81_FR_90486 81 FR 90246 - Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fisheries; Amendment 16

81 FR 90246 - Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fisheries; Amendment 16

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 240 (December 14, 2016)

Page Range90246-90254
FR Document2016-29811

This final rule implements regulations in Amendment 16 to the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan. Amendment 16 protects deep-sea corals from the effects of commercial fishing gear in the Mid-Atlantic. The management measures implemented in this rule are intended to protect deep-sea coral and deep-sea coral habitat while promoting the sustainable utilization and conservation of several different marine resources managed under the authority of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council.

Federal Register, Volume 81 Issue 240 (Wednesday, December 14, 2016)
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 240 (Wednesday, December 14, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 90246-90254]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-29811]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No.: 160706587-6999-02]
RIN 0648-BG21


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Mackerel, 
Squid, and Butterfish Fisheries; Amendment 16

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

ACTION: Final rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This final rule implements regulations in Amendment 16 to the 
Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan. 
Amendment 16 protects deep-sea corals from the effects of commercial 
fishing gear in the Mid-Atlantic. The management measures implemented 
in this rule are intended to protect deep-sea coral and deep-sea coral 
habitat while promoting the sustainable utilization and conservation of 
several different marine resources managed under the authority of the 
Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council.

DATES: Effective January 13, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Copies of supporting documents used by the Mid-Atlantic 
Fishery Management Council, including the Environmental Assessment (EA) 
and Regulatory Impact Review (RIR)/Initial Regulatory Flexibility 
Analysis (IRFA), are available from: Dr. Christopher M. Moore, 
Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 800 North 
State Street, Suite 201, Dover, DE 19901, telephone (302) 674-2331. The 
EA/RIR/IRFA is also accessible online at http://www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter Christopher, Supervisory Fishery 
Policy Analyst, (978) 281-9288, fax (978) 281-9135.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On January 16, 2013, the Council published a Notice of Intent (NOI) 
to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (78 FR 3401) for Amendment 
16 to the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management 
Plan (FMP) to consider measures to protect deep-sea corals from the 
impacts of commercial fishing gear in the Mid-Atlantic. The Council 
conducted scoping meetings during February 2013 to gather public 
comments on these issues. Following further development of Amendment 16 
through 2013 and 2014, the Council conducted public hearings in January 
2015. Following public hearings, and with disagreement about the 
boundaries of the various alternatives, the Council held a workshop 
with various stakeholders on April 29-30, 2015, to further refine the 
deep-sea coral area boundaries. The workshop was an example of 
effective collaboration among fishery managers, the fishing industry, 
environmental organizations, and the public to develop management 
recommendations with widespread support. The Council adopted Amendment 
16 on June 10, 2015, and submitted Amendment 16 on August 15, 2016, for 
final review by NMFS, acting on behalf of the Secretary of Commerce. 
NMFS published a Notice of Availability (NOA) announcing its review of 
Amendment 16 on September 2, 2016 (81 FR 60666), and a proposed rule 
including implementing regulations on September 27, 2016 (81 FR 66245). 
The public comment period for both the NOA and proposed rule ended on 
November 1, 2016.
    The Council developed the action, and the measures described in 
this notice, under the discretionary provisions for deep-sea coral 
protection in section 303(b) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). This provision 
gives the Regional Fishery Management Councils the authority to:
    (A) Designate zones where, and periods when, fishing shall be 
limited, or shall not be permitted, or shall be permitted only by 
specified types of fishing vessels or with specified types and 
quantities of fishing gear;
    (B) Designate such zones in areas where deep-sea corals are 
identified under section 408 (this section describes the deep-sea coral 
research and technology program), to protect deep-sea corals from 
physical damage from fishing gear or to prevent loss or damage to such 
fishing gear from interactions with deep-sea corals, after considering 
long-term sustainable uses of fishery resources in such areas; and
    (C) With respect to any closure of an area under the Magnuson-
Stevens Act that prohibits all fishing, ensure that such closure:
    (i) Is based on the best scientific information available;
    (ii) Includes criteria to assess the conservation benefit of the 
closed area;
    (iii) Establishes a timetable for review of the closed area's 
performance that is consistent with the purposes of the closed area; 
and
    (iv) Is based on an assessment of the benefits and impacts of the 
closure, including its size, in relation to other management measures 
(either alone or in combination with such measures), including the 
benefits and impacts of limiting access to: Users of the area, overall 
fishing activity, fishery science, and fishery and marine conservation.
    Consistent with these provisions, the Council recommended the 
measures in Amendment 16 to balance the impacts of measures implemented 
under this discretionary authority with the management objectives of 
the Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish FMP and the value of potentially 
affected commercial fisheries.

Approved Measures

Deep-Sea Coral Protection Area

    This final rule creates a deep-sea coral protection area in Mid-
Atlantic waters. It consists of a broad zone that starts at a depth 
contour of approximately 450 meters (m) and extends to the U.S. 
Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) boundary, and to the north and south to 
the boundaries of the Mid-Atlantic waters (as defined in the Magnuson-
Stevens Act). In addition, the deep-sea coral protection area includes 
15 discrete zones that outline deep-sea canyons on the continental 
shelf in Mid-Atlantic waters. The deep-sea coral area, including both 
broad and discrete zones, is one continuous area.

[[Page 90247]]

    The broad coral zone is precautionary in nature and is intended to 
freeze the footprint of fishing to protect corals from future expansion 
of fishing effort into deeper waters. The broad coral zone has a 
landward boundary drawn between the 400 m and 500 m contours with the 
intention to approximate the 450 m depth contour as closely as 
possible, minimizing the number of vertices in the boundary line. In 
areas where there is conflict or overlap between this broad zone and 
any designated discrete zone boundaries, the discrete zone boundaries 
are prioritized. From the landward boundary, the broad zone boundaries 
extends along the northern and southern boundaries of the Mid-Atlantic 
management region, and to the edge of the EEZ as the eastward boundary.
    The discrete coral zones are specific submarine canyons and slope 
areas located in Mid-Atlantic waters. The boundaries were developed 
collaboratively by participants at the Council's April 29-30, 2015, 
Deep-sea Corals Workshop in Linthicum, MD. Participants included the 
Council's Squid, Mackerel, and Butterfish Advisory Panel, the 
Ecosystems and Ocean Planning Advisory Panel, members of the Deep-sea 
Corals Fishery Management Action Team, invited deep-sea coral experts, 
additional fishing industry representatives, and other interested 
stakeholders. The canyons and slope areas were identified as areas with 
observed coral presence or highly likely coral presence indicated by 
modeled suitable habitat. Therefore, prohibiting bottom-tending fishing 
gear in these areas prevents interaction with and damage to deep-sea 
corals that either are known through observation to live in these areas 
or that are likely to live there. The discrete coral zones are: Block 
Canyon; Ryan and McMaster Canyons; Emery and Uchupi Canyons; Jones and 
Babylon Canyons; Hudson Canyon; Mey-Lindenkohl Slope; Spencer Canyon; 
Wilmington Canyon; North Heyes and South Wilmington Canyons; South 
Vries Canyon; Baltimore Canyon; Warr and Phoenix Canyon Complex; 
Accomac and Leonard Canyons; Washington Canyon; and Norfolk Canyon.

Gear Restrictions in the Deep-Sea Coral Area

    This action prohibits the use of bottom-tending commercial fishing 
gear within the designated deep-sea coral area, including: Bottom-
tending otter trawls; bottom-tending beam trawls; hydraulic dredges; 
non-hydraulic dredges; bottom-tending seines; bottom-tending longlines; 
sink or anchored gill nets; and pots and traps except those used to 
fish for red crab and American lobster. The prohibition on these gears 
will protect deep-sea corals from interaction with and damage from 
bottom-tending fishing gear.
    Vessels can transit the deep-sea coral area protection area 
provided the vessels bring bottom-tending fishing gear onboard the 
vessel, and reel bottom-tending trawl gear onto the net reel. The 
Council proposed these slightly less restrictive transiting provisions 
because the majority of transiting will be through the very narrow 
canyon heads (i.e., the narrow tips of the canyons that extend landward 
of the broad coral zone landward boundary). The Council determined that 
the normal gear stowage requirements, and requirements that gear be 
unavailable for immediate use, (at 50 CFR 648.2) would be too 
burdensome for commercial vessels within the narrow areas of some of 
the discrete coral zones.

Administrative Measures

    Vessels issued an Illex squid moratorium permit are required to 
have a vessel monitoring system (VMS) installed, and operators of these 
vessels would have to declare Illex squid trips on which 10,000 lb 
(4.53 mt) or more of Illex squid would be harvested. By requiring Illex 
squid vessels to have VMS and declare Illex fishing trips prior to 
leaving port, this measure facilitates enforcement of the deep-sea 
coral area and gear restrictions. NMFS notes that all Illex vessels 
currently have VMS installed and that all of these vessels are already 
required to declare trips. Therefore, this provision does not create 
any new operational requirement for Illex squid vessel owners or 
operators.
    This action expands the framework adjustment provisions in the FMP 
to facilitate future modifications to the deep-sea coral protection 
measures. The framework measures include:
     Modifications to coral zone boundaries via framework 
action;
     Modifications to the boundaries of broad or discrete deep-
sea coral zones through a framework action;
     Modification of management measures within deep-sea coral 
protection areas. This provides the Council the option to modify 
fishing restrictions, exemptions, monitoring requirements, and other 
management measures within deep-sea coral zones through a framework 
action. It includes measures directed at gear and species not currently 
addressed in the FMP to further the FMP's goal of protecting deep-sea 
corals from physical damage from fishing gear or to prevent loss or 
damage to such fishing gear from interactions with deep-sea corals. 
This would also include the ability to add a prohibition on anchoring 
in deep-sea coral protection areas;
     Addition of discrete coral zones; and
     Implementation of special access program for deep-sea 
coral protection area. This provides the Council the option to design 
and implement a special access program for commercial fishery 
operations in deep-sea coral zones through a framework action.

Formal Naming of the Deep-Sea Coral Protection Area

    The Council recommended that the deep-sea coral protection area 
should be named in honor of the late Senator Frank R. Lautenberg. 
Senator Lautenberg was responsible for several important pieces of 
ocean conservation legislation and authored several provisions included 
in the most recent reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Act (2007), including 
the discretionary provision for corals. Therefore, this final rule 
implements the deep-sea coral protection area as the ``Frank R. 
Lautenberg Deep-Sea Coral Protection Area.''

