80_FR_13857 80 FR 13806 - Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery and Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Framework Adjustment 26; Endangered and Threatened Wildlife; Sea Turtle Conservation

80 FR 13806 - Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery and Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Framework Adjustment 26; Endangered and Threatened Wildlife; Sea Turtle Conservation

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 51 (March 17, 2015)

Page Range13806-13821
FR Document2015-05650

NMFS proposes to approve and implement through regulations measures included in Framework Adjustment 26 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan, which the New England Fishery Management Council adopted and submitted to NMFS for approval. The purpose of Framework 26 is to prevent overfishing, improve yield-per- recruit, and improve the overall management of the Atlantic sea scallop fishery. The Framework 26 proposed measures would also: Close a portion of the Elephant Trunk Access Area and extend the boundaries of the Nantucket Lightship Access Area to protect small scallops; adjust the State Waters Exemption Program; allow for Vessel Monitoring System declaration changes for vessels to steam home with product on board; implement a proactive accountability measure to protect windowpane flounder and yellowtail flounder; align two gear measures designed to protect sea turtles; and implement other measures to improve the management of the scallop fishery. Aligning the gear designed to protect sea turtles involves modifying existing regulations implemented under the Endangered Species Act; therefore, this action would be implemented under joint authority of the Endangered Species Act and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

Federal Register, Volume 80 Issue 51 (Tuesday, March 17, 2015)
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 51 (Tuesday, March 17, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 13806-13821]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-05650]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Parts 223 and 648

[Docket No. 141125999-5195-01]
RIN 0648-BE68


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Sea Scallop 
Fishery and Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Framework Adjustment 26; 
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife; Sea Turtle Conservation

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS proposes to approve and implement through regulations 
measures included in Framework Adjustment 26 to the Atlantic Sea 
Scallop Fishery Management Plan, which the New England Fishery 
Management Council adopted and submitted to NMFS for approval. The 
purpose of Framework 26 is to prevent overfishing, improve yield-per-
recruit, and improve the overall management of the Atlantic sea scallop 
fishery. The Framework 26 proposed measures would also: Close a portion 
of the Elephant Trunk Access Area and extend the boundaries of the 
Nantucket Lightship Access Area to protect small scallops; adjust the 
State Waters Exemption Program; allow for Vessel Monitoring System 
declaration changes for vessels to steam home with product on board; 
implement a proactive accountability measure to protect windowpane 
flounder and yellowtail flounder; align two gear measures designed to 
protect sea turtles; and implement other measures to improve the 
management of the scallop fishery. Aligning the gear designed to 
protect sea turtles involves modifying existing regulations implemented 
under the Endangered Species Act; therefore, this action would be 
implemented under joint authority of the Endangered Species Act and the 
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

DATES: Comments must be received by April 1, 2015.

ADDRESSES: The Council developed an environmental assessment (EA) for 
this action that describes the proposed measures and other considered 
alternatives and provides a thorough analysis of the impacts of the 
proposed measures and alternatives. Copies of the Framework, the EA, 
and the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA), are available 
upon request from Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director, New England 
Fishery Management Council, 50 Water Street, Newburyport, MA 01950.
    You may submit comments on this document, identified by NOAA-NMFS-
2015-0002, by either of the following methods:
     Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to 
www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2015-0002, click the 
``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or 
attach your comments.
     Mail: John K. Bullard, Regional Administrator, NMFS, 
Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, 
Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside of the envelope, ``Comments on 
Scallop Framework 26 Proposed Rule.''
    Instructions: Comments sent by any other method, to any other 
address or individual, 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).
    Written comments regarding the burden-hour estimates or other 
aspects of the collection-of-information requirements contained in this 
proposed rule may be submitted to the Greater Atlantic Regional 
Fisheries Office and by email to [email protected] or fax to 
(202) 395-5806.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Emily Gilbert, Fishery Policy Analyst, 
978-281-9315.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The scallop fishery's management unit ranges from the shorelines of 
Maine through North Carolina to the outer boundary of the Exclusive 
Economic Zone. The Scallop Fishery Management Plan (FMP), established 
in 1982, includes a number of amendments and framework adjustments that 
have revised and refined the fishery's management. The Council sets 
scallop

[[Page 13807]]

fishery specifications through framework adjustments that occur 
annually or biennially. This annual action includes allocations for 
fishing year 2015, as well as other scallop fishery management 
measures.
    The Council adopted Framework 26 on November 20, 2014, and 
submitted it to NMFS on February 17, 2015, for review and approval. 
Framework 26 specifies measures for fishing year 2015, but includes 
fishing year 2016 measures that will go into place as a default, should 
the next specifications-setting framework be delayed beyond the start 
of fishing year 2016. NMFS will implement Framework 26, if approved, 
after the start of fishing year 2015; 2015 default measures concerning 
allocations have been in place as of March 1, 2015. These default 
measures are more conservative than the Framework 26 proposed 
allocations and would be replaced by the higher Framework 26 
allocations if this action is approved. The Council has reviewed the 
Framework 26 proposed rule regulations as drafted by NMFS and deemed 
them to be necessary and appropriate as specified in section 303(c) of 
the MSA.

Specification of Scallop Overfishing Limit (OFL), Acceptable Biological 
Catch (ABC), Annual Catch Limits (ACLs), Annual Catch Targets (ACTs), 
and Set-Asides for the 2015 Fishing Year and Default Specifications for 
Fishing Year 2016

    The proposed allocations incorporate new biomass reference points 
that resulted from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center's most recent 
scallop stock benchmark assessment that was completed in July 2014. The 
assessment reviewed and updated the data and models used to assess the 
scallop stock and ultimately updated the reference points for status 
determinations. The scallop stock is considered overfished if the 
biomass is less than half of the biomass at maximum sustainable yield 
(Bmsy), and overfishing is occurring if fishing mortality 
(F) is above the fishing mortality at maximum sustainable yield 
(Fmsy). The assessment continues to find that the scallop 
resource is not overfished and overfishing is not occurring, but the 
estimates for Fmsy and Bmsy have changed. A 
comparison of the old and new reference points is outlined in Table 1.

 Table 1--Summary of Old and New Scallop Reference Points From the Last
        Two Benchmark Scallop Stock Assessments in 2010 and 2014
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   2010 Assessment      2014 Assessment
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fmsy...........................  0.38                 0.48.
Bmsy...........................  125,000 mt           96,480 mt.
1/2 Bmsy.......................  62,000 mt            48,240 mt.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Due to these reference point updates, the fishing mortality rates 
that the Council uses to set OFL, ABC, and ACL would be updated through 
this action. The proposed OFL was set based on an F of 0.48, equivalent 
to the F threshold updated through the 2014 assessment. The proposed 
ABC and the equivalent total ACL for each fishing year are based on an 
F of 0.38, which is the F associated with a 25-percent probability of 
exceeding the OFL. The Council's Scientific and Statistical Committee 
recommended scallop fishery ABCs for the 2015 and 2016 fishing years of 
55.9 M lb (25,352 mt) and 70.1 M lb (31,807 mt), respectively, after 
accounting for discards and incidental mortality. The Scientific and 
Statistical Committee will reevaluate an ABC for 2016 when the Council 
develops the next framework adjustment.
    Table 2 outlines the proposed scallop fishery catch limits that are 
derived from the ABC values. After deducting the incidental target 
total allowable catch (TAC) and the research and observer set-asides, 
the remaining ACL available to the fishery is allocated according to 
the fleet proportions established in Amendment 11 to the Scallop FMP 
(72 FR 20090; April 14, 2008): 94.5 percent allocated to the limited 
access (LA) scallop fleet (i.e., the larger ``trip boat'' fleet); 5 
percent 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 allocated to LA scallop vessels 
that also have LAGC IFQ permits. These separate ACLs and their 
corresponding ACTs are referred to as sub-ACLs and sub-ACTs, 
respectively, throughout this action. Amendment 15 to the Scallop FMP 
(76 FR 43746; July 21, 2011) specified that no buffers to account for 
management uncertainty are necessary in setting the LAGC sub-ACLs, 
meaning that the LAGC sub-ACL would equal the LAGC sub-ACT. As a 
result, the LAGC sub-ACL values in Table 2, based on an F of 0.38, 
represent the amount of catch from which IFQ percentage shares will be 
applied to calculate each vessel's IFQ for a given fishing year. For 
the LA 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 Fs applied to the 
ABC/ACL, now results in an F of 0.34.

Table 2--Scallop Catch Limits for Fishing Years 2015 and 2016 for the LA
                           and LAGC IFQ Fleets
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           2015 (mt)        2016 (mt)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overfishing Limit.....................         38,061           45,456
ABC/ACL w/discards removed............         25,352           31,807
Incidental TAC........................             22.7             22.7
Research Set-Aside (RSA)..............            567              567
Observer Set-aside (1 percent of ABC/             254              318
 ACL).................................
LA sub-ACL (94.5 percent of total ACL,         23,161           29,200
 after deducting set-asides and
 incidental catch)....................
LA sub-ACT (adjusted for management            19,311           23,016
 uncertainty).........................
LAGC IFQ sub-ACL (5.0 percent of total          1,225            1,545
 ACL, after deducting set-asides and
 incidental catch)....................
LAGC IFQ sub-ACL for vessels with LA              123              154
 scallop permits (0.5 percent of total
 ACL, after deducting set-asides and
 incidental catch)....................
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    This action would deduct 567 mt of scallops annually for 2015 and 
2016 from the ABC and set it aside as the Scallop RSA to fund scallop 
research and to compensate participating vessels through the sale of 
scallops harvested under RSA projects. As of March 1, 2015, this set-
aside was available for harvest by RSA-funded projects in open areas. 
Framework 26 would allow RSA to be harvested from the Mid-Atlantic 
Access Areas that is proposed to be open for 2015, once this action is 
approved and implemented, but would prevent RSA harvesting from access 
areas under 2016 default measures. Of this 1.25 M lb (567 mt) 
allocation, NMFS has already allocated 397,470 lb

[[Page 13808]]

(180.3 mt) to previously funded multi-year projects as part of the 2014 
RSA awards process. NMFS has reviewed proposals submitted for 
consideration of 2015 RSA awards and will be selecting projects for 
funding in the near future.
    This action would also set aside 1 percent of the ABC for the 
industry-funded observer program to help defray the cost of scallop 
vessels that carry an observer. The observer set-asides for fishing 
years 2015 and 2016 are 254 mt and 318 mt, respectively. The 2016 
observer set-aside may be adjusted by the Council when it develops 
specific, non-default measures for 2016.

Open Area Days-at-Sea (DAS) Allocations

    This action would implement vessel-specific DAS allocations for 
each of the three LA scallop DAS permit categories (i.e., full-time, 
part-time, and occasional) for 2015 and 2016 (Table 3). Proposed 2015 
DAS allocations are almost identical to those allocated to the LA fleet 
in 2014 (31 DAS for full-time, 12 DAS for part-time, and 3 DAS for 
occasional vessels). Fishing year 2016 DAS allocations are 
precautionary, and are set at 75 percent of what current biomass 
projections indicate could be allocated to each LA scallop vessel for 
the entire fishing year. This is to avoid over-allocating DAS to the 
fleet in the event that the framework that would set those allocations, 
if delayed past the start of the 2016 fishing year, estimates that DAS 
should be less than currently projected. The proposed allocations in 
Table 3 exclude any DAS deductions that are required if the LA scallop 
fleet exceeded its 2014 sub-ACL. In addition, these DAS values take 
into account a slight DAS reduction necessary for the implementation of 
another proposed measure discussed later on in this rule (See 
Adjustment to Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) Declaration Procedures for 
Some Open Area Trips). If this measure, which would allow for vessels 
on specific trips to end their open area trip and DAS accrual sooner 
than they can under current regulations, is not approved, the DAS 
allocations in Table 3 would increase by 0.14 DAS and 0.06 DAS for 
full-time and part-time vessels, respectively (there would be no change 
for occasional vessels, and there are currently no vessels issued the 
occasional permit type in the LA scallop fleet). In addition, the 
Council requested that DAS allocations now be specified to the 
hundredth decimal place, rather than rounding up or down to whole DAS. 
This is consistent with DAS accounting as vessels use DAS throughout 
the year.

      Table 3--Scallop Open Area DAS Allocations for 2015 and 2016
------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Permit  category                   2015            2016
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Full-Time...............................           30.86           26.00
Part-Time...............................           12.94           10.40
Occasional..............................            2.58            2.17
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On March 1, 2015, full-time, part-time, and occasional vessels 
received 17, 7, and 1 DAS, respectively. These allocations would 
increase as soon as Framework 26 is implemented, if approved.

LA Allocations and Trip Possession Limits for Scallop Access Areas

    For fishing year 2015 and the start of 2016, Framework 26 would 
close all three Georges Bank Access Areas (i.e., Nantucket Lightship 
(NLS), Closed Area 1, and Closed Area 2 Access Areas) and open all 
three Mid-Atlantic Access Areas (i.e., Elephant Trunk, Delmarva, and 
Hudson Canyon Access Areas). This action proposes to extend the 
boundaries of the NLS Access Area that would close to the scallop fleet 
to include a concentration of small scallops near the existing boundary 
along the southeast corner, currently considered part of the open area. 
This proposed closure area, which would increase the NLS Access Area 
boundary by 158 square miles, would be reconsidered in a future 
framework action when the scallops are larger and ready for harvest.
    As for the Mid-Atlantic Access Areas, this action proposes that all 
three access areas be open to both the LA and LAGC IFQ fleet, and be 
treated as one single area, which this rule will now refer to as the 
Mid-Atlantic Access Area. Scallop vessels would be able to fish across 
all three areas in a single access area trip. There is one the 
exception: This action proposes six 10-minute squares (i.e., 549 square 
nautical miles) in the northwest corner of the Elephant Trunk Access 
Area be closed to protect small scallops. This area constitutes roughly 
35 percent of the current Elephant Trunk Access Area. The closure would 
allow for the small concentrations of scallops in this portion of the 
access area to be protected as they grow to a more harvestable size. 
This action proposes that no transiting be allowed across this small 
area due to its small size and the incentive to fish in the area is 
relatively high due to the high abundance of scallops.
    Table 4 outlines the proposed LA allocations that can be fished 
from the Mid-Atlantic Access Area, which could be taken in as many 
trips as needed, so long as the trip possession limits (also in Table 
4) are not exceeded. These proposed access area allocations for 2015 
represent a 112-percent increase in access area allocations compared to 
2014.

         Table 4--Scallop Access Area Poundage Allocations and Trip Possession Limits for 2015 and 2016
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
           Permit category                Possession limits         2015 Allocation          2016 Allocation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Full-Time............................  17,000 lb (7,711 kg)...  51,000 lb (23,133 kg)..  17,000 lb (7,711 kg).
Part-Time............................  10,200 lb ( 4,627 kg)..  20,400 lb ( 9,253 kg)..  10,200 lb (4,627 kg).
Occasional...........................  1,420 lb (644 kg)......  4,250 lb ( 1,928 kg)...  1,420 lb ( 644 kg).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    This action also proposes to modify access area trip reporting 
procedures by requiring that each LA vessel submit a pre-landing 
notification form through its VMS unit prior to returning to port at 
the end of each access area trip, including trips where no scallops 
were landed. These pre-landing notifications would replace the current 
broken trip and compensation trip procedures. Vessels would no longer 
be required to submit a broken trip notification form if they are 
unable to land their full possession limits on an access area trip. 
Vessels would also no longer need to apply to NMFS to receive, or wait 
for NMFS to issue, a compensation trip to fish their remaining access 
area scallop allocation.
    For example, under Framework 26 access area allocations, a full-
time vessel receives 51,000 lb (23,133 kg) in the Mid-Atlantic Access 
Area, which can be landed on as many or as few trips as needed, so long 
as the 17,000-lb (7,711-kg) possession limit is not exceeded on any one 
trip. The vessel may choose to fish its full allocation over the course 
of three trips, landing

[[Page 13809]]

the maximum allowance of 17,000 lb (7,711 kg) on each trip, or it can 
choose to fish its full allocation over the course of four, five, or 
more trips, landing less than the trip possession limit on each trip. 
Regardless, the vessel must submit a pre-landing notification form 
prior to returning to port for each access area trip, and would not 
have to wait for NMFS to issue a compensation trip prior to starting 
its next access area trip.
    This action would also modify the procedures for when scallop 
access area allocation can be carried over to the next fishing year. 
Under the current regulations, vessel may fish for a previous year's 
unharvested scallop access area allocation in the first 60 days of a 
fishing year if the vessel broke a trip in the last 60 days of the 
previous fishing year or open season for an access area. In many cases, 
vessels in the last 60 days of the fishing year simply crossed the VMS 
Demarcation Line, submitted a broken trip report through their VMS 
unit, and returned to port. This caused confusion and created a high 
number of cases for NMFS to review as the fishing year came to an end. 
Under the proposed measures, each vessel would automatically carry over 
unharvested access area allocation that the vessel could fish in the 
first 60 days of the subsequent fishing year, as long as the access 
area is open for scallop fishing during that time. This change would 
result in little change to the amount of carryover NMFS expects from 
year to year because most vessels took advantage of the broken trip 
provisions. Also, Framework 26 accounts for the uncertainty associated 
with carryover by setting the LA fishery's ACT lower than the fishery's 
ACL. This ensures that carryover would not cause an ACL to be exceeded 
from year to year.
    Although vessel owners would ultimately be responsible for tracking 
their own scallop access area landings and ensuring they do not exceed 
their annual allocations, NMFS would match dealer-reported scallop 
landing records with access area trip declarations and make that 
information available on Fish-On-Line.

Additional Measures To Reduce Impacts on Small Scallops

    1. Crew Limit Restrictions in Access Areas. Similar to the crew 
limit restrictions NMFS implemented in Delmarva in 2014, this action 
proposes crew limits for all access areas. Currently, LA scallop 
vessels have crew size limits when fishing in open areas: Vessels are 
limited to seven individuals when fishing on a DAS, or five individuals 
if the vessel is on a DAS and participating in the small dredge 
program. These limits have been in place to restrict the shucking 
capacity of a vessel to help reduce landings per unit effort while on 
DAS. In an effort to protect small scallops and discourage vessels from 
high-grading (discarding smaller scallops in exchange for larger ones), 
Framework 26 would impose a crew limit of eight individuals per LA 
vessel, including the captain, when fishing in any scallop access area. 
If a vessel is participating in the small dredge program, it may not 
have more than six people on board, including the operator, on an 
access area trip. These crew limits may be reevaluated in a future 
framework action.
    2. Delayed Harvesting of Default 2016 Mid-Atlantic Access Area 
Allocations. Although the Framework would include precautionary access 
area allocations for the 2016 fishing year (see 2016 allocations in 
Table 4), vessels would have to wait to fish these allocations until 
April 1, 2016. This precautionary measure is designed to protect 
scallops when scallop meat weights are lower than other times of the 
year (generally, this change in meat-weight is a physiological change 
in scallops due to spawning). However, if a vessel has not fully 
harvested its 2015 scallop access area allocation in fishing year 2015, 
it may still fish the remainder of its allocation in the first 60 days 
of 2016 (i.e., March 1, 2016, through April 29, 2016).
    3. 2016 RSA Harvest Restrictions. This action proposes that vessels 
participating in RSA projects would be prohibited from harvesting RSA 
under default 2016 measures. At the start of 2016, RSA could only be 
harvested from open areas. This would be re-evaluated for the remainder 
of 2016 in the framework action that would set final 2016 
specifications.

LAGC Measures

    1. Sub-ACL for LAGC vessels with IFQ permits. For LAGC vessels with 
IFQ permits, this action proposes a 1,225-mt ACL for 2015 and an 
initial ACL of 1,545 mt for 2016 (Table 2). We calculate IFQ 
allocations by applying each vessel's IFQ contribution percentage to 
these ACLs. These allocations assume that no LAGC IFQ AMs are 
triggered. If a vessel exceeds its IFQ in a given fishing year, its IFQ 
for the subsequent fishing year would be reduced by the amount of the 
overage.
    Because Framework 26 would not go into effect until after the March 
1 start of fishing year 2015, the default 2015 IFQ allocations were 
automatically triggered. These default 2015 IFQ allocations are lower 
than those proposed in Framework 26. If approved, this action would 
increase the current vessel IFQ allocations. NMFS sent a letter to IFQ 
permit holders providing both March 1, 2015, IFQ allocations and 
Framework 26 proposed IFQ allocations so that vessel owners know what 
mid-year adjustments would occur if Framework 26 is approved.
    2. Sub-ACL for LA Scallop Vessels with IFQ Permits. For LA scallop 
vessels with IFQ permits, this action proposes a 123 mt ACL for 2015 
and an initial 154 mt ACL for 2016 (Table 2). We calculate IFQ 
allocations by applying each vessel's IFQ contribution percentage to 
these ACLs. These allocations assume that no LAGC IFQ AMs are 
triggered. If a vessel exceeds its IFQ in a given fishing year, its IFQ 
for the subsequent fishing year would be reduced by the amount of the 
overage.
    3. LAGC IFQ Trip Allocations and Possession Limits for Scallop 
Access Areas. Framework 26 proposes that LAGC IFQ vessels would receive 
a fleetwide number of trips that could be taken in the Mid-Atlantic 
Access Area. Framework 26 would allocate 2,065 and 602 trips in 2015 
and 2016, respectively, to this area. Under default 2016 measures, LAGC 
IFQ vessels must wait to fish these trips until April 1, 2016.
    These trip allocations are equivalent to the overall proportion of 
total catch from access areas compared to total catch. For example, the 
total projected catch for the scallop fishery in 2015 is 20,865 mt, and 
8,700 mt are projected to come from access areas, roughly 41.7 percent. 
If the same proportion is applied to total LAGC IFQ catch, the total 
allocation to LAGC IFQ vessels from access areas would be about 600 mt, 
roughly 44.5 percent of the total LAGC IFQ sub-ACL for 2015 (1,348 mt).
    4. NGOM TAC. This action proposes a 70,000-lb (31,751-kg) annual 
NGOM TAC for fishing years 2015 and 2016. The allocation for 2015 
assumes that there are no overages in 2014, which would trigger a 
pound-for-pound deduction in 2015 to account for the overage.
    5. Scallop Incidental Catch Target TAC. This action proposes a 
50,000-lb (22,680-kg) scallop incidental catch target TAC for fishing 
years 2015 and 2016 to account for mortality from this component of the 
fishery, and to ensure that F targets are not exceeded. The Council and 
NMFS may adjust this target TAC in a future action if vessels catch 
more scallops under the incidental target TAC than predicted.

Adjustments to Gear Modifications To Protect Sea Turtles

    This action proposes to adjust season regulations for the sea 
turtle deflector

[[Page 13810]]

dredge (TDD) and area regulations for the sea turtle chain mat to make 
them consistent. Currently, turtle chain mats are required in the area 
south of 41[deg]9' N. lat. from May through November, and the TDD is 
required west of 71[deg] W. long. from May through October. When used 
together, chain mats and TDDs are thought to increase the conservation 
benefit to sea turtles, because chain mats help reduce the impact to 
turtles from interactions occurring in the water column, and the TDD 
helps reduce the impact to turtles from interactions with the dredge 
frame on the sea floor (DuPaul et al. 2004; Smolowitz et al. 2010). By 
making the area and season for these two gear modifications consistent, 
west of 71[deg] W. long. from May through November, the conservation 
benefit of the current chain mat and TDD requirements is maintained, 
while reducing the regulatory complexity of differing seasons and 
areas. Any reduction in the size of the area that chain mats would be 
required (east of 71[deg] W. long. and south of 41[deg]9' N. lat.) is 
balanced by an extension of the season that TDDs would be required (the 
month of November). In addition, this action also proposes a very 
slight modification to the TDD gear regulations for safety purposes. 
When the Council first approved the TDD, it included the allowance of a 
flaring bar to ensure safe handling of the dredge. At the time, the 
Council specified that this flaring bar should only be attached to the 
dredge frame on one side. Since the TDD's implementation, there has 
been some interest to attach the flaring bar in a ``u'' shape, which 
could be attached on the inside or outside of the bale bar, but the 
current regulations unnecessarily prohibit this. This action proposes 
to adjust this regulation to allow for a bar or ``u''-shaped flaring 
mechanism to support safety at sea. Allowing a u-shaped flaring 
mechanism should not have an impact on sea turtles and the 
effectiveness of the TDD because the flaring bar or mechanism would 
still be prohibited from being attached within 12 inches (30.5 cm) of 
the ``bump out'' of the TDD and not between the bale bars. This change 
would require that each side of the bar or mechanism be no more than 12 
inches (30.5 cm) in length.
    This action would not change any other regulatory requirements for 
the use of chain mats and TDDs.

Adjustment to Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) Declaration Procedures for 
Some Open Area Trips

    This action would enable a vessel to declare out of a DAS trip at 
or south of Cape May, NJ (specifically, at or south of 39[deg] N. 
lat.), once it goes inside the VMS demarcation line, and then, with 
scallops on board, steam seaward of the VMS demarcation line to ports 
south of Cape May, NJ, without being charged DAS. This measure does not 
apply to vessels that intend to land scallops in ports north of Cape 
May, NJ. Once this change in declaration to ``declare out of fishery'' 
has been made, vessels would be required to submit a scallop pre-
landing notification form through VMS, return directly to port and 
offload scallops immediately, and stow all gear. In addition, such 
vessels would be prohibited from having on board any in-shell scallops.
    The purpose of this measure is to help increase incentive for 
vessels to land scallops in the southern part of the mid-Atlantic by 
reducing some of the steaming time to return to those more distant 
ports. Due to the location of the access areas in the mid-Atlantic, 
which were at one point primary traditional open area fishing grounds, 
vessels from Virginia and North Carolina fishing on open area DAS trips 
have to steam for a long period of time to reach productive open area 
fishing grounds. Vessels are currently allowed to start their open area 
DAS trip landward of the VMS Demarcation Line, but not necessarily from 
port, but are required to accrue DAS when harvested scallops are on 
board, so their return steam from an open area trip counts against 
their DAS allocation. Over time, as DAS have been reduced dramatically 
and with increased fuel costs, vessels have more incentive to land near 
these primary fishing grounds (i.e., in New Bedford, MA, or Cape May, 
NJ) to avoid being charged for DAS steaming back to southern ports 
farther away that would most impact their DAS allocations. This 
decrease in landings to particular states over time has had a great 
impact on shoreside businesses that depend upon a stable stream of 
landings.
    Because this change in when some vessels may ``clock out'' of their 
DAS could impact overall DAS allocations to the fleet, this action also 
proposes an overall DAS deduction to each LA scallop vessel. The 
proposed DAS adjustment (which has already been calculated into the DAS 
allocations proposed in Table 3) would be a decrease of 0.14 DAS for 
full-time vessels and 0.06 DAS for part-time vessels. This entire 
measure, including the appropriate DAS deductions, was supported by the 
Council's Advisory Panel.

