 fishing year. No vessel issued a Limited Access General Category Individual Fishing Quota permit may fish for, possess, or land scallops from the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area.
Regulations require this action once it is projected that 100 percent of trips allocated to the Limited Access General Category Individual Fishing Quota scallop vessels for the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area will be taken.
DATES: Effective 0001 hr local time, October 7, 2021, through March 31, 2022.
SUMMARY:

Category LAGC Individual Fishing Quota IFQ scallop permit to fish in the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area under specific conditions, including a total of 571 trips that may be taken during the 2021 fishing year. Section 648.59g3iii requires the MidAtlantic Scallop Access Area to be closed to LAGC IFQ permitted vessels for the remainder of the fishing year once the NMFS Greater Atlantic Regional Administrator determines that the allocated number of trips for fishing year 2021 are projected to be taken.
Based on trip declarations by LAGC
IFQ scallop vessels fishing in the MidAtlantic Scallop Access Area, analysis of fishing effort, and other information, NMFS projects that 571 trips will be taken as of October 7, 2021. Therefore, in accordance with 648.59g3iii, NMFS is closing the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area to all LAGC IFQ
scallop vessels as of October 7, 2021. No vessel issued an LAGC IFQ permit may fish for, possess, or land scallops in or from the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area after 0001 hr local time, October 7, 2021. Any LAGC IFQ vessel that has declared into the Mid-Atlantic Access Area scallop fishery, complied with all trip notification and observer requirements, and crossed the vessel monitoring system VMS demarcation line on the way to the area before 0001
hr, October 7, 2021, may complete its trip without being subject to this closure. This closure is in effect for the remainder of the 2021 scallop fishing year, through March 31, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Classification
Louis Forristall, Fishery Management Specialist, 978 2819321.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Regulations governing fishing activity in the Sea Scallop Access Areas can be found in 50 CFR 648.59 and 648.60.
These regulations authorize vessels issued a valid Limited Access General
NMFS issues this action pursuant to section 305d of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. This action is required by 50 CFR
part 648, which was issued pursuant to section 304b, and is exempt from review under Executive Order 12866.
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553bB, there is good cause to waive prior notice and
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an opportunity for public comment on this action, as notice and comment would be impracticable and contrary to the public interest. The Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area opened for the 2021 fishing year on April 1, 2021. The regulations at 648.59g3iii require this closure to ensure that LAGC IFQ
scallop vessels do not take more than their allocated number of trips in the area. The projected date on which the LAGC IFQ fleet will have taken all of its allocated trips in an Access Area becomes apparent only as trips into the area occur on a real-time basis and as activity trends begin to appear. As a result, NMFS can only make an accurate projection very close in time to when the fleet has taken all of its trips. To allow LAGC IFQ scallop vessels to continue to take trips in the MidAtlantic Scallop Access Area during the period necessary to publish and receive comments on a proposed rule would likely result in the vessels taking much more than the allowed number of trips in the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area. Excessive trips and harvest from the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area would result in excessive fishing effort in the area, where effort controls are critical, thereby undermining conservation objectives of the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan and requiring more restrictive future management measures. Also, the public had prior notice and full opportunity to comment on this closure process when it was enacted. For these same reasons, NMFS further finds, under 5 U.S.C.
553d3, good cause to waive the 30day delayed effectiveness period.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: October 6, 2021.
Jennifer M. Wallace, Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
FR Doc. 202122139 Filed 10621; 4:15 pm BILLING CODE 351022P

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