Comments and Responses

    We received 10 comments on the proposed rule and NOA (8 in general 
support of the action and 2 against the action), including letters from 
five individuals, the Garden State Seafood Association, the Maryland 
Department of Natural Resources, and the Wildlife Conservation 
Society's New York Aquarium. We also received a joint comment from 
Oceana, Wildlife Conservation Society's New York Aquarium, Conservation 
Law Foundation, Earthjustice, Great Egg Harbor Watershed Association, 
Natural Resource Defense Council, Pew Charitable Trusts, Tycoon Tackle 
Inc., and Wild Oceans. Supporting this joint comment was a comment the 
PEW Charitable Trust submitted to the Council prior to final action on 
Amendment 16. This comment was included to convey the strong and broad 
public support for the protection of deep-sea corals (including 12,201 
signatures). The comment specific to the Amendment 16 proposed rule was 
supportive of the action. The following summarizes the issues raised in 
the comments and NMFS's responses.
    Comment 1: Garden State Seafood Association opposes the expansion 
of framework adjustment provisions as currently allowed by the fishery 
management plan.

[[Page 90248]]

    Response: In general, the framework alternatives are primarily 
administrative and intended to simplify and improve the efficiency of 
future actions related to deep-sea coral protections. The purpose of 
modifying the list of ``frameworkable items'' in the FMP is to 
demonstrate that the concepts included on the list have previously been 
considered in an amendment (i.e., they are not novel) and the 
applicable measures are included in the fishery management plan or 
regulations. Adjustment of the measures through the framework process 
allows for modification of the measures already included in the fishery 
management plan(s). The effects of any proposed action or future change 
through the framework adjustment process will be analyzed through a 
separate NEPA process and developed with public input through the 
Council process.
    Comment 2: The joint comment letter (from Oceana, Wildlife 
Conservation Society's New York Aquarium, Conservation Law Foundation, 
Earthjustice, Great Egg Harbor Watershed Association, Natural Resource 
Defense Council, PEW Charitable Trusts, Tycoon Tackle Inc., and Wild 
Oceans) requested that the exemptions for lobster and crab pots and 
traps provided in the action be reexamined in a future action to ensure 
that they are justified and that the final rule provide a full 
explanation of how the Council and NOAA will approach reconsideration 
of the exemption, including evaluation criteria and a detailed 
description of the information that will be collected over the 2-year 
period in order to make a better informed decision. The letter 
requested that NMFS and the Council establish a process to jointly 
assess the effectiveness in protecting deep-sea corals in the Coral 
Area, and that the chosen metrics be reviewed periodically to make 
adjustments.
    Response: The Council developed this action under the discretionary 
provisions for deep-sea coral protection in section 303(b) of the 
Magnuson-Stevens Act. This provision gives the Council the authority to 
establish a timetable for review of the closed area's performance that 
is consistent with the purposes of the closed area. Although the 
Council did not establish a formal review process for the areas, it 
clearly indicated its intent to allow review and modification through 
the framework provisions it included in the amendment. Because the 
process is not included, and it is not required, NMFS cannot impose a 
timeline or process on the Council. However, NMFS will continue to work 
with the Council and remind it of the need to adjust these measures as 
necessary as new information becomes available.
    Comment 3: The joint comment letter recommended that the Council 
and NMFS consider expanding the boundaries of the discrete zones to 
better protect deep-sea corals, including stony corals (Scleractinia) 
and sea pens (Pennatulacea).
    Response: The Council can consider additional action to further 
expand the protection of deep-sea corals through the framework measures 
and process it included in this amendment.
    Comment 4: The joint comment letter recommended that the transit 
provision require the full gear stowage provisions as opposed to the 
slightly less restrictive requirements proposed.
    Response: The action allows slightly less restrictive transiting 
provisions because the majority of transiting will be through the very 
narrow canyon heads (i.e., the narrow tips of the canyons that extend 
landward of the broad coral zone landward boundary). The normal gear 
stowage requirements, and requirements that gear be unavailable for 
immediate use, (at 50 CFR 648.2), would be burdensome for commercial 
vessels within the narrow areas of some of the discrete coral zones. 
The less restrictive gear stowage requirement still prohibits vessels 
from fishing in the areas and they must have gear onboard; the more 
restrictive measures would not reduce the potential for fishing.
    Comment 5: The joint comment letter requested that the Council 
consider future prohibitions on mid-water trawl gear.
    Response: The Council has the option to consider additional gear 
prohibitions in the area through a framework.
    Comment 6: The joint comment letter opposed the implementation of a 
special access program for commercial fishing operations in the coral 
area via framework action. They feel there should be a full amendment 
to create such a program.
    Response: The framework alternatives are primarily administrative 
and intended to simplify and improve the efficiency of future actions 
related to deep-sea coral protections. The purpose of modifying the 
list of frameworkable items in the FMP is to demonstrate that the 
concepts included on the list have previously been considered in an 
amendment. Any proposed action or future change will be analyzed 
through a separate NEPA process and would be developed by the Council 
through a public process, including Council, Committee, and Advisory 
Panel meetings that are all open to public participation.
    Comment 7: One commenter requested that a large portion of the 
deep-sea coral protection area be set aside as a permanently protected 
no-take reserve, to both preserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable 
fisheries into the future.
    Response: The Council did not consider measures that would 
establish ``no-take reserves.'' Rather, the measures approved as part 
of this amendment, and the alternatives the Council considered, were 
meant to prevent fishing in some areas and prevent expansion of 
fisheries into areas where corals are known or believed to exist. The 
Council balanced the desire to close these areas under the Magnuson-
Stevens Act's discretionary deep-sea coral provision with the need to 
promote sustainable fisheries as the primary requirement under the 
Magnuson-Stevens Act. However, if the Council wants to consider 
expanded protection of biodiversity through no-take reserves or similar 
measures, it can take an additional action to further expand the 
protection of deep-sea corals.
    Comment 8: One commenter stated that during the development of this 
action the Council led the fishing industry to believe that all 
existing fisheries operating in the areas protected under this action 
would be allowed to continue and that no new fisheries would be allowed 
to use the area, (i.e., the action would freeze the footprint of 
fishing). He stated that removing all bottom tending mobile gear from 
these areas will have ``devastating impacts on current fisheries that 
have historically taken place near/in the coral zones.''
    Response: We disagree that the Council misled the fishing industry. 
The Council held a workshop with various stakeholders (including 
fishing industry participants) because of disagreement about how to set 
the coral protection area boundaries so that it would limit fishing but 
not have a high negative impact on fisheries. Environmental advocates, 
and deep-sea coral experts, as well as the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, 
and Butterfish Advisory Panel and the Ecosystems and Ocean Planning 
Advisory Panel attended the workshop. The workshop resulted in 
stakeholders working together to compromise on a set of boundaries for 
the 15 discrete deep-sea coral zones, which the Council subsequently 
selected as its preferred alternative. During the workshop to refine 
boundaries for coral zones, advisors assisted in developing boundaries 
that would allow for continued fishing just outside the gear restricted 
areas. As a result, the Council determined the economic impacts of this 
action will result in overall neutral

[[Page 90249]]

to moderate negative economic impacts for fishing businesses, depending 
on the fishery and assuming vessels will redistribute effort to offset 
impacts of the prohibition on fishing in some areas where they 
traditionally fished.
    Comment 9: One commenter stated that the Council has never provided 
any justification for the decision to allow fixed gear in the area when 
data show that fixed gear poses a greater threat to deep-sea coral than 
mobile gear.
    Response: The Council recommended the exemption for the red crab 
fishery because of the small size of the red crab fleet (three vessels) 
and because all red crab effort takes place at depths entirely within 
all of the proposed broad zone areas. Prohibiting red crab fishing in 
the coral protection area would have severely limited the red crab 
fishery and would have had excessively high negative economic impacts 
on red crab vessels.
    Comment 10: One commenter stated that there should be names on all 
fishing equipment assigned to fishing boats and loss of such equipment 
should require a fine of a million dollars if equipment is lost because 
it is causing massive marine death.
    Response: Lobster and red crab gear are already required to be 
marked to identify the vessel. Further, both of these gears are 
required to be compliant with the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction 
Plan to reduce injuries and deaths of large whales due to incidental 
entanglement in fishing gear. Details on the Atlantic Large Whale Take 
Reduction Plan can be found here: https://www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/Protected/whaletrp/.

Changes From Proposed Rule to Final Rule

    There are no changes from the proposed rule.

Classification

    Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the 
NMFS Assistant Administrator has determined that this final rule is 
consistent with the FMP, other provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, 
and other applicable law.
    The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has determined that this 
final rule is not significant according to Executive Order (E.O.) 
12866.
    This final 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 action does not contain any collection-of-information 
requirements subject the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA).
    NMFS, pursuant to section 604 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act 
(RFA), has completed a final regulatory flexibility analysis (FRFA) in 
support of Amendment 16 in this final rule. The FRFA incorporates the 
IRFA, a summary of the significant issues raised by the public comments 
in response to the IRFA, NMFS responses to those comments, a summary of 
the analyses completed in the Amendment 16 EA, and this portion of the 
preamble. A summary of the IRFA was published in the proposed rule for 
this action and is not repeated here. A description of why this action 
was considered, the objectives of, and the legal basis for this rule is 
contained in Amendment 16 and in the preamble to the proposed and this 
final rule, and is not repeated here. All of the documents that 
constitute the FRFA are available from NMFS and a copy of the IRFA, the 
Regulatory Impact Review (RIR), and the EA are available upon request 
(see ADDRESSES).

A Summary of the Significant Issues Raised by the Public in Response to 
the IRFA, a Summary of the Agency's Assessment of Such Issues, and a 
Statement of Any Changes Made in the Final Rule as a Result of Such 
Comments

    There were no specific comments on the IRFA. The Comments and 
Responses section summarizes the comments that highlight concerns about 
the economic impacts and implications of impacts on small businesses 
(i.e., comment 8). No comments were received from the Office of 
Advocacy for the Small Business Administration.

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

    On December 29, 2015, NMFS issued a final rule establishing a small 
business size standard of $11 million in annual gross receipts for all 
businesses primarily engaged in the commercial fishing industry (NAICS 
11411) for RFA compliance purposes only (80 FR 81194; December 29, 
2015). The $11 million standard became effective on July 1, 2016, and 
is to be used in place of the U.S. Small Business Administration's 
(SBA) current standards of $20.5 million, $5.5 million, and $7.5 
million for the finfish (NAICS 114111), shellfish (NAICS 114112), and 
other marine fishing (NAICS 114119) sectors of the U.S. commercial 
fishing industry in all NMFS rules subject to the RFA after July 1, 
2016 (Id. at 81194).
    The Council prepared the IRFA under the SBA standards and submitted 
the action for initial NMFS review in March 2016, prior to the July 1, 
2016, effective date of NMFS' new size standard for commercial fishing 
businesses, under the assumption that the proposed rule would also 
publish prior to the July 1, 2016, effective date. However, NMFS has 
reviewed the analyses prepared for this regulatory action in light of 
the new size standard. The new size standard could result in some of 
the large businesses being considered small, but, as explained below, 
this does not affect the conclusions of the analysis. The following 
summarizes the IRFA using the SBA definitions of small businesses.
    The deep-sea coral zones measures in association with other 
management measures within the coral zones could affect any business 
entity that has an active Federal fishing permit and fishes in the 
zone/gear restricted areas. In order to identify firms, vessel 
ownership data, which have been added to the permit database, were used 
to identify all the individuals who own fishing vessels. With this 
information, vessels were grouped together according to common owners. 
The resulting groupings were then treated as a fishing business (firm, 
affiliate, or entity), for purposes of identifying small and large 
firms. According to the ownership database, a total of 113 finfish 
firms (all small entities) fished in the Council's preferred broad and 
discrete zones during 2014. Also in 2014, there were 184 small and 16 
large shellfish entities. The ownership database shows that small 
finfish firms that operated in the Council's preferred broad and 
discrete zones generated average revenues that ranged from $18,344 (in 
2013) to $21,055 (in 2014). The ownership database shows that small 
shellfish firms that operated in the Council's preferred broad and 
discrete zones generated average revenues that ranged from $35,276 (in 
2014) to $58,723 (in 2012). The ownership database shows that large 
shellfish firms that operated in the Council's preferred broad and 
discrete zones generated average revenues that ranged from $146,901 (in 
2013) to $314,223 (in 2012).