Adjustments to the State Water Exemption Program To Include Northern 
Gulf of Maine (NGOM) Management Area Exemptions

    Framework 26 proposes to modify the State Water Exemption Program 
to include a new exemption that would enable scallop vessels to 
continue to fish in state waters after the NGOM hard TAC is reached.
    The current State Water Exemption Program has been in place since 
Framework 2 to the Scallop FMP (November 21, 1994; 59 FR 59967). At 
that time, the purpose of the program was to allow Federal permit 
holders to compete in the state waters fishery on a more equitable 
basis where Federal and state laws are inconsistent and to encourage 
vessels with general category permits (open access, at the time) to 
fish under the exemption program and continue to submit catch and 
effort data. This program specifies that a state with a scallop fishery 
may be eligible for state waters exemptions if it has a scallop 
conservation program that does not jeopardize the biomass and fishing 
mortality/effort limit objectives of the Scallop FMP. If a state is 
found to be eligible for the State Waters Exemption Program, federally 
permitted scallop vessels fishing in that state's waters may be 
exempted from a limited number of Federal scallop regulations: LA 
scallop vessels could fish in state waters outside of scallop DAS, and 
LA and LAGC scallop vessels could be exempt from Federal gear and 
possession limit restrictions.
    This action proposes to expand the exemptions to include this new 
measure related to the NGOM. Specifically, states within the NGOM 
management area (i.e., Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine) could 
request an exemption from the regulations requiring that scallop 
vessels must stop fishing in the state waters portion of the NGOM once 
the Federal TAC has been reached. States would have to apply for this 
exemption and specify to which vessels this would apply (i.e., vessels 
with NGOM permits, IFQ permits, incidental permits, and/or LA permits).
    Currently, a vessel issued a NGOM or IFQ permit can declare a 
state-only NGOM scallop trip and fish for scallops exclusively in state 
waters without those landings being attributed to the Federal TAC, but 
must cease scallop fishing entirely for the remainder of the year, 
along with all other scallop vessels, once the Federal TAC is reached. 
To date this has not been an issue because the Federal NGOM catch has 
been well below the TAC. However, total catch in both Federal and state

[[Page 13811]]

waters in this area is increasing, and Maine permit holders are 
concerned about their ability to fish in state waters when the state 
season is open in the winter if the NGOM TAC is reached. This measure 
would alleviate those concerns by giving the state the ability to apply 
for an exemption through the State Water Exemption Program. Because the 
NGOM Federal TAC is set based only on the Federal portion of the 
resource, NMFS does not expect this measure to compromise the FMP's 
limits on catch and mortality.
    The process for applying to the State Waters Exemption Program, as 
outlined in the regulations, would remain the same. In order for NMFS 
to make a determination of whether or not a state waters exemption is 
warranted for a particular state's waters, a state must submit a 
request for the exemption so that we can fully evaluate the scope of 
the potential fishery in the state's waters. Such a request would need 
to include the following information: A complete description of scallop 
fishing regulations in state waters; the number of vessels and trips 
that could be expected in state waters; the average landings per trip 
for vessels fishing in state waters; and the average per-pound value of 
scallops landed by vessels fishing for scallops in state waters. If the 
information provided supports a conclusion that a particular state's 
scallop fishery is consistent with the FMP relative to the State Waters 
Exemption Program, NMFS would then publish the requested exemptions 
from DAS, gear, and possession limits, and NGOM closures, in a notice 
in the Federal Register, consistent with the Administrative Procedure 
Act.

Proactive Accountability Measures (AMs) for Flatfish Protection

    Currently, all scallop vessels (i.e., LA and LAGC) fishing for 
scallops with dredges in open areas west of 71[deg] W. long. are 
required to have their dredges configured so that no dredge has more 
than seven rows of rings in the apron (i.e., the area between the 
terminus of the dredge (clubstick) and the twine top) on the topside of 
the dredge. The twine top helps finfish (flatfish in particular) escape 
from the dredge during fishing and the maximum number of rows of rings 
prevents fishermen from making the twine top small and ineffective in 
reducing bycatch. Framework 26 proposes to extend this proactive 
accountability measure to all areas where scallop fishing occurs (i.e., 
all access and open areas). This increased spatial coverage may further 
reduce flatfish bycatch by preventing dredge configurations using more 
than seven rows of rings, which is currently required east of 71[deg] 
W. long. for some scallop vessels fishing in open areas. This is 
considered to be a proactive AM because it may help the fishery stay 
below the sub-ACLs for flatfish (yellowtail flounder and windowpane 
flounder, currently). Additionally, this measure would enable vessels 
to voluntarily fish with an even shorter apron (less than seven rings), 
to proactively reduce flatfish bycatch in any area or season.

Regulatory Corrections Under Regional Administrator Authority

    This proposed rule includes several revisions to the regulatory 
text to address text that is unnecessary, outdated, unclear, or 
otherwise could be improved. NMFS proposes these changes consistent 
with section 305(d) of the MSA which provides that the Secretary of 
Commerce may promulgate regulations necessary to ensure that amendments 
to an FMP are carried out in accordance with the FMP and the MSA. Two 
revisions clarify how to apply and measure gear modifications to ensure 
compliance. The first revision at Sec.  648.51 would clarify where to 
measure meshes to ensure twine top compliance. The second revision at 
Sec.  648.53 clarifies an example on how the hanging ratio should be 
applied and measured if the windowpane reactive AM implemented through 
Framework 25 (June 26, 2014; 79 FR 34251) is triggered.
    This action would also modify the VMS catch report requirements at 
Sec.  648.10(f)(4)(i) to only include the information actually used by 
NMFS to monitor flatfish bycatch. The form currently requires that the 
amount of yellowtail flounder discards be reported daily. This 
requirement has been in place since Amendment 15 (76 FR 43746; July 21, 
2011), which established the yellowtail flounder AMs in the FMP. 
However, since Amendment 15, the scallop fishery now has other bycatch 
sub-ACLs and AMs (e.g., SNE/MA windowpane flounder) which are not 
captured in this form. In addition, current bycatch monitoring relies 
solely on observer reports to determine bycatch discards for these 
species. In order to minimize confusion and because this information is 
not necessary for bycatch monitoring, we propose to remove the 
reference to reporting yellowtail discards. Instead, the vessels will 
report daily scallop catch and the amount of all other species kept.
    In addition, this action would adjust the regulations at Sec.  
648.53(a) to clarify that the values for ABC/ACL stated in the 
regulations reflect the levels from which ACTs are set, thus they do 
not include estimates of discards and incidental mortality. This 
regulatory clarification is at the request of the Council and would 
more accurately reflect the process for establishing ABCs and ACLs in 
the scallop fishery.

Classification

    Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the MSA, the NMFS Assistant 
Administrator has made a preliminary determination that this proposed 
rule is consistent with the FMP, other provisions of the MSA, and other 
applicable law. In making the final determination, NMFS will consider 
the data, views, and comments received during the public comment 
period.
    This proposed rule does not contain policies with Federalism or 
``takings'' implications as those terms are defined in E.O. 13132 and 
E.O. 12630, respectively.
    This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
    An IRFA has been prepared, as required by section 603 of the 
Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA). The IRFA consists of Framework 26 
analyses, its draft IRFA, and the preamble to this action.

Statement of Objective and Need

    This action proposes the management measures and specifications for 
the Atlantic sea scallop fishery for 2015, with 2016 default measures. 
A description of the action, why it is being considered, and the legal 
basis for this action are contained in Framework 26 and the preamble of 
this proposed rule and are not repeated here.

Description and Estimate of Number of Small Entities to Which the Rule 
Would Apply

    The proposed regulations would affect all vessels with LA and LAGC 
scallop permits. The Framework 26 document provides extensive 
information on the number and size of vessels and small businesses that 
would be affected by the proposed regulations, by port and state (see 
ADDRESSES). There were 313 vessels that obtained full-time LA permits 
in 2013, including 250 dredge, 52 small-dredge, and 11 scallop trawl 
permits. In the same year, there were also 34 part-time LA permits in 
the sea scallop fishery. No vessels were issued occasional scallop 
permits. NMFS issued 212 LAGC IFQ permits in 2013 and 155 of these 
vessels actively fished for scallops that year (the remaining permits 
likely leased out scallop IFQ allocations with their permits in 
Confirmation of Permit

[[Page 13812]]

History). The RFA defines a small business in shellfish fishery as a 
firm that is independently owned and operated and not dominant in its 
field of operation, with receipts of up to $5.5 M annually. 
Individually-permitted vessels may hold permits for several fisheries, 
harvesting species of fish that are regulated by several different 
fishery management plans, even beyond those impacted by the proposed 
action. Furthermore, multiple permitted vessels and/or permits may be 
owned by entities affiliated by stock ownership, common management, 
identity of interest, contractual relationships, or economic 
dependency. For the purposes of this analysis, ``ownership entities'' 
are defined as those entities with common ownership as listed on the 
permit application. Only permits with identical ownership are 
categorized as an ``ownership entity.'' For example, if five permits 
have the same seven persons listed as co-owners on their permit 
applications, those seven persons would form one ``ownership entity,'' 
that holds those five permits. If two of those seven owners also co-own 
additional vessels, that ownership arrangement would be considered a 
separate ``ownership entity'' for the purpose of this analysis.
    On June 1 of each year, ownership entities are identified based on 
a list of all permits for the most recent complete calendar year. The 
current ownership dataset is based on the calendar year 2013 permits 
and contains average gross sales associated with those permits for 
calendar years 2011 through 2013. Matching the potentially impacted 
2013 fishing year permits described above (LA and LAGC IFQ) to calendar 
year 2013 ownership data results in 172 distinct ownership entities for 
the LA fleet and 115 distinct ownership entities for the LAGC IFQ 
fleet. Of these, and based on the Small Business Administration (SBA) 
guidelines, 154 of the LA distinct ownership entities and all 115 of 
the LAGC IFQ entities are categorized as small. The remaining 18 of the 
LA entities are categorized as large entities, all of which are 
shellfish businesses.

Description of Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance 
Requirements of the Proposed Rule

    The proposed action contains collection-of-information requirements 
subject to review and approval by the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). Two requirements will be 
submitted to OMB for approval under the NMFS Northeast Region Scallop 
Report Family of Forms (OMB Control No. 0648-0491).
    Under the proposed action, all 347 LA vessels would be required to 
submit a pre-landing notification form for each access area trip 
through their VMS units. This information collection is intended to 
improve access area trip monitoring, as well as streamline a vessel's 
ability to fish multiple access area trips. Although this is a new 
requirement, it would replace other reporting procedures currently 
required for breaking an access area trip and receiving permission to 
take a compensation trip to harvest remaining unharvested scallop 
pounds from an access area trip. The proposed action also includes a 
new requirement for some LA vessels to report a pre-landing 
notification form through their VMS unit before changing their open 
area trip declaration to a ``declared out of fishery declaration,'' 
which is expected to add a burden to a very small portion of the fleet. 
This requirement would only apply to a few vessels that intend to land 
open area scallops at ports south of Cape May, NJ, and want to steam to 
those ports while not using DAS. This new pre-landing requirement is 
necessary to enforce a measure intended to assist shoreside businesses 
in southern ports by providing an incentive for vessels to steam to 
ports far away from popular open area fishing grounds.
    Notification requires the dissemination of the following 
information: Operator's permit number; amount of scallop meats and/or 
bushels to be landed; the estimated time of arrival; the landing port 
and state where the scallops will be offloaded; and the vessel trip 
report (VTR) serial number recorded from that trip's VTR. This 
information would be used by the Office of Law Enforcement to monitor 
vessel activity and ensure compliance with the regulations.
    The burden estimates for these new requirements apply to all LA 
vessels. In a given fishing year, NMFS estimates that for access area 
reporting, each of the 313 full-time LA vessels would submit a pre-
landing report 5 times (1,565 responses) and each of the 34 part-time 
LA vessel would submit a pre-landing report up to 3 times (102 
responses), for a total of 1,667 responses. Public reporting burden for 
submitting these pre-landing notification forms is estimated to average 
5 minutes per response with an associated cost of $1.25, that includes 
the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, 
gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing 
the collection of information.
    Therefore, 1,667 responses would impose total compliance costs of 
$2,084. While this is a new requirement, it would replace current trip 
termination and compensation trip reporting procedures, which were 
estimated to cost a total of $300 annually, so the additional burden 
for this new pre-landing requirement would be $1,785 ($2,085-$300), or 
$5.14 per vessel. This is likely an overestimate, but would account for 
the potential of higher access area scallop allocations in future 
fishing years. For the new DAS pre-landing requirements, NMFS estimates 
that this would likely impact 30 vessels and result in each of those 
vessels reporting one time a year. Public reporting burden for 
submitting these pre-landing notification forms is also estimated to 
average 5 minutes per response with an associated cost of $1.25. 
Therefore, the total cost of this would impose total compliance costs 
of $38 (30 vessels x $1.25). The total additional burden from both of 
these new pre-landing requirements would be $1,823.
    Public comment is sought regarding: whether this proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall 
have practical utility; the accuracy of the burden estimate; ways to 
enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be 
collected; and ways to minimize the burden of the collection of 
information, including through the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology. Send comments on 
these or any other aspects of the collection of information to the 
Regional Administrator (See ADDRESSES above), and email to 
[email protected], or fax to (202) 395-5806.
    Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, no person is 
required to respond to, nor shall any person be subject to a penalty 
for failure to comply with, a collection of information subject to the 
requirements of the PRA, unless that collection of information displays 
a currently valid OMB Control Number. All currently approved NOAA 
collections of information may be viewed at: http://www.cio.noaa.gov/services_programs/prasubs.html.
    This action contains no other compliance costs. It does not 
duplicate, overlap, or conflict with any other Federal law.

[[Page 13813]]

Federal Rules Which May Duplicate, Overlap or Conflict With This 
Proposed Rule

    The proposed regulations do not create overlapping regulations with 
any state regulations or other federal laws.

Description of Significant Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    The preferred alternative for LA allocations, which would allocate 
includes 30.86 DAS and 23,133 kg of scallops to be harvested in access 
areas to full-time vessels, as well as close a portion of the Elephant 
Trunk Access Area and extend the NLS closure, is expected to positively 
impact profitability of small entities regulated by this action. The 
estimated revenues and net revenue for scallop vessels and small 
business entities under all considered allocations alternatives, 
including the preferred alternative, are expected to be higher than 
both the No Action alternative (i.e., 2015 default measures 
conservatively set through Framework 25) and status quo levels (i.e., 
assuming same level of access as 2014). There are four different LA 
allocation alternative in Framework 26. Alternative 1 is the no action 
alternative which would allocate scallops based on the conservative 
default measures in Framework 25. Alternative 2 is the basic run 
alternative and it would have allocated the fleet access area trips 
similar to past years (one access area per trip; split trips for the 
fleet). Alternative 3 (preferred alternative) combines all three Mid-
Atlantic Access Areas and allows vessels to fish their trips in the 
combined area. Under Alternative 3 there are multiple options for 
closures to protect small scallops. The preferred alternative includes 
the options for a closure inside the combine Mid-Atlantic Access Area 
and an extension of the NLS. Finally, Alternative 4 would have set 
allocations similar to the basic run alternative, but reduced the 
overall F. The preferred alternative would have the largest revenue 
compared to all other alternatives in the 2015 fishing year, which 
would translate to higher profits (Table 5).

             Table 5--Estimated Fleet Revenue and Revenue per Limited Access Vessel in 2014 Dollars
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                   Fleet scallop
         Fishing year              Alternative      revenue (*)   Revenue per FT  Change from no   % Ch. from SQ
                                                    ($ million)       vessel        action (%)        levels
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015..........................  ALT1. No Action.           263.0         748,731               0             -45
                                ALT2. Basic Run.           557.8       1,592,242             113              17
                                ALT3. NL + ETA             578.1       1,650,451             120              21
                                 (Preferred
                                 alt.).
                                ALT3. 3 new                567.1       1,618,858             116              19
                                 closures.
                                ALT3. CA2 + NL..           570.3       1,627,986             117              20
                                ALT4. Reduced F.           557.6       1,591,748             113              17
                                SQ. Status quo..           477.2       1,361,611              82               0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Overall LAGC IFQ allocations for the preferred alternative will be 
5.8 percent higher than the No Action (i.e., 2015 default allocations) 
and is 23 percent higher than the 2014 fishing year allocations. As a 
result, the preferred alternative is expected to have positive economic 
impacts on LAGC IFQ fishery. There are no other alternatives that would 
generate higher economic benefits for the scallop fishery as a whole, 
including the small business entities in the LAGC IFQ fishery. As for 
LAGC IFQ access area allocations, the preferred alternative would 
provide proportional access for LA and LAGC IFQ within the Mid-Atlantic 
Access Area (i.e., the LAGC fishery is projected to catch roughly 6.5 
percent of the total 2015 projected catch of the fishery, so roughly 
6.5 percent of the total access area catch available to the entire 
fishery could be landed on IFQ fleetwide trips), which should have 
positive impacts on the small business entities of the LAGC IFQ fishery 
by increasing flexibility and lowering costs. The preferred alternative 
would have higher economic benefits than No Action and compared to the 
2014 access area fleetwide IFQ trip allocations, but would have lower 
allocations than the alternative that would have increased the number 
of fleetwide trips to 10.4 percent of the total access area catch.
    Because the NGOM and incidental TACs are unchanged from previous 
years, those proposed allocations are not expected to directly impact 
small business entities.

Literature Cited

DuPaul, W. D., D. B. Rudders, and R. J. Smolowitz. 2004. Industry 
trials of a modified sea scallop dredge to minimize the catch of sea 
turtles. Final Report. November 2004. VIMS Marine Resources Report, 
No. 2004-12. 35 pp.
Smolowitz, R., H. Haas, H. O. Milliken, M. Weeks and E. Matzen. 
2010. Using Sea Turtle Carcasses to Assess the Conservation 
Potential of a Turtle Deflector Dredge. North American Journal of 
Fisheries Management 30: 993-1000.

List of Subjects

50 CFR Part 223

    Endangered and threatened species, Exports, Imports, 
Transportation.

50 CFR Part 648

    Fisheries, Fishing, Recordkeeping and reporting requirements.

    Dated: March 6, 2015.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR parts 223 and 648 
are proposed to be amended as follows:

PART 223--THREATENED MARINE AND ANADROMOUS SPECIES

0
1. The authority citation for part 223 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1531 1543; subpart B, Sec.  223.201-202 
also issued under 16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.; 16 U.S.C. 5503(d) for 
Sec.  223.206(d)(9).2.

0
2. In Sec.  223.206 paragraph (d)(11) is revised to read as follows:


Sec.  223.206  Exceptions to prohibitions relating to sea turtles.

* * * * *
    (d) * * *
    (11) Restrictions applicable to sea scallop dredges in the mid-
Atlantic--(i) Gear Modification. During the time period of May 1 
through November 30, any vessel with a sea scallop dredge and required 
to have a Federal Atlantic sea scallop fishery permit, regardless of 
dredge size or vessel permit category, that enters waters west of 
71[deg] W. long., from the shoreline to the outer boundary

[[Page 13814]]

of the Exclusive Economic Zone must have on each dredge a chain mat 
described as follows. The chain mat must be composed of horizontal 
(``tickler'') chains and vertical (``up-and-down'') chains that are 
configured such that the openings formed by the intersecting chains 
have no more than four sides. The vertical and horizontal chains must 
be hung to cover the opening of the dredge bag such that the vertical 
chains extend from the back of the cutting bar to the sweep. The 
horizontal chains must intersect the vertical chains such that the 
length of each side of the openings formed by the intersecting chains 
is less than or equal to 14 inches (35.5 cm) with the exception of the 
side of any individual opening created by the sweep. The chains must be 
connected to each other with a shackle or link at each intersection 
point. The measurement must be taken along the chain, with the chain 
held taut, and include one shackle or link at the intersection point 
and all links in the chain up to, but excluding, the shackle or link at 
the other intersection point.
    (ii) Any vessel that enters the waters described in paragraph 
(d)(11)(i) of this section and that is required to have a Federal 
Atlantic sea scallop fishery permit must have the chain mat 
configuration installed on all dredges for the duration of the trip.
    (iii) Vessels subject to the requirements in paragraphs (d)(11)(i) 
and (d)(11)(ii) of this section transiting waters west of 71[deg] W. 
long., from the shoreline to the outer boundary of the Exclusive 
Economic Zone, will be exempted from the chain-mat requirements 
provided the dredge gear is stowed in accordance with Sec.  648.2 and 
there are no scallops on-board.

PART 648--FISHERIES OF THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

0
3. The authority citation for part 648 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

0
4. In Sec.  648.10, paragraphs (e)(5)(iii) and (f)(4) are revised, and 
(f)(6) is added to read as follows:


Sec.  648.10  VMS and DAS requirements for vessel owners/operators.

* * * * *
    (e) * * *
    (5) * * *
    (iii) DAS counting for a vessel that is under the VMS notification 
requirements of paragraph (b) of this section, with the exception of 
vessels that have elected to fish exclusively in the Eastern U.S./
Canada Area on a particular trip, as described in paragraph (e)(5) of 
this section, begins with the first location signal received showing 
that the vessel crossed the VMS Demarcation Line after leaving port. 
DAS counting ends with the first location signal received showing that 
the vessel crossed the VMS Demarcation Line upon its return to port, 
unless the vessel is declared into a limited access scallop DAS trip 
and, upon its return to port, declares out of the scallop fishery 
shoreward of the VMS Demarcation Line at or south of 39[deg] N. lat., 
as specified in paragraph (f)(6) of this section, and lands in a port 
south of 39[deg] N. lat.
* * * * *
    (f) * * *
    (4) Catch reports. (i) The owner or operator of a limited access or 
LAGC IFQ vessel that fishes for, possesses, or retains scallops, and is 
not fishing under a NE Multispecies DAS or sector allocation, must 
submit reports through the VMS, in accordance with instructions to be 
provided by the Regional Administrator, for each day fished, including 
open area trips, access area trips as described in Sec.  648.60(a)(9), 
and trips accompanied by a NMFS-approved observer. The reports must be 
submitted for each day (beginning at 0000 hr and ending at 2400 hr) and 
not later than 0900 hr of the following day. Such reports must include 
the following information:
    (A) VTR serial number;
    (B) Date fish were caught;
    (C) Total pounds of scallop meats kept;
    (D) Total pounds of all fish kept.
    (ii) Scallop Pre-Landing Notification Form for IFQ and NGOM 
vessels. A vessel issued an IFQ or NGOM scallop permit must report 
through VMS, using the Scallop Pre-Landing Notification Form, the 
amount of any scallops kept on each trip declared as a scallop trip, 
including declared scallop trips where no scallops were landed. In 
addition, vessels with an IFQ or NGOM permit must submit a Scallop Pre-
Landing Notification Form on trips that are not declared as scallop 
trips, but on which scallops are kept incidentally. A limited access 
vessel that also holds an IFQ or NGOM permit must submit the Scallop 
Pre-Landing Notification Form only when fishing under the provisions of 
the vessel's IFQ or NGOM permit. VMS Scallop Pre-Landing Notification 
forms must be submitted no less than 6 hours prior to arrival, or, if 
fishing ends less than 6 hours before arrival, immediately after 
fishing ends. If scallops will be landed, the report must include the 
vessel operator's permit number, the amount of scallop meats in pounds 
to be landed, the number of bushels of in-shell scallops to be landed, 
the estimated time of arrival in port, the landing port and state where 
the scallops will be offloaded, the VTR serial number recorded from 
that trip's VTR (the same VTR serial number as reported to the dealer), 
and whether any scallops were caught in the NGOM. If no scallops will 
be landed, a vessel issued an IFQ or NGOM scallop permit must provide 
only the vessel's captain/operator's permit number, the VTR serial 
number recorded from that trip's VTR (the same VTR serial number as 
reported to the dealer), and confirmation that no scallops will be 
landed. A vessel issued an IFQ or NGOM scallop permit may provide a 
corrected report. If the report is being submitted as a correction of a 
prior report, the information entered into the notification form will 
replace the data previously submitted in the prior report. Submitting a 
correction does not prevent NMFS from pursuing an enforcement action 
for any false reporting.
    (iii) Scallop Pre-Landing Notification Form for Limited Access 
Vessels fishing on Scallop Access Area Trips. A limited access vessel 
on a declared Sea Scallop Access Area trip must report through VMS, 
using the Scallop Pre-Landing Notification Form, the amount of any 
scallops kept on each access area trip, including declared access area 
trips where no scallops were landed. The report must be submitted no 
less than 6 hours before arrival, or, if fishing ends less than 6 hours 
before arrival, immediately after fishing ends. If scallops will be 
landed, the report must include the vessel operator's permit number, 
the amount of scallop meats in pounds to be landed, the number of 
bushels of in-shell scallops to be landed, the estimated time of 
arrival, the landing port and state where the scallops will be 
offloaded, and the VTR serial number recorded from that trip's VTR (the 
same VTR serial number as reported to the dealer). If no scallops will 
be landed, a limited access vessel on a declared Sea Scallop Access 
Area trip must provide only the vessel's captain/operator's permit 
number, the VTR serial number recorded from that trip's VTR (the same 
VTR serial number as reported to the dealer), and confirmation that no 
scallops will be landed. A limited access scallop vessel may provide a 
corrected report. If the report is being submitted as a correction of a 
prior report, the information entered into the notification form will 
replace the data previously submitted in the prior report. Submitting a 
correction

[[Page 13815]]

does not prevent NMFS from pursuing an enforcement action for any false 
reporting. A vessel may not offload its catch from a Sea Scallop Access 
Area trip at more than one location per trip.
    (iv) Scallop Pre-Landing Notification Form for Limited Access 
Vessels on a Declared DAS Trip Landing Scallops at Ports Located at or 
South of 39[deg] N. Lat. In order to end a declared Sea Scallop DAS 
trip and steam south of 39[deg] N. lat., a limited access vessel must 
first report through VMS, using the Scallop Pre-Landing Notification 
Form, the amount of any scallops kept on its DAS trip. Upon crossing 
shoreward of the VMS Demarcation Line at or south of 39[deg] N. lat., 
the Scallop Pre-Landing Notification form must be submitted. The report 
must include the vessel operator's permit number, the amount of scallop 
meats in pounds to be landed, the estimated time of arrival in port, 
the landing port and state where the scallops will be offloaded, and 
the VTR serial number recorded from that trip's VTR (the same VTR 
serial number as reported to the dealer). Prior to crossing seaward of 
the VMS Demarcation Line for the transit to a southern port at or south 
of 39[deg] N. lat., the vessel must declare out of the scallop fishery. 
A limited access scallop vessel may provide a corrected report. If the 
report is being submitted as a correction of a prior report, the 
information entered into the notification form will replace the data 
previously submitted in the prior report. Submitting a correction does 
not prevent NMFS from pursuing an enforcement action for any false 
reporting.
* * * * *
    (6) Limited access scallop vessels fishing under the DAS Program 
and landing scallops at ports south of 39[deg] N. Lat. If landing 
scallops at a port located at or south of 39[deg] N. lat., a limited 
access vessel participating in the scallop DAS program may end its DAS 
trip once it has crossed shoreward of the VMS Demarcation Line at or 
south of 39[deg] N. lat. by declaring out of the scallop fishery and 
submitting the Scallop Pre-Landing Notification Form, as specified at 
paragraph (f)(4)(iv) of this section. Once declared out of the scallop 
fishery, and the vessel has submitted the Scallop Pre-Landing 
Notification Form, the vessel may cross seaward of the VMS Demarcation 
Line and steam to a port at or south of 39[deg] N. lat., to land 
scallops while not on a DAS. Such vessels that elect to change their 
declaration to steam to ports with scallops onboard and not accrue DAS 
must comply with all the requirements at Sec.  648.53(f)(3).
* * * * *
0
5. In Sec.  648.14, paragraphs (i)(2)(ii)(B), (i)(2)(iii)(C), 
(i)(2)(v)(D), (i)(3)(iii)(C), (i)(3)(iii)(D), (i)(4)(i)(C), (i)(5)(iii) 
are revised and paragraphs (i)(2)(iv)(F) and (i)(2)(v)(E) are added to 
read as follows:


Sec.  648.14  Prohibitions.

