Atlantic HMS Fishery Management Plan (FMP) 50 CFR part 635

Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 147 / Wednesday, August 2, 2023 / Proposed Rules
0 and 55 LCS other than sandbar sharks
per vessel per trip if the respective LCS
management group(s) is open per
§§ 635.27 and 635.28. Such persons may
not retain, possess, or land sandbar
sharks. At the start of each fishing year,
the default commercial retention limit is
55 LCS other than sandbar sharks per
vessel per trip unless NMFS determines
otherwise and files with the Office of
the Federal Register for publication
notification of an inseason adjustment.
During the fishing year, NMFS may
adjust the retention limit per the
inseason trip limit adjustment criteria
listed in paragraph (a)(8) of this section.
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3. In § 635.27, revise paragraphs (b)(2)
introductory text and (b)(3) introductory
text to read as follows:

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§ 635.27

Quotas.

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(2) Annual and inseason adjustments
of commercial quotas. NMFS will
publish in the Federal Register any
annual or inseason adjustments to the
base annual commercial overall,
regional, or sub-regional quotas. Unless
the opening date of a commercial shark
fishery is adjusted under paragraph
(b)(3) of this section, on January 1 of
each year, base quotas, as established in
paragraph (b)(1) of this section, will be
available, and any adjustments will be
published in the Federal Register.
Within a fishing year or at the start of
a fishing year, NMFS may transfer
quotas between regions and sub-regions
of the same species or management
group, as appropriate, based on the
criteria in paragraph (b)(2)(iii) of this
section.
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(3) Opening commercial fishing
season. Unless adjusted under this
paragraph (b)(3), the commercial shark
fisheries will open on January 1 of each
year under the base quotas, as
established in paragraph (b)(1) of this
section. If NMFS determines a
commercial shark fishery or a part of a
commercial shark fishery should open
on a date other than January 1, NMFS
will file with the Office of the Federal
Register for publication notification of
the opening date(s) of the relevant
overall, regional, or sub-regional shark
fishery(ies) for the relevant species or
management group(s). Before making
any decisions, NMFS would consider
the following criteria and other relevant
factors in establishing the opening
date(s):
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4. In § 635.28, revise paragraphs (b)(2)
and (3) to read as follows:

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§ 635.28

Fishery closures.

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(b) * * *
(2) Non-linked quotas. If the overall,
regional, and/or sub-regional quota of a
species or management group is not
linked to another species or
management group and that overall,
regional, and/or sub-regional quota is
available, then that overall, regional,
and/or sub-regional commercial fishery
for the shark species or management
group will open as specified in
§ 635.27(b). When NMFS calculates that
the overall, regional, and/or subregional landings for a shark species
and/or management group, as specified
in § 635.27(b)(1), has reached or is
projected to reach 80 percent of the
applicable available overall, regional,
and/or sub-regional quota as specified
in § 635.27(b)(1) and is projected to
reach 100 percent of the relevant quota
by the end of the fishing season, NMFS
will file for publication with the Office
of the Federal Register a closure action,
as applicable, for that shark species and/
or shark management group that will be
effective no fewer than 4 days from date
of filing. From the effective date and
time of the closure until the start of the
following fishing year or until NMFS
announces, via the publication of a
notice in the Federal Register, that
additional overall, regional, and/or subregional quota is available and the
season is reopened, the overall, regional,
and/or sub-regional fisheries for that
shark species or management group are
closed.
(3) Linked quotas. As specified in
paragraph (b)(4) of this section, the
overall, regional, and/or sub-regional
quotas of some shark species and/or
management groups are linked to the
overall, regional, and/or sub-regional
quotas of other shark species and/or
management groups. For each pair of
linked species and/or management
groups, if the overall, regional, and/or
sub-regional quota specified in
§ 635.27(b)(1) is available for each pair
of linked species and/or management
groups, then the overall, regional, and/
or sub-regional commercial fishery for
both of the linked species and/or
management groups will open as
specified in § 635.27(b)(1). When NMFS
calculates that the overall, regional,
and/or sub-regional landings for any
species and/or management group of a
linked group have reached or are
projected to reach 80 percent of the
applicable available overall, regional,
and/or sub-regional quota as specified
in § 635.27(b)(1) and are projected to

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50829

reach 100 percent of the relevant quota
before the end of the fishing season,
NMFS will file for publication with the
Office of the Federal Register a closure
action for all of the species and/or
management groups in that linked group
that will be effective no fewer than 4
days from date of filing. From the
effective date and time of the closure
until the start of the following fishing
year or until NMFS announces, via the
publication of a notice in the Federal
Register, that additional overall,
regional, and/or sub-regional quota is
available and the season is reopened,
the overall, regional, and/or subregional fishery for all species and/or
management groups in that linked group
is closed.
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[FR Doc. 2023–15967 Filed 8–1–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 635
[RTID 0648–XD183]

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species;
Amendments 15 and 16 to the 2006
Consolidated Atlantic Highly Migratory
Species Fishery Management Plan
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of additional public
hearing locations.
AGENCY:

On May 5, 2023, NMFS
published a proposed rule for
Amendment 15 to the 2006
Consolidated Highly Migratory Species
(HMS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP)
on spatial fisheries management and
electronic monitoring cost allocation.
On May 8, 2023, NMFS published a
notice of intent for scoping of
Amendment 16 to the 2006
Consolidated HMS FMP on shark
management. In both actions, NMFS
announced several public hearings and
webinars to provide the opportunity for
public comment. This notice announces
that NMFS is adding a public hearing
for both Amendment 15 and
Amendment 16 based on public interest.
DATES: NMFS will hold one additional
public hearing on Draft Amendment 15
and its proposed rule and another
public hearing on the scoping document
for Amendment 16. See SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION for all meeting dates and
times. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
SUMMARY:

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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 147 / Wednesday, August 2, 2023 / Proposed Rules

in the Amendment 15 proposed rule
(May 5, 2023, 88 FR 29050) and
Amendment 16 notice of intent (May 8,
2023, 88 FR 29617) for the other public
hearings and conference calls dates,
times, and locations.
ADDRESSES: NMFS will hold a public
hearing on the proposed rule for
Amendment 15 and its proposed rule in
Panama City, FL, and a public hearing
on the scoping document for
Amendment 16 in San Juan, PR. For
specific location, date and time see the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of
this document.
Electronic copies of the draft
document for Amendment 15 to the
2006 Consolidated HMS FMP (https://
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/
amendment-15-2006-consolidated-hmsfishery-management-plan-spatialfisheries-management-and) and the
scoping document for Amendment 16 to
the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP
(https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/

scoping-amendment-16-2006consolidated-atlantic-highly-migratoryspecies-fishery-management) may be
obtained on the internet.
Guy
DuBeck ([email protected]), Steve
Durkee ([email protected]), Larry
Redd ([email protected]), and Karyl
Brewster-Geisz (Karyl.Brewster-Geisz@
noaa.gov), by email, or by phone at
(301) 427–8503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background
Atlantic HMS fisheries are managed
under the authority of the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens
Act; 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) and the
Atlantic Tunas Convention Act (16
U.S.C. 971 et seq.). The 2006
Consolidated HMS FMP and its
amendments are implemented by
regulations at 50 CFR part 635.

On May 5, 2023, NMFS published a
proposed rule (88 FR 29050) for Draft
Amendment 15 to the 2006
Consolidated HMS FMP on spatial
fisheries management and electronic
monitoring cost allocation. On May 8,
2023, NMFS published a notice of intent
(88 FR 29617) for scoping of
Amendment 16 to the 2006
Consolidated HMS FMP on shark
management. In both actions, NMFS
announced public hearings and
webinars to provide the opportunity for
public comment. Due to requests for
additional public hearings, NMFS has
decided conduct an additional public
hearing for Draft Amendment 15 and its
proposed rule in Panama City, FL, and
an additional public hearing for scoping
for Amendment 16 in San Juan, PR
(Table 1). None of the other public
hearing timing or locations have
changed.

TABLE 1—DATES, TIMES, AND LOCATIONS OF UPCOMING PUBLIC HEARINGS AND CONFERENCE CALLS
Rulemaking

Venue

Date/time

Street address/webinar information

Amendment 16 ....................

Public .................................
Hearing ..............................
Public Hearing ...................

August 16, 2023, 5:30
p.m.–8:30 p.m.
August 29, 2023, 5 p.m.–8
p.m.

Embassy Suites, 8000 Jose M. Tartak Avenue, San
Juan, PR 00979.
National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, 3500 Delwood Beach Road,
Panama City, FL 32408.

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Amendment 15 ....................

The public is reminded that NMFS
expects participants to conduct
themselves appropriately. At the
beginning of each meeting, a
representative of NMFS will explain the
ground rules (e.g., all comments are to
be directed to the Agency; attendees
will be called to give their comments in
the order in which they registered to
speak; each attendee will have an equal
amount of time to speak; and attendees
should not interrupt one another). The
in-person meeting locations will be
physically accessible to people with
disabilities. Requests for sign language
interpretation or other auxiliary aids
should be directed to Guy DuBeck or
Steve Durkee at 301–427–8503, at least
7 days prior to the meeting. A NMFS
representative will attempt to structure
the meeting so that all attending
members of the public will be able to
comment if they so choose, regardless of
the controversial nature of the subject
matter. If attendees do not respect the
ground rules they will be asked to leave
the meeting.

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Dated: July 28, 2023.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023–16440 Filed 8–1–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 660
RIN 0648–BM28

Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions;
Fisheries Off West Coast States;
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery;
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery
Management Plan; Amendment 32;
Modifications to Non-Trawl Area
Management Measures
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Announcement of availability of
proposed fishery management plan
amendment; request for comments.
AGENCY:

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NMFS announces that the
Pacific Fishery Management Council
submitted Amendment 32 to the Pacific
Coast Groundfish Fishery Management
Plan to the Secretary of Commerce for
review. If approved, Amendment 32
would: create a new type of Essential
Fish Habitat Conservation Area that
prohibits fishing with non-trawl bottom
contact gear for all groundfish fisheries
and the non-tribal directed commercial
halibut fishery; remove the Cowcod
Conservation Area seaward of California
for commercial and recreational
groundfish non-trawl fisheries; create
and authorize the use of Groundfish
Exclusion Areas as a new type of
Groundfish Conservation Area;
authorize the use of Block Area Closures
for groundfish non-trawl fisheries, and
make necessary administrative changes
to relevant sections of the Pacific Coast
Groundfish Fishery Management Plan.
Altogether, these changes are
anticipated to provide additional fishing
opportunity to groundfish non-trawl
fishery sectors while continuing to
protect rebuilding yelloweye rockfish
and mitigating fishing impacts to
sensitive areas.

SUMMARY:

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