Description of the Projected Reporting, Record-Keeping, and Other 
Compliance Requirements

    This action contains no new collection-of-information requirements 
subject to review and approval by the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). This action requires 
Illex squid vessels to install and operate VMS, and to declare Illex 
squid trips. However, NMFS has determined that all Illex squid vessels 
that will be affected by this action already have VMS. Because every 
Illex vessel has VMS,

[[Page 90250]]

they are already required to enter a trip declaration for every trip. 
Therefore, there is no additional reporting burden imposed by this 
action.

Description of the Steps the Agency Has Taken To Minimize the 
Significant Economic Impact on Small Entities Consistent With the 
Stated Objectives of Applicable Statutes

    During the development of Amendment 16, the Council considered 
several alternatives to the deep-sea coral protection measures it 
ultimately recommended. While some alternatives would have closed less 
area (smaller discrete zone areas and broad zone area starting at a 
deeper depth) and other alternatives would have allowed more fishing 
(an exemption for tilefish gear), NMFS has does not have the authority 
to implement measures that were not recommended by the Council as part 
of its preferred action. Rather, NMFS can only approve or disapprove 
Council recommendations in an amendment. NMFS, therefore, is 
implementing the Council's preferred action, but the action includes 
some measures that reduce the economic impact inherent in closing areas 
to fishing. Specifically, this final rule exempts red crab pot gear 
from the prohibition on fishing with bottom-tending fishing gear in the 
deep-sea coral protection area. The red crab fishery exists entirely 
within the boundaries of the deep-sea coral protection area in the Mid-
Atlantic. The exemption allows the fishery to continue to operate in 
the Mid-Atlantic and gain revenue from its catch. In addition, vessels 
are allowed to transit the deep-sea coral protection area, which is 
particularly important at the heads of the discrete zone canyons (where 
the boundaries come to a point). Because vessels fish with bottom-
tending gear along the edges of the canyons, they would have to transit 
around them to fish on both sides of the canyon. This would cost fuel 
and could ultimately impact trip duration and catch if vessel operators 
would have had to spend time transiting around the canyon heads rather 
than across them. Both the red crab pot gear exemption and the 
transiting provision therefore reduces cost and time and minimizes the 
economic impact of the measures implemented under this final rule.

Small Entity Compliance Guide

    Section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness 
Act of 1996 states that, for each rule or group of related rules for 
which an agency is required to prepare a final regulatory flexibility 
analysis, the agency shall publish one or more guides to assist small 
entities in complying with the rule, and shall designate such 
publications as ``small entity compliance guides.'' The agency shall 
explain the actions a small entity is required to take to comply with a 
rule or group of rules. The preamble to the proposed rule (81 FR 66245, 
September 27, 2016) and the preamble to this final rule serve as the 
small entity compliance guide. This final rule does not require any 
additional compliance from small entities that is not described in the 
preamble to the proposed rule and this final rule. Copies of the 
proposed rule and this final rule are available from NMFS at the 
following Web site: https://www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/sustainable/species/scallop/.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648

    Fisheries, Fishing, Recordkeeping and reporting requirements.

    Dated: December 7, 2016.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 648 is amended 
as follows:

PART 648--FISHERIES OF THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

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

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


0
2. In Sec.  648.10, add paragraphs (b)(11) and (p) to read as follows:


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

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (11) Vessels issued an Illex squid moratorium permit.
* * * * *
    (p) Illex squid VMS notification requirement. A vessel issued an 
Illex squid moratorium permit intending to declare into the Illex squid 
fishery must notify NMFS by declaring an Illex squid trip prior to 
leaving port at the start of each trip in order to harvest, possess, or 
land 10,000 lb (4,535.9 kg) or more of Illex squid on that trip.

0
3. In Sec.  648.14, add paragraph (b)(10) and revise paragraphs 
(g)(2)(v) heading and (g)(2)(v)(A) to read as follows:


Sec.  648.14   Prohibitions.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (10) Fish with bottom-tending gear within the Frank R. Lautenberg 
Deep-sea Coral Protection Area described at Sec.  648.27, unless 
transiting pursuant to Sec.  648.27(d), fishing lobster trap gear in 
accordance with Sec.  697.21 of this chapter, or fishing red crab trap 
gear in accordance with Sec.  648.264. Bottom-tending gear includes but 
is not limited to bottom-tending otter trawls, bottom-tending beam 
trawls, hydraulic dredges, non-hydraulic dredges, bottom-tending 
seines, bottom longlines, pots and traps, and sink or anchored gill 
nets.
* * * * *
    (g) * * *
    (2) * * *
    (v) Reporting requirements in the limited access Atlantic mackerel, 
longfin squid/butterfish, and Illex squid moratorium fisheries. (A) 
Fail to declare via VMS into the mackerel, longfin squid/butterfish, or 
Illex squid fisheries by entering the fishery code prior to leaving 
port at the start of each trip, if the vessel will harvest, possess, or 
land Atlantic mackerel, more than 2,500 lb (1,134 kg) of longfin squid, 
or more than 10,000 lb (4,535.9 kg) of Illex squid, and is issued a 
Limited Access Atlantic mackerel permit, longfin squid/butterfish 
moratorium permit, or Illex squid moratorium permit, pursuant to Sec.  
648.10.
* * * * *

0
4. In Sec.  648.25:
0
a. Revise paragraph (a)(1);
0
b. Redesignate paragraphs (a)(2), (a)(3), and (a)(4) as paragraphs 
(a)(3), (a)(4), and (a)(5); and
0
c. Add new paragraph (a)(2).
    The revisions and addition read as follows:


Sec.  648.25   Atlantic Mackerel, squid, and butterfish framework 
adjustments to management measures.

    (a) * * *
    (1) Adjustment process. The MAFMC shall develop and analyze 
appropriate management actions over the span of at least two MAFMC 
meetings. The MAFMC must provide the public with advance notice of the 
availability of the recommendation(s), appropriate justification(s) and 
economic and biological analyses, and the opportunity to comment on the 
proposed adjustment(s) at the first meeting and prior to and at the 
second MAFMC meeting. The MAFMC's recommendations on adjustments or 
additions to management measures must come from one or more of the 
following categories:
    (i) Adjustments within existing ABC control rule levels;
    (ii) Adjustments to the existing MAFMC risk policy;
    (iii) Introduction of new AMs, including sub-ACTs;

[[Page 90251]]

    (iv) Minimum and maximum fish size;
    (v) Gear restrictions, gear requirements or prohibitions;
    (vi) Permitting restrictions;
    (vii) Recreational possession limit, recreational seasons, and 
recreational harvest limit;
    (viii) Closed areas;
    (ix) Commercial seasons, commercial trip limits, commercial quota 
system, including commercial quota allocation procedure and possible 
quota set-asides to mitigate bycatch;
    (x) Annual specification quota setting process;
    (xi) FMP Monitoring Committee composition and process;
    (xii) Description and identification of EFH (and fishing gear 
management measures that impact EFH);
    (xiii) Description and identification of habitat areas of 
particular concern;
    (xiv) Overfishing definition and related thresholds and targets;
    (xv) Regional gear restrictions, regional season restrictions 
(including option to split seasons), regional management;
    (xvi) Restrictions on vessel size (LOA and GRT) or shaft 
horsepower;
    (xvii) Changes to the SBRM, including the CV-based performance 
standard, the means by which discard data are collected/obtained, 
fishery stratification, the process for prioritizing observer sea-day 
allocations, reports, and/or industry-funded observers or observer set 
aside programs;
    (xviii) Set aside quota for scientific research;
    (xix) Process for inseason adjustment to the annual specification;
    (xx) Mortality caps for river herring and shad species, time/area 
management for river herring and shad species, and provisions for river 
herring and shad incidental catch avoidance program, including 
adjustments to the mechanism and process for tracking fleet activity, 
reporting incidental catch events, compiling data, and notifying the 
fleet of changes to the area(s);
    (xxi) The definition/duration of `test tows,' if test tows would be 
utilized to determine the extent of river herring incidental catch in a 
particular area(s);
    (xxii) The threshold for river herring incidental catch that would 
trigger the need for vessels to be alerted and move out of the area(s), 
the distance that vessels would be required to move from the area(s), 
and the time that vessels would be required to remain out of the 
area(s);
    (xxiii) Modifications to the broad and discrete deep-sea coral zone 
boundaries and the addition of discrete deep-sea coral zones;
    (xxiv) Modifications to the management measures within the Frank R. 
Lautenberg Deep-sea Coral Protection Area and implementation of special 
access programs to the Frank R. Lautenberg Deep-sea Coral Protection 
Area; and
    (xxv) Any other management measures currently included in the FMP.
    (2) Measures contained within this list that require significant 
departures from previously contemplated measures or that are otherwise 
introducing new concepts may require amendment of the FMP instead of a 
framework adjustment.
* * * * *

0
5. Add Sec.  648.27 to subpart B to read as follows:


Sec.  648.27   Frank R. Lautenberg Deep-Sea Coral Protection Area.

    (a) No vessel may fish with bottom-tending gear within the Frank R. 
Lautenberg Deep-Sea Coral Protection Area described in this section, 
unless transiting pursuant to paragraph (d) of this section, fishing 
lobster trap gear in accordance with Sec.  697.21 of this chapter, or 
fishing red crab trap gear in accordance with Sec.  648.264. Bottom-
tending gear includes but is not limited to bottom-tending otter 
trawls, bottom-tending beam trawls, hydraulic dredges, non-hydraulic 
dredges, bottom-tending seines, bottom longlines, pots and traps, and 
sink or anchored gillnets. The Frank R. Lautenberg Deep-Sea Coral 
Protection Area consists of the Broad and Discrete Deep-Sea Coral Zones 
defined in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section.
    (b) Broad Deep-Sea Coral Zone. The Broad Deep-Sea Coral Zone is 
bounded on the east by the outer limit of the U.S. Exclusive Economic 
Zone, and bounded on all other sides 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). An 
asterisk (*) in the Discrete Zone column means the point is shared with 
a Discrete Deep-Sea Coral Zone, as defined in paragraph (c) of this 
section.