* * * * *
    (i) * * *
    (2) * * *
    (ii) * * *
    (B) While under or subject to the DAS allocation program, in 
possession of more than 40 lb (18.1 kg) of shucked scallops or 5 bu 
(1.76 hL) of in-shell scallops, or fishing for scallops in the EEZ:
    (1) Fish with, or have available for immediate use, trawl nets of 
mesh smaller than the minimum size specified in Sec.  648.51(a)(2).
    (2) Fail to comply with any chafing gear or other gear obstruction 
restrictions specified in Sec.  648.51(a)(3).
    (3) Fail to comply with the turtle deflector dredge vessel gear 
restrictions specified in Sec.  648.51(b)(5), and turtle dredge chain 
mat requirements in Sec.  223.206(d)(11) of this title.
    (4) Fish under the small dredge program specified in Sec.  
648.51(e), with, or while in possession of, a dredge that exceeds 10.5 
ft (3.2 m) in overall width, as measured at the widest point in the 
bail of the dredge.
    (5) Fish under the small dredge program specified in Sec.  
648.51(e) with more persons on board the vessel, including the 
operator, than specified in Sec.  648.51(e)(3),unless otherwise 
authorized by the Regional Administrator.
    (6) Participate in the DAS allocation program with more persons on 
board the vessel than the number specified in Sec.  648.51(c), 
including the operator, when the vessel is not docked or moored in 
port, unless otherwise authorized by the Regional Administrator.
    (7) Fish in the Mid-Atlantic Access Area, as described in Sec.  
648.59(a), with more persons on board the vessel than the number 
specified in Sec.  648.51(c) or Sec.  648.51(e)(3)(i), unless otherwise 
authorized by the Regional Administrator.
    (8) Have a shucking or sorting machine on board a vessel that 
shucks scallops at sea while fishing under the DAS allocation program, 
unless otherwise authorized by the Regional Administrator.
    (9) Fish with, possess on board, or land scallops while in 
possession of trawl nets, when fishing for scallops under the DAS 
allocation program, unless exempted as provided for in Sec.  648.51(f).
    (10) Fail to comply with the gear restrictions described in Sec.  
648.51.
* * * * *
    (iii) * * *
    (C) Fish for or land per trip, or possess at any time, scallops in 
the NGOM scallop management area after notification in the Federal 
Register that the NGOM scallop management area TAC has been harvested, 
as specified in Sec.  648.62, unless the vessel possesses or lands 
scallops that were harvested south of 42[deg]20' N. lat. and the vessel 
only transits the NGOM scallop management area with the vessel's 
fishing gear properly stowed and unavailable for immediate use in 
accordance with Sec.  648.2 or unless the vessel is fishing exclusively 
in state waters and is participating in an approved state waters 
exemption program as specified in Sec.  648.54.
* * * * *
    (iv) * * *
    (D) Fail to comply with any requirements for declaring out of the 
DAS allocation program and steaming to land scallops at ports located 
at or south of 39[deg] N. lat., as specified in Sec.  648.53(f)(3).
    (E) Possess on board or land in-shell scallops if declaring out of 
the DAS allocation program and steaming to land scallops at ports 
located at or south of 39[deg] N. lat.
    (v) * * *
    (D) Once declared into the scallop fishery in accordance with Sec.  
648.10(f), change its VMS declaration until the trip has ended and 
scallop catch has been offloaded, except as specified at Sec.  
648.53(f)(3).
    (E) Fail to submit a scallop access area pre-landing notification 
form through VMS as specified at Sec.  648.10(f)(4)(iii).
* * * * *
    (3) * * *
    (iii) * * *
    (C) Declare into the NGOM scallop management area after the 
effective date of a notification published in the Federal Register 
stating that the NGOM scallop management area TAC has been harvested as 
specified in Sec.  648.62, unless the vessel is fishing exclusively in 
state waters, declared a state-waters only NGOM trip, and is 
participating in an approved state waters exemption program as 
specified in Sec.  648.54.
    (D) Fish for, possess, or land scallops in or from the NGOM scallop 
management area after the effective date of a notification published in 
the Federal Register that the NGOM scallop management area TAC has been 
harvested, as specified in Sec.  648.62, unless the vessel possesses or 
lands scallops that were harvested south of

[[Page 13816]]

42[deg]20' N. lat., the vessel is transiting the NGOM scallop 
management area, and the vessel's fishing gear is properly stowed and 
unavailable for immediate use in accordance with Sec.  648.2 or unless 
the vessel is fishing exclusively in state waters, declared a state-
waters only NGOM trip, and is participating in an approved state waters 
exemption program as specified in Sec.  648.54.
* * * * *
    (4) * * *
    (i) * * *
    (C) Declare into the NGOM scallop management area after the 
effective date of a notification published in the Federal Register 
stating that the NGOM scallop management area TAC has been harvested as 
specified in Sec.  648.62, unless the vessel is fishing exclusively in 
state waters, declared a state-waters only NGOM trip, and is 
participating in an approved state waters exemption program as 
specified in Sec.  648.54.
* * * * *
    (5) * * *
    (iii) Fish for, possess, or land scallops in state or Federal 
waters of the NGOM management area after the effective date of 
notification in the Federal Register that the NGOM scallop management 
area TAC has been harvested as specified in Sec.  648.62, unless the 
vessel is fishing exclusively in state waters, declared a state-waters 
only NGOM trip, and is participating in an approved state waters 
exemption program as specified in Sec.  648.54.
* * * * *
0
4. In Sec.  648.51:
0
a. Paragraphs (b)(4)(iv) and (v), (b)(5)(ii)(A) introductory text, 
(b)(5)(ii)(A)(3), and (c) introductory text are revised;
0
b. Paragraph (c)(1) is removed and reserved; and
0
c. Paragraph (e)(3)(i) is revised.
    The revisions read as follows:


Sec.  648.51  Gear and crew restrictions.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (4) * * *
    (iv) Twine top restrictions as a proactive accountability measure 
for bycatch. In addition to the minimum twine top mesh size specified 
in paragraph (b)(2) of this section, limited access and limited access 
general category IFQ vessels may not fish for scallops with a dredge 
having more than seven rows of non-overlapping steel rings unobstructed 
by netting or any other material between the terminus of the dredge 
(club stick) and the net material on the top of the dredge (twine top) 
(a copy of a diagram showing a schematic of a legal dredge with twine 
top is available from the Regional Administrator upon request).
    (v) Measurement of twine top mesh size. Twine top mesh size is 
measured by using a wedge-shaped gauge having a taper of 0.79 inches (2 
cm) in 3.15 inches (8 cm) and a thickness of 0.09 inches (2.3 mm), 
inserted into the meshes under a pressure or pull of 17.64 lb (8 kg). 
The mesh size is the average of the measurements of any series of 20 
consecutive meshes for twine tops having 75 or more meshes, and 10 
consecutive meshes for twine tops having fewer than 75 meshes. The mesh 
in the twine top must be measured along the length of the twine top, 
running parallel to a longitudinal axis, and be at least five meshes 
away from where the twine top mesh meets the rings, running parallel to 
the long axis of the twine top.
    (5) * * *
    (ii) * * *
    (A) From May 1 through November 30, any limited access scallop 
vessel using a dredge, regardless of dredge size or vessel permit 
category, or any LAGC IFQ scallop vessel fishing with a dredge with a 
width of 10.5 ft (3.2 m) or greater, that is fishing for scallops in 
waters west of 71[deg] W long., from the shoreline to the outer 
boundary of the EEZ, must use a TDD. The TDD requires five 
modifications to the rigid dredge frame, as specified in paragraphs 
(b)(5)(ii)(A)(1) through (b)(5)(ii)(A)(5) of this section. See 
paragraph (b)(5)(ii)(D) of this section for more specific descriptions 
of the dredge elements mentioned below.
* * * * *
    (3) All bale bars must be removed, except the outer bale (single or 
double) bars and the center support beam, leaving an otherwise 
unobstructed space between the cutting bar and forward bale wheels, if 
present. The center support beam must be less than 6 inches (15.24 cm) 
wide. For the purpose of flaring and safe handling of the dredge, a 
minor appendage not to exceed 12 inches (30.5 cm) in length may be 
attached to each of the outer bale bars. If the flaring bar is attached 
in a u-shape, none of the three sides of the flaring bar shall exceed 
12 inches (30.5 cm) in length. The appendage shall at no point be 
closer than 12 inches (30.5 cm) to the cutting bar.
* * * * *
    (c) Crew restrictions. A limited access vessel participating in or 
subject to the scallop DAS allocation program may have no more than 
seven people aboard, including the operator, and a limited access 
vessel participating in the Sea Scallop Area Access Program as 
specified in Sec.  648.60 may have no more than eight people aboard, 
including the operator, when not docked or moored in port, except as 
follows:
* * * * *
    (e) * * *
    (3) * * *
    (i) A vessel participating in the Sea Scallop Area Access Program 
as specified in Sec.  648.60 may have no more than six people, 
including the operator, on board.
* * * * *
0
5. In Sec.  648.53, paragraphs (a), (b)(1), and (b)(4) are revised, 
paragraph (f)(3) is added, and paragraph (g)(1) is revised to read as 
follows:


Sec.  648.53  Acceptable biological catch (ABC), annual catch limits 
(ACL), annual catch targets (ACT), DAS allocations, and individual 
fishing quotas (IFQ).

    (a) Scallop fishery ABC. The ABC for the scallop fishery shall be 
established through the framework adjustment process specified in Sec.  
648.55 and is equal to the overall scallop fishery ACL minus discards. 
The ABC/ACL, after discards are removed, shall be divided as sub-ACLs 
between limited access vessels, limited access vessels that are fishing 
under a LAGC permit, and LAGC vessels as specified in paragraphs (a)(3) 
and (a)(4) of this section, after deducting the scallop incidental 
catch target TAC specified in paragraph (a)(2) of this section, 
observer set-aside specified in paragraph (g)(1) of this section, and 
research set-aside specified in Sec.  648.56(d). The ABC/ACL for the 
2016 fishing year is subject to change through a future framework 
adjustment.
    (1) ABC/ACL for fishing years 2015 through 2016, excluding 
discards, shall be:
    (i) 2015: 25,352 mt.
    (ii) 2016: 31,807 mt.
    (2) Scallop incidental catch target TAC. The annual incidental 
catch target TAC for vessels with incidental catch scallop permits is 
22.7 mt.
    (3) Limited access fleet sub-ACL and ACT. The limited access 
scallop fishery shall be allocated 94.5 percent of the ACL specified in 
paragraph (a)(1) of this section, after deducting incidental catch, 
observer set-aside, and research set-aside, as specified in this 
paragraph (a)(3). ACT for the limited access scallop fishery shall be 
established through the framework adjustment process described in Sec.  
648.55. DAS specified in paragraph (b) of this section shall be based 
on the ACTs specified in paragraph (a)(3)(ii) of this section. The 
limited access fleet sub-ACL and ACT for the 2016 fishing year are 
subject to change through a future framework adjustment.

[[Page 13817]]

    (i) The limited access fishery sub-ACLs for fishing years 2015 and 
2016 are:
    (A) 2015: 23,161 mt.
    (B) 2016: 29,200 mt.
    (ii) The limited access fishery ACTs for fishing years 2015 and 
2016 are:
    (A) 2015: 19,311 mt.
    (B) 2016: 23,016 mt.
    (4) LAGC fleet sub-ACL. The sub-ACL for the LAGC IFQ fishery shall 
be equal to 5.5 percent of the ACL specified in paragraph (a)(1) of 
this section, after deducting incidental catch, observer set-aside, and 
research set-aside, as specified in this paragraph (a)(4). The LAGC IFQ 
fishery ACT shall be equal to the LAGC IFQ fishery's ACL. The ACL for 
the LAGC IFQ fishery for vessels issued only a LAGC IFQ scallop permit 
shall be equal to 5 percent of the ACL specified in paragraph (a)(1) of 
this section, after deducting incidental catch, observer set-aside, and 
research set-aside, as specified in this paragraph (a)(4). The ACL for 
the LAGC IFQ fishery for vessels issued only both a LAGC IFQ scallop 
permit and a limited access scallop permit shall be 0.5 percent of the 
ACL specified in paragraph (a)(1) of this section, after deducting 
incidental catch, observer set-aside, and research set-aside, as 
specified in this paragraph (a)(4).
    (i) The ACLs for fishing years 2015 and 2016 for LAGC IFQ vessels 
without a limited access scallop permit are:
    (A) 2015: 1,225 mt.
    (B) 2016: 1,545 mt.
    (ii) The ACLs for fishing years 2015 and 2016 for vessels issued 
both a LAGC and a limited access scallop permits are:
    (A) 2015: 123 mt.
    (B) 2016: 154 mt.
    (b) * * *
    (1) Landings per unit effort (LPUE). LPUE is an estimate of the 
average amount of scallops, in pounds, that the limited access scallop 
fleet lands per DAS fished. The estimated LPUE is the average LPUE for 
all limited access scallop vessels fishing under DAS, and shall be used 
to calculate DAS specified in paragraph (b)(4) of this section, the DAS 
reduction for the AM specified in paragraph (b)(4)(ii) of this section, 
and the observer set-aside DAS allocation specified in paragraph (g)(1) 
of this section. LPUE shall be:
    (i) 2015 fishing year: 2,594 lb/DAS (1,171 kg/DAS).
    (ii) 2016 fishing year: 2,715 lb/DAS (1,175 kg/DAS).
    (iii) [Reserved]
* * * * *
    (4) Each vessel qualifying for one of the three DAS categories 
specified in the table in this paragraph (b)(4) (full-time, part-time, 
or occasional) shall be allocated the maximum number of DAS for each 
fishing year it may participate in the open area limited access scallop 
fishery, according to its category, excluding carryover DAS in 
accordance with paragraph (d) of this section. DAS allocations shall be 
determined by distributing the portion of ACT specified in paragraph 
(a)(3)(ii) of this section, as reduced by access area allocations 
specified in Sec.  648.59, and dividing that amount among vessels in 
the form of DAS calculated by applying estimates of open area LPUE 
specified in paragraph (b)(1) of this section. Allocation for part-time 
and occasional scallop vessels shall be 40 percent and 8.33 percent of 
the full-time DAS allocations, respectively. The annual open area DAS 
allocations for each category of vessel for the fishing years indicated 
are as follows:

                    Scallop Open Area DAS Allocations
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 Permit category                      2015       2016
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Full-Time........................................      30.86       26
Part-Time........................................      12.94       10.40
Occasional.......................................       2.58        2.17
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (i) [Reserved]
    (ii) Accountability measures (AM). Unless the limited access AM 
exception is implemented in accordance with the provision specified in 
paragraph (b)(4)(iii) of this section, if the ACL specified in 
paragraph (a)(3)(i) of this section is exceeded for the applicable 
fishing year, the DAS specified in paragraph (b)(4) of this section for 
each limited access vessel shall be reduced by an amount equal to the 
amount of landings in excess of the ACL divided by the applicable LPUE 
for the fishing year in which the AM will apply as specified in 
paragraph (b)(1) of this section, then divided by the number of scallop 
vessels eligible to be issued a full-time limited access scallop 
permit. For example, assuming a 300,000-lb (136-mt) overage of the ACL 
in 2011, an open area LPUE of 2,500 lb (1.13 mt) per DAS in 2012, and 
313 full-time vessels, each full-time vessel's DAS would be reduced by 
0.38 DAS (300,000 lb (136 mt)/2,500 lb (1.13 mt) per DAS = 120 lb (0.05 
mt) per DAS/313 vessels = 0.38 DAS per vessel). Deductions in DAS for 
part-time and occasional scallop vessels shall be 40 percent and 8.33 
percent of the full-time DAS deduction, respectively, as calculated 
pursuant to this paragraph (b)(4)(ii). The AM shall take effect in the 
fishing year following the fishing year in which the overage occurred. 
For example, landings in excess of the ACL in fishing year 2011 would 
result in the DAS reduction AM in fishing year 2012. If the AM takes 
effect, and a limited access vessel uses more open area DAS in the 
fishing year in which the AM is applied, the vessel shall have the DAS 
used in excess of the allocation after applying the AM deducted from 
its open area DAS allocation in the subsequent fishing year. For 
example, a vessel initially allocated 32 DAS in 2011 uses all 32 DAS 
prior to application of the AM. If, after application of the AM, the 
vessel's DAS allocation is reduced to 31 DAS, the vessel's DAS in 2012 
would be reduced by 1 DAS.
    (iii) Limited access AM exception. If NMFS determines, in 
accordance with paragraph (b)(4)(ii) of this section, that the fishing 
mortality rate associated with the limited access fleet's landings in a 
fishing year is less than 0.34, the AM specified in paragraph 
(b)(4)(ii) of this section shall not take effect. The fishing mortality 
rate of 0.34 is the fishing mortality rate that is one standard 
deviation below the fishing mortality rate for the scallop fishery ACL, 
currently estimated at 0.38.
    (iv) Limited access fleet AM and exception provision timing. The 
Regional Administrator shall determine whether the limited access fleet 
exceeded its ACL specified in paragraph (a)(3)(i) of this section by 
July of the fishing year following the year for which landings are 
being evaluated. On or about July 1, the Regional Administrator shall 
notify the New England Fishery Management Council of the determination 
of whether or not the ACL for the limited access fleet was exceeded, 
and the amount of landings in excess of the ACL. Upon this 
notification, the Scallop Plan Development Team (PDT) shall evaluate 
the overage and determine if the fishing mortality rate associated with 
total landings by the limited access scallop fleet is less than 0.34. 
On or about September 1 of each year, the Scallop PDT shall notify the 
Council of its determination, and the Council, on or about September 
30, shall make a recommendation, based on the Scallop PDT findings, 
concerning whether to invoke the limited access AM exception. If NMFS 
concurs with the Scallop PDT's recommendation to invoke the limited 
access AM exception, in accordance with the APA, the limited access AM 
shall not be implemented. If NMFS does not concur, in accordance with 
the APA, the limited access AM shall be implemented as soon as possible 
after September 30 each year.
* * * * *

[[Page 13818]]

    (f) * * *
    (3) Limited access scallop vessels fishing under the DAS Program 
and landing scallops at a port located at or south of 39[deg] N. Lat. 
If landing scallops at a port located at or south of 39[deg] N. lat., a 
limited access vessel participating in the scallop DAS program may end 
its DAS trip once shoreward of the VMS Demarcation Line at or south of 
39[deg] N. lat. by declaring out of the scallop fishery. Once declared 
out of the scallop fishery, the vessel may cross seaward of the VMS 
Demarcation Line and steam to ports at or south of 39[deg] N. lat., to 
land scallops while not on a DAS, provided that the vessel complies 
with the following requirements:
    (i) The vessel must submit a Scallop Pre-landing Notification Form, 
as specified at Sec.  648.10(f)(4)(iv);
    (ii) The vessel's fishing gear is stowed and not available for 
immediate use as defined in Sec.  648.2;
    (iii) The vessel must return directly to port and offload scallops;
    (iv) The vessel must land scallops at a port located at or south of 
39[deg] N. lat.; and
    (v) The vessel may not possess in-shell scallops.
    (g) Set-asides for observer coverage. (1) To help defray the cost 
of carrying an observer, 1 percent of the ABC/ACL specified in 
paragraph (a)(1) of this section shall be set aside to be used by 
vessels that are assigned to take an at-sea observer on a trip. The 
total TAC for observer set aside is 254 mt in fishing year 2015, and 
318 mt in fishing year 2016.
* * * * *
0
6. In Sec.  648.54, paragraphs (a)(4) and (b) through (g) are revised 
and paragraph (h) is added to read as follows:


Sec.  648.54  State waters exemption.

* * * * *
    (a) * * *
    (4) The Regional Administrator has determined that the State of 
Maine has a scallop fishery conservation program for its scallop 
fishery that does not jeopardize the biomass and fishing mortality/
effort limit objectives of the Scallop FMP. A vessel fishing in State 
of Maine waters may fish under the State of Maine state waters 
exemption, subject to the exemptions specified in paragraphs (b) and 
(c) of this section, provided the vessel is in compliance with 
paragraphs (e) through (g) of this section.
    (b) Limited access scallop vessel exemption. Any vessel issued a 
limited access scallop permit is exempt from the DAS requirements 
specified in Sec.  648.53(b) while fishing exclusively landward of the 
outer boundary of the waters of a state that has been issued a state 
waters exemption under paragraph (a)(4) of this section, provided the 
vessel complies with paragraphs (f) through (h) of this section.
    (c) Gear and possession limit restrictions. Any vessel issued a 
limited access scallop permit, an LAGC NGOM, or an LAGC IFQ scallop 
permit is exempt from the minimum twine top mesh size for scallop 
dredge gear specified in Sec. Sec.  648.51(b)(2) and (b)(4)(iv) while 
fishing exclusively landward of the outer boundary of the waters of the 
State of Maine under the state waters exemption specified in paragraph 
(a)(4) of this section, provided the vessel is in compliance with 
paragraphs (d) through (g) of this section.
    (d) NGOM closure exemption. Any vessel issued a Federal scallop 
permit may be exempt from the regulations specified in Sec.  
648.52(b)(2) requiring that once the NGOM Federal hard TAC is reached, 
no vessel issued a scallop permit may fish in the NGOM area. This 
exemption, which a state must apply for through the process specified 
in paragraph (a) of this section, would allow vessels to continue to 
fish for scallops within a state's waters inside the NGOM. A state 
applying for this exemption must clarify to which scallop permit types 
this exemption would apply.
    (e) Notification requirements. Vessels fishing under the exemptions 
specified in paragraph (b) and/or (c) of this section must notify the 
Regional Administrator in accordance with the provisions of Sec.  
648.10(e).
    (f) Restriction on fishing in the EEZ. A vessel fishing under a 
state waters exemption may not fish in the EEZ during the time in which 
it is fishing under the state waters exemption, as declared under the 
notification requirements of this section.
    (g) Duration of exemption. An exemption expires upon a change in 
the vessel's name or ownership, or upon notification through VMS by the 
participating vessel's owner.
    (h) Applicability of other provisions of this part. A vessel 
fishing under the exemptions provided by paragraphs (b) and/or (c) of 
this section remains subject to all other requirements of this part.
0
7. Section 648.58 is revised to read as follows:


Sec.  648.58  Rotational Closed Areas.

    (a) Closed Area I Closed Area-- No vessel may fish for scallops in, 
or possess or land scallops from, the area known as the Closed Area I 
Closed Area. No vessel may possess scallops in the Closed Area I Closed 
Area, unless such vessel is only transiting the area as provided in 
paragraph (e) of this section. The Closed Area I Closed Area is defined 
by straight lines connecting the following points in the order stated 
(copies of a chart depicting this area are available from the Regional 
Administrator upon request), and so that the line connecting points 
CAIA3 and CAIA4 is the same as the portion of the western boundary line 
of Closed Area I, defined in Sec.  648.81(a)(1), that lies between 
points CAIA3 and CAIA4:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Point                               Latitude                      Longitude             Note
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CAIA1....................................  41[deg]26' N.                  68[deg]30' W.                 ........
CAIA2....................................  40[deg]58' N.                  68[deg]30' W.                 ........
CAIA3....................................  40[deg]54.95' N.               68[deg]53.37' W.                (\1\)
CAIA4....................................  41[deg]04.32' N.               69[deg]01.27' W.                (\1\)
CAIA1....................................  41[deg]26' N.                  68[deg]30' W.                 ........
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ From Point CAIA3 to Point CAIA4 along the western boundary of Closed Area I, defined in Sec.   648.81(a)(1).

    (b) Closed Area II Closed Area-- No vessel may fish for scallops 
in, or possess or land scallops from, the area known as the Closed Area 
II Closed Area. No vessel may possess scallops in the Closed Area II 
Closed Area. The Closed Area II Closed Area is defined by straight 
lines, except where noted, connecting the following points in the order 
stated (copies of a chart depicting this area are available from the 
Regional Administrator upon request):

[[Page 13819]]



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Point                               Latitude                      Longitude             Note
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CAIIA1...................................  41[deg]00' N.                  67[deg]20' W.                 ........
CAIIA2...................................  41[deg]00' N.                  66[deg]35.8' W.               ........
CAIIA3...................................  41[deg]18.6' N.                (\1\)                           (\2\)
CAIIA4...................................  41[deg]30' N.                  (\3\)                           (\2\)
CAIIA5...................................  41[deg]30' N.                  67[deg]20' W.                 ........
CAIIA1...................................  41[deg]00' N.                  67[deg]20' W.                 ........
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The intersection of 41[deg]18.6' N. lat. and the U.S.-Canada Maritime Boundary, approximately 41[deg]18.6'
  N. lat. and 66[deg]25.01' W. long.
\2\ From Point CAIIA3 connected to Point CAIIA4 along the U.S.-Canada Maritime Boundary.
\3\ The intersection of 41[deg]30' N. lat. and the U.S.-Canada Maritime Boundary, approximately 41[deg]30' N.
  lat., 66[deg]34.73' W. long.

    (c) Nantucket Lightship Closed Area-- No vessel may fish for 
scallops in, or possess or land scallops from, the area known as the 
Nantucket Lightship Closed Area. No vessel may possess scallops in the 
Nantucket Lightship Closed Area, unless such vessel is only transiting 
the area as provided in paragraph (e) of this section. The Nantucket 
Lightship Closed Area is defined by straight lines connecting the 
following points in the order stated (copies of a chart depicting this 
area are available from the Regional Administrator upon request),

------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Point                     Latitude            Longitude
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NLAA1..........................  40[deg]50' N.        69[deg]30' W.
NLAA2..........................  40[deg]50' N.        69[deg]00' W.
NLAA3..........................  40[deg]33' N.        69[deg]00' W.
NLAA4..........................  40[deg]33' N.        68[deg]48' W.
NLAA5..........................  40[deg]20' N.        68[deg]48' W.
NLAA6..........................  40[deg]20' N.        69[deg]30' W.
NLAA1..........................  40[deg]50' N.        69[deg]30' W.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (d) Elephant Trunk Closed Area-- No vessel may fish for scallops 
in, or possess or land scallops from, the area known as the Elephant 
Trunk Closed Area. No vessel may possess scallops in Elephant Trunk 
Closed Area. The Elephant Trunk Closed Area is defined by straight 
lines connecting the following points in the order stated (copies of a 
chart depicting this area are available from the Regional Administrator 
upon request).