                               Broad Zone
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Discrete
            Point                Latitude        Longitude       zone
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1...........................  36[deg]33.02'   71[deg]29.33'   ..........
                               N.              W.
2...........................  36[deg]33.02'   72[deg]00' W.   ..........
                               N.
3...........................  36[deg]33.02'   73[deg]00' W.   ..........
                               N.
4...........................  36[deg]33.02'   74[deg]00' W.   ..........
                               N.
5...........................  36[deg]33.02'   74[deg]42.14'   ..........
                               N.              W.
6...........................  36[deg]34.44'   74[deg]42.23'   ..........
                               N.              W.
7...........................  36[deg]35.53'   74[deg]41.59'   ..........
                               N.              W.
8...........................  36[deg]37.69'   74[deg]41.51'   ..........
                               N.              W.
9...........................  36[deg]42.09'   74[deg]39.07'   ..........
                               N.              W.
10..........................  36[deg]45.18'   74[deg]38' W.   ..........
                               N.
11..........................  36[deg]45.69'   74[deg]38.55'   ..........
                               N.              W.
12..........................  36[deg]49.17'   74[deg]38.31'   ..........
                               N.              W.
13..........................  36[deg]49.56'   74[deg]37.77'   ..........
                               N.              W.
14..........................  36[deg]51.21'   74[deg]37.81'   ..........
                               N.              W.
15..........................  36[deg]51.78'   74[deg]37.43'   ..........
                               N.              W.
16..........................  36[deg]58.51'   74[deg]36.51'           *
                               N.              W.
17..........................  36[deg]58.62'   74[deg]36.97'           *
                               N.              W.
18..........................  37[deg]4.43'    74[deg]41.03'           *
                               N.              W.
19..........................  37[deg]5.83'    74[deg]45.57'           *
                               N.              W.
20..........................  37[deg]6.97'    74[deg]40.8'            *
                               N.              W.
21..........................  37[deg]4.52'    74[deg]37.77'           *
                               N.              W.
22..........................  37[deg]4.02'    74[deg]33.83'           *
                               N.              W.
23..........................  37[deg]4.52'    74[deg]33.51'           *
                               N.              W.
24..........................  37[deg]4.4' N.  74[deg]33.11'           *
                                               W.
25..........................  37[deg]7.38'    74[deg]31.95'   ..........
                               N.              W.
26..........................  37[deg]8.32'    74[deg]32.4'    ..........
                               N.              W.
27..........................  37[deg]8.51'    74[deg]31.38'   ..........
                               N.              W.
28..........................  37[deg]9.44'    74[deg]31.5'    ..........
                               N.              W.
29..........................  37[deg]16.83'   74[deg]28.58'   ..........
                               N.              W.
30..........................  37[deg]17.81'   74[deg]27.67'   ..........
                               N.              W.
31..........................  37[deg]18.72'   74[deg]28.22'   ..........
                               N.              W.
32..........................  37[deg]22.74'   74[deg]26.24'           *
                               N.              W.
33..........................  37[deg]22.87'   74[deg]26.16'           *
                               N.              W.
34..........................  37[deg]24.44'   74[deg]28.57'           *
                               N.              W.
35..........................  37[deg]24.67'   74[deg]29.71'           *
                               N.              W.
36..........................  37[deg]25.93'   74[deg]30.13'           *
                               N.              W.
37..........................  37[deg]27.25'   74[deg]30.2'            *
                               N.              W.
38..........................  37[deg]28.6'    74[deg]30.6'            *
                               N.              W.
39..........................  37[deg]29.43'   74[deg]30.29'           *
                               N.              W.
40..........................  37[deg]29.53'   74[deg]29.95'           *
                               N.              W.
41..........................  37[deg]27.68'   74[deg]28.82'           *
                               N.              W.
42..........................  37[deg]27.06'   74[deg]28.76'           *
                               N.              W.
43..........................  37[deg]26.39'   74[deg]27.76'           *
                               N.              W.
44..........................  37[deg]26.3'    74[deg]26.87'           *
                               N.              W.
45..........................  37[deg]25.69'   74[deg]25.63'           *
                               N.              W.
46..........................  37[deg]25.83'   74[deg]24.22'           *
                               N.              W.
47..........................  37[deg]25.68'   74[deg]24.03'           *
                               N.              W.
48..........................  37[deg]28.04'   74[deg]23.17'   ..........
                               N.              W.
49..........................  37[deg]27.72'   74[deg]22.34'   ..........
                               N.              W.
50..........................  37[deg]30.13'   74[deg]17.77'   ..........
                               N.              W.
51..........................  37[deg]33.83'   74[deg]17.47'   ..........
                               N.              W.
52..........................  37[deg]35.48'   74[deg]14.84'   ..........
                               N.              W.
53..........................  37[deg]36.99'   74[deg]14.01'   ..........
                               N.              W.
54..........................  37[deg]37.23'   74[deg]13.02'   ..........
                               N.              W.
55..........................  37[deg]42.85'   74[deg]9.97'    ..........
                               N.              W.
56..........................  37[deg]43.5'    74[deg]8.79'    ..........
                               N.              W.
57..........................  37[deg]45.22'   74[deg]9.2' W.  ..........
                               N.
58..........................  37[deg]45.15'   74[deg]7.24'            *
                               N.              W.
59..........................  37[deg]45.88'   74[deg]7.44'            *
                               N.              W.
60..........................  37[deg]46.7'    74[deg]5.98'            *
                               N.              W.
61..........................  37[deg]49.62'   74[deg]6.03'            *
                               N.              W.
62..........................  37[deg]51.25'   74[deg]5.48'            *
                               N.              W.
63..........................  37[deg]51.99'   74[deg]4.51'            *
                               N.              W.
64..........................  37[deg]51.37'   74[deg]3.3' W.          *
                               N.
65..........................  37[deg]50.63'   74[deg]2.69'            *
                               N.              W.
66..........................  37[deg]49.62'   74[deg]2.28'            *
                               N.              W.
67..........................  37[deg]50.28'   74[deg]0.67'            *
                               N.              W.
68..........................  37[deg]53.68'   73[deg]57.41'           *
                               N.              W.
69..........................  37[deg]55.07'   73[deg]57.27'           *
                               N.              W.
70..........................  38[deg]3.29'    73[deg]49.1'            *
                               N.              W.
71..........................  38[deg]6.19'    73[deg]51.59'           *
                               N.              W.
72..........................  38[deg]7.67'    73[deg]52.19'           *
                               N.              W.
73..........................  38[deg]9.04'    73[deg]52.39'           *
                               N.              W.
74..........................  38[deg]10.1'    73[deg]52.32'           *
                               N.              W.
75..........................  38[deg]11.98'   73[deg]52.65'           *
                               N.              W.
76..........................  38[deg]13.74'   73[deg]50.73'           *
                               N.              W.
77..........................  38[deg]13.15'   73[deg]49.77'           *
                               N.              W.
78..........................  38[deg]10.92'   73[deg]50.37'           *
                               N.              W.
79..........................  38[deg]10.2'    73[deg]49.63'           *
                               N.              W.
80..........................  38[deg]9.26'    73[deg]49.68'           *
                               N.              W.
81..........................  38[deg]8.38'    73[deg]49.51'           *
                               N.              W.
82..........................  38[deg]7.59'    73[deg]47.91'           *
                               N.              W.
83..........................  38[deg]6.96'    73[deg]47.25'           *
                               N.              W.
84..........................  38[deg]6.51'    73[deg]46.99'           *
                               N.              W.
85..........................  38[deg]5.69'    73[deg]45.56'           *
                               N.              W.
86..........................  38[deg]6.35'    73[deg]44.8'            *
                               N.              W.
87..........................  38[deg]7.5' N.  73[deg]45.2'            *
                                               W.
88..........................  38[deg]9.24'    73[deg]42.61'           *
                               N.              W.
89..........................  38[deg]9.41'    73[deg]41.63'   ..........
                               N.              W.
90..........................  38[deg]15.13'   73[deg]37.58'   ..........
                               N.              W.
91..........................  38[deg]15.25'   73[deg]36.2'            *
                               N.              W.
92..........................  38[deg]16.19'   73[deg]36.91'           *
                               N.              W.

[[Page 90252]]

 
93..........................  38[deg]16.89'   73[deg]36.66'           *
                               N.              W.
94..........................  38[deg]16.91'   73[deg]36.35'           *
                               N.              W.
95..........................  38[deg]17.63'   73[deg]35.35'           *
                               N.              W.
96..........................  38[deg]18.55'   73[deg]34.44'           *
                               N.              W.
97..........................  38[deg]18.38'   73[deg]33.4'            *
                               N.              W.
98..........................  38[deg]19.04'   73[deg]33.02'           *
                               N.              W.
99..........................  38[deg]25.08'   73[deg]34.99'           *
                               N.              W.
100.........................  38[deg]26.32'   73[deg]33.44'           *
                               N.              W.
101.........................  38[deg]29.72'   73[deg]30.65'           *
                               N.              W.
102.........................  38[deg]28.65'   73[deg]29.37'           *
                               N.              W.
103.........................  38[deg]25.53'   73[deg]30.94'           *
                               N.              W.
104.........................  38[deg]25.26'   73[deg]29.97'           *
                               N.              W.
105.........................  38[deg]23.75'   73[deg]30.16'           *
                               N.              W.
106.........................  38[deg]23.47'   73[deg]29.7'            *
                               N.              W.
107.........................  38[deg]22.76'   73[deg]29.34'           *
                               N.              W.
108.........................  38[deg]22.5'    73[deg]27.63'           *
                               N.              W.
109.........................  38[deg]21.59'   73[deg]26.87'           *
                               N.              W.
110.........................  38[deg]23.07'   73[deg]24.11'   ..........
                               N.              W.
111.........................  38[deg]25.83'   73[deg]22.39'   ..........
                               N.              W.
112.........................  38[deg]25.97'   73[deg]21.43'   ..........
                               N.              W.
113.........................  38[deg]34.14'   73[deg]11.14'           *
                               N.              W.
114.........................  38[deg]35.1'    73[deg]10.43'           *
                               N.              W.
115.........................  38[deg]35.94'   73[deg]11.25'           *
                               N.              W.
116.........................  38[deg]37.57'   73[deg]10.49'           *
                               N.              W.
117.........................  38[deg]37.21'   73[deg]9.41'            *
                               N.              W.
118.........................  38[deg]36.72'   73[deg]8.85'            *
                               N.              W.
119.........................  38[deg]43' N.   73[deg]1.24'            *
                                               W.
120.........................  38[deg]43.66'   73[deg]0.36'            *
                               N.              W.
121.........................  38[deg]45' N.   73[deg]0.27'            *
                                               W.
122.........................  38[deg]46.68'   73[deg]1.07'            *
                               N.              W.
123.........................  38[deg]47.54'   73[deg]2.24'            *
                               N.              W.
124.........................  38[deg]47.84'   73[deg]2.24'            *
                               N.              W.
125.........................  38[deg]49.03'   73[deg]1.53'            *
                               N.              W.
126.........................  38[deg]48.45'   73[deg]1' W.            *
                               N.
127.........................  38[deg]49.15'   72[deg]58.98'           *
                               N.              W.
128.........................  38[deg]48.03'   72[deg]56.7'            *
                               N.              W.
129.........................  38[deg]49.84'   72[deg]55.54'           *
                               N.              W.
130.........................  38[deg]52.4'    72[deg]52.5'            *
                               N.              W.
131.........................  38[deg]53.87'   72[deg]53.36'           *
                               N.              W.
132.........................  38[deg]54.17'   72[deg]52.58'           *
                               N.              W.
133.........................  38[deg]54.7'    72[deg]50.26'           *
                               N.              W.
134.........................  38[deg]57.2'    72[deg]47.74'           *
                               N.              W.
135.........................  38[deg]58.64'   72[deg]48.35'           *
                               N.              W.
136.........................  38[deg]59.3'    72[deg]47.86'           *
                               N.              W.
137.........................  38[deg]59.22'   72[deg]46.69'           *
                               N.              W.
138.........................  39[deg]0.13'    72[deg]45.47'           *
                               N.              W.
139.........................  39[deg]1.69'    72[deg]45.74'           *
                               N.              W.
140.........................  39[deg]1.49'    72[deg]43.67'           *
                               N.              W.
141.........................  39[deg]3.9' N.  72[deg]40.83'           *
                                               W.
142.........................  39[deg]7.35'    72[deg]41.26'           *
                               N.              W.
143.........................  39[deg]7.16'    72[deg]37.21'           *
                               N.              W.
144.........................  39[deg]6.52'    72[deg]35.78'           *
                               N.              W.
145.........................  39[deg]11.73'   72[deg]25.4'            *
                               N.              W.
146.........................  39[deg]11.76'   72[deg]22.33'   ..........
                               N.              W.
147.........................  39[deg]19.08'   72[deg]9.56'            *
                               N.              W.
148.........................  39[deg]25.17'   72[deg]13.03'           *
                               N.              W.
149.........................  39[deg]28.8'    72[deg]17.39'           *
                               N.              W.
150.........................  39[deg]30.16'   72[deg]20.41'           *
                               N.              W.
151.........................  39[deg]31.38'   72[deg]23.86'           *
                               N.              W.
152.........................  39[deg]32.55'   72[deg]25.07'           *
                               N.              W.
153.........................  39[deg]34.57'   72[deg]25.18'           *
                               N.              W.
154.........................  39[deg]34.53'   72[deg]24.23'           *
                               N.              W.
155.........................  39[deg]33.17'   72[deg]24.1'            *
                               N.              W.
156.........................  39[deg]32.07'   72[deg]22.77'           *
                               N.              W.
157.........................  39[deg]32.17'   72[deg]22.08'           *
                               N.              W.
158.........................  39[deg]30.3'    72[deg]15.71'           *
                               N.              W.
159.........................  39[deg]29.49'   72[deg]14.3'            *
                               N.              W.
160.........................  39[deg]29.44'   72[deg]13.24'           *
                               N.              W.
161.........................  39[deg]27.63'   72[deg]5.87'            *
                               N.              W.
162.........................  39[deg]28.26'   72[deg]2.2' W.          *
                               N.
163.........................  39[deg]29.88'   72[deg]3.51'            *
                               N.              W.
164.........................  39[deg]30.57'   72[deg]3.47'            *
                               N.              W.
165.........................  39[deg]31.28'   72[deg]2.63'            *
                               N.              W.
166.........................  39[deg]31.46'   72[deg]1.41'            *
                               N.              W.
167.........................  39[deg]37.15'   71[deg]55.85'           *
                               N.              W.
168.........................  39[deg]39.77'   71[deg]53.7'            *
                               N.              W.
169.........................  39[deg]41.5'    71[deg]51.89'   ..........
                               N.              W.
170.........................  39[deg]43.84'   71[deg]44.85'           *
                               N.              W.
171.........................  39[deg]48.01'   71[deg]45.19'           *
                               N.              W.
172.........................  39[deg]49.97'   71[deg]39.29'           *
                               N.              W.
173.........................  39[deg]55.08'   71[deg]18.62'           *
                               N.              W.
174.........................  39[deg]55.99'   71[deg]16.07'           *
                               N.              W.
175.........................  39[deg]57.04'   70[deg]50.01'   ..........
                               N.              W.
176.........................  39[deg]55.07'   70[deg]32.42'   ..........
                               N.              W.
177.........................  39[deg]50.24'   70[deg]27.78'   ..........
                               N.              W.
178.........................  39[deg]42.18'   70[deg]20.09'   ..........
                               N.              W.
179.........................  39[deg]34.11'   70[deg]12.42'   ..........
                               N.              W.
180.........................  39[deg]26.04'   70[deg]4.78'    ..........
                               N.              W.
181.........................  39[deg]17.96'   69[deg]57.18'   ..........
                               N.              W.
182.........................  39[deg]9.87'    69[deg]49.6'    ..........
                               N.              W.
183.........................  39[deg]1.77'    69[deg]42.05'   ..........
                               N.              W.
184.........................  38[deg]53.66'   69[deg]34.53'   ..........
                               N.              W.
185.........................  38[deg]45.54'   69[deg]27.03'   ..........
                               N.              W.
186.........................  38[deg]37.42'   69[deg]19.57'   ..........
                               N.              W.
187.........................  38[deg]29.29'   69[deg]12.13'   ..........
                               N.              W.
188.........................  38[deg]21.15'   69[deg]4.73'    ..........
                               N.              W.
189.........................  38[deg]13' N.   68[deg]57.35'   ..........
                                               W.
190.........................  38[deg]4.84'    68[deg]49.99'   ..........
                               N.              W.
191.........................  38[deg]2.21'    68[deg]47.62'   ..........
                               N.              W.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (c) Discrete Deep-Sea Coral Zones. (1) Block Canyon. Block Canyon 
discrete deep-sea coral zone 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). 
An asterisk (*) in the Broad Zone column means the point is shared with 
the Broad Deep-Sea Coral Zone, as defined in paragraph (b) of this 
section.

                              Block Canyon
------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Point                Latitude        Longitude    Broad zone
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1...........................  39[deg]55.08'   71[deg]18.62'           *
                               N.              W.
2...........................  39[deg]55.99'   71[deg]16.07'           *
                               N.              W.
3...........................  39[deg]49.51'   71[deg]12.12'   ..........
                               N.              W.
4...........................  39[deg]38.09'   71[deg]9.5' W.  ..........
                               N.
5...........................  39[deg]37.4'    71[deg]11.87'   ..........
                               N.              W.
6...........................  39[deg]47.26'   71[deg]17.38'   ..........
                               N.              W.
7...........................  39[deg]52.6'    71[deg]17.51'   ..........
                               N.              W.
1...........................  39[deg]55.08'   71[deg]18.62'           *
                               N.              W.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (2) Ryan and McMaster Canyons. Ryan and McMaster Canyons discrete 
deep-sea coral zone 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). An 
asterisk (*) in the Broad Zone column means the point is shared with 
the Broad Deep-sea Coral Zone, as defined in paragraph (b) of this 
section.

                        Ryan and McMaster Canyons
------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Point                Latitude        Longitude    Broad zone
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1...........................  39[deg]43.84'   71[deg]44.85'           *
                               N.              W.
2...........................  39[deg]48.01'   71[deg]45.19'           *
                               N.              W.
3...........................  39[deg]49.97'   71[deg]39.29'           *
                               N.              W.
4...........................  39[deg]48.29'   71[deg]37.18'   ..........
                               N.              W.
5...........................  39[deg]42.96'   71[deg]35.01'   ..........
                               N.              W.
6...........................  39[deg]33.43'   71[deg]27.91'   ..........
                               N.              W.
7...........................  39[deg]31.75'   71[deg]30.77'   ..........
                               N.              W.
8...........................  39[deg]34.46'   71[deg]35.68'   ..........
                               N.              W.
9...........................  39[deg]40.12'   71[deg]42.36'   ..........
                               N.              W.
1...........................  39[deg]43.84'   71[deg]44.85'           *
                               N.              W.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (3) Emery and Uchupi Canyons. Emery and Uchupi Canyons discrete 
deep-sea coral zone 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). An 
asterisk (*) in the Broad Zone column means the point is shared with 
the Broad Deep-sea Coral Zone, as defined in paragraph (b) of this 
section.

                        Emery and Uchupi Canyons
------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Point                Latitude        Longitude    Broad zone
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1...........................  39[deg]37.15'   71[deg]55.85'           *
                               N.              W.
2...........................  39[deg]39.77'   71[deg]53.7'            *
                               N.              W.
3...........................  39[deg]39.55'   71[deg]47.68'   ..........
                               N.              W.
4...........................  39[deg]30.78'   71[deg]36.24'   ..........
                               N.              W.
5...........................  39[deg]27.26'   71[deg]39.13'   ..........
                               N.              W.
6...........................  39[deg]28.99'   71[deg]45.47'   ..........
                               N.              W.
7...........................  39[deg]33.91'   71[deg]52.61'   ..........
                               N.              W.
1...........................  39[deg]37.15'   71[deg]55.85'           *
                               N.              W.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (4) Jones and Babylon Canyons. Jones and Babylon Canyons discrete 
deep-sea coral zone 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). An 
asterisk (*) in the Broad Zone column means the point is shared with 
the Broad Deep-sea Coral Zone, as defined in paragraph (b) of this 
section.

                        Jones and Babylon Canyons
------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Point                Latitude        Longitude    Broad zone
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1...........................  39[deg]28.26'   72[deg]2.2' W.          *
                               N.
2...........................  39[deg]29.88'   72[deg]3.51'            *
                               N.              W.
3...........................  39[deg]30.57'   72[deg]3.47'            *
                               N.              W.
4...........................  39[deg]31.28'   72[deg]2.63'            *
                               N.              W.
5...........................  39[deg]31.46'   72[deg]1.41'            *
                               N.              W.
6...........................  39[deg]30.37'   71[deg]57.72'   ..........
                               N.              W.
7...........................  39[deg]30.63'   71[deg]55.13'   ..........
                               N.              W.
8...........................  39[deg]23.81'   71[deg]48.15'   ..........
                               N.              W.
9...........................  39[deg]23' N.   71[deg]52.48'   ..........
                                               W.
1...........................  39[deg]28.26'   72[deg]2.2' W.          *
                               N.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (5) Hudson Canyon. Hudson Canyon discrete deep-sea coral zone 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). An asterisk (*) in the Broad Zone 
column means the point is shared with the Broad Deep-Sea Coral Zone, as 
defined in paragraph (b) of this section.