------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Point                     Latitude            Longitude
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ETCA 1.........................  38[deg]50' N.        74[deg]20' W.
ETCA 2.........................  38[deg]50' N.        73[deg]40' W.
ETCA 3.........................  38[deg]40' N.        73[deg]40' W.
ETCA 4.........................  38[deg]40' N.        73[deg]50' W.
ETCA 5.........................  38[deg]30' N.        73[deg]50' W.
ETCA 6.........................  38[deg]30' N.        74[deg]20' W.
ETCA 1.........................  38[deg]50' N.        74[deg]20' W.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (e) Transiting. No vessel possessing scallops may enter or be in 
the area(s) specified in paragraphs (a) and (c) of this section unless 
the vessel is transiting the area and the vessel's fishing gear is 
stowed and not available for immediate use as defined in Sec.  648.2, 
or there is a compelling safety reason to be in such areas without such 
gear being stowed. A vessel may only transit the Closed Area II Closed 
Area, as described in paragraph (b) of this section, or the Elephant 
Trunk Closed Area, as described in paragraph (d) of this section, if 
there is a compelling safety reason for transiting the area and the 
vessel's fishing gear is stowed and not available for immediate use as 
defined in Sec.  648.2.
    (f) Vessels fishing for species other than scallops. A vessel may 
fish for species other than scallops within the closed areas specified 
in paragraphs (a) through (d) of this section as allowed in this part, 
provided the vessel does not fish for, catch, or retain scallops or 
intend to fish for, catch, or retain scallops. Declaration through VMS 
that the vessel is fishing in the LAGC scallop fishery is deemed to be 
an intent to fish for, catch, or retain scallops.
0
8. In Sec.  648.59:
0
a. Paragraphs (a), (b) introductory text, (b)(1), (c) introductory 
text, and (c)(1) are revised;
0
b. Paragraph (c)(2) is removed and reserved;
0
c. Paragraphs (d) introductory text and (d)(1) are revised; and
0
d. Paragraphs (d)(2) and (e) are removed and reserved.
    The revisions read as follows:


Sec.  648.59  Sea Scallop Access Areas.

    (a) Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area--(1) Beginning March 1, 2015, 
through February 28, 2017 (i.e., fishing years 2015 and 2016), a vessel 
issued a scallop permit may not fish for, possess, or land scallops in 
or from the area known as the Mid-Atlantic Access Area unless the 
vessel is participating in, and complies with the requirements of, the 
area access program described in Sec.  648.60. The Mid-Atlantic Access 
Area is comprised of the following scallop access areas: The Delmarva 
Scallop Access Area, as described in paragraph (a)(2) of this section; 
the Elephant Trunk Scallop Access Area, as described in paragraph 
(a)(3) of this section; and the Hudson Canyon Scallop Access Area, as 
described in paragraph (a)(4) of this section.
    (2) Delmarva Scallop Access Area. The Delmarva Scallop Access Area 
is defined by straight lines connecting the following points in the 
order stated (copies of a chart depicting this area are available from 
the Regional Administrator upon request):

------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Point                     Latitude            Longitude
------------------------------------------------------------------------
DMV1...........................  38[deg]10' N.        74[deg]50' W.
DMV2...........................  38[deg]10' N.        74[deg]00' W.
DMV3...........................  37[deg]15' N.        74[deg]00' W.
DMV4...........................  37[deg]15' N.        74[deg]50' W.
DMV1...........................  38[deg]10' N.        74[deg]50' W.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (i) Season. A vessel issued a scallop permit may not fish for, 
possess, or land scallops in or from the area known as the Delmarva Sea 
Scallop Access Area, described in paragraph (a)(2) of this section, 
during the period of March 1, 2016, through March 31, 2016.
    (3) Elephant Trunk Scallop Access Area. The Elephant Trunk Scallop 
Access Area is defined by straight lines connecting the following 
points in the order stated (copies of a chart depicting this area are 
available from the Regional Administrator upon request):

------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Point                     Latitude            Longitude
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ETAA1..........................  38[deg]30' N.        74[deg]20' W.
ETAA2..........................  38[deg]30' N.        73[deg]50' W.
ETAA3..........................  38[deg]40' N.        73[deg]50' W.
ETAA4..........................  38[deg]40' N.        73[deg]40' W.
ETAA5..........................  38[deg]50' N.        73[deg]40' W.
ETAA6..........................  38[deg]50' N.        73[deg]30' W.
ETAA7..........................  38[deg]10' N.        73[deg]30' W.
ETAA8..........................  38[deg]10' N.        74[deg]20' W.
ETAA1..........................  38[deg]30' N.        74[deg]20' W.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (4) Hudson Canyon Scallop Access Area. The Hudson Canyon Scallop 
Access Area is defined by straight lines connecting the following 
points in the order stated (copies of a chart depicting this area are 
available from the Regional Administrator upon request):

------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Point                     Latitude            Longitude
------------------------------------------------------------------------
H1.............................  39[deg]30' N.        73[deg]10' W.
H2.............................  39[deg]30' N.        72[deg]30' W.
H3.............................  38[deg]30' N.        73[deg]30' W.
H4.............................  38[deg]50' N.        73[deg]30' W.
H5.............................  38[deg]50' N.        73[deg]42' W.
H1.............................  39[deg]30' N.        73[deg]10' W.
------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 13820]]

    (b) Closed Area I Scallop Access Area--(1) From March 1, 2015, 
through February 28, 2017 (i.e., fishing years 2015 and 2016), a vessel 
issued a scallop permit may not fish for, possess, or land scallops in 
or from, the area known as the Closed Area I Scallop Access Area, 
described in paragraph (b)(3) of this section, unless transiting in 
accordance with paragraph (f) of this section. A vessel issued both a 
NE multispecies permit and an LAGC scallop permit may not fish in an 
approved SAP under Sec.  648.85 and under multispecies DAS in the 
scallop access area, unless it complies with restrictions in paragraph 
(b)(5)(ii)(C) of this section.
* * * * *
    (c) Closed Area II Scallop Access Area--(1) From March 1, 2015, 
through February 28, 2017 (i.e., fishing years 2015 and 2016), a vessel 
issued a scallop permit may not fish for, possess, or land scallops in 
or from, the area known as the Closed Area II Access Area, described in 
paragraph (c)(3) of this section, unless transiting in accordance with 
paragraph (f) of this section. A vessel issued both a NE multispecies 
permit and an LAGC scallop permit may not fish in an approved SAP under 
Sec.  648.85 and under multispecies DAS in the scallop access area, 
unless it complies with restrictions in paragraph (c)(5)(ii)(C) of this 
section.
* * * * *
    (d) Nantucket Lightship Scallop Access Area--(1) From March 1, 
2015, through February 28, 2017 (i.e., fishing years 2015 and 2016), a 
vessel issued a scallop permit may not fish for, possess, or land 
scallops in or from the area known as the Nantucket Lightship Access 
Area, described in paragraph (d)(3) of this section, unless transiting 
pursuant to paragraph (f) of this section. A vessel issued both a NE 
multispecies permit and an LAGC scallop permit may not fish in an 
approved SAP under Sec.  648.85 and under multispecies DAS in the 
scallop access area, unless it complies with restrictions in paragraph 
(d)(5)(ii)(C) of this section.
* * * * *
0
9. In Sec.  648.60, paragraphs (a)(1), (a)(3), (a)(5)(i), (a)(9), (c), 
(e)(1), (g)(3)(i) are revised to read as follows:


Sec.  648.60  Sea scallop access area program requirements.

    (a) * * *
    (1) VMS. Each vessel participating in the Sea Scallop Access Area 
Program must have installed on board an operational VMS unit that meets 
the minimum performance criteria specified in Sec. Sec.  648.9 and 
648.10, and paragraphs (a)(9) and (f) of this section.
* * * * *
    (3) Sea Scallop Access Area Allocations--(i) Limited access vessel 
allocations.
    (A) Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section, paragraphs 
(a)(3)(i)(B) through (E) of this section specify the total amount of 
scallops, in weight, that a limited access scallop vessel may harvest 
from Sea Scallop Access Areas during applicable seasons specified in 
Sec.  648.59. A vessel may not possess or land in excess of its scallop 
allocation assigned to specific Sea Scallop Access Areas, unless 
authorized by the Regional Administrator, as specified in paragraph (d) 
of this section, unless the vessel owner has exchanged an area-specific 
scallop allocation with another vessel owner for additional scallop 
allocation in that area, as specified in paragraph (a)(3)(ii) of this 
section. A vessel may harvest its scallop allocation, as specified in 
paragraph (a)(3)(B) of this section, on any number of trips in a given 
fishing year, provided that no single trip exceeds the possession 
limits specified in paragraph (a)(5) of this section, unless authorized 
by the Regional Administrator, as specified in paragraphs (c) and (d) 
of this section,
    (B) Full-time scallop vessels. (1) In fishing year 2015, each full-
time vessel shall have a total of 51,000 lb (23,133 kg) of scallops 
that may be harvested from the Mid-Atlantic Access Area, as defined in 
Sec.  648.59(a).
    (2) For the 2016 fishing year, each full-time vessel shall have a 
total of 17,000 lb (7,711 kg) of scallops that may be harvested from 
the Mid-Atlantic Access Area, as defined in Sec.  648.59(a), starting 
on April 1, 2016.
    (C) Part-time scallop vessels. (1) For the 2015 fishing year, each 
part-time scallop vessel shall have a total of 20,400 lb (9,253 kg) of 
scallop that may be harvested from the Mid-Atlantic Access Area, as 
defined in Sec.  648.59(a).
    (2) For the 2015 fishing year, each part-time scallop vessel shall 
have a total of 10,200 lb (4,627 kg) of scallop that may be harvested 
from the Mid-Atlantic Access Area, as defined in Sec.  648.59(a), 
starting on April 1, 2016.
    (D) Occasional scallop vessels. (1) For the 2015 fishing year, each 
occasional scallop vessel shall have a total of 4,250 lb (1,928 kg) of 
scallop that may be harvested from the Mid-Atlantic Access Area, as 
defined in Sec.  648.59(a).
    (2) For the 2016 fishing year, each occasional scallop vessel shall 
have a total of 1,420 lb (644 kg) of scallop that may be harvested from 
the Mid-Atlantic Access Area, as defined in Sec.  648.59(a), starting 
on April 1, 2016.
    (ii) One-for-one area access allocation exchanges. The owner of a 
vessel issued a limited access scallop permit may exchange unharvested 
scallop pounds allocated into one access area for another vessel's 
unharvested scallop pounds allocated into another Sea Scallop Access 
Area. These exchanges may only be made for the amount of the current 
trip possession limit, as specified in paragraph (a)(5) of this 
section. For example, if the access area trip possession limit for 
full-time vessels is 17,000 lb (7,711 kg), a full-time vessel may 
exchange no less than 17,000 lb (7,711 kg), from one access area for no 
more or less than 17,000 lb (7,711 kg) allocated to another vessel for 
another access area. In addition, these exchanges may be made only 
between vessels with the same permit category: A full-time vessel may 
not exchange allocations with a part-time vessel, and vice versa. 
Vessel owners must request these exchanges by submitting a completed 
Access Area Allocation Exchange Form at least 15 days before the date 
on which the applicant desires the exchange to be effective. Exchange 
forms are available from the Regional Administrator upon request. Each 
vessel owner involved in an exchange is required to submit a completed 
Access Area Allocation Form. The Regional Administrator shall review 
the records for each vessel to confirm that each vessel has enough 
unharvested allocation remaining in a given access area to exchange. 
The exchange is not effective until the vessel owner(s) receive a 
confirmation in writing from the Regional Administrator that the 
allocation exchange has been made effective. A vessel owner may 
exchange equal allocations up to the current possession limit between 
two or more vessels under his/her ownership. A vessel owner holding a 
Confirmation of Permit History is not eligible to exchange allocations 
between another vessel and the vessel for which a Confirmation of 
Permit History has been issued.
* * * * *
    (5) Possession and landing limits--(i) Scallop possession limits. 
Unless authorized by the Regional Administrator, as specified in 
paragraph (d) of this section, after declaring a trip into a Sea 
Scallop Access Area, a vessel owner or operator of a limited access 
scallop vessel may fish for, possess, and land, per trip, scallops, up 
to the maximum amounts specified in the table in this paragraph (a)(5). 
No vessel declared into the Access Areas as described in Sec.  
648.59(a) through (e) may possess more than 50 bu (17.62 hL) of

[[Page 13821]]

in-shell scallops outside of the Access Areas described in Sec.  
648.59(a) through (e).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                            Permit category possession limit
             Fishing year             --------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                              Full-time                Part-time                Occasional
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015.................................  17,000 lb (57,711 kg)..  10,200 lb (4,627 kg)...  1,420 lb (644kg).
2016.................................  17,000 lb (57,711 kg)..  10,200 lb (4,627 kg)...  1,420 lb (644kg).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

* * * * *
    (9) Reporting. The owner or operator must submit scallop catch 
reports through the VMS, as specified in Sec.  648.10(f)(4)(i), and 
limited access scallop access area pre-landing notification forms, as 
specified in Sec.  648.10(f)(4)(iii).
* * * * *
    (c) Access area scallop allocation carryover. Unless otherwise 
specified in Sec.  648.59, a limited access scallop vessel operator may 
fish any unharvested Scallop Access Area allocation from a given 
fishing year within the first 60 days of the subsequent fishing year if 
the Access Area is open. For example, if a full-time vessel has 7,000 
lb (3,175 kg) remaining in the Hudson Canyon Access Area at the end of 
fishing year 2013, that vessel may harvest 7,000 lb (3,175 kg) from its 
2014 fishing year scallop access area allocation during the first 60 
days that the Hudson Canyon Access Area is open in fishing year 2014 
(March 1, 2014, through April 29, 2014). Unless otherwise specified in 
Sec.  648.59, if an Access Area is not open in the subsequent fishing 
year, then the unharvested scallop allocation would expire at the end 
of the fishing year that the scallops were allocated. For example, if a 
full-time vessel has 7,000 lb (3,175 kg) remaining in Closed Area II 
Access Area at the end of a given fishing year, and that access area 
would not open the subsequent fishing year, the 7,000 lb (3,175 kg) of 
scallops would expire on the last day of the fishing year.
* * * * *
    (e) Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside Harvest in Access Areas--(1) 
Access Areas available for harvest of research set-aside (RSA). Unless 
otherwise specified, RSA may be harvested in any access area that is 
open in a given fishing year, as specified through a framework 
adjustment and pursuant to Sec.  648.56. The amount of scallops that 
can be harvested in each access area by vessels participating in 
approved RSA projects shall be determined through the RSA application 
review and approval process. The access areas open for RSA harvest for 
fishing years 2015 and 2016 are:
    (i) 2015: The Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area, as specified in 
Sec.  648.59(a)
    (ii) 2016: None.
* * * * *
    (g) * * *
    (3) LAGC IFQ Access Area Trips. (i) An LAGC scallop vessel 
authorized to fish in the Access Areas specified in Sec.  648.59(a) 
through (e) may land scallops, subject to the possession limit 
specified in Sec.  648.52(a), unless the Regional Administrator has 
issued a notice that the number of LAGC IFQ access area trips have been 
or are projected to be taken. The total number of LAGC IFQ trips in a 
specified Access Area for fishing year 2015 and 2016 are:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
               Access area                     2015            2016
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mid-Atlantic Access Area................           2,065             602
Closed Area 1...........................               0               0
Closed Area 2...........................               0               0
Nantucket Lightship.....................               0               0
------------------------------------------------------------------------

* * * * *
0
10. In Sec.  648.64, paragraph (a) is revised to read as follows:


Sec.  648.64  Yellowtail flounder sub-ACLs and AMs for the scallop 
fishery.

    (a) As specified in Sec.  648.55(d), and pursuant to the biennial 
framework adjustment process specified in Sec.  648.90, the scallop 
fishery shall be allocated a sub-ACL for the Georges Bank and Southern 
New England/Mid-Atlantic stocks of yellowtail flounder. The sub-ACLs 
are specified in Sec.  648.90(a)(4)(iii)(C) of the NE multispecies 
regulations.
* * * * *
0
10. In Sec.  648.65, paragraph (b)(3)(ii) is revised to read as 
follows:


Sec.  648.64  Windowpane flounder sub-ACLs and AMs for the scallop 
fishery.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (3) * * *
    (ii) The maximum hanging ratio for a net, net material, or any 
other material on the top of a scallop dredge (twine top) possessed or 
used by vessels fishing with scallop dredge gear does not exceed 1.5:1 
overall. An overall hanging ratio of 1.5:1 means that the twine top is 
attached to the rings in a pattern of alternating 2 meshes per ring and 
1 mesh per ring (counted at the bottom where the twine top connects to 
the apron), for an overall average of 1.5 meshes per ring for the 
entire width of the twine top. For example, an apron that is 40 rings 
wide subtracting 5 rings one each side of the side pieces, yielding 30 
rings, would only be able to use a twine top with 45 or fewer meshes so 
that the overall ratio of meshes to rings did not exceed 1.5 (45 
meshes/30 rings = 1.5).
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2015-05650 Filed 3-16-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P



                                                  13806                    Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 51 / Tuesday, March 17, 2015 / Proposed Rules

                                                  potential costs and benefits, both                      DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE                                measures and alternatives. Copies of the
                                                  quantitative and qualitative, of this                                                                         Framework, the EA, and the Initial
                                                  regulatory action. The potential costs                  National Oceanic and Atmospheric                      Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA),
                                                  associated with this regulatory action                  Administration                                        are available upon request from Thomas
                                                  are those resulting from statutory                                                                            A. Nies, Executive Director, New
                                                  requirements and those we have                          50 CFR Parts 223 and 648                              England Fishery Management Council,
                                                  determined as necessary for                             [Docket No. 141125999–5195–01]                        50 Water Street, Newburyport, MA
                                                  administering the Department’s                                                                                01950.
                                                                                                          RIN 0648–BE68                                            You may submit comments on this
                                                  programs and activities.
                                                                                                                                                                document, identified by NOAA–NMFS–
                                                     Intergovernmental Review: This                       Fisheries of the Northeastern United
                                                                                                                                                                2015–0002, by either of the following
                                                  program is subject to Executive Order                   States; Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery
                                                                                                                                                                methods:
                                                                                                          and Northeast Multispecies Fishery;
                                                  12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR                                                                              • Electronic Submission: Submit all
                                                  part 79. One of the objectives of the                   Framework Adjustment 26;
                                                                                                                                                                electronic public comments via the
                                                  Executive order is to foster an                         Endangered and Threatened Wildlife;
                                                                                                                                                                Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to
                                                  intergovernmental partnership and a                     Sea Turtle Conservation
                                                                                                                                                                www.regulations.gov/
                                                  strengthened federalism. The Executive                  AGENCY:  National Marine Fisheries                    #!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2015-
                                                  order relies on processes developed by                  Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and                  0002, click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon,
                                                  State and local governments for                         Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),                    complete the required fields, and enter
                                                  coordination and review of proposed                     Commerce.                                             or attach your comments.
                                                  Federal financial assistance.                           ACTION: Proposed rule; request for                       • Mail: John K. Bullard, Regional
                                                     This document provides early                         comments.                                             Administrator, NMFS, Greater Atlantic
                                                                                                                                                                Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great
                                                  notification of our specific plans and                  SUMMARY:   NMFS proposes to approve                   Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930.
                                                  actions for this program.                               and implement through regulations                     Mark the outside of the envelope,
                                                     Accessible Format: Individuals with                  measures included in Framework                        ‘‘Comments on Scallop Framework 26
                                                  disabilities can obtain this document in                Adjustment 26 to the Atlantic Sea                     Proposed Rule.’’
                                                  an accessible format (e.g., braille, large              Scallop Fishery Management Plan,                         Instructions: Comments sent by any
                                                  print, audiotape, or compact disc) on                   which the New England Fishery                         other method, to any other address or
                                                  request to the program contact person                   Management Council adopted and                        individual, or received after the end of
                                                  listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION                    submitted to NMFS for approval. The                   the comment period, may not be
                                                  CONTACT.                                                purpose of Framework 26 is to prevent                 considered by NMFS. All comments
                                                                                                          overfishing, improve yield-per-recruit,               received are a part of the public record
                                                     Electronic Access to This Document:                  and improve the overall management of
                                                  The official version of this document is                                                                      and will generally be posted for public
                                                                                                          the Atlantic sea scallop fishery. The                 viewing on www.regulations.gov
                                                  the document published in the Federal                   Framework 26 proposed measures                        without change. All personal identifying
                                                  Register. Free Internet access to the                   would also: Close a portion of the                    information (e.g., name, address, etc.),
                                                  official edition of the Federal Register                Elephant Trunk Access Area and extend                 confidential business information, or
                                                  and the Code of Federal Regulations is                  the boundaries of the Nantucket                       otherwise sensitive information
                                                  available via the Federal Digital System                Lightship Access Area to protect small                submitted voluntarily by the sender will
                                                  at: www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site you                 scallops; adjust the State Waters                     be publicly accessible. NMFS will
                                                  can view this document, as well as all                  Exemption Program; allow for Vessel                   accept anonymous comments (enter ‘‘N/
                                                  other documents of this Department                      Monitoring System declaration changes                 A’’ in the required fields if you wish to
                                                  published in the Federal Register, in                   for vessels to steam home with product                remain anonymous).
                                                  text or Adobe Portable Document                         on board; implement a proactive                          Written comments regarding the
                                                  Format (PDF). To use PDF you must                       accountability measure to protect                     burden-hour estimates or other aspects
                                                  have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is                     windowpane flounder and yellowtail                    of the collection-of-information
                                                  available free at the site.                             flounder; align two gear measures                     requirements contained in this proposed
                                                     You may also access documents of the                 designed to protect sea turtles; and                  rule may be submitted to the Greater
                                                                                                          implement other measures to improve                   Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office and
                                                  Department published in the Federal
                                                                                                          the management of the scallop fishery.                by email to OIRA_Submission@
                                                  Register by using the article search
                                                                                                          Aligning the gear designed to protect sea             omb.eop.gov or fax to (202) 395–5806.
                                                  feature at: www.federalregister.gov.                    turtles involves modifying existing
                                                  Specifically, through the advanced                                                                            FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
                                                                                                          regulations implemented under the                     Emily Gilbert, Fishery Policy Analyst,
                                                  search feature at this site, you can limit              Endangered Species Act; therefore, this
                                                  your search to documents published by                                                                         978–281–9315.
                                                                                                          action would be implemented under
                                                  the Department.                                                                                               SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
                                                                                                          joint authority of the Endangered
                                                    Dated: March 11, 2015.                                Species Act and the Magnuson-Stevens                  Background
                                                  Nadya Chinoy Dabby,                                     Fishery Conservation and Management                      The scallop fishery’s management
                                                                                                          Act.                                                  unit ranges from the shorelines of Maine
                                                  Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and
rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS




                                                  Improvement.                                            DATES: Comments must be received by                   through North Carolina to the outer
                                                  [FR Doc. 2015–05956 Filed 3–16–15; 8:45 am]             April 1, 2015.                                        boundary of the Exclusive Economic
                                                  BILLING CODE 4000–01–P                                  ADDRESSES: The Council developed an                   Zone. The Scallop Fishery Management
                                                                                                          environmental assessment (EA) for this                Plan (FMP), established in 1982,
                                                                                                          action that describes the proposed                    includes a number of amendments and
                                                                                                          measures and other considered                         framework adjustments that have
                                                                                                          alternatives and provides a thorough                  revised and refined the fishery’s
                                                                                                          analysis of the impacts of the proposed               management. The Council sets scallop


                                             VerDate Sep<11>2014   15:22 Mar 16, 2015   Jkt 235001   PO 00000   Frm 00018   Fmt 4702   Sfmt 4702   E:\FR\FM\17MRP1.SGM   17MRP1


                                                                                   Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 51 / Tuesday, March 17, 2015 / Proposed Rules                                                                          13807

                                                  fishery specifications through                                            and ultimately updated the reference          discards and incidental mortality. The
                                                  framework adjustments that occur                                          points for status determinations. The         Scientific and Statistical Committee will
                                                  annually or biennially. This annual                                       scallop stock is considered overfished if     reevaluate an ABC for 2016 when the
                                                  action includes allocations for fishing                                   the biomass is less than half of the          Council develops the next framework
                                                  year 2015, as well as other scallop                                       biomass at maximum sustainable yield          adjustment.
                                                  fishery management measures.                                              (Bmsy), and overfishing is occurring if          Table 2 outlines the proposed scallop
                                                     The Council adopted Framework 26                                       fishing mortality (F) is above the fishing    fishery catch limits that are derived
                                                  on November 20, 2014, and submitted it                                    mortality at maximum sustainable yield        from the ABC values. After deducting
                                                  to NMFS on February 17, 2015, for                                         (Fmsy). The assessment continues to find      the incidental target total allowable
                                                  review and approval. Framework 26                                         that the scallop resource is not              catch (TAC) and the research and
                                                  specifies measures for fishing year 2015,                                 overfished and overfishing is not             observer set-asides, the remaining ACL
                                                  but includes fishing year 2016 measures                                   occurring, but the estimates for Fmsy and     available to the fishery is allocated
                                                  that will go into place as a default,                                     Bmsy have changed. A comparison of the        according to the fleet proportions
                                                  should the next specifications-setting                                    old and new reference points is outlined      established in Amendment 11 to the
                                                  framework be delayed beyond the start                                     in Table 1.                                   Scallop FMP (72 FR 20090; April 14,
                                                  of fishing year 2016. NMFS will
                                                                                                                                                                          2008): 94.5 percent allocated to the
                                                  implement Framework 26, if approved,                                       TABLE 1—SUMMARY OF OLD AND NEW limited access (LA) scallop fleet (i.e., the
                                                  after the start of fishing year 2015; 2015                                   SCALLOP REFERENCE POINTS FROM larger ‘‘trip boat’’ fleet); 5 percent
                                                  default measures concerning allocations                                      THE LAST TWO BENCHMARK SCAL- allocated to the limited access general
                                                  have been in place as of March 1, 2015.                                      LOP STOCK ASSESSMENTS IN 2010 category (LAGC) individual fishing
                                                  These default measures are more
                                                                                                                               AND 2014                                   quota (IFQ) fleet (i.e., the smaller ‘‘day
                                                  conservative than the Framework 26
                                                  proposed allocations and would be                                                                                       boat’’ fleet); and the remaining 0.5
                                                                                                                                                      2010        2014    percent allocated to LA scallop vessels
                                                  replaced by the higher Framework 26                                                              Assessment  Assessment that also have LAGC IFQ permits. These
                                                  allocations if this action is approved.
                                                  The Council has reviewed the                                              Fmsy ................ 0.38        0.48.       separate ACLs and their corresponding
                                                  Framework 26 proposed rule regulations                                    Bmsy ................ 125,000 mt  96,480 mt.  ACTs are referred to as sub-ACLs and
                                                  as drafted by NMFS and deemed them                                        1/2 Bmsy ......... 62,000 mt      48,240 mt.  sub-ACTs, respectively, throughout this
                                                  to be necessary and appropriate as                                                                                      action. Amendment 15 to the Scallop
                                                  specified in section 303(c) of the MSA.                                     Due to these reference point updates,       FMP (76 FR 43746; July 21, 2011)
                                                                                                                            the fishing mortality rates that the          specified that no buffers to account for
                                                  Specification of Scallop Overfishing                                      Council uses to set OFL, ABC, and ACL         management uncertainty are necessary
                                                  Limit (OFL), Acceptable Biological                                        would be updated through this action.         in setting the LAGC sub-ACLs, meaning
                                                  Catch (ABC), Annual Catch Limits                                          The proposed OFL was set based on an          that the LAGC sub-ACL would equal the
                                                  (ACLs), Annual Catch Targets (ACTs),                                      F of 0.48, equivalent to the F threshold      LAGC sub-ACT. As a result, the LAGC
                                                  and Set-Asides for the 2015 Fishing                                       updated through the 2014 assessment.          sub-ACL values in Table 2, based on an
                                                  Year and Default Specifications for                                       The proposed ABC and the equivalent           F of 0.38, represent the amount of catch
                                                  Fishing Year 2016                                                         total ACL for each fishing year are based from which IFQ percentage shares will
                                                    The proposed allocations incorporate                                    on an F of 0.38, which is the F               be applied to calculate each vessel’s IFQ
                                                  new biomass reference points that                                         associated with a 25-percent probability for a given fishing year. For the LA fleet,
                                                  resulted from the Northeast Fisheries                                     of exceeding the OFL. The Council’s           the management uncertainty buffer is
                                                  Science Center’s most recent scallop                                      Scientific and Statistical Committee          based on the F associated with a 75-
                                                  stock benchmark assessment that was                                       recommended scallop fishery ABCs for          percent probability of remaining below
                                                  completed in July 2014. The assessment                                    the 2015 and 2016 fishing years of 55.9       the F associated with ABC/ACL, which,
                                                  reviewed and updated the data and                                         M lb (25,352 mt) and 70.1 M lb (31,807        using the updated Fs applied to the
                                                  models used to assess the scallop stock                                   mt), respectively, after accounting for       ABC/ACL, now results in an F of 0.34.