                              Hudson Canyon
------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Point                Latitude        Longitude    Broad zone
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1...........................  39[deg]19.08'   72[deg]9.56'            *
                               N.              W.
2...........................  39[deg]25.17'   72[deg]13.03'           *
                               N.              W.
3...........................  39[deg]28.8'    72[deg]17.39'           *
                               N.              W.
4...........................  39[deg]30.16'   72[deg]20.41'           *
                               N.              W.
5...........................  39[deg]31.38'   72[deg]23.86'           *
                               N.              W.

[[Page 90253]]

 
6...........................  39[deg]32.55'   72[deg]25.07'           *
                               N.              W.
7...........................  39[deg]34.57'   72[deg]25.18'           *
                               N.              W.
8...........................  39[deg]34.53'   72[deg]24.23'           *
                               N.              W.
9...........................  39[deg]33.17'   72[deg]24.1'            *
                               N.              W.
10..........................  39[deg]32.07'   72[deg]22.77'           *
                               N.              W.
11..........................  39[deg]32.17'   72[deg]22.08'           *
                               N.              W.
12..........................  39[deg]30.3'    72[deg]15.71'           *
                               N.              W.
13..........................  39[deg]29.49'   72[deg]14.3'            *
                               N.              W.
14..........................  39[deg]29.44'   72[deg]13.24'           *
                               N.              W.
15..........................  39[deg]27.63'   72[deg]5.87'            *
                               N.              W.
16..........................  39[deg]13.93'   71[deg]48.44'   ..........
                               N.              W.
17..........................  39[deg]10.39'   71[deg]52.98'   ..........
                               N.              W.
18..........................  39[deg]14.27'   72[deg]3.09'    ..........
                               N.              W.
1...........................  39[deg]19.08'   72[deg]9.56'            *
                               N.              W.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (6) Mey-Lindenkohl Slope. Mey-Lindenkohl Slope discrete deep-sea 
coral zone 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). An asterisk 
(*) in the Broad Zone column means the point is shared with the Broad 
Deep-Sea Coral Zone, as defined in paragraph (b) of this section.

                          Mey-Lindenkohl Slope
------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Point                Latitude        Longitude    Broad zone
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1...........................  38[deg]43' N.   73[deg]1.24'            *
                                               W.
2...........................  38[deg]43.66'   73[deg]0.36'            *
                               N.              W.
3...........................  38[deg]45' N.   73[deg]0.27'            *
                                               W.
4...........................  38[deg]46.68'   73[deg]1.07'            *
                               N.              W.
5...........................  38[deg]47.54'   73[deg]2.24'            *
                               N.              W.
6...........................  38[deg]47.84'   73[deg]2.24'            *
                               N.              W.
7...........................  38[deg]49.03'   73[deg]1.53'            *
                               N.              W.
8...........................  38[deg]48.45'   73[deg]1' W.            *
                               N.
9...........................  38[deg]49.15'   72[deg]58.98'           *
                               N.              W.
10..........................  38[deg]48.03'   72[deg]56.7'            *
                               N.              W.
11..........................  38[deg]49.84'   72[deg]55.54'           *
                               N.              W.
12..........................  38[deg]52.4'    72[deg]52.5'            *
                               N.              W.
13..........................  38[deg]53.87'   72[deg]53.36'           *
                               N.              W.
14..........................  38[deg]54.17'   72[deg]52.58'           *
                               N.              W.
15..........................  38[deg]54.7'    72[deg]50.26'           *
                               N.              W.
16..........................  38[deg]57.2'    72[deg]47.74'           *
                               N.              W.
17..........................  38[deg]58.64'   72[deg]48.35'           *
                               N.              W.
18..........................  38[deg]59.3'    72[deg]47.86'           *
                               N.              W.
19..........................  38[deg]59.22'   72[deg]46.69'           *
                               N.              W.
20..........................  39[deg]0.13'    72[deg]45.47'           *
                               N.              W.
21..........................  39[deg]1.69'    72[deg]45.74'           *
                               N.              W.
22..........................  39[deg]1.49'    72[deg]43.67'           *
                               N.              W.
23..........................  39[deg]3.9' N.  72[deg]40.83'           *
                                               W.
24..........................  39[deg]7.35'    72[deg]41.26'           *
                               N.              W.
25..........................  39[deg]7.16'    72[deg]37.21'           *
                               N.              W.
26..........................  39[deg]6.52'    72[deg]35.78'           *
                               N.              W.
27..........................  39[deg]11.73'   72[deg]25.4'            *
                               N.              W.
28..........................  38[deg]58.85'   72[deg]11.78'   ..........
                               N.              W.
29..........................  38[deg]32.39'   72[deg]47.69'   ..........
                               N.              W.
30..........................  38[deg]34.88'   72[deg]53.78'   ..........
                               N.              W.
1...........................  38[deg]43' N.   73[deg]1.24'            *
                                               W.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (7) Spencer Canyon. Spencer Canyon discrete deep-sea coral zone 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). An asterisk (*) in the Broad Zone 
column means the point is shared with the Broad Deep-Sea Coral Zone, as 
defined in paragraph (b) of this section.

                             Spencer Canyon
------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Point                Latitude        Longitude    Broad zone
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1...........................  38[deg]34.14'   73[deg]11.14'           *
                               N.              W.
2...........................  38[deg]35.1'    73[deg]10.43'           *
                               N.              W.
3...........................  38[deg]35.94'   73[deg]11.25'           *
                               N.              W.
4...........................  38[deg]37.57'   73[deg]10.49'           *
                               N.              W.
5...........................  38[deg]37.21'   73[deg]9.41'            *
                               N.              W.
6...........................  38[deg]36.72'   73[deg]8.85'            *
                               N.              W.
7...........................  38[deg]36.59'   73[deg]8.25'    ..........
                               N.              W.
8...........................  38[deg]28.94'   72[deg]58.96'   ..........
                               N.              W.
9...........................  38[deg]26.45'   73[deg]3.24'    ..........
                               N.              W.
1...........................  38[deg]34.14'   73[deg]11.14'           *
                               N.              W.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (8) Wilmington Canyon. Wilmington Canyon discrete deep-sea coral 
zone 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). An asterisk (*) in the 
Broad Zone column means the point is shared with the Broad Deep-sea 
Coral Zone, as defined in paragraph (b) of this section.

                            Wilmington Canyon
------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Point                Latitude        Longitude    Broad zone
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1...........................  38[deg]19.04'   73[deg]33.02'           *
                               N.              W.
2...........................  38[deg]25.08'   73[deg]34.99'           *
                               N.              W.
3...........................  38[deg]26.32'   73[deg]33.44'           *
                               N.              W.
4...........................  38[deg]29.72'   73[deg]30.65'           *
                               N.              W.
5...........................  38[deg]28.65'   73[deg]29.37'           *
                               N.              W.
6...........................  38[deg]25.53'   73[deg]30.94'           *
                               N.              W.
7...........................  38[deg]25.26'   73[deg]29.97'           *
                               N.              W.
8...........................  38[deg]23.75'   73[deg]30.16'           *
                               N.              W.
9...........................  38[deg]23.47'   73[deg]29.7'            *
                               N.              W.
10..........................  38[deg]22.76'   73[deg]29.34'           *
                               N.              W.
11..........................  38[deg]22.5'    73[deg]27.63'           *
                               N.              W.
12..........................  38[deg]21.59'   73[deg]26.87'           *
                               N.              W.
13..........................  38[deg]18.52'   73[deg]22.95'   ..........
                               N.              W.
14..........................  38[deg]14.41'   73[deg]16.64'   ..........
                               N.              W.
15..........................  38[deg]13.23'   73[deg]17.32'   ..........
                               N.              W.
16..........................  38[deg]15.79'   73[deg]26.38'   ..........
                               N.              W.
1...........................  38[deg]19.04'   73[deg]33.02'           *
                               N.              W.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (9) North Heyes and South Wilmington Canyons. North Heyes and South 
Wilmington Canyons discrete deep-sea coral zone 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). An asterisk (*) in the Broad Zone column means the point 
is shared with the Broad Deep-Sea Coral Zone, as defined in paragraph 
(b) of this section.

                North Heyes and South Wilmington Canyons
------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Point                Latitude        Longitude    Broad zone
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1...........................  38[deg]15.25'   73[deg]36.2'            *
                               N.              W.
2...........................  38[deg]16.19'   73[deg]36.91'           *
                               N.              W.
3...........................  38[deg]16.89'   73[deg]36.66'           *
                               N.              W.
4...........................  38[deg]16.91'   73[deg]36.35'           *
                               N.              W.
5...........................  38[deg]17.63'   73[deg]35.35'           *
                               N.              W.
6...........................  38[deg]18.55'   73[deg]34.44'           *
                               N.              W.
7...........................  38[deg]18.38'   73[deg]33.4'            *
                               N.              W.
8...........................  38[deg]19.04'   73[deg]33.02'           *
                               N.              W.
9...........................  38[deg]15.79'   73[deg]26.38'   ..........
                               N.              W.
10..........................  38[deg]14.98'   73[deg]24.73'   ..........
                               N.              W.
11..........................  38[deg]12.32'   73[deg]21.22'   ..........
                               N.              W.
12..........................  38[deg]11.06'   73[deg]22.21'   ..........
                               N.              W.
13..........................  38[deg]11.13'   73[deg]28.72'   ..........
                               N.              W.
1...........................  38[deg]15.25'   73[deg]36.2'            *
                               N.              W.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (10) South Vries Canyon. South Vries Canyon discrete deep-sea coral 
zone 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). An asterisk (*) in the 
Broad Zone column means the point is shared with the Broad Deep-Sea 
Coral Zone, as defined in paragraph (b) of this section.

                           South Vries Canyon
------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Point                Latitude        Longitude    Broad zone
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1...........................  38[deg]6.35'    73[deg]44.8'            *
                               N.              W.
2...........................  38[deg]7.5' N.  73[deg]45.2'            *
                                               W.
3...........................  38[deg]9.24'    73[deg]42.61'           *
                               N.              W.
4...........................  38[deg]3.22'    73[deg]29.22'   ..........
                               N.              W.
5...........................  38[deg]2.38'    73[deg]29.78'   ..........
                               N.              W.
6...........................  38[deg]2.54'    73[deg]36.73'   ..........
                               N.              W.
1...........................  38[deg]6.35'    73[deg]44.8'            *
                               N.              W.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (11) Baltimore Canyon. Baltimore Canyon discrete deep-sea coral 
zone 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). An asterisk (*) in the 
Broad Zone column means the point is shared with the Broad Deep-Sea 
Coral Zone, as defined in paragraph (b) of this section.

                            Baltimore Canyon
------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Point                Latitude        Longitude    Broad zone
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1...........................  38[deg]3.29'    73[deg]49.1'            *
                               N.              W.
2...........................  38[deg]6.19'    73[deg]51.59'           *
                               N.              W.
3...........................  38[deg]7.67'    73[deg]52.19'           *
                               N.              W.
4...........................  38[deg]9.04'    73[deg]52.39'           *
                               N.              W.
5...........................  38[deg]10.1'    73[deg]52.32'           *
                               N.              W.
6...........................  38[deg]11.98'   73[deg]52.65'           *
                               N.              W.
7...........................  38[deg]13.74'   73[deg]50.73'           *
                               N.              W.
8...........................  38[deg]13.15'   73[deg]49.77'           *
                               N.              W.
9...........................  38[deg]10.92'   73[deg]50.37'           *
                               N.              W.
10..........................  38[deg]10.2'    73[deg]49.63'           *
                               N.              W.
11..........................  38[deg]9.26'    73[deg]49.68'           *
                               N.              W.
12..........................  38[deg]8.38'    73[deg]49.51'           *
                               N.              W.
13..........................  38[deg]7.59'    73[deg]47.91'           *
                               N.              W.
14..........................  38[deg]6.96'    73[deg]47.25'           *
                               N.              W.
15..........................  38[deg]6.51'    73[deg]46.99'           *
                               N.              W.
16..........................  38[deg]5.69'    73[deg]45.56'           *
                               N.              W.
17..........................  38[deg]6.35'    73[deg]44.8'            *
                               N.              W.
18..........................  38[deg]2.54'    73[deg]36.73'   ..........
                               N.              W.
19..........................  37[deg]59.19'   73[deg]40.67'   ..........
                               N.              W.
1...........................  38[deg]3.29'    73[deg]49.1'            *
                               N.              W.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (12) Warr and Phoenix Canyon Complex. Warr and Phoenix Canyon

[[Page 90254]]

Complex discrete deep-sea coral zone 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). An asterisk (*) in the Broad Zone column means the point is 
shared with the Broad Deep-Sea Coral Zone, as defined in paragraph (b) 
of this section.

                     Warr and Phoenix Canyon Complex
------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Point                Latitude        Longitude    Broad zone
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1...........................  37[deg]53.68'   73[deg]57.41'           *
                               N.              W.
2...........................  37[deg]55.07'   73[deg]57.27'           *
                               N.              W.
3...........................  38[deg]3.29'    73[deg]49.1'            *
                               N.              W.
4...........................  37[deg]59.19'   73[deg]40.67'   ..........
                               N.              W.
5...........................  37[deg]52.5'    73[deg]35.28'   ..........
                               N.              W.
6...........................  37[deg]50.92'   73[deg]36.59'   ..........
                               N.              W.
7...........................  37[deg]49.84'   73[deg]47.11'   ..........
                               N.              W.
1...........................  37[deg]53.68'   73[deg]57.41'           *
                               N.              W.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (13) Accomac and Leonard Canyons. Accomac and Leonard Canyons 
discrete deep-sea coral zone 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). 
An asterisk (*) in the Broad Zone column means the point is shared with 
the Broad Deep-Sea Coral Zone, as defined in paragraph (b) of this 
section.

                       Accomac and Leonard Canyons
------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Point                Latitude        Longitude    Broad zone
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1...........................  37[deg]45.15'   74[deg]7.24'            *
                               N.              W.
2...........................  37[deg]45.88'   74[deg]7.44'            *
                               N.              W.
3...........................  37[deg]46.7'    74[deg]5.98'            *
                               N.              W.
4...........................  37[deg]49.62'   74[deg]6.03'            *
                               N.              W.
5...........................  37[deg]51.25'   74[deg]5.48'            *
                               N.              W.
6...........................  37[deg]51.99'   74[deg]4.51'            *
                               N.              W.
7...........................  37[deg]51.37'   74[deg]3.3' W.          *
                               N.
8...........................  37[deg]50.63'   74[deg]2.69'            *
                               N.              W.
9...........................  37[deg]49.62'   74[deg]2.28'            *
                               N.              W.
10..........................  37[deg]50.28'   74[deg]0.67'            *
                               N.              W.
11..........................  37[deg]50.2'    74[deg]0.17'    ..........
                               N.              W.
12..........................  37[deg]50.52'   73[deg]58.59'   ..........
                               N.              W.
13..........................  37[deg]50.99'   73[deg]57.17'   ..........
                               N.              W.
14..........................  37[deg]50.4'    73[deg]52.35'   ..........
                               N.              W.
15..........................  37[deg]42.76'   73[deg]44.86'   ..........
                               N.              W.
16..........................  37[deg]39.96'   73[deg]48.32'   ..........
                               N.              W.
17..........................  37[deg]40.04'   73[deg]58.25'   ..........
                               N.              W.
18..........................  37[deg]44.14'   74[deg]6.96'    ..........
                               N.              W.
1...........................  37[deg]45.15'   74[deg]7.24'            *
                               N.              W.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (14) Washington Canyon. Washington Canyon discrete deep-sea coral 
zone 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). An asterisk (*) in the 
Broad Zone column means the point is shared with the Broad Deep-Sea 
Coral Zone, as defined in paragraph (b) of this section.

                            Washington Canyon
------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Point                Latitude        Longitude    Broad zone
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1...........................  37[deg]22.74'   74[deg]26.24'           *
                               N.              W.
2...........................  37[deg]22.87'   74[deg]26.16'           *
                               N.              W.
3...........................  37[deg]24.44'   74[deg]28.57'           *
                               N.              W.
4...........................  37[deg]24.67'   74[deg]29.71'           *
                               N.              W.
5...........................  37[deg]25.93'   74[deg]30.13'           *
                               N.              W.
6...........................  37[deg]27.25'   74[deg]30.2'            *
                               N.              W.
7...........................  37[deg]28.6'    74[deg]30.6'            *
                               N.              W.
8...........................  37[deg]29.43'   74[deg]30.29'           *
                               N.              W.
9...........................  37[deg]29.53'   74[deg]29.95'           *
                               N.              W.
10..........................  37[deg]27.68'   74[deg]28.82'           *
                               N.              W.
11..........................  37[deg]27.06'   74[deg]28.76'           *
                               N.              W.
12..........................  37[deg]26.39'   74[deg]27.76'           *
                               N.              W.
13..........................  37[deg]26.3'    74[deg]26.87'           *
                               N.              W.
14..........................  37[deg]25.69'   74[deg]25.63'           *
                               N.              W.
15..........................  37[deg]25.83'   74[deg]24.22'           *
                               N.              W.
16..........................  37[deg]25.68'   74[deg]24.03'           *
                               N.              W.
17..........................  37[deg]25.08'   74[deg]23.29'   ..........
                               N.              W.
18..........................  37[deg]16.81'   73[deg]52.13'   ..........
                               N.              W.
19..........................  37[deg]11.27'   73[deg]54.05'   ..........
                               N.              W.
20..........................  37[deg]15.73'   74[deg]12.2'    ..........
                               N.              W.
1...........................  37[deg]22.74'   74[deg]26.24'           *
                               N.              W.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (15) Norfolk Canyon. Norfolk Canyon discrete deep-sea coral zone 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). An asterisk (*) in the Broad Zone 
column means the point is shared with the Broad Deep-Sea Coral Zone, as 
defined in paragraph (b) of this section.

                             Norfolk Canyon
------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Point                Latitude        Longitude    Broad zone
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1...........................  36[deg]58.51'   74[deg]36.51'           *
                               N.              W.
2...........................  36[deg]58.62'   74[deg]36.97'           *
                               N.              W.
3...........................  37[deg]4.43'    74[deg]41.03'           *
                               N.              W.
4...........................  37[deg]5.83'    74[deg]45.57'           *
                               N.              W.
5...........................  37[deg]6.97'    74[deg]40.8'            *
                               N.              W.
6...........................  37[deg]4.52'    74[deg]37.77'           *
                               N.              W.
7...........................  37[deg]4.02'    74[deg]33.83'           *
                               N.              W.
8...........................  37[deg]4.52'    74[deg]33.51'           *
                               N.              W.
9...........................  37[deg]4.40'    74[deg]33.11'           *
                               N.              W.
10..........................  37[deg]4.16'    74[deg]32.37'   ..........
                               N.              W.
11..........................  37[deg]4.40'    74[deg]30.58'   ..........
                               N.              W.
12..........................  37[deg]3.65'    74[deg]3.66'    ..........
                               N.              W.
13..........................  36[deg]57.75'   74[deg]3.61'    ..........
                               N.              W.
14..........................  36[deg]59.77'   74[deg]30' W.   ..........
                               N.
15..........................  36[deg]58.23'   74[deg]32.95'   ..........
                               N.              W.
16..........................  36[deg]57.99'   74[deg]34.18'   ..........
                               N.              W.
1...........................  36[deg]58.51'   74[deg]36.51'           *
                               N.              W.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (d) Transiting. Vessels may transit the Broad and Discrete Deep-Sea 
Coral Zones defined in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, provided 
bottom-tending trawl nets are out of the water and stowed on the reel 
and any other fishing gear that is prohibited in these areas is 
onboard, out of the water, and not deployed. Fishing gear is not 
required to meet the definition of ``not available for immediate use'' 
in Sec.  648.2, when a vessel transits the Broad and Discrete Deep-Sea 
Coral Zones.