                                                             TABLE 2—SCALLOP CATCH LIMITS FOR FISHING YEARS 2015 AND 2016 FOR THE LA AND LAGC IFQ FLEETS
                                                                                                                                                                                                                            2015         2016
                                                                                                                                                                                                                            (mt)         (mt)

                                                  Overfishing Limit ..................................................................................................................................................       38,061       45,456
                                                  ABC/ACL w/discards removed ............................................................................................................................                    25,352       31,807
                                                  Incidental TAC .....................................................................................................................................................           22.7         22.7
                                                  Research Set-Aside (RSA) ..................................................................................................................................                   567          567
                                                  Observer Set-aside (1 percent of ABC/ACL) ......................................................................................................                              254          318
                                                  LA sub-ACL (94.5 percent of total ACL, after deducting set-asides and incidental catch) ................................                                                   23,161       29,200
                                                  LA sub-ACT (adjusted for management uncertainty) ..........................................................................................                                19,311       23,016
                                                  LAGC IFQ sub-ACL (5.0 percent of total ACL, after deducting set-asides and incidental catch) .....................                                                          1,225        1,545
                                                  LAGC IFQ sub-ACL for vessels with LA scallop permits (0.5 percent of total ACL, after deducting set-asides
                                                    and incidental catch) ........................................................................................................................................                 123          154
rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS




                                                     This action would deduct 567 mt of                                     under RSA projects. As of March 1,                                         open for 2015, once this action is
                                                  scallops annually for 2015 and 2016                                       2015, this set-aside was available for                                     approved and implemented, but would
                                                  from the ABC and set it aside as the                                      harvest by RSA-funded projects in open                                     prevent RSA harvesting from access
                                                  Scallop RSA to fund scallop research                                      areas. Framework 26 would allow RSA                                        areas under 2016 default measures. Of
                                                  and to compensate participating vessels                                   to be harvested from the Mid-Atlantic                                      this 1.25 M lb (567 mt) allocation,
                                                  through the sale of scallops harvested                                    Access Areas that is proposed to be                                        NMFS has already allocated 397,470 lb


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                                                  13808                          Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 51 / Tuesday, March 17, 2015 / Proposed Rules

                                                  (180.3 mt) to previously funded multi-                              System (VMS) Declaration Procedures                           boundaries of the NLS Access Area that
                                                  year projects as part of the 2014 RSA                               for Some Open Area Trips). If this                            would close to the scallop fleet to
                                                  awards process. NMFS has reviewed                                   measure, which would allow for vessels                        include a concentration of small
                                                  proposals submitted for consideration of                            on specific trips to end their open area                      scallops near the existing boundary
                                                  2015 RSA awards and will be selecting                               trip and DAS accrual sooner than they                         along the southeast corner, currently
                                                  projects for funding in the near future.                            can under current regulations, is not                         considered part of the open area. This
                                                     This action would also set aside 1                               approved, the DAS allocations in Table                        proposed closure area, which would
                                                  percent of the ABC for the industry-                                3 would increase by 0.14 DAS and 0.06                         increase the NLS Access Area boundary
                                                  funded observer program to help defray                              DAS for full-time and part-time vessels,                      by 158 square miles, would be
                                                  the cost of scallop vessels that carry an                           respectively (there would be no change                        reconsidered in a future framework
                                                  observer. The observer set-asides for                               for occasional vessels, and there are                         action when the scallops are larger and
                                                  fishing years 2015 and 2016 are 254 mt                              currently no vessels issued the                               ready for harvest.
                                                  and 318 mt, respectively. The 2016                                  occasional permit type in the LA scallop                         As for the Mid-Atlantic Access Areas,
                                                  observer set-aside may be adjusted by                               fleet). In addition, the Council requested                    this action proposes that all three access
                                                  the Council when it develops specific,                              that DAS allocations now be specified to                      areas be open to both the LA and LAGC
                                                  non-default measures for 2016.                                      the hundredth decimal place, rather                           IFQ fleet, and be treated as one single
                                                                                                                      than rounding up or down to whole                             area, which this rule will now refer to
                                                  Open Area Days-at-Sea (DAS)                                         DAS. This is consistent with DAS                              as the Mid-Atlantic Access Area.
                                                  Allocations                                                         accounting as vessels use DAS                                 Scallop vessels would be able to fish
                                                     This action would implement vessel-                              throughout the year.                                          across all three areas in a single access
                                                  specific DAS allocations for each of the                                                                                          area trip. There is one the exception:
                                                  three LA scallop DAS permit categories                               TABLE 3—SCALLOP OPEN AREA DAS                                This action proposes six 10-minute
                                                  (i.e., full-time, part-time, and                                      ALLOCATIONS FOR 2015 AND 2016                               squares (i.e., 549 square nautical miles)
                                                  occasional) for 2015 and 2016 (Table 3).                                                                                          in the northwest corner of the Elephant
                                                  Proposed 2015 DAS allocations are                                      Permit               2015                  2016            Trunk Access Area be closed to protect
                                                  almost identical to those allocated to the                            category                                                    small scallops. This area constitutes
                                                  LA fleet in 2014 (31 DAS for full-time,                                                                                           roughly 35 percent of the current
                                                                                                                      Full-Time ...                   30.86               26.00
                                                  12 DAS for part-time, and 3 DAS for                                 Part-Time ..                    12.94               10.40     Elephant Trunk Access Area. The
                                                  occasional vessels). Fishing year 2016                              Occasional                       2.58                2.17     closure would allow for the small
                                                  DAS allocations are precautionary, and                                                                                            concentrations of scallops in this
                                                  are set at 75 percent of what current                                 On March 1, 2015, full-time, part-                          portion of the access area to be
                                                  biomass projections indicate could be                              time, and occasional vessels received                          protected as they grow to a more
                                                  allocated to each LA scallop vessel for                            17, 7, and 1 DAS, respectively. These                          harvestable size. This action proposes
                                                  the entire fishing year. This is to avoid                          allocations would increase as soon as                          that no transiting be allowed across this
                                                  over-allocating DAS to the fleet in the                            Framework 26 is implemented, if                                small area due to its small size and the
                                                  event that the framework that would set                            approved.                                                      incentive to fish in the area is relatively
                                                  those allocations, if delayed past the                                                                                            high due to the high abundance of
                                                  start of the 2016 fishing year, estimates                          LA Allocations and Trip Possession                             scallops.
                                                  that DAS should be less than currently                             Limits for Scallop Access Areas                                   Table 4 outlines the proposed LA
                                                  projected. The proposed allocations in                                For fishing year 2015 and the start of                      allocations that can be fished from the
                                                  Table 3 exclude any DAS deductions                                 2016, Framework 26 would close all                             Mid-Atlantic Access Area, which could
                                                  that are required if the LA scallop fleet                          three Georges Bank Access Areas (i.e.,                         be taken in as many trips as needed, so
                                                  exceeded its 2014 sub-ACL. In addition,                            Nantucket Lightship (NLS), Closed Area                         long as the trip possession limits (also
                                                  these DAS values take into account a                               1, and Closed Area 2 Access Areas) and                         in Table 4) are not exceeded. These
                                                  slight DAS reduction necessary for the                             open all three Mid-Atlantic Access                             proposed access area allocations for
                                                  implementation of another proposed                                 Areas (i.e., Elephant Trunk, Delmarva,                         2015 represent a 112-percent increase in
                                                  measure discussed later on in this rule                            and Hudson Canyon Access Areas). This                          access area allocations compared to
                                                  (See Adjustment to Vessel Monitoring                               action proposes to extend the                                  2014.

                                                          TABLE 4—SCALLOP ACCESS AREA POUNDAGE ALLOCATIONS AND TRIP POSSESSION LIMITS FOR 2015 AND 2016
                                                               Permit category                                   Possession limits                                2015 Allocation                            2016 Allocation

                                                  Full-Time ........................................   17,000 lb (7,711 kg) .....................     51,000 lb (23,133 kg) ...................     17,000 lb (7,711 kg).
                                                  Part-Time .......................................    10,200 lb ( 4,627 kg) ....................     20,400 lb ( 9,253 kg) ....................    10,200 lb (4,627 kg).
                                                  Occasional .....................................     1,420 lb (644 kg) ..........................   4,250 lb ( 1,928 kg) ......................   1,420 lb ( 644 kg).



                                                    This action also proposes to modify                               Vessels would no longer be required to                          For example, under Framework 26
                                                  access area trip reporting procedures by                            submit a broken trip notification form if                     access area allocations, a full-time
rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS




                                                  requiring that each LA vessel submit a                              they are unable to land their full                            vessel receives 51,000 lb (23,133 kg) in
                                                  pre-landing notification form through its                           possession limits on an access area trip.                     the Mid-Atlantic Access Area, which
                                                  VMS unit prior to returning to port at                              Vessels would also no longer need to                          can be landed on as many or as few trips
                                                  the end of each access area trip,                                   apply to NMFS to receive, or wait for                         as needed, so long as the 17,000-lb
                                                  including trips where no scallops were                              NMFS to issue, a compensation trip to                         (7,711-kg) possession limit is not
                                                  landed. These pre-landing notifications                             fish their remaining access area scallop                      exceeded on any one trip. The vessel
                                                  would replace the current broken trip                               allocation.                                                   may choose to fish its full allocation
                                                  and compensation trip procedures.                                                                                                 over the course of three trips, landing


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                                                                          Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 51 / Tuesday, March 17, 2015 / Proposed Rules                                           13809

                                                  the maximum allowance of 17,000 lb                      program. These limits have been in                    this action would increase the current
                                                  (7,711 kg) on each trip, or it can choose               place to restrict the shucking capacity of            vessel IFQ allocations. NMFS sent a
                                                  to fish its full allocation over the course             a vessel to help reduce landings per unit             letter to IFQ permit holders providing
                                                  of four, five, or more trips, landing less              effort while on DAS. In an effort to                  both March 1, 2015, IFQ allocations and
                                                  than the trip possession limit on each                  protect small scallops and discourage                 Framework 26 proposed IFQ allocations
                                                  trip. Regardless, the vessel must submit                vessels from high-grading (discarding                 so that vessel owners know what mid-
                                                  a pre-landing notification form prior to                smaller scallops in exchange for larger               year adjustments would occur if
                                                  returning to port for each access area                  ones), Framework 26 would impose a                    Framework 26 is approved.
                                                  trip, and would not have to wait for                    crew limit of eight individuals per LA                   2. Sub-ACL for LA Scallop Vessels
                                                  NMFS to issue a compensation trip                       vessel, including the captain, when                   with IFQ Permits. For LA scallop vessels
                                                  prior to starting its next access area trip.            fishing in any scallop access area. If a              with IFQ permits, this action proposes
                                                     This action would also modify the                    vessel is participating in the small                  a 123 mt ACL for 2015 and an initial
                                                  procedures for when scallop access area                 dredge program, it may not have more                  154 mt ACL for 2016 (Table 2). We
                                                  allocation can be carried over to the                   than six people on board, including the               calculate IFQ allocations by applying
                                                  next fishing year. Under the current                    operator, on an access area trip. These               each vessel’s IFQ contribution
                                                  regulations, vessel may fish for a                      crew limits may be reevaluated in a                   percentage to these ACLs. These
                                                  previous year’s unharvested scallop                     future framework action.                              allocations assume that no LAGC IFQ
                                                  access area allocation in the first 60                     2. Delayed Harvesting of Default 2016              AMs are triggered. If a vessel exceeds its
                                                  days of a fishing year if the vessel broke              Mid-Atlantic Access Area Allocations.                 IFQ in a given fishing year, its IFQ for
                                                  a trip in the last 60 days of the previous              Although the Framework would include                  the subsequent fishing year would be
                                                  fishing year or open season for an access               precautionary access area allocations for             reduced by the amount of the overage.
                                                  area. In many cases, vessels in the last                the 2016 fishing year (see 2016                          3. LAGC IFQ Trip Allocations and
                                                  60 days of the fishing year simply                      allocations in Table 4), vessels would                Possession Limits for Scallop Access
                                                  crossed the VMS Demarcation Line,                       have to wait to fish these allocations                Areas. Framework 26 proposes that
                                                  submitted a broken trip report through                  until April 1, 2016. This precautionary               LAGC IFQ vessels would receive a
                                                  their VMS unit, and returned to port.                   measure is designed to protect scallops               fleetwide number of trips that could be
                                                  This caused confusion and created a                     when scallop meat weights are lower                   taken in the Mid-Atlantic Access Area.
                                                  high number of cases for NMFS to                        than other times of the year (generally,              Framework 26 would allocate 2,065 and
                                                  review as the fishing year came to an                   this change in meat-weight is a                       602 trips in 2015 and 2016, respectively,
                                                  end. Under the proposed measures, each                  physiological change in scallops due to               to this area. Under default 2016
                                                  vessel would automatically carry over                   spawning). However, if a vessel has not               measures, LAGC IFQ vessels must wait
                                                  unharvested access area allocation that                 fully harvested its 2015 scallop access               to fish these trips until April 1, 2016.
                                                  the vessel could fish in the first 60 days              area allocation in fishing year 2015, it                 These trip allocations are equivalent
                                                  of the subsequent fishing year, as long                 may still fish the remainder of its                   to the overall proportion of total catch
                                                  as the access area is open for scallop                  allocation in the first 60 days of 2016               from access areas compared to total
                                                  fishing during that time. This change                   (i.e., March 1, 2016, through April 29,               catch. For example, the total projected
                                                  would result in little change to the                    2016).                                                catch for the scallop fishery in 2015 is
                                                  amount of carryover NMFS expects from                      3. 2016 RSA Harvest Restrictions.                  20,865 mt, and 8,700 mt are projected to
                                                  year to year because most vessels took                  This action proposes that vessels                     come from access areas, roughly 41.7
                                                  advantage of the broken trip provisions.                participating in RSA projects would be                percent. If the same proportion is
                                                  Also, Framework 26 accounts for the                     prohibited from harvesting RSA under                  applied to total LAGC IFQ catch, the
                                                  uncertainty associated with carryover by                default 2016 measures. At the start of                total allocation to LAGC IFQ vessels
                                                  setting the LA fishery’s ACT lower than                 2016, RSA could only be harvested from                from access areas would be about 600
                                                  the fishery’s ACL. This ensures that                    open areas. This would be re-evaluated                mt, roughly 44.5 percent of the total
                                                  carryover would not cause an ACL to be                  for the remainder of 2016 in the                      LAGC IFQ sub-ACL for 2015 (1,348 mt).
                                                  exceeded from year to year.                             framework action that would set final                    4. NGOM TAC. This action proposes
                                                     Although vessel owners would                         2016 specifications.                                  a 70,000-lb (31,751-kg) annual NGOM
                                                  ultimately be responsible for tracking                                                                        TAC for fishing years 2015 and 2016.
                                                  their own scallop access area landings                  LAGC Measures
                                                                                                                                                                The allocation for 2015 assumes that
                                                  and ensuring they do not exceed their                      1. Sub-ACL for LAGC vessels with IFQ               there are no overages in 2014, which
                                                  annual allocations, NMFS would match                    permits. For LAGC vessels with IFQ                    would trigger a pound-for-pound
                                                  dealer-reported scallop landing records                 permits, this action proposes a 1,225-mt              deduction in 2015 to account for the
                                                  with access area trip declarations and                  ACL for 2015 and an initial ACL of                    overage.
                                                  make that information available on Fish-                1,545 mt for 2016 (Table 2). We                          5. Scallop Incidental Catch Target
                                                  On-Line.                                                calculate IFQ allocations by applying                 TAC. This action proposes a 50,000-lb
                                                                                                          each vessel’s IFQ contribution                        (22,680-kg) scallop incidental catch
                                                  Additional Measures To Reduce                           percentage to these ACLs. These                       target TAC for fishing years 2015 and
                                                  Impacts on Small Scallops                               allocations assume that no LAGC IFQ                   2016 to account for mortality from this
                                                    1. Crew Limit Restrictions in Access                  AMs are triggered. If a vessel exceeds its            component of the fishery, and to ensure
                                                  Areas. Similar to the crew limit                        IFQ in a given fishing year, its IFQ for              that F targets are not exceeded. The
                                                  restrictions NMFS implemented in                        the subsequent fishing year would be                  Council and NMFS may adjust this
rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS




                                                  Delmarva in 2014, this action proposes                  reduced by the amount of the overage.                 target TAC in a future action if vessels
                                                  crew limits for all access areas.                          Because Framework 26 would not go                  catch more scallops under the
                                                  Currently, LA scallop vessels have crew                 into effect until after the March 1 start             incidental target TAC than predicted.
                                                  size limits when fishing in open areas:                 of fishing year 2015, the default 2015
                                                  Vessels are limited to seven individuals                IFQ allocations were automatically                    Adjustments to Gear Modifications To
                                                  when fishing on a DAS, or five                          triggered. These default 2015 IFQ                     Protect Sea Turtles
                                                  individuals if the vessel is on a DAS and               allocations are lower than those                        This action proposes to adjust season
                                                  participating in the small dredge                       proposed in Framework 26. If approved,                regulations for the sea turtle deflector


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                                                  13810                   Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 51 / Tuesday, March 17, 2015 / Proposed Rules

                                                  dredge (TDD) and area regulations for                   of 39° N. lat.), once it goes inside the              Adjustments to the State Water
                                                  the sea turtle chain mat to make them                   VMS demarcation line, and then, with                  Exemption Program To Include
                                                  consistent. Currently, turtle chain mats                scallops on board, steam seaward of the               Northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM)
                                                  are required in the area south of 41°9′                 VMS demarcation line to ports south of                Management Area Exemptions
                                                  N. lat. from May through November, and                  Cape May, NJ, without being charged                      Framework 26 proposes to modify the
                                                  the TDD is required west of 71° W. long.                DAS. This measure does not apply to                   State Water Exemption Program to
                                                  from May through October. When used                     vessels that intend to land scallops in               include a new exemption that would
                                                  together, chain mats and TDDs are                       ports north of Cape May, NJ. Once this                enable scallop vessels to continue to
                                                  thought to increase the conservation                    change in declaration to ‘‘declare out of             fish in state waters after the NGOM hard
                                                  benefit to sea turtles, because chain
                                                                                                          fishery’’ has been made, vessels would                TAC is reached.
                                                  mats help reduce the impact to turtles                                                                           The current State Water Exemption
                                                                                                          be required to submit a scallop pre-
                                                  from interactions occurring in the water                                                                      Program has been in place since
                                                  column, and the TDD helps reduce the                    landing notification form through VMS,
                                                                                                          return directly to port and offload                   Framework 2 to the Scallop FMP
                                                  impact to turtles from interactions with
                                                                                                          scallops immediately, and stow all gear.              (November 21, 1994; 59 FR 59967). At
                                                  the dredge frame on the sea floor
                                                                                                          In addition, such vessels would be                    that time, the purpose of the program
                                                  (DuPaul et al. 2004; Smolowitz et al.
                                                                                                          prohibited from having on board any in-               was to allow Federal permit holders to
                                                  2010). By making the area and season
                                                                                                          shell scallops.                                       compete in the state waters fishery on
                                                  for these two gear modifications
                                                                                                                                                                a more equitable basis where Federal
                                                  consistent, west of 71° W. long. from                      The purpose of this measure is to help             and state laws are inconsistent and to
                                                  May through November, the                               increase incentive for vessels to land                encourage vessels with general category
                                                  conservation benefit of the current chain               scallops in the southern part of the mid-             permits (open access, at the time) to fish
                                                  mat and TDD requirements is                             Atlantic by reducing some of the                      under the exemption program and
                                                  maintained, while reducing the                          steaming time to return to those more
                                                  regulatory complexity of differing                                                                            continue to submit catch and effort data.
                                                                                                          distant ports. Due to the location of the             This program specifies that a state with
                                                  seasons and areas. Any reduction in the                 access areas in the mid-Atlantic, which
                                                  size of the area that chain mats would                                                                        a scallop fishery may be eligible for state
                                                                                                          were at one point primary traditional                 waters exemptions if it has a scallop
                                                  be required (east of 71° W. long. and
                                                  south of 41°9′ N. lat.) is balanced by an               open area fishing grounds, vessels from               conservation program that does not
                                                  extension of the season that TDDs                       Virginia and North Carolina fishing on                jeopardize the biomass and fishing
                                                  would be required (the month of                         open area DAS trips have to steam for                 mortality/effort limit objectives of the
                                                  November). In addition, this action also                a long period of time to reach                        Scallop FMP. If a state is found to be
                                                  proposes a very slight modification to                  productive open area fishing grounds.                 eligible for the State Waters Exemption
                                                  the TDD gear regulations for safety                     Vessels are currently allowed to start                Program, federally permitted scallop
                                                  purposes. When the Council first                        their open area DAS trip landward of                  vessels fishing in that state’s waters may
                                                  approved the TDD, it included the                       the VMS Demarcation Line, but not                     be exempted from a limited number of
                                                  allowance of a flaring bar to ensure safe               necessarily from port, but are required               Federal scallop regulations: LA scallop
                                                  handling of the dredge. At the time, the                to accrue DAS when harvested scallops                 vessels could fish in state waters outside
                                                  Council specified that this flaring bar                 are on board, so their return steam from              of scallop DAS, and LA and LAGC
                                                  should only be attached to the dredge                   an open area trip counts against their                scallop vessels could be exempt from
                                                  frame on one side. Since the TDD’s                                                                            Federal gear and possession limit
                                                                                                          DAS allocation. Over time, as DAS have
                                                  implementation, there has been some                                                                           restrictions.
                                                                                                          been reduced dramatically and with
                                                  interest to attach the flaring bar in a ‘‘u’’                                                                    This action proposes to expand the
                                                                                                          increased fuel costs, vessels have more               exemptions to include this new measure
                                                  shape, which could be attached on the                   incentive to land near these primary
                                                  inside or outside of the bale bar, but the                                                                    related to the NGOM. Specifically, states
                                                                                                          fishing grounds (i.e., in New Bedford,                within the NGOM management area
                                                  current regulations unnecessarily                       MA, or Cape May, NJ) to avoid being
                                                  prohibit this. This action proposes to                                                                        (i.e., Massachusetts, New Hampshire,
                                                                                                          charged for DAS steaming back to                      and Maine) could request an exemption
                                                  adjust this regulation to allow for a bar
                                                                                                          southern ports farther away that would                from the regulations requiring that
                                                  or ‘‘u’’-shaped flaring mechanism to
                                                  support safety at sea. Allowing a u-                    most impact their DAS allocations. This               scallop vessels must stop fishing in the
                                                  shaped flaring mechanism should not                     decrease in landings to particular states             state waters portion of the NGOM once
                                                  have an impact on sea turtles and the                   over time has had a great impact on                   the Federal TAC has been reached.
                                                  effectiveness of the TDD because the                    shoreside businesses that depend upon                 States would have to apply for this
                                                  flaring bar or mechanism would still be                 a stable stream of landings.                          exemption and specify to which vessels
                                                  prohibited from being attached within                      Because this change in when some                   this would apply (i.e., vessels with
                                                  12 inches (30.5 cm) of the ‘‘bump out’’                 vessels may ‘‘clock out’’ of their DAS                NGOM permits, IFQ permits, incidental
                                                  of the TDD and not between the bale                     could impact overall DAS allocations to               permits, and/or LA permits).
                                                  bars. This change would require that                                                                             Currently, a vessel issued a NGOM or
                                                                                                          the fleet, this action also proposes an
                                                  each side of the bar or mechanism be no                                                                       IFQ permit can declare a state-only
                                                                                                          overall DAS deduction to each LA
                                                  more than 12 inches (30.5 cm) in length.                                                                      NGOM scallop trip and fish for scallops
                                                                                                          scallop vessel. The proposed DAS                      exclusively in state waters without
                                                     This action would not change any                     adjustment (which has already been
                                                  other regulatory requirements for the                                                                         those landings being attributed to the
rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS




                                                                                                          calculated into the DAS allocations                   Federal TAC, but must cease scallop
                                                  use of chain mats and TDDs.
                                                                                                          proposed in Table 3) would be a                       fishing entirely for the remainder of the
                                                  Adjustment to Vessel Monitoring System                  decrease of 0.14 DAS for full-time                    year, along with all other scallop
                                                  (VMS) Declaration Procedures for Some                   vessels and 0.06 DAS for part-time                    vessels, once the Federal TAC is
                                                  Open Area Trips                                         vessels. This entire measure, including               reached. To date this has not been an
                                                    This action would enable a vessel to                  the appropriate DAS deductions, was                   issue because the Federal NGOM catch
                                                  declare out of a DAS trip at or south of                supported by the Council’s Advisory                   has been well below the TAC. However,
                                                  Cape May, NJ (specifically, at or south                 Panel.                                                total catch in both Federal and state


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                                                                          Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 51 / Tuesday, March 17, 2015 / Proposed Rules                                           13811

                                                  waters in this area is increasing, and                  rows of rings, which is currently                     which ACTs are set, thus they do not
                                                  Maine permit holders are concerned                      required east of 71° W. long. for some                include estimates of discards and
                                                  about their ability to fish in state waters             scallop vessels fishing in open areas.                incidental mortality. This regulatory
                                                  when the state season is open in the                    This is considered to be a proactive AM               clarification is at the request of the
                                                  winter if the NGOM TAC is reached.                      because it may help the fishery stay                  Council and would more accurately
                                                  This measure would alleviate those                      below the sub-ACLs for flatfish                       reflect the process for establishing ABCs
                                                  concerns by giving the state the ability                (yellowtail flounder and windowpane                   and ACLs in the scallop fishery.
                                                  to apply for an exemption through the                   flounder, currently). Additionally, this
                                                  State Water Exemption Program.                          measure would enable vessels to                       Classification
                                                  Because the NGOM Federal TAC is set                     voluntarily fish with an even shorter                   Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the
                                                  based only on the Federal portion of the                apron (less than seven rings), to                     MSA, the NMFS Assistant
                                                  resource, NMFS does not expect this                     proactively reduce flatfish bycatch in                Administrator has made a preliminary
                                                  measure to compromise the FMP’s                         any area or season.                                   determination that this proposed rule is
                                                  limits on catch and mortality.                                                                                consistent with the FMP, other
                                                     The process for applying to the State                Regulatory Corrections Under Regional                 provisions of the MSA, and other
                                                  Waters Exemption Program, as outlined                   Administrator Authority
                                                                                                                                                                applicable law. In making the final
                                                  in the regulations, would remain the                      This proposed rule includes several                 determination, NMFS will consider the
                                                  same. In order for NMFS to make a                       revisions to the regulatory text to                   data, views, and comments received
                                                  determination of whether or not a state                 address text that is unnecessary,                     during the public comment period.
                                                  waters exemption is warranted for a                     outdated, unclear, or otherwise could be                This proposed rule does not contain
                                                  particular state’s waters, a state must                 improved. NMFS proposes these                         policies with Federalism or ‘‘takings’’
                                                  submit a request for the exemption so                   changes consistent with section 305(d)                implications as those terms are defined
                                                  that we can fully evaluate the scope of                 of the MSA which provides that the                    in E.O. 13132 and E.O. 12630,
                                                  the potential fishery in the state’s                    Secretary of Commerce may promulgate                  respectively.
                                                  waters. Such a request would need to                    regulations necessary to ensure that                    This proposed rule has been
                                                  include the following information: A                    amendments to an FMP are carried out                  determined to be not significant for
                                                  complete description of scallop fishing                 in accordance with the FMP and the                    purposes of Executive Order 12866.
                                                  regulations in state waters; the number                 MSA. Two revisions clarify how to                       An IRFA has been prepared, as
                                                  of vessels and trips that could be                      apply and measure gear modifications to               required by section 603 of the
                                                  expected in state waters; the average                   ensure compliance. The first revision at              Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA). The
                                                  landings per trip for vessels fishing in                § 648.51 would clarify where to measure               IRFA consists of Framework 26
                                                  state waters; and the average per-pound                 meshes to ensure twine top compliance.                analyses, its draft IRFA, and the
                                                  value of scallops landed by vessels                     The second revision at § 648.53 clarifies             preamble to this action.
                                                  fishing for scallops in state waters. If the            an example on how the hanging ratio
                                                                                                          should be applied and measured if the                 Statement of Objective and Need
                                                  information provided supports a
                                                  conclusion that a particular state’s                    windowpane reactive AM implemented                      This action proposes the management
                                                  scallop fishery is consistent with the                  through Framework 25 (June 26, 2014;                  measures and specifications for the
                                                  FMP relative to the State Waters                        79 FR 34251) is triggered.                            Atlantic sea scallop fishery for 2015,
                                                  Exemption Program, NMFS would then                        This action would also modify the                   with 2016 default measures. A
                                                  publish the requested exemptions from                   VMS catch report requirements at                      description of the action, why it is being
                                                  DAS, gear, and possession limits, and                   § 648.10(f)(4)(i) to only include the                 considered, and the legal basis for this
                                                  NGOM closures, in a notice in the                       information actually used by NMFS to                  action are contained in Framework 26
                                                  Federal Register, consistent with the                   monitor flatfish bycatch. The form                    and the preamble of this proposed rule
                                                  Administrative Procedure Act.                           currently requires that the amount of                 and are not repeated here.
                                                                                                          yellowtail flounder discards be reported
                                                  Proactive Accountability Measures                       daily. This requirement has been in                   Description and Estimate of Number of
                                                  (AMs) for Flatfish Protection                           place since Amendment 15 (76 FR                       Small Entities to Which the Rule Would
                                                     Currently, all scallop vessels (i.e., LA             43746; July 21, 2011), which established              Apply
                                                  and LAGC) fishing for scallops with                     the yellowtail flounder AMs in the FMP.                  The proposed regulations would
                                                  dredges in open areas west of 71° W.                    However, since Amendment 15, the                      affect all vessels with LA and LAGC
                                                  long. are required to have their dredges                scallop fishery now has other bycatch                 scallop permits. The Framework 26
                                                  configured so that no dredge has more                   sub-ACLs and AMs (e.g., SNE/MA                        document provides extensive
                                                  than seven rows of rings in the apron                   windowpane flounder) which are not                    information on the number and size of
                                                  (i.e., the area between the terminus of                 captured in this form. In addition,                   vessels and small businesses that would
                                                  the dredge (clubstick) and the twine top)               current bycatch monitoring relies solely              be affected by the proposed regulations,
                                                  on the topside of the dredge. The twine                 on observer reports to determine                      by port and state (see ADDRESSES). There
                                                  top helps finfish (flatfish in particular)              bycatch discards for these species. In                were 313 vessels that obtained full-time
                                                  escape from the dredge during fishing                   order to minimize confusion and                       LA permits in 2013, including 250
                                                  and the maximum number of rows of                       because this information is not                       dredge, 52 small-dredge, and 11 scallop
                                                  rings prevents fishermen from making                    necessary for bycatch monitoring, we                  trawl permits. In the same year, there
                                                  the twine top small and ineffective in                  propose to remove the reference to                    were also 34 part-time LA permits in the
rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS




                                                  reducing bycatch. Framework 26                          reporting yellowtail discards. Instead,               sea scallop fishery. No vessels were
                                                  proposes to extend this proactive                       the vessels will report daily scallop                 issued occasional scallop permits.
                                                  accountability measure to all areas                     catch and the amount of all other                     NMFS issued 212 LAGC IFQ permits in
                                                  where scallop fishing occurs (i.e., all                 species kept.                                         2013 and 155 of these vessels actively
                                                  access and open areas). This increased                    In addition, this action would adjust               fished for scallops that year (the
                                                  spatial coverage may further reduce                     the regulations at § 648.53(a) to clarify             remaining permits likely leased out
                                                  flatfish bycatch by preventing dredge                   that the values for ABC/ACL stated in                 scallop IFQ allocations with their
                                                  configurations using more than seven                    the regulations reflect the levels from               permits in Confirmation of Permit


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                                                  13812                   Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 51 / Tuesday, March 17, 2015 / Proposed Rules

                                                  History). The RFA defines a small                       Report Family of Forms (OMB Control                   needed, and completing and reviewing
                                                  business in shellfish fishery as a firm                 No. 0648–0491).                                       the collection of information.
                                                  that is independently owned and                            Under the proposed action, all 347 LA                 Therefore, 1,667 responses would
                                                  operated and not dominant in its field                  vessels would be required to submit a                 impose total compliance costs of $2,084.
                                                  of operation, with receipts of up to $5.5               pre-landing notification form for each                While this is a new requirement, it
                                                  M annually. Individually-permitted                      access area trip through their VMS                    would replace current trip termination
                                                  vessels may hold permits for several                    units. This information collection is                 and compensation trip reporting
                                                  fisheries, harvesting species of fish that              intended to improve access area trip
                                                                                                                                                                procedures, which were estimated to
                                                  are regulated by several different fishery              monitoring, as well as streamline a
                                                  management plans, even beyond those                                                                           cost a total of $300 annually, so the
                                                                                                          vessel’s ability to fish multiple access
                                                  impacted by the proposed action.                        area trips. Although this is a new                    additional burden for this new pre-
                                                  Furthermore, multiple permitted vessels                 requirement, it would replace other                   landing requirement would be $1,785
                                                  and/or permits may be owned by                          reporting procedures currently required               ($2,085¥$300), or $5.14 per vessel. This
                                                  entities affiliated by stock ownership,                 for breaking an access area trip and                  is likely an overestimate, but would
                                                  common management, identity of                          receiving permission to take a                        account for the potential of higher
                                                  interest, contractual relationships, or                 compensation trip to harvest remaining                access area scallop allocations in future
                                                  economic dependency. For the purposes                   unharvested scallop pounds from an                    fishing years. For the new DAS pre-
                                                  of this analysis, ‘‘ownership entities’’                access area trip. The proposed action                 landing requirements, NMFS estimates
                                                  are defined as those entities with                      also includes a new requirement for                   that this would likely impact 30 vessels
                                                  common ownership as listed on the                       some LA vessels to report a pre-landing               and result in each of those vessels
                                                  permit application. Only permits with                   notification form through their VMS                   reporting one time a year. Public
                                                  identical ownership are categorized as                  unit before changing their open area trip             reporting burden for submitting these
                                                  an ‘‘ownership entity.’’ For example, if                declaration to a ‘‘declared out of fishery            pre-landing notification forms is also
                                                  five permits have the same seven                        declaration,’’ which is expected to add               estimated to average 5 minutes per
                                                  persons listed as co-owners on their                    a burden to a very small portion of the               response with an associated cost of
                                                  permit applications, those seven                        fleet. This requirement would only                    $1.25. Therefore, the total cost of this
                                                  persons would form one ‘‘ownership                      apply to a few vessels that intend to                 would impose total compliance costs of
                                                  entity,’’ that holds those five permits. If             land open area scallops at ports south of             $38 (30 vessels × $1.25). The total
                                                  two of those seven owners also co-own                   Cape May, NJ, and want to steam to                    additional burden from both of these
                                                  additional vessels, that ownership                      those ports while not using DAS. This                 new pre-landing requirements would be
                                                  arrangement would be considered a                       new pre-landing requirement is                        $1,823.
                                                  separate ‘‘ownership entity’’ for the                   necessary to enforce a measure intended
                                                  purpose of this analysis.                                                                                        Public comment is sought regarding:
                                                                                                          to assist shoreside businesses in
                                                                                                                                                                whether this proposed collection of
                                                     On June 1 of each year, ownership                    southern ports by providing an
                                                                                                          incentive for vessels to steam to ports               information is necessary for the proper
                                                  entities are identified based on a list of
                                                                                                          far away from popular open area fishing               performance of the functions of the
                                                  all permits for the most recent complete
                                                                                                          grounds.                                              agency, including whether the
                                                  calendar year. The current ownership
                                                  dataset is based on the calendar year                      Notification requires the                          information shall have practical utility;
                                                  2013 permits and contains average gross                 dissemination of the following                        the accuracy of the burden estimate;
                                                  sales associated with those permits for                 information: Operator’s permit number;                ways to enhance the quality, utility, and
                                                  calendar years 2011 through 2013.                       amount of scallop meats and/or bushels                clarity of the information to be
                                                  Matching the potentially impacted 2013                  to be landed; the estimated time of                   collected; and ways to minimize the
                                                  fishing year permits described above                    arrival; the landing port and state where             burden of the collection of information,
                                                  (LA and LAGC IFQ) to calendar year                      the scallops will be offloaded; and the               including through the use of automated
                                                  2013 ownership data results in 172                      vessel trip report (VTR) serial number                collection techniques or other forms of
                                                  distinct ownership entities for the LA                  recorded from that trip’s VTR. This                   information technology. Send comments
                                                  fleet and 115 distinct ownership entities               information would be used by the Office               on these or any other aspects of the
                                                  for the LAGC IFQ fleet. Of these, and                   of Law Enforcement to monitor vessel                  collection of information to the Regional
                                                  based on the Small Business                             activity and ensure compliance with the               Administrator (See ADDRESSES above),
                                                  Administration (SBA) guidelines, 154 of                 regulations.                                          and email to OIRA_Submission@
                                                  the LA distinct ownership entities and                     The burden estimates for these new                 omb.eop.gov, or fax to (202) 395–5806.
                                                  all 115 of the LAGC IFQ entities are                    requirements apply to all LA vessels. In                 Notwithstanding any other provision
                                                  categorized as small. The remaining 18                  a given fishing year, NMFS estimates                  of the law, no person is required to
                                                  of the LA entities are categorized as                   that for access area reporting, each of               respond to, nor shall any person be
                                                  large entities, all of which are shellfish              the 313 full-time LA vessels would                    subject to a penalty for failure to comply
                                                  businesses.                                             submit a pre-landing report 5 times                   with, a collection of information subject
                                                                                                          (1,565 responses) and each of the 34                  to the requirements of the PRA, unless
                                                  Description of Projected Reporting,
                                                                                                          part-time LA vessel would submit a pre-               that collection of information displays a
                                                  Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance
                                                                                                          landing report up to 3 times (102
                                                  Requirements of the Proposed Rule                                                                             currently valid OMB Control Number.
                                                                                                          responses), for a total of 1,667
rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS




                                                                                                                                                                All currently approved NOAA
                                                    The proposed action contains                          responses. Public reporting burden for
                                                                                                                                                                collections of information may be
                                                  collection-of-information requirements                  submitting these pre-landing
                                                  subject to review and approval by the                   notification forms is estimated to                    viewed at: http://www.cio.noaa.gov/
                                                  Office of Management and Budget                         average 5 minutes per response with an                services_programs/prasubs.html.
                                                  (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction                     associated cost of $1.25, that includes                  This action contains no other
                                                  Act (PRA). Two requirements will be                     the time for reviewing instructions,                  compliance costs. It does not duplicate,
                                                  submitted to OMB for approval under                     searching existing data sources,                      overlap, or conflict with any other
                                                  the NMFS Northeast Region Scallop                       gathering and maintaining the data                    Federal law.


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                                                                                  Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 51 / Tuesday, March 17, 2015 / Proposed Rules                                                         13813

                                                  Federal Rules Which May Duplicate,                                    by this action. The estimated revenues                    trip; split trips for the fleet). Alternative
                                                  Overlap or Conflict With This Proposed                                and net revenue for scallop vessels and                   3 (preferred alternative) combines all
                                                  Rule                                                                  small business entities under all                         three Mid-Atlantic Access Areas and
                                                                                                                        considered allocations alternatives,                      allows vessels to fish their trips in the
                                                    The proposed regulations do not                                     including the preferred alternative, are                  combined area. Under Alternative 3
                                                  create overlapping regulations with any                               expected to be higher than both the No                    there are multiple options for closures
                                                  state regulations or other federal laws.                              Action alternative (i.e., 2015 default                    to protect small scallops. The preferred
                                                  Description of Significant Alternatives                               measures conservatively set through                       alternative includes the options for a
                                                  to the Proposed Action                                                Framework 25) and status quo levels                       closure inside the combine Mid-Atlantic
                                                                                                                        (i.e., assuming same level of access as
                                                                                                                                                                                  Access Area and an extension of the
                                                     The preferred alternative for LA                                   2014). There are four different LA
                                                                                                                                                                                  NLS. Finally, Alternative 4 would have
                                                  allocations, which would allocate                                     allocation alternative in Framework 26.
                                                                                                                                                                                  set allocations similar to the basic run
                                                  includes 30.86 DAS and 23,133 kg of                                   Alternative 1 is the no action alternative
                                                  scallops to be harvested in access areas                              which would allocate scallops based on                    alternative, but reduced the overall F.
                                                  to full-time vessels, as well as close a                              the conservative default measures in                      The preferred alternative would have
                                                  portion of the Elephant Trunk Access                                  Framework 25. Alternative 2 is the basic                  the largest revenue compared to all
                                                  Area and extend the NLS closure, is                                   run alternative and it would have                         other alternatives in the 2015 fishing
                                                  expected to positively impact                                         allocated the fleet access area trips                     year, which would translate to higher
                                                  profitability of small entities regulated                             similar to past years (one access area per                profits (Table 5).

                                                                   TABLE 5—ESTIMATED FLEET REVENUE AND REVENUE PER LIMITED ACCESS VESSEL IN 2014 DOLLARS
                                                                                                                                                               Fleet scallop    Revenue per         Change from     % Ch. from
                                                                    Fishing year                                             Alternative                        revenue (*)      FT vessel          no action (%)   SQ levels
                                                                                                                                                                 ($ million)

                                                  2015 ..................................................   ALT1. No Action ...............................             263.0           748,731                 0          ¥45
                                                                                                            ALT2. Basic Run ..............................              557.8         1,592,242               113           17
                                                                                                            ALT3. NL + ETA (Preferred alt.) ......                      578.1         1,650,451               120           21
                                                                                                            ALT3. 3 new closures ......................                 567.1         1,618,858               116           19
                                                                                                            ALT3. CA2 + NL ...............................              570.3         1,627,986               117           20
                                                                                                            ALT4. Reduced F .............................               557.6         1,591,748               113           17
                                                                                                            SQ. Status quo .................................            477.2         1,361,611                82            0



                                                     Overall LAGC IFQ allocations for the                               fleetwide trips to 10.4 percent of the                      Dated: March 6, 2015.
                                                  preferred alternative will be 5.8 percent                             total access area catch.                                  Samuel D. Rauch III,
                                                  higher than the No Action (i.e., 2015                                    Because the NGOM and incidental                        Deputy Assistant Administrator for
                                                  default allocations) and is 23 percent                                                                                          Regulatory Programs, National Marine
                                                                                                                        TACs are unchanged from previous
                                                  higher than the 2014 fishing year                                                                                               Fisheries Service.
                                                                                                                        years, those proposed allocations are not
                                                  allocations. As a result, the preferred                               expected to directly impact small                           For the reasons set out in the
                                                  alternative is expected to have positive                              business entities.                                        preamble, 50 CFR parts 223 and 648 are
                                                  economic impacts on LAGC IFQ fishery.                                                                                           proposed to be amended as follows:
                                                  There are no other alternatives that                                  Literature Cited
                                                  would generate higher economic                                                                                                  PART 223—THREATENED MARINE
                                                                                                                        DuPaul, W. D., D. B. Rudders, and R. J.
                                                  benefits for the scallop fishery as a                                                                                           AND ANADROMOUS SPECIES
                                                                                                                           Smolowitz. 2004. Industry trials of a
                                                  whole, including the small business                                      modified sea scallop dredge to minimize                ■ 1. The authority citation for part 223
                                                  entities in the LAGC IFQ fishery. As for                                 the catch of sea turtles. Final Report.                continues to read as follows:
                                                  LAGC IFQ access area allocations, the                                    November 2004. VIMS Marine Resources
                                                                                                                           Report, No. 2004–12. 35 pp.                               Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1531 1543; subpart B,
                                                  preferred alternative would provide                                                                                             § 223.201–202 also issued under 16 U.S.C.
                                                  proportional access for LA and LAGC                                   Smolowitz, R., H. Haas, H. O. Milliken, M.
                                                                                                                                                                                  1361 et seq.; 16 U.S.C. 5503(d) for
                                                  IFQ within the Mid-Atlantic Access                                       Weeks and E. Matzen. 2010. Using Sea                   § 223.206(d)(9).2.
                                                  Area (i.e., the LAGC fishery is projected                                Turtle Carcasses to Assess the
                                                                                                                           Conservation Potential of a Turtle
                                                                                                                                                                                  ■ 2. In § 223.206 paragraph (d)(11) is
                                                  to catch roughly 6.5 percent of the total                                                                                       revised to read as follows:
                                                  2015 projected catch of the fishery, so                                  Deflector Dredge. North American
                                                                                                                           Journal of Fisheries Management 30:                    § 223.206 Exceptions to prohibitions
                                                  roughly 6.5 percent of the total access
                                                                                                                           993–1000.                                              relating to sea turtles.
                                                  area catch available to the entire fishery
                                                  could be landed on IFQ fleetwide trips),                              List of Subjects                                          *      *    *     *    *
                                                  which should have positive impacts on                                                                                              (d) * * *
                                                                                                                        50 CFR Part 223                                              (11) Restrictions applicable to sea
                                                  the small business entities of the LAGC
                                                                                                                                                                                  scallop dredges in the mid-Atlantic—(i)
rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS




                                                  IFQ fishery by increasing flexibility and                               Endangered and threatened species,                      Gear Modification. During the time
                                                  lowering costs. The preferred alternative                             Exports, Imports, Transportation.                         period of May 1 through November 30,
                                                  would have higher economic benefits
                                                                                                                        50 CFR Part 648                                           any vessel with a sea scallop dredge and
                                                  than No Action and compared to the                                                                                              required to have a Federal Atlantic sea
                                                  2014 access area fleetwide IFQ trip                                     Fisheries, Fishing, Recordkeeping and                   scallop fishery permit, regardless of
                                                  allocations, but would have lower                                     reporting requirements.                                   dredge size or vessel permit category,
                                                  allocations than the alternative that                                                                                           that enters waters west of 71° W. long.,
                                                  would have increased the number of                                                                                              from the shoreline to the outer boundary


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                                                  13814                   Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 51 / Tuesday, March 17, 2015 / Proposed Rules

                                                  of the Exclusive Economic Zone must                     paragraph (e)(5) of this section, begins              landed, the number of bushels of in-
                                                  have on each dredge a chain mat                         with the first location signal received               shell scallops to be landed, the
                                                  described as follows. The chain mat                     showing that the vessel crossed the                   estimated time of arrival in port, the
                                                  must be composed of horizontal                          VMS Demarcation Line after leaving                    landing port and state where the
                                                  (‘‘tickler’’) chains and vertical (‘‘up-and-            port. DAS counting ends with the first                scallops will be offloaded, the VTR
                                                  down’’) chains that are configured such                 location signal received showing that                 serial number recorded from that trip’s
                                                  that the openings formed by the                         the vessel crossed the VMS Demarcation                VTR (the same VTR serial number as
                                                  intersecting chains have no more than                   Line upon its return to port, unless the              reported to the dealer), and whether any
                                                  four sides. The vertical and horizontal                 vessel is declared into a limited access              scallops were caught in the NGOM. If no
                                                  chains must be hung to cover the                        scallop DAS trip and, upon its return to              scallops will be landed, a vessel issued
                                                  opening of the dredge bag such that the                 port, declares out of the scallop fishery             an IFQ or NGOM scallop permit must
                                                  vertical chains extend from the back of                 shoreward of the VMS Demarcation                      provide only the vessel’s captain/
                                                  the cutting bar to the sweep. The                       Line at or south of 39° N. lat., as                   operator’s permit number, the VTR
                                                  horizontal chains must intersect the                    specified in paragraph (f)(6) of this                 serial number recorded from that trip’s
                                                  vertical chains such that the length of                 section, and lands in a port south of 39°             VTR (the same VTR serial number as
                                                  each side of the openings formed by the                 N. lat.                                               reported to the dealer), and
                                                  intersecting chains is less than or equal               *       *    *     *      *                           confirmation that no scallops will be
                                                  to 14 inches (35.5 cm) with the                            (f) * * *                                          landed. A vessel issued an IFQ or
                                                  exception of the side of any individual                    (4) Catch reports. (i) The owner or                NGOM scallop permit may provide a
                                                  opening created by the sweep. The                       operator of a limited access or LAGC                  corrected report. If the report is being
                                                  chains must be connected to each other                  IFQ vessel that fishes for, possesses, or             submitted as a correction of a prior
                                                  with a shackle or link at each                          retains scallops, and is not fishing under            report, the information entered into the
                                                  intersection point. The measurement                     a NE Multispecies DAS or sector                       notification form will replace the data
                                                  must be taken along the chain, with the                 allocation, must submit reports through               previously submitted in the prior report.
                                                  chain held taut, and include one shackle                the VMS, in accordance with                           Submitting a correction does not
                                                  or link at the intersection point and all               instructions to be provided by the                    prevent NMFS from pursuing an
                                                  links in the chain up to, but excluding,                Regional Administrator, for each day                  enforcement action for any false
                                                  the shackle or link at the other                        fished, including open area trips, access             reporting.
                                                  intersection point.                                     area trips as described in § 648.60(a)(9),               (iii) Scallop Pre-Landing Notification
                                                     (ii) Any vessel that enters the waters               and trips accompanied by a NMFS-                      Form for Limited Access Vessels fishing
                                                  described in paragraph (d)(11)(i) of this               approved observer. The reports must be                on Scallop Access Area Trips. A limited
                                                  section and that is required to have a                  submitted for each day (beginning at                  access vessel on a declared Sea Scallop
                                                  Federal Atlantic sea scallop fishery                    0000 hr and ending at 2400 hr) and not                Access Area trip must report through
                                                  permit must have the chain mat                          later than 0900 hr of the following day.              VMS, using the Scallop Pre-Landing
                                                  configuration installed on all dredges                  Such reports must include the following               Notification Form, the amount of any
                                                  for the duration of the trip.                           information:                                          scallops kept on each access area trip,
                                                     (iii) Vessels subject to the                            (A) VTR serial number;                             including declared access area trips
                                                  requirements in paragraphs (d)(11)(i)                      (B) Date fish were caught;                         where no scallops were landed. The
                                                  and (d)(11)(ii) of this section transiting                 (C) Total pounds of scallop meats                  report must be submitted no less than 6
                                                  waters west of 71° W. long., from the                   kept;                                                 hours before arrival, or, if fishing ends
                                                  shoreline to the outer boundary of the                     (D) Total pounds of all fish kept.                 less than 6 hours before arrival,
                                                  Exclusive Economic Zone, will be                           (ii) Scallop Pre-Landing Notification              immediately after fishing ends. If
                                                  exempted from the chain-mat                             Form for IFQ and NGOM vessels. A                      scallops will be landed, the report must
                                                  requirements provided the dredge gear                   vessel issued an IFQ or NGOM scallop                  include the vessel operator’s permit
                                                  is stowed in accordance with § 648.2                    permit must report through VMS, using                 number, the amount of scallop meats in
                                                  and there are no scallops on-board.                     the Scallop Pre-Landing Notification                  pounds to be landed, the number of
                                                                                                          Form, the amount of any scallops kept                 bushels of in-shell scallops to be landed,
                                                  PART 648—FISHERIES OF THE
                                                                                                          on each trip declared as a scallop trip,              the estimated time of arrival, the
                                                  NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES
                                                                                                          including declared scallop trips where                landing port and state where the
                                                  ■ 3. The authority citation for part 648                no scallops were landed. In addition,                 scallops will be offloaded, and the VTR
                                                  continues to read as follows:                           vessels with an IFQ or NGOM permit                    serial number recorded from that trip’s
                                                      Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.                   must submit a Scallop Pre-Landing                     VTR (the same VTR serial number as
                                                                                                          Notification Form on trips that are not               reported to the dealer). If no scallops
                                                  ■ 4. In § 648.10, paragraphs (e)(5)(iii)
                                                                                                          declared as scallop trips, but on which               will be landed, a limited access vessel
                                                  and (f)(4) are revised, and (f)(6) is added
                                                                                                          scallops are kept incidentally. A limited             on a declared Sea Scallop Access Area
                                                  to read as follows:
                                                                                                          access vessel that also holds an IFQ or               trip must provide only the vessel’s
                                                  § 648.10 VMS and DAS requirements for                   NGOM permit must submit the Scallop                   captain/operator’s permit number, the
                                                  vessel owners/operators.                                Pre-Landing Notification Form only                    VTR serial number recorded from that
                                                  *      *    *     *     *                               when fishing under the provisions of                  trip’s VTR (the same VTR serial number
                                                    (e) * * *                                             the vessel’s IFQ or NGOM permit. VMS                  as reported to the dealer), and
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                                                    (5) * * *                                             Scallop Pre-Landing Notification forms                confirmation that no scallops will be
                                                    (iii) DAS counting for a vessel that is               must be submitted no less than 6 hours                landed. A limited access scallop vessel
                                                  under the VMS notification                              prior to arrival, or, if fishing ends less            may provide a corrected report. If the
                                                  requirements of paragraph (b) of this                   than 6 hours before arrival, immediately              report is being submitted as a correction
                                                  section, with the exception of vessels                  after fishing ends. If scallops will be               of a prior report, the information
                                                  that have elected to fish exclusively in                landed, the report must include the                   entered into the notification form will
                                                  the Eastern U.S./Canada Area on a                       vessel operator’s permit number, the                  replace the data previously submitted in
                                                  particular trip, as described in                        amount of scallop meats in pounds to be               the prior report. Submitting a correction


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                                                                          Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 51 / Tuesday, March 17, 2015 / Proposed Rules                                             13815

                                                  does not prevent NMFS from pursuing                     ■  5. In § 648.14, paragraphs (i)(2)(ii)(B),             (10) Fail to comply with the gear
                                                  an enforcement action for any false                     (i)(2)(iii)(C), (i)(2)(v)(D), (i)(3)(iii)(C),         restrictions described in § 648.51.
                                                  reporting. A vessel may not offload its                 (i)(3)(iii)(D), (i)(4)(i)(C), (i)(5)(iii) are         *       *    *     *     *
                                                  catch from a Sea Scallop Access Area                    revised and paragraphs (i)(2)(iv)(F) and                 (iii) * * *
                                                  trip at more than one location per trip.                (i)(2)(v)(E) are added to read as follows:               (C) Fish for or land per trip, or possess
                                                     (iv) Scallop Pre-Landing Notification                                                                      at any time, scallops in the NGOM
                                                  Form for Limited Access Vessels on a                    § 648.14    Prohibitions.
                                                                                                                                                                scallop management area after
                                                  Declared DAS Trip Landing Scallops at                   *       *    *     *     *                            notification in the Federal Register that
                                                  Ports Located at or South of 39° N. Lat.                   (i) * * *                                          the NGOM scallop management area
                                                  In order to end a declared Sea Scallop                     (2) * * *                                          TAC has been harvested, as specified in
                                                  DAS trip and steam south of 39° N. lat.,                   (ii) * * *
                                                                                                                                                                § 648.62, unless the vessel possesses or
                                                  a limited access vessel must first report                  (B) While under or subject to the DAS
                                                                                                                                                                lands scallops that were harvested south
                                                  through VMS, using the Scallop Pre-                     allocation program, in possession of
                                                                                                                                                                of 42°20′ N. lat. and the vessel only
                                                  Landing Notification Form, the amount                   more than 40 lb (18.1 kg) of shucked
                                                                                                                                                                transits the NGOM scallop management
                                                  of any scallops kept on its DAS trip.                   scallops or 5 bu (1.76 hL) of in-shell
                                                                                                                                                                area with the vessel’s fishing gear
                                                  Upon crossing shoreward of the VMS                      scallops, or fishing for scallops in the
                                                                                                                                                                properly stowed and unavailable for
                                                  Demarcation Line at or south of 39° N.                  EEZ:
                                                                                                             (1) Fish with, or have available for               immediate use in accordance with
                                                  lat., the Scallop Pre-Landing                                                                                 § 648.2 or unless the vessel is fishing
                                                  Notification form must be submitted.                    immediate use, trawl nets of mesh
                                                                                                          smaller than the minimum size                         exclusively in state waters and is
                                                  The report must include the vessel                                                                            participating in an approved state
                                                  operator’s permit number, the amount of                 specified in § 648.51(a)(2).
                                                                                                             (2) Fail to comply with any chafing                waters exemption program as specified
                                                  scallop meats in pounds to be landed,                                                                         in § 648.54.
                                                  the estimated time of arrival in port, the              gear or other gear obstruction
                                                                                                          restrictions specified in § 648.51(a)(3).             *       *    *     *     *
                                                  landing port and state where the                                                                                 (iv) * * *
                                                                                                             (3) Fail to comply with the turtle
                                                  scallops will be offloaded, and the VTR                                                                          (D) Fail to comply with any
                                                                                                          deflector dredge vessel gear restrictions
                                                  serial number recorded from that trip’s                                                                       requirements for declaring out of the
                                                                                                          specified in § 648.51(b)(5), and turtle
                                                  VTR (the same VTR serial number as                                                                            DAS allocation program and steaming to
                                                                                                          dredge chain mat requirements in
                                                  reported to the dealer). Prior to crossing                                                                    land scallops at ports located at or south
                                                                                                          § 223.206(d)(11) of this title.
                                                  seaward of the VMS Demarcation Line                                                                           of 39° N. lat., as specified in
                                                                                                             (4) Fish under the small dredge
                                                  for the transit to a southern port at or                                                                      § 648.53(f)(3).
                                                                                                          program specified in § 648.51(e), with,
                                                  south of 39° N. lat., the vessel must                                                                            (E) Possess on board or land in-shell
                                                                                                          or while in possession of, a dredge that
                                                  declare out of the scallop fishery. A                                                                         scallops if declaring out of the DAS
                                                                                                          exceeds 10.5 ft (3.2 m) in overall width,
                                                  limited access scallop vessel may                                                                             allocation program and steaming to land
                                                                                                          as measured at the widest point in the
                                                  provide a corrected report. If the report                                                                     scallops at ports located at or south of
                                                                                                          bail of the dredge.
                                                  is being submitted as a correction of a                    (5) Fish under the small dredge                    39° N. lat.
                                                  prior report, the information entered                   program specified in § 648.51(e) with                    (v) * * *
                                                  into the notification form will replace                 more persons on board the vessel,                        (D) Once declared into the scallop
                                                  the data previously submitted in the                    including the operator, than specified in             fishery in accordance with § 648.10(f),
                                                  prior report. Submitting a correction                   § 648.51(e)(3),unless otherwise                       change its VMS declaration until the
                                                  does not prevent NMFS from pursuing                     authorized by the Regional                            trip has ended and scallop catch has
                                                  an enforcement action for any false                     Administrator.                                        been offloaded, except as specified at
                                                  reporting.                                                 (6) Participate in the DAS allocation              § 648.53(f)(3).
                                                  *      *     *     *    *                               program with more persons on board                       (E) Fail to submit a scallop access area
                                                     (6) Limited access scallop vessels                   the vessel than the number specified in               pre-landing notification form through
                                                  fishing under the DAS Program and                       § 648.51(c), including the operator,                  VMS as specified at § 648.10(f)(4)(iii).
                                                  landing scallops at ports south of 39° N.               when the vessel is not docked or                      *       *    *     *     *
                                                  Lat. If landing scallops at a port located              moored in port, unless otherwise                         (3) * * *
                                                  at or south of 39° N. lat., a limited                   authorized by the Regional                               (iii) * * *
                                                  access vessel participating in the scallop              Administrator.                                           (C) Declare into the NGOM scallop
                                                  DAS program may end its DAS trip once                      (7) Fish in the Mid-Atlantic Access                management area after the effective date
                                                  it has crossed shoreward of the VMS                     Area, as described in § 648.59(a), with               of a notification published in the
                                                  Demarcation Line at or south of 39° N.                  more persons on board the vessel than                 Federal Register stating that the NGOM
                                                  lat. by declaring out of the scallop                    the number specified in § 648.51(c) or                scallop management area TAC has been
                                                  fishery and submitting the Scallop Pre-                 § 648.51(e)(3)(i), unless otherwise                   harvested as specified in § 648.62,
                                                  Landing Notification Form, as specified                 authorized by the Regional                            unless the vessel is fishing exclusively
                                                  at paragraph (f)(4)(iv) of this section.                Administrator.                                        in state waters, declared a state-waters
                                                  Once declared out of the scallop fishery,                  (8) Have a shucking or sorting                     only NGOM trip, and is participating in
                                                  and the vessel has submitted the Scallop                machine on board a vessel that shucks                 an approved state waters exemption
                                                  Pre-Landing Notification Form, the                      scallops at sea while fishing under the               program as specified in § 648.54.
                                                  vessel may cross seaward of the VMS                     DAS allocation program, unless                           (D) Fish for, possess, or land scallops
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                                                  Demarcation Line and steam to a port at                 otherwise authorized by the Regional                  in or from the NGOM scallop
                                                  or south of 39° N. lat., to land scallops               Administrator.                                        management area after the effective date
                                                  while not on a DAS. Such vessels that                      (9) Fish with, possess on board, or                of a notification published in the
                                                  elect to change their declaration to                    land scallops while in possession of                  Federal Register that the NGOM scallop
                                                  steam to ports with scallops onboard                    trawl nets, when fishing for scallops                 management area TAC has been
                                                  and not accrue DAS must comply with                     under the DAS allocation program,                     harvested, as specified in § 648.62,
                                                  all the requirements at § 648.53(f)(3).                 unless exempted as provided for in                    unless the vessel possesses or lands
                                                  *      *     *     *    *                               § 648.51(f).                                          scallops that were harvested south of


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                                                  13816                   Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 51 / Tuesday, March 17, 2015 / Proposed Rules

                                                  42°20′ N. lat., the vessel is transiting the            top is available from the Regional                    than eight people aboard, including the
                                                  NGOM scallop management area, and                       Administrator upon request).                          operator, when not docked or moored in
                                                  the vessel’s fishing gear is properly                      (v) Measurement of twine top mesh                  port, except as follows:
                                                  stowed and unavailable for immediate                    size. Twine top mesh size is measured                 *     *     *     *     *
                                                  use in accordance with § 648.2 or unless                by using a wedge-shaped gauge having                    (e) * * *
                                                  the vessel is fishing exclusively in state              a taper of 0.79 inches (2 cm) in 3.15                   (3) * * *
                                                  waters, declared a state-waters only                    inches (8 cm) and a thickness of 0.09                   (i) A vessel participating in the Sea
                                                  NGOM trip, and is participating in an                   inches (2.3 mm), inserted into the                    Scallop Area Access Program as
                                                  approved state waters exemption                         meshes under a pressure or pull of 17.64              specified in § 648.60 may have no more
                                                  program as specified in § 648.54.                       lb (8 kg). The mesh size is the average               than six people, including the operator,
                                                  *       *    *      *    *                              of the measurements of any series of 20               on board.
                                                     (4) * * *                                            consecutive meshes for twine tops
                                                                                                                                                                *     *     *     *     *
                                                     (i) * * *                                            having 75 or more meshes, and 10
                                                                                                                                                                ■ 5. In § 648.53, paragraphs (a), (b)(1),
                                                     (C) Declare into the NGOM scallop                    consecutive meshes for twine tops
                                                                                                          having fewer than 75 meshes. The mesh                 and (b)(4) are revised, paragraph (f)(3) is
                                                  management area after the effective date                                                                      added, and paragraph (g)(1) is revised to
                                                  of a notification published in the                      in the twine top must be measured
                                                                                                          along the length of the twine top,                    read as follows:
                                                  Federal Register stating that the NGOM
                                                  scallop management area TAC has been                    running parallel to a longitudinal axis,              § 648.53 Acceptable biological catch
                                                  harvested as specified in § 648.62,                     and be at least five meshes away from                 (ABC), annual catch limits (ACL), annual
                                                  unless the vessel is fishing exclusively                where the twine top mesh meets the                    catch targets (ACT), DAS allocations, and
                                                  in state waters, declared a state-waters                rings, running parallel to the long axis              individual fishing quotas (IFQ).
                                                  only NGOM trip, and is participating in                 of the twine top.                                        (a) Scallop fishery ABC. The ABC for
                                                  an approved state waters exemption                         (5) * * *                                          the scallop fishery shall be established
                                                  program as specified in § 648.54.                          (ii) * * *                                         through the framework adjustment
                                                                                                             (A) From May 1 through November                    process specified in § 648.55 and is
                                                  *       *    *      *    *
                                                                                                          30, any limited access scallop vessel                 equal to the overall scallop fishery ACL
                                                     (5) * * *
                                                     (iii) Fish for, possess, or land scallops            using a dredge, regardless of dredge size             minus discards. The ABC/ACL, after
                                                  in state or Federal waters of the NGOM                  or vessel permit category, or any LAGC                discards are removed, shall be divided
                                                  management area after the effective date                IFQ scallop vessel fishing with a dredge              as sub-ACLs between limited access
                                                  of notification in the Federal Register                 with a width of 10.5 ft (3.2 m) or greater,           vessels, limited access vessels that are
                                                  that the NGOM scallop management                        that is fishing for scallops in waters                fishing under a LAGC permit, and LAGC
                                                  area TAC has been harvested as                          west of 71° W long., from the shoreline               vessels as specified in paragraphs (a)(3)
                                                  specified in § 648.62, unless the vessel                to the outer boundary of the EEZ, must                and (a)(4) of this section, after deducting
                                                  is fishing exclusively in state waters,                 use a TDD. The TDD requires five                      the scallop incidental catch target TAC
                                                  declared a state-waters only NGOM trip,                 modifications to the rigid dredge frame,              specified in paragraph (a)(2) of this
                                                  and is participating in an approved state               as specified in paragraphs (b)(5)(ii)(A)(1)           section, observer set-aside specified in
                                                  waters exemption program as specified                   through (b)(5)(ii)(A)(5) of this section.             paragraph (g)(1) of this section, and
                                                  in § 648.54.                                            See paragraph (b)(5)(ii)(D) of this section           research set-aside specified in
                                                                                                          for more specific descriptions of the                 § 648.56(d). The ABC/ACL for the 2016
                                                  *       *    *      *    *                              dredge elements mentioned below.
                                                  ■ 4. In § 648.51:
                                                                                                                                                                fishing year is subject to change through
                                                  ■ a. Paragraphs (b)(4)(iv) and (v),
                                                                                                          *       *    *     *      *                           a future framework adjustment.
                                                  (b)(5)(ii)(A) introductory text,                           (3) All bale bars must be removed,                    (1) ABC/ACL for fishing years 2015
                                                  (b)(5)(ii)(A)(3), and (c) introductory text             except the outer bale (single or double)              through 2016, excluding discards, shall
                                                  are revised;                                            bars and the center support beam,                     be:
                                                  ■ b. Paragraph (c)(1) is removed and
                                                                                                          leaving an otherwise unobstructed space                  (i) 2015: 25,352 mt.
                                                  reserved; and                                           between the cutting bar and forward                      (ii) 2016: 31,807 mt.
                                                  ■ c. Paragraph (e)(3)(i) is revised.
                                                                                                          bale wheels, if present. The center                      (2) Scallop incidental catch target
                                                     The revisions read as follows:                       support beam must be less than 6 inches               TAC. The annual incidental catch target
                                                                                                          (15.24 cm) wide. For the purpose of                   TAC for vessels with incidental catch
                                                  § 648.51   Gear and crew restrictions.                  flaring and safe handling of the dredge,              scallop permits is 22.7 mt.
                                                  *     *    *      *    *                                a minor appendage not to exceed 12                       (3) Limited access fleet sub-ACL and
                                                    (b) * * *                                             inches (30.5 cm) in length may be                     ACT. The limited access scallop fishery
                                                    (4) * * *                                             attached to each of the outer bale bars.              shall be allocated 94.5 percent of the
                                                    (iv) Twine top restrictions as a                      If the flaring bar is attached in a u-                ACL specified in paragraph (a)(1) of this
                                                  proactive accountability measure for                    shape, none of the three sides of the                 section, after deducting incidental
                                                  bycatch. In addition to the minimum                     flaring bar shall exceed 12 inches (30.5              catch, observer set-aside, and research
                                                  twine top mesh size specified in                        cm) in length. The appendage shall at                 set-aside, as specified in this paragraph
                                                  paragraph (b)(2) of this section, limited               no point be closer than 12 inches (30.5               (a)(3). ACT for the limited access scallop
                                                  access and limited access general                       cm) to the cutting bar.                               fishery shall be established through the
                                                  category IFQ vessels may not fish for                   *       *    *     *      *                           framework adjustment process
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                                                  scallops with a dredge having more than                    (c) Crew restrictions. A limited access            described in § 648.55. DAS specified in
                                                  seven rows of non-overlapping steel                     vessel participating in or subject to the             paragraph (b) of this section shall be
                                                  rings unobstructed by netting or any                    scallop DAS allocation program may                    based on the ACTs specified in
                                                  other material between the terminus of                  have no more than seven people aboard,                paragraph (a)(3)(ii) of this section. The
                                                  the dredge (club stick) and the net                     including the operator, and a limited                 limited access fleet sub-ACL and ACT
                                                  material on the top of the dredge (twine                access vessel participating in the Sea                for the 2016 fishing year are subject to
                                                  top) (a copy of a diagram showing a                     Scallop Area Access Program as                        change through a future framework
                                                  schematic of a legal dredge with twine                  specified in § 648.60 may have no more                adjustment.


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                                                                          Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 51 / Tuesday, March 17, 2015 / Proposed Rules                                   13817

                                                     (i) The limited access fishery sub-                  part-time, or occasional) shall be            excess of the ACL in fishing year 2011
                                                  ACLs for fishing years 2015 and 2016                    allocated the maximum number of DAS           would result in the DAS reduction AM
                                                  are:                                                    for each fishing year it may participate      in fishing year 2012. If the AM takes
                                                     (A) 2015: 23,161 mt.                                 in the open area limited access scallop       effect, and a limited access vessel uses
                                                     (B) 2016: 29,200 mt.                                 fishery, according to its category,           more open area DAS in the fishing year
                                                     (ii) The limited access fishery ACTs                 excluding carryover DAS in accordance         in which the AM is applied, the vessel
                                                  for fishing years 2015 and 2016 are:                    with paragraph (d) of this section. DAS       shall have the DAS used in excess of the
                                                     (A) 2015: 19,311 mt.                                 allocations shall be determined by            allocation after applying the AM
                                                     (B) 2016: 23,016 mt.                                 distributing the portion of ACT               deducted from its open area DAS
                                                     (4) LAGC fleet sub-ACL. The sub-ACL                  specified in paragraph (a)(3)(ii) of this     allocation in the subsequent fishing
                                                  for the LAGC IFQ fishery shall be equal                 section, as reduced by access area            year. For example, a vessel initially
                                                  to 5.5 percent of the ACL specified in                  allocations specified in § 648.59, and        allocated 32 DAS in 2011 uses all 32
                                                  paragraph (a)(1) of this section, after                 dividing that amount among vessels in         DAS prior to application of the AM. If,
                                                  deducting incidental catch, observer set-               the form of DAS calculated by applying        after application of the AM, the vessel’s
                                                  aside, and research set-aside, as                       estimates of open area LPUE specified         DAS allocation is reduced to 31 DAS,
                                                  specified in this paragraph (a)(4). The                 in paragraph (b)(1) of this section.          the vessel’s DAS in 2012 would be
                                                  LAGC IFQ fishery ACT shall be equal to                  Allocation for part-time and occasional       reduced by 1 DAS.
                                                  the LAGC IFQ fishery’s ACL. The ACL                     scallop vessels shall be 40 percent and          (iii) Limited access AM exception. If
                                                  for the LAGC IFQ fishery for vessels                    8.33 percent of the full-time DAS             NMFS determines, in accordance with
                                                  issued only a LAGC IFQ scallop permit                   allocations, respectively. The annual         paragraph (b)(4)(ii) of this section, that
                                                  shall be equal to 5 percent of the ACL                  open area DAS allocations for each            the fishing mortality rate associated
                                                  specified in paragraph (a)(1) of this                   category of vessel for the fishing years      with the limited access fleet’s landings
                                                  section, after deducting incidental                     indicated are as follows:                     in a fishing year is less than 0.34, the
                                                  catch, observer set-aside, and research                                                               AM specified in paragraph (b)(4)(ii) of
                                                  set-aside, as specified in this paragraph                       SCALLOP OPEN AREA DAS                 this section shall not take effect. The
                                                  (a)(4). The ACL for the LAGC IFQ                                          ALLOCATIONS                 fishing mortality rate of 0.34 is the
                                                  fishery for vessels issued only both a                                                                fishing mortality rate that is one
                                                  LAGC IFQ scallop permit and a limited                      Permit category          2015      2016    standard deviation below the fishing
                                                  access scallop permit shall be 0.5                                                                    mortality rate for the scallop fishery
                                                  percent of the ACL specified in                         Full-Time .................   30.86     26    ACL, currently estimated at 0.38.
                                                                                                          Part-Time ................    12.94     10.40
                                                  paragraph (a)(1) of this section, after                 Occasional ..............      2.58      2.17    (iv) Limited access fleet AM and
                                                  deducting incidental catch, observer set-                                                             exception provision timing. The
                                                  aside, and research set-aside, as                          (i) [Reserved]                             Regional Administrator shall determine
                                                  specified in this paragraph (a)(4).                        (ii) Accountability measures (AM).         whether the limited access fleet
                                                     (i) The ACLs for fishing years 2015                  Unless the limited access AM exception exceeded its ACL specified in paragraph
                                                  and 2016 for LAGC IFQ vessels without                   is implemented in accordance with the         (a)(3)(i) of this section by July of the
                                                  a limited access scallop permit are:                    provision specified in paragraph              fishing year following the year for
                                                     (A) 2015: 1,225 mt.                                  (b)(4)(iii) of this section, if the ACL       which landings are being evaluated. On
                                                     (B) 2016: 1,545 mt.                                  specified in paragraph (a)(3)(i) of this      or about July 1, the Regional
                                                     (ii) The ACLs for fishing years 2015                 section is exceeded for the applicable        Administrator shall notify the New
                                                  and 2016 for vessels issued both a LAGC                 fishing year, the DAS specified in            England Fishery Management Council
                                                  and a limited access scallop permits are:               paragraph (b)(4) of this section for each     of the determination of whether or not
                                                     (A) 2015: 123 mt.                                    limited access vessel shall be reduced        the ACL for the limited access fleet was
                                                     (B) 2016: 154 mt.                                    by an amount equal to the amount of           exceeded, and the amount of landings in
                                                     (b) * * *                                            landings in excess of the ACL divided         excess of the ACL. Upon this
                                                     (1) Landings per unit effort (LPUE).                 by the applicable LPUE for the fishing        notification, the Scallop Plan
                                                  LPUE is an estimate of the average                      year in which the AM will apply as            Development Team (PDT) shall evaluate
                                                  amount of scallops, in pounds, that the                 specified in paragraph (b)(1) of this         the overage and determine if the fishing
                                                  limited access scallop fleet lands per                  section, then divided by the number of        mortality rate associated with total
                                                  DAS fished. The estimated LPUE is the                   scallop vessels eligible to be issued a       landings by the limited access scallop
                                                  average LPUE for all limited access                     full-time limited access scallop permit.      fleet is less than 0.34. On or about
                                                  scallop vessels fishing under DAS, and                  For example, assuming a 300,000-lb            September 1 of each year, the Scallop
                                                  shall be used to calculate DAS specified                (136-mt) overage of the ACL in 2011, an PDT shall notify the Council of its
                                                  in paragraph (b)(4) of this section, the                open area LPUE of 2,500 lb (1.13 mt) per determination, and the Council, on or
                                                  DAS reduction for the AM specified in                   DAS in 2012, and 313 full-time vessels,       about September 30, shall make a
                                                  paragraph (b)(4)(ii) of this section, and               each full-time vessel’s DAS would be          recommendation, based on the Scallop
                                                  the observer set-aside DAS allocation                   reduced by 0.38 DAS (300,000 lb (136          PDT findings, concerning whether to
                                                  specified in paragraph (g)(1) of this                   mt)/2,500 lb (1.13 mt) per DAS = 120 lb       invoke the limited access AM exception.
                                                  section. LPUE shall be:                                 (0.05 mt) per DAS/313 vessels = 0.38          If NMFS concurs with the Scallop PDT’s
                                                     (i) 2015 fishing year: 2,594 lb/DAS                  DAS per vessel). Deductions in DAS for recommendation to invoke the limited
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                                                  (1,171 kg/DAS).                                         part-time and occasional scallop vessels access AM exception, in accordance
                                                     (ii) 2016 fishing year: 2,715 lb/DAS                 shall be 40 percent and 8.33 percent of       with the APA, the limited access AM
                                                  (1,175 kg/DAS).                                         the full-time DAS deduction,                  shall not be implemented. If NMFS does
                                                     (iii) [Reserved]                                     respectively, as calculated pursuant to       not concur, in accordance with the
                                                  *       *    *     *    *                               this paragraph (b)(4)(ii). The AM shall       APA, the limited access AM shall be
                                                     (4) Each vessel qualifying for one of                take effect in the fishing year following     implemented as soon as possible after
                                                  the three DAS categories specified in the               the fishing year in which the overage         September 30 each year.
                                                  table in this paragraph (b)(4) (full-time,              occurred. For example, landings in            *       *     *     *    *


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                                                  13818                          Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 51 / Tuesday, March 17, 2015 / Proposed Rules

                                                     (f) * * *                                                               a scallop fishery conservation program                                          exemption must clarify to which scallop
                                                     (3) Limited access scallop vessels                                      for its scallop fishery that does not                                           permit types this exemption would
                                                  fishing under the DAS Program and                                          jeopardize the biomass and fishing                                              apply.
                                                  landing scallops at a port located at or                                   mortality/effort limit objectives of the                                           (e) Notification requirements. Vessels
                                                  south of 39° N. Lat. If landing scallops                                   Scallop FMP. A vessel fishing in State                                          fishing under the exemptions specified
                                                  at a port located at or south of 39° N.                                    of Maine waters may fish under the                                              in paragraph (b) and/or (c) of this
                                                  lat., a limited access vessel participating                                State of Maine state waters exemption,                                          section must notify the Regional
                                                  in the scallop DAS program may end its                                     subject to the exemptions specified in                                          Administrator in accordance with the
                                                  DAS trip once shoreward of the VMS                                         paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section,                                         provisions of § 648.10(e).
                                                  Demarcation Line at or south of 39° N.                                     provided the vessel is in compliance
                                                  lat. by declaring out of the scallop                                       with paragraphs (e) through (g) of this                                            (f) Restriction on fishing in the EEZ.
                                                  fishery. Once declared out of the scallop                                  section.                                                                        A vessel fishing under a state waters
                                                  fishery, the vessel may cross seaward of                                      (b) Limited access scallop vessel                                            exemption may not fish in the EEZ
                                                  the VMS Demarcation Line and steam to                                      exemption. Any vessel issued a limited                                          during the time in which it is fishing
                                                  ports at or south of 39° N. lat., to land                                  access scallop permit is exempt from the                                        under the state waters exemption, as
                                                  scallops while not on a DAS, provided                                      DAS requirements specified in                                                   declared under the notification
                                                  that the vessel complies with the                                          § 648.53(b) while fishing exclusively                                           requirements of this section.
                                                  following requirements:                                                    landward of the outer boundary of the                                              (g) Duration of exemption. An
                                                     (i) The vessel must submit a Scallop                                    waters of a state that has been issued a                                        exemption expires upon a change in the
                                                  Pre-landing Notification Form, as                                          state waters exemption under paragraph                                          vessel’s name or ownership, or upon
                                                  specified at § 648.10(f)(4)(iv);                                           (a)(4) of this section, provided the vessel                                     notification through VMS by the
                                                     (ii) The vessel’s fishing gear is stowed                                complies with paragraphs (f) through (h)                                        participating vessel’s owner.
                                                  and not available for immediate use as                                     of this section.
                                                  defined in § 648.2;                                                                                                                                           (h) Applicability of other provisions of
                                                                                                                                (c) Gear and possession limit                                                this part. A vessel fishing under the
                                                     (iii) The vessel must return directly to                                restrictions. Any vessel issued a limited
                                                  port and offload scallops;                                                                                                                                 exemptions provided by paragraphs (b)
                                                                                                                             access scallop permit, an LAGC NGOM,                                            and/or (c) of this section remains subject
                                                     (iv) The vessel must land scallops at
                                                                                                                             or an LAGC IFQ scallop permit is                                                to all other requirements of this part.
                                                  a port located at or south of 39° N. lat.;
                                                                                                                             exempt from the minimum twine top
                                                  and                                                                                                                                                        ■ 7. Section 648.58 is revised to read as
                                                     (v) The vessel may not possess in-                                      mesh size for scallop dredge gear
                                                                                                                             specified in §§ 648.51(b)(2) and                                                follows:
                                                  shell scallops.
                                                     (g) Set-asides for observer coverage.                                   (b)(4)(iv) while fishing exclusively                                            § 648.58      Rotational Closed Areas.
                                                  (1) To help defray the cost of carrying                                    landward of the outer boundary of the
                                                  an observer, 1 percent of the ABC/ACL                                      waters of the State of Maine under the                                             (a) Closed Area I Closed Area— No
                                                  specified in paragraph (a)(1) of this                                      state waters exemption specified in                                             vessel may fish for scallops in, or
                                                  section shall be set aside to be used by                                   paragraph (a)(4) of this section,                                               possess or land scallops from, the area
                                                  vessels that are assigned to take an at-                                   provided the vessel is in compliance                                            known as the Closed Area I Closed Area.
                                                  sea observer on a trip. The total TAC for                                  with paragraphs (d) through (g) of this                                         No vessel may possess scallops in the
                                                  observer set aside is 254 mt in fishing                                    section.                                                                        Closed Area I Closed Area, unless such
                                                  year 2015, and 318 mt in fishing year                                         (d) NGOM closure exemption. Any                                              vessel is only transiting the area as
                                                  2016.                                                                      vessel issued a Federal scallop permit                                          provided in paragraph (e) of this
                                                                                                                             may be exempt from the regulations                                              section. The Closed Area I Closed Area
                                                  *       *    *     *     *
                                                  ■ 6. In § 648.54, paragraphs (a)(4) and
                                                                                                                             specified in § 648.52(b)(2) requiring that                                      is defined by straight lines connecting
                                                  (b) through (g) are revised and                                            once the NGOM Federal hard TAC is                                               the following points in the order stated
                                                  paragraph (h) is added to read as                                          reached, no vessel issued a scallop                                             (copies of a chart depicting this area are
                                                  follows:                                                                   permit may fish in the NGOM area. This                                          available from the Regional
                                                                                                                             exemption, which a state must apply for                                         Administrator upon request), and so
                                                  § 648.54      State waters exemption.                                      through the process specified in                                                that the line connecting points CAIA3
                                                  *     *    *    *     *                                                    paragraph (a) of this section, would                                            and CAIA4 is the same as the portion of
                                                    (a) * * *                                                                allow vessels to continue to fish for                                           the western boundary line of Closed
                                                    (4) The Regional Administrator has                                       scallops within a state’s waters inside                                         Area I, defined in § 648.81(a)(1), that
                                                  determined that the State of Maine has                                     the NGOM. A state applying for this                                             lies between points CAIA3 and CAIA4:

                                                                                                                              Point                                                                                        Latitude      Longitude       Note

                                                  CAIA1    ...........................................................................................................................................................   41°26′ N.      68°30′ W.      ............
                                                  CAIA2    ...........................................................................................................................................................   40°58′ N.      68°30′ W.      ............
                                                  CAIA3    ...........................................................................................................................................................   40°54.95′ N.   68°53.37′ W.       (1)
                                                  CAIA4    ...........................................................................................................................................................   41°04.32′ N.   69°01.27′ W.       (1)
                                                  CAIA1    ...........................................................................................................................................................   41°26′ N.      68°30′ W.      ............
                                                      1 From   Point CAIA3 to Point CAIA4 along the western boundary of Closed Area I, defined in § 648.81(a)(1).
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                                                    (b) Closed Area II Closed Area— No                                       Area. No vessel may possess scallops in                                         connecting the following points in the
                                                  vessel may fish for scallops in, or                                        the Closed Area II Closed Area. The                                             order stated (copies of a chart depicting
                                                  possess or land scallops from, the area                                    Closed Area II Closed Area is defined by                                        this area are available from the Regional
                                                  known as the Closed Area II Closed                                         straight lines, except where noted,                                             Administrator upon request):




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                                                                                  Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 51 / Tuesday, March 17, 2015 / Proposed Rules                                                                                                  13819

                                                                                                                               Point                                                                                           Latitude            Longitude        Note

                                                  CAIIA1     ..........................................................................................................................................................   41°00′ N.            67°20′ W.          ............
                                                  CAIIA2     ..........................................................................................................................................................   41°00′ N.            66°35.8′ W.        ............
                                                  CAIIA3     ..........................................................................................................................................................   41°18.6′ N.          (1)                    (2)
                                                  CAIIA4     ..........................................................................................................................................................   41°30′ N.            (3)                    (2)
                                                  CAIIA5     ..........................................................................................................................................................   41°30′ N.            67°20′ W.          ............
                                                  CAIIA1     ..........................................................................................................................................................   41°00′ N.            67°20′ W.          ............
                                                     1 The   intersection of 41°18.6′ N. lat. and the U.S.-Canada Maritime Boundary, approximately 41°18.6′ N. lat. and 66°25.01′ W. long.
                                                     2 From    Point CAIIA3 connected to Point CAIIA4 along the U.S.-Canada Maritime Boundary.
                                                     3 The   intersection of 41°30′ N. lat. and the U.S.-Canada Maritime Boundary, approximately 41°30′ N. lat., 66°34.73′ W. long.


                                                     (c) Nantucket Lightship Closed Area—                                     stowed. A vessel may only transit the                                           defined by straight lines connecting the
                                                  No vessel may fish for scallops in, or                                      Closed Area II Closed Area, as described                                        following points in the order stated
                                                  possess or land scallops from, the area                                     in paragraph (b) of this section, or the                                        (copies of a chart depicting this area are
                                                  known as the Nantucket Lightship                                            Elephant Trunk Closed Area, as                                                  available from the Regional
                                                  Closed Area. No vessel may possess                                          described in paragraph (d) of this                                              Administrator upon request):
                                                  scallops in the Nantucket Lightship                                         section, if there is a compelling safety
                                                  Closed Area, unless such vessel is only                                     reason for transiting the area and the                                                  Point                 Latitude           Longitude
                                                  transiting the area as provided in                                          vessel’s fishing gear is stowed and not
                                                  paragraph (e) of this section. The                                          available for immediate use as defined                                          DMV1        .............   38°10′   N.     74°50′   W.
                                                                                                                              in § 648.2.                                                                     DMV2        .............   38°10′   N.     74°00′   W.
                                                  Nantucket Lightship Closed Area is
                                                                                                                                 (f) Vessels fishing for species other                                        DMV3        .............   37°15′   N.     74°00′   W.
                                                  defined by straight lines connecting the                                                                                                                    DMV4        .............   37°15′   N.     74°50′   W.
                                                  following points in the order stated                                        than scallops. A vessel may fish for
                                                                                                                                                                                                              DMV1        .............   38°10′   N.     74°50′   W.
                                                  (copies of a chart depicting this area are                                  species other than scallops within the
                                                  available from the Regional                                                 closed areas specified in paragraphs (a)
                                                  Administrator upon request),                                                through (d) of this section as allowed in                                         (i) Season. A vessel issued a scallop
                                                                                                                              this part, provided the vessel does not                                         permit may not fish for, possess, or land
                                                       Point                    Latitude                Longitude             fish for, catch, or retain scallops or                                          scallops in or from the area known as
                                                                                                                              intend to fish for, catch, or retain                                            the Delmarva Sea Scallop Access Area,
                                                  NLAA1      ...........     40°50′   N.             69°30′     W.            scallops. Declaration through VMS that                                          described in paragraph (a)(2) of this
                                                  NLAA2      ...........     40°50′   N.             69°00′     W.            the vessel is fishing in the LAGC scallop                                       section, during the period of March 1,
                                                  NLAA3      ...........     40°33′   N.             69°00′     W.            fishery is deemed to be an intent to fish                                       2016, through March 31, 2016.
                                                  NLAA4      ...........     40°33′   N.             68°48′     W.
                                                  NLAA5      ...........     40°20′   N.             68°48′     W.
                                                                                                                              for, catch, or retain scallops.                                                   (3) Elephant Trunk Scallop Access
                                                                                                                              ■ 8. In § 648.59:                                                               Area. The Elephant Trunk Scallop
                                                  NLAA6      ...........     40°20′   N.             69°30′     W.
                                                                                                                              ■ a. Paragraphs (a), (b) introductory text,                                     Access Area is defined by straight lines
                                                  NLAA1      ...........     40°50′   N.             69°30′     W.
                                                                                                                              (b)(1), (c) introductory text, and (c)(1)                                       connecting the following points in the
                                                    (d) Elephant Trunk Closed Area— No                                        are revised;                                                                    order stated (copies of a chart depicting
                                                                                                                              ■ b. Paragraph (c)(2) is removed and                                            this area are available from the Regional
                                                  vessel may fish for scallops in, or
                                                  possess or land scallops from, the area                                     reserved;                                                                       Administrator upon request):
                                                                                                                              ■ c. Paragraphs (d) introductory text and
                                                  known as the Elephant Trunk Closed
                                                  Area. No vessel may possess scallops in                                     (d)(1) are revised; and                                                                 Point                 Latitude           Longitude
                                                                                                                              ■ d. Paragraphs (d)(2) and (e) are
                                                  Elephant Trunk Closed Area. The
                                                                                                                              removed and reserved.                                                           ETAA1        ...........    38°30′   N.     74°20′   W.
                                                  Elephant Trunk Closed Area is defined                                          The revisions read as follows:                                               ETAA2        ...........    38°30′   N.     73°50′   W.
                                                  by straight lines connecting the                                                                                                                            ETAA3        ...........    38°40′   N.     73°50′   W.
                                                  following points in the order stated                                        § 648.59          Sea Scallop Access Areas.                                     ETAA4        ...........    38°40′   N.     73°40′   W.
                                                  (copies of a chart depicting this area are                                     (a) Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access                                              ETAA5        ...........    38°50′   N.     73°40′   W.
                                                  available from the Regional                                                 Area—(1) Beginning March 1, 2015,                                               ETAA6        ...........    38°50′   N.     73°30′   W.
                                                  Administrator upon request).                                                through February 28, 2017 (i.e., fishing                                        ETAA7        ...........    38°10′   N.     73°30′   W.
                                                                                                                              years 2015 and 2016), a vessel issued a                                         ETAA8        ...........    38°10′   N.     74°20′   W.
                                                       Point                    Latitude                Longitude             scallop permit may not fish for, possess,                                       ETAA1        ...........    38°30′   N.     74°20′   W.
                                                                                                                              or land scallops in or from the area
                                                  ETCA   1    ..........     38°50′   N.             74°20′     W.
                                                  ETCA   2    ..........     38°50′   N.             73°40′     W.
                                                                                                                              known as the Mid-Atlantic Access Area                                             (4) Hudson Canyon Scallop Access
                                                  ETCA   3    ..........     38°40′   N.             73°40′     W.            unless the vessel is participating in, and                                      Area. The Hudson Canyon Scallop
                                                  ETCA   4    ..........     38°40′   N.             73°50′     W.            complies with the requirements of, the                                          Access Area is defined by straight lines
                                                  ETCA   5    ..........     38°30′   N.             73°50′     W.            area access program described in                                                connecting the following points in the
                                                  ETCA   6    ..........     38°30′   N.             74°20′     W.            § 648.60. The Mid-Atlantic Access Area                                          order stated (copies of a chart depicting
                                                  ETCA   1    ..........     38°50′   N.             74°20′     W.            is comprised of the following scallop                                           this area are available from the Regional
                                                                                                                              access areas: The Delmarva Scallop                                              Administrator upon request):
                                                     (e) Transiting. No vessel possessing                                     Access Area, as described in paragraph
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                                                  scallops may enter or be in the area(s)                                     (a)(2) of this section; the Elephant Trunk                                              Point                 Latitude           Longitude
                                                  specified in paragraphs (a) and (c) of                                      Scallop Access Area, as described in
                                                  this section unless the vessel is                                           paragraph (a)(3) of this section; and the                                       H1    ..................    39°30′   N.     73°10′   W.
                                                  transiting the area and the vessel’s                                        Hudson Canyon Scallop Access Area, as                                           H2    ..................    39°30′   N.     72°30′   W.
                                                  fishing gear is stowed and not available                                                                                                                    H3    ..................    38°30′   N.     73°30′   W.
                                                                                                                              described in paragraph (a)(4) of this                                           H4    ..................    38°50′   N.     73°30′   W.
                                                  for immediate use as defined in § 648.2,                                    section.                                                                        H5    ..................    38°50′   N.     73°42′   W.
                                                  or there is a compelling safety reason to                                      (2) Delmarva Scallop Access Area.                                            H1    ..................    39°30′   N.     73°10′   W.
                                                  be in such areas without such gear being                                    The Delmarva Scallop Access Area is


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                                                  13820                   Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 51 / Tuesday, March 17, 2015 / Proposed Rules

                                                     (b) Closed Area I Scallop Access                     in §§ 648.9 and 648.10, and paragraphs                   (ii) One-for-one area access allocation
                                                  Area—(1) From March 1, 2015, through                    (a)(9) and (f) of this section.                       exchanges. The owner of a vessel issued
                                                  February 28, 2017 (i.e., fishing years                  *      *     *     *     *                            a limited access scallop permit may
                                                  2015 and 2016), a vessel issued a                          (3) Sea Scallop Access Area                        exchange unharvested scallop pounds
                                                  scallop permit may not fish for, possess,               Allocations—(i) Limited access vessel                 allocated into one access area for
                                                  or land scallops in or from, the area                   allocations.                                          another vessel’s unharvested scallop
                                                  known as the Closed Area I Scallop                         (A) Except as provided in paragraph                pounds allocated into another Sea
                                                  Access Area, described in paragraph                     (c) of this section, paragraphs (a)(3)(i)(B)          Scallop Access Area. These exchanges
                                                  (b)(3) of this section, unless transiting in            through (E) of this section specify the               may only be made for the amount of the
                                                  accordance with paragraph (f) of this                   total amount of scallops, in weight, that             current trip possession limit, as
                                                  section. A vessel issued both a NE                      a limited access scallop vessel may                   specified in paragraph (a)(5) of this
                                                  multispecies permit and an LAGC                         harvest from Sea Scallop Access Areas                 section. For example, if the access area
                                                  scallop permit may not fish in an                       during applicable seasons specified in                trip possession limit for full-time
                                                  approved SAP under § 648.85 and under                   § 648.59. A vessel may not possess or                 vessels is 17,000 lb (7,711 kg), a full-
                                                  multispecies DAS in the scallop access                  land in excess of its scallop allocation              time vessel may exchange no less than
                                                  area, unless it complies with restrictions              assigned to specific Sea Scallop Access               17,000 lb (7,711 kg), from one access
                                                  in paragraph (b)(5)(ii)(C) of this section.             Areas, unless authorized by the                       area for no more or less than 17,000 lb
                                                  *      *      *      *      *                           Regional Administrator, as specified in               (7,711 kg) allocated to another vessel for
                                                                                                          paragraph (d) of this section, unless the             another access area. In addition, these
                                                     (c) Closed Area II Scallop Access                    vessel owner has exchanged an area-                   exchanges may be made only between
                                                  Area—(1) From March 1, 2015, through                    specific scallop allocation with another              vessels with the same permit category:
                                                  February 28, 2017 (i.e., fishing years                  vessel owner for additional scallop                   A full-time vessel may not exchange
                                                  2015 and 2016), a vessel issued a                       allocation in that area, as specified in              allocations with a part-time vessel, and
                                                  scallop permit may not fish for, possess,               paragraph (a)(3)(ii) of this section. A               vice versa. Vessel owners must request
                                                  or land scallops in or from, the area                   vessel may harvest its scallop allocation,            these exchanges by submitting a
                                                  known as the Closed Area II Access                      as specified in paragraph (a)(3)(B) of this           completed Access Area Allocation
                                                  Area, described in paragraph (c)(3) of                  section, on any number of trips in a                  Exchange Form at least 15 days before
                                                  this section, unless transiting in                      given fishing year, provided that no                  the date on which the applicant desires
                                                  accordance with paragraph (f) of this                   single trip exceeds the possession limits             the exchange to be effective. Exchange
                                                  section. A vessel issued both a NE                      specified in paragraph (a)(5) of this                 forms are available from the Regional
                                                  multispecies permit and an LAGC                         section, unless authorized by the                     Administrator upon request. Each vessel
                                                  scallop permit may not fish in an                       Regional Administrator, as specified in               owner involved in an exchange is
                                                  approved SAP under § 648.85 and under                   paragraphs (c) and (d) of this section,               required to submit a completed Access
                                                  multispecies DAS in the scallop access                     (B) Full-time scallop vessels. (1) In              Area Allocation Form. The Regional
                                                  area, unless it complies with restrictions              fishing year 2015, each full-time vessel              Administrator shall review the records
                                                  in paragraph (c)(5)(ii)(C) of this section.             shall have a total of 51,000 lb (23,133               for each vessel to confirm that each
                                                  *      *      *      *      *                           kg) of scallops that may be harvested                 vessel has enough unharvested
                                                                                                          from the Mid-Atlantic Access Area, as                 allocation remaining in a given access
                                                     (d) Nantucket Lightship Scallop                      defined in § 648.59(a).
                                                  Access Area—(1) From March 1, 2015,                                                                           area to exchange. The exchange is not
                                                                                                             (2) For the 2016 fishing year, each
                                                  through February 28, 2017 (i.e., fishing                                                                      effective until the vessel owner(s)
                                                                                                          full-time vessel shall have a total of
                                                  years 2015 and 2016), a vessel issued a                                                                       receive a confirmation in writing from
                                                                                                          17,000 lb (7,711 kg) of scallops that may
                                                  scallop permit may not fish for, possess,                                                                     the Regional Administrator that the
                                                                                                          be harvested from the Mid-Atlantic
                                                  or land scallops in or from the area                                                                          allocation exchange has been made
                                                                                                          Access Area, as defined in § 648.59(a),
                                                  known as the Nantucket Lightship                                                                              effective. A vessel owner may exchange
                                                                                                          starting on April 1, 2016.
                                                  Access Area, described in paragraph                        (C) Part-time scallop vessels. (1) For             equal allocations up to the current
                                                  (d)(3) of this section, unless transiting               the 2015 fishing year, each part-time                 possession limit between two or more
                                                  pursuant to paragraph (f) of this section.              scallop vessel shall have a total of                  vessels under his/her ownership. A
                                                  A vessel issued both a NE multispecies                  20,400 lb (9,253 kg) of scallop that may              vessel owner holding a Confirmation of
                                                  permit and an LAGC scallop permit may                   be harvested from the Mid-Atlantic                    Permit History is not eligible to
                                                  not fish in an approved SAP under                       Access Area, as defined in § 648.59(a).               exchange allocations between another
                                                  § 648.85 and under multispecies DAS in                     (2) For the 2015 fishing year, each                vessel and the vessel for which a
                                                  the scallop access area, unless it                      part-time scallop vessel shall have a                 Confirmation of Permit History has been
                                                  complies with restrictions in paragraph                 total of 10,200 lb (4,627 kg) of scallop              issued.
                                                  (d)(5)(ii)(C) of this section.                          that may be harvested from the Mid-                   *       *    *    *      *
                                                  *      *      *      *      *                           Atlantic Access Area, as defined in                      (5) Possession and landing limits—(i)
                                                                                                          § 648.59(a), starting on April 1, 2016.               Scallop possession limits. Unless
                                                  ■ 9. In § 648.60, paragraphs (a)(1), (a)(3),
                                                                                                             (D) Occasional scallop vessels. (1) For            authorized by the Regional
                                                  (a)(5)(i), (a)(9), (c), (e)(1), (g)(3)(i) are                                                                 Administrator, as specified in paragraph
                                                                                                          the 2015 fishing year, each occasional
                                                  revised to read as follows:                                                                                   (d) of this section, after declaring a trip
                                                                                                          scallop vessel shall have a total of 4,250
                                                  § 648.60 Sea scallop access area program                lb (1,928 kg) of scallop that may be                  into a Sea Scallop Access Area, a vessel
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                                                  requirements.                                           harvested from the Mid-Atlantic Access                owner or operator of a limited access
                                                                                                          Area, as defined in § 648.59(a).                      scallop vessel may fish for, possess, and
                                                    (a) * * *                                                (2) For the 2016 fishing year, each                land, per trip, scallops, up to the
                                                    (1) VMS. Each vessel participating in                 occasional scallop vessel shall have a                maximum amounts specified in the
                                                  the Sea Scallop Access Area Program                     total of 1,420 lb (644 kg) of scallop that            table in this paragraph (a)(5). No vessel
                                                  must have installed on board an                         may be harvested from the Mid-Atlantic                declared into the Access Areas as
                                                  operational VMS unit that meets the                     Access Area, as defined in § 648.59(a),               described in § 648.59(a) through (e) may
                                                  minimum performance criteria specified                  starting on April 1, 2016.                            possess more than 50 bu (17.62 hL) of


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                                                                                   Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 51 / Tuesday, March 17, 2015 / Proposed Rules                                                                                      13821

                                                  in-shell scallops outside of the Access                                   Areas described in § 648.59(a) through
                                                                                                                            (e).

                                                                                                                                                                   Permit category possession limit
                                                                   Fishing year
                                                                                                                              Full-time                                              Part-time                                          Occasional

                                                  2015 ...............................................    17,000 lb (57,711 kg) ...................               10,200 lb (4,627 kg) .....................                 1,420 lb (644kg).
                                                  2016 ...............................................    17,000 lb (57,711 kg) ...................               10,200 lb (4,627 kg) .....................                 1,420 lb (644kg).



                                                  *      *     *     *     *                                                (March 1, 2014, through April 29, 2014).                                   can be harvested in each access area by
                                                     (9) Reporting. The owner or operator                                   Unless otherwise specified in § 648.59,                                    vessels participating in approved RSA
                                                  must submit scallop catch reports                                         if an Access Area is not open in the                                       projects shall be determined through the
                                                  through the VMS, as specified in                                          subsequent fishing year, then the                                          RSA application review and approval
                                                  § 648.10(f)(4)(i), and limited access                                     unharvested scallop allocation would                                       process. The access areas open for RSA
                                                  scallop access area pre-landing                                           expire at the end of the fishing year that                                 harvest for fishing years 2015 and 2016
                                                  notification forms, as specified in                                       the scallops were allocated. For                                           are:
                                                  § 648.10(f)(4)(iii).                                                      example, if a full-time vessel has 7,000                                      (i) 2015: The Mid-Atlantic Scallop
                                                  *      *     *     *     *                                                lb (3,175 kg) remaining in Closed Area                                     Access Area, as specified in § 648.59(a)
                                                     (c) Access area scallop allocation                                     II Access Area at the end of a given                                          (ii) 2016: None.
                                                  carryover. Unless otherwise specified in                                  fishing year, and that access area would
                                                  § 648.59, a limited access scallop vessel                                 not open the subsequent fishing year,                                      *       *    *    *     *
                                                  operator may fish any unharvested                                         the 7,000 lb (3,175 kg) of scallops would                                     (g) * * *
                                                  Scallop Access Area allocation from a                                     expire on the last day of the fishing                                         (3) LAGC IFQ Access Area Trips. (i)
                                                  given fishing year within the first 60                                    year.                                                                      An LAGC scallop vessel authorized to
                                                  days of the subsequent fishing year if                                    *      *    *     *     *                                                  fish in the Access Areas specified in
                                                  the Access Area is open. For example,                                        (e) Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside                                      § 648.59(a) through (e) may land
                                                  if a full-time vessel has 7,000 lb (3,175                                 Harvest in Access Areas—(1) Access                                         scallops, subject to the possession limit
                                                  kg) remaining in the Hudson Canyon                                        Areas available for harvest of research                                    specified in § 648.52(a), unless the
                                                  Access Area at the end of fishing year                                    set-aside (RSA). Unless otherwise                                          Regional Administrator has issued a
                                                  2013, that vessel may harvest 7,000 lb                                    specified, RSA may be harvested in any                                     notice that the number of LAGC IFQ
                                                  (3,175 kg) from its 2014 fishing year                                     access area that is open in a given                                        access area trips have been or are
                                                  scallop access area allocation during the                                 fishing year, as specified through a                                       projected to be taken. The total number
                                                  first 60 days that the Hudson Canyon                                      framework adjustment and pursuant to                                       of LAGC IFQ trips in a specified Access
                                                  Access Area is open in fishing year 2014                                  § 648.56. The amount of scallops that                                      Area for fishing year 2015 and 2016 are:

                                                                                                                            Access area                                                                                             2015             2016

                                                  Mid-Atlantic Access Area .........................................................................................................................................                    2,065               602
                                                  Closed Area 1 ..........................................................................................................................................................                  0                 0
                                                  Closed Area 2 ..........................................................................................................................................................                  0                 0
                                                  Nantucket Lightship .................................................................................................................................................                     0                 0



                                                  *     *     *     *     *                                                 ■ 10. In § 648.65, paragraph (b)(3)(ii) is                                 mesh per ring (counted at the bottom
                                                  ■ 10. In § 648.64, paragraph (a) is                                       revised to read as follows:                                                where the twine top connects to the
                                                  revised to read as follows:                                                                                                                          apron), for an overall average of 1.5
                                                                                                                            § 648.64 Windowpane flounder sub-ACLs
                                                                                                                            and AMs for the scallop fishery.                                           meshes per ring for the entire width of
                                                  § 648.64 Yellowtail flounder sub-ACLs and
                                                  AMs for the scallop fishery.                                                                                                                         the twine top. For example, an apron
                                                                                                                            *       *   *     *     *
                                                                                                                                                                                                       that is 40 rings wide subtracting 5 rings
                                                     (a) As specified in § 648.55(d), and                                      (b) * * *
                                                                                                                                                                                                       one each side of the side pieces,
                                                  pursuant to the biennial framework                                           (3) * * *
                                                  adjustment process specified in                                              (ii) The maximum hanging ratio for a                                    yielding 30 rings, would only be able to
                                                  § 648.90, the scallop fishery shall be                                    net, net material, or any other material                                   use a twine top with 45 or fewer meshes
                                                  allocated a sub-ACL for the Georges                                       on the top of a scallop dredge (twine                                      so that the overall ratio of meshes to
                                                  Bank and Southern New England/Mid-                                        top) possessed or used by vessels fishing                                  rings did not exceed 1.5 (45 meshes/30
                                                  Atlantic stocks of yellowtail flounder.                                   with scallop dredge gear does not                                          rings = 1.5).
                                                  The sub-ACLs are specified in                                             exceed 1.5:1 overall. An overall hanging                                   *     *      *    *     *
                                                  § 648.90(a)(4)(iii)(C) of the NE                                          ratio of 1.5:1 means that the twine top                                    [FR Doc. 2015–05650 Filed 3–16–15; 8:45 am]
                                                  multispecies regulations.                                                 is attached to the rings in a pattern of                                   BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
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                                                  *      *    *     *     *                                                 alternating 2 meshes per ring and 1




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Document Created: 2015-12-18 12:01:13
Document Modified: 2015-12-18 12:01:13
CategoryRegulatory Information
CollectionFederal Register
sudoc ClassAE 2.7:
GS 4.107:
AE 2.106:
PublisherOffice of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration
SectionProposed Rules
ActionProposed rule; request for comments.
DatesComments must be received by April 1, 2015.
ContactEmily Gilbert, Fishery Policy Analyst, 978-281-9315.
FR Citation80 FR 13806 
RIN Number0648-BE68
CFR Citation50 CFR 223
50 CFR 648
CFR AssociatedEndangered and Threatened Species; Exports; Imports; Transportation; Fisheries; Fishing and Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements

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