[FR Doc. 2016-29811 Filed 12-13-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P



                                             90246        Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 240 / Wednesday, December 14, 2016 / Rules and Regulations

                                             persons may retain, possess, land, or                   ADDRESSES:   Copies of supporting                     Act). This provision gives the Regional
                                             sell no more than 8 blacknose sharks per                documents used by the Mid-Atlantic                    Fishery Management Councils the
                                             vessel per trip. A person who owns or                   Fishery Management Council, including                 authority to:
                                             operates a vessel that has been issued a                the Environmental Assessment (EA) and                    (A) Designate zones where, and
                                             shark LAP and is operating north of                     Regulatory Impact Review (RIR)/Initial                periods when, fishing shall be limited,
                                             34°00′ N. lat. in the Atlantic region, as               Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA),               or shall not be permitted, or shall be
                                             defined at § 635.27(b)(1), or a person                  are available from: Dr. Christopher M.                permitted only by specified types of
                                             who owns or operates a vessel that has                  Moore, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic               fishing vessels or with specified types
                                             been issued a shark LAP and is                          Fishery Management Council, 800 North                 and quantities of fishing gear;
                                             operating in the Gulf of Mexico region,                 State Street, Suite 201, Dover, DE 19901,                (B) Designate such zones in areas
                                             as defined at § 635.27(b)(1), may not                   telephone (302) 674–2331. The EA/RIR/                 where deep-sea corals are identified
                                             retain, possess, land, or sell any                      IRFA is also accessible online at http://             under section 408 (this section describes
                                             blacknose sharks, but may retain,                       www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov.               the deep-sea coral research and
                                             possess, land, or sell non-blacknose SCS                FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
                                                                                                                                                           technology program), to protect deep-
                                             if the respective non-blacknose SCS                                                                           sea corals from physical damage from
                                                                                                     Peter Christopher, Supervisory Fishery
                                             management group is open per                                                                                  fishing gear or to prevent loss or damage
                                                                                                     Policy Analyst, (978) 281–9288, fax
                                             §§ 635.27 and 635.28.                                                                                         to such fishing gear from interactions
                                                                                                     (978) 281–9135.
                                                (iii) Consistent with paragraph                                                                            with deep-sea corals, after considering
                                                                                                     SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:                            long-term sustainable uses of fishery
                                             (a)(4)(ii) of this section, a person who
                                             owns or operates a vessel that has been                 Background                                            resources in such areas; and
                                             issued an incidental shark LAP may                                                                               (C) With respect to any closure of an
                                                                                                        On January 16, 2013, the Council                   area under the Magnuson-Stevens Act
                                             retain, possess, land, or sell no more                  published a Notice of Intent (NOI) to
                                             than 16 SCS and pelagic sharks,                                                                               that prohibits all fishing, ensure that
                                                                                                     prepare an Environmental Impact                       such closure:
                                             combined, per vessel per trip, if the                   Statement (78 FR 3401) for Amendment                     (i) Is based on the best scientific
                                             respective fishery is open per §§ 635.27                16 to the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and               information available;
                                             and 635.28. Of those 16 SCS and pelagic                 Butterfish Fishery Management Plan                       (ii) Includes criteria to assess the
                                             sharks per vessel per trip, no more than                (FMP) to consider measures to protect                 conservation benefit of the closed area;
                                             8 shall be blacknose sharks.                            deep-sea corals from the impacts of                      (iii) Establishes a timetable for review
                                             *       *     *     *     *                             commercial fishing gear in the Mid-                   of the closed area’s performance that is
                                             [FR Doc. 2016–29984 Filed 12–13–16; 8:45 am]            Atlantic. The Council conducted                       consistent with the purposes of the
                                             BILLING CODE 3510–22–P                                  scoping meetings during February 2013                 closed area; and
                                                                                                     to gather public comments on these                       (iv) Is based on an assessment of the
                                                                                                     issues. Following further development                 benefits and impacts of the closure,
                                             DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE                                  of Amendment 16 through 2013 and                      including its size, in relation to other
                                                                                                     2014, the Council conducted public                    management measures (either alone or
                                             National Oceanic and Atmospheric                        hearings in January 2015. Following                   in combination with such measures),
                                             Administration                                          public hearings, and with disagreement                including the benefits and impacts of
                                                                                                     about the boundaries of the various                   limiting access to: Users of the area,
                                             50 CFR Part 648                                         alternatives, the Council held a                      overall fishing activity, fishery science,
                                             [Docket No.: 160706587–6999–02]                         workshop with various stakeholders on                 and fishery and marine conservation.
                                                                                                     April 29–30, 2015, to further refine the                 Consistent with these provisions, the
                                             RIN 0648–BG21                                           deep-sea coral area boundaries. The                   Council recommended the measures in
                                                                                                     workshop was an example of effective                  Amendment 16 to balance the impacts
                                             Fisheries of the Northeastern United                                                                          of measures implemented under this
                                                                                                     collaboration among fishery managers,
                                             States; Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and                                                                         discretionary authority with the
                                                                                                     the fishing industry, environmental
                                             Butterfish Fisheries; Amendment 16                                                                            management objectives of the Mackerel,
                                                                                                     organizations, and the public to develop
                                             AGENCY:  National Marine Fisheries                      management recommendations with                       Squid, and Butterfish FMP and the
                                             Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and                    widespread support. The Council                       value of potentially affected commercial
                                             Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),                      adopted Amendment 16 on June 10,                      fisheries.
                                             Commerce.                                               2015, and submitted Amendment 16 on                   Approved Measures
                                             ACTION: Final rule.                                     August 15, 2016, for final review by
                                                                                                     NMFS, acting on behalf of the Secretary               Deep-Sea Coral Protection Area
                                             SUMMARY:    This final rule implements                  of Commerce. NMFS published a Notice                     This final rule creates a deep-sea coral
                                             regulations in Amendment 16 to the                      of Availability (NOA) announcing its                  protection area in Mid-Atlantic waters.
                                             Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish                review of Amendment 16 on September                   It consists of a broad zone that starts at
                                             Fishery Management Plan. Amendment                      2, 2016 (81 FR 60666), and a proposed                 a depth contour of approximately 450
                                             16 protects deep-sea corals from the                    rule including implementing regulations               meters (m) and extends to the U.S.
                                             effects of commercial fishing gear in the               on September 27, 2016 (81 FR 66245).                  Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)
                                             Mid-Atlantic. The management                            The public comment period for both the                boundary, and to the north and south to
                                             measures implemented in this rule are                   NOA and proposed rule ended on                        the boundaries of the Mid-Atlantic
                                             intended to protect deep-sea coral and                  November 1, 2016.                                     waters (as defined in the Magnuson-
                                             deep-sea coral habitat while promoting                     The Council developed the action,                  Stevens Act). In addition, the deep-sea
rmajette on DSK2TPTVN1PROD with RULES




                                             the sustainable utilization and                         and the measures described in this                    coral protection area includes 15
                                             conservation of several different marine                notice, under the discretionary                       discrete zones that outline deep-sea
                                             resources managed under the authority                   provisions for deep-sea coral protection              canyons on the continental shelf in Mid-
                                             of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery                             in section 303(b) of the Magnuson-                    Atlantic waters. The deep-sea coral area,
                                             Management Council.                                     Stevens Fishery Conservation and                      including both broad and discrete
                                             DATES: Effective January 13, 2017.                      Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens                      zones, is one continuous area.


                                        VerDate Sep<11>2014   15:29 Dec 13, 2016   Jkt 241001   PO 00000   Frm 00062   Fmt 4700   Sfmt 4700   E:\FR\FM\14DER1.SGM   14DER1


                                                          Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 240 / Wednesday, December 14, 2016 / Rules and Regulations                                          90247

                                                The broad coral zone is precautionary                nets; and pots and traps except those                 damage to such fishing gear from
                                             in nature and is intended to freeze the                 used to fish for red crab and American                interactions with deep-sea corals. This
                                             footprint of fishing to protect corals                  lobster. The prohibition on these gears               would also include the ability to add a
                                             from future expansion of fishing effort                 will protect deep-sea corals from                     prohibition on anchoring in deep-sea
                                             into deeper waters. The broad coral                     interaction with and damage from                      coral protection areas;
                                             zone has a landward boundary drawn                      bottom-tending fishing gear.                             • Addition of discrete coral zones;
                                             between the 400 m and 500 m contours                       Vessels can transit the deep-sea coral             and
                                             with the intention to approximate the                   area protection area provided the                        • Implementation of special access
                                             450 m depth contour as closely as                       vessels bring bottom-tending fishing                  program for deep-sea coral protection
                                             possible, minimizing the number of                      gear onboard the vessel, and reel                     area. This provides the Council the
                                             vertices in the boundary line. In areas                 bottom-tending trawl gear onto the net                option to design and implement a
                                             where there is conflict or overlap                      reel. The Council proposed these                      special access program for commercial
                                             between this broad zone and any                         slightly less restrictive transiting                  fishery operations in deep-sea coral
                                             designated discrete zone boundaries, the                provisions because the majority of                    zones through a framework action.
                                             discrete zone boundaries are prioritized.               transiting will be through the very
                                             From the landward boundary, the broad                   narrow canyon heads (i.e., the narrow                 Formal Naming of the Deep-Sea Coral
                                             zone boundaries extends along the                       tips of the canyons that extend                       Protection Area
                                             northern and southern boundaries of the                 landward of the broad coral zone                        The Council recommended that the
                                             Mid-Atlantic management region, and to                  landward boundary). The Council                       deep-sea coral protection area should be
                                             the edge of the EEZ as the eastward                     determined that the normal gear                       named in honor of the late Senator
                                             boundary.                                               stowage requirements, and requirements                Frank R. Lautenberg. Senator
                                                The discrete coral zones are specific                that gear be unavailable for immediate                Lautenberg was responsible for several
                                             submarine canyons and slope areas                       use, (at 50 CFR 648.2) would be too                   important pieces of ocean conservation
                                             located in Mid-Atlantic waters. The                     burdensome for commercial vessels                     legislation and authored several
                                             boundaries were developed                               within the narrow areas of some of the                provisions included in the most recent
                                             collaboratively by participants at the                  discrete coral zones.                                 reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Act
                                             Council’s April 29–30, 2015, Deep-sea
                                                                                                     Administrative Measures                               (2007), including the discretionary
                                             Corals Workshop in Linthicum, MD.
                                                                                                        Vessels issued an Illex squid                      provision for corals. Therefore, this final
                                             Participants included the Council’s
                                                                                                     moratorium permit are required to have                rule implements the deep-sea coral
                                             Squid, Mackerel, and Butterfish
                                                                                                     a vessel monitoring system (VMS)                      protection area as the ‘‘Frank R.
                                             Advisory Panel, the Ecosystems and
                                                                                                     installed, and operators of these vessels             Lautenberg Deep-Sea Coral Protection
                                             Ocean Planning Advisory Panel,
                                                                                                     would have to declare Illex squid trips               Area.’’
                                             members of the Deep-sea Corals Fishery
                                             Management Action Team, invited                         on which 10,000 lb (4.53 mt) or more of               Comments and Responses
                                             deep-sea coral experts, additional                      Illex squid would be harvested. By
                                                                                                     requiring Illex squid vessels to have                    We received 10 comments on the
                                             fishing industry representatives, and
                                                                                                     VMS and declare Illex fishing trips prior             proposed rule and NOA (8 in general
                                             other interested stakeholders. The
                                             canyons and slope areas were identified                 to leaving port, this measure facilitates             support of the action and 2 against the
                                             as areas with observed coral presence or                enforcement of the deep-sea coral area                action), including letters from five
                                             highly likely coral presence indicated                  and gear restrictions. NMFS notes that                individuals, the Garden State Seafood
                                             by modeled suitable habitat. Therefore,                 all Illex vessels currently have VMS                  Association, the Maryland Department
                                             prohibiting bottom-tending fishing gear                 installed and that all of these vessels are           of Natural Resources, and the Wildlife
                                             in these areas prevents interaction with                already required to declare trips.                    Conservation Society’s New York
                                             and damage to deep-sea corals that                      Therefore, this provision does not create             Aquarium. We also received a joint
                                             either are known through observation to                 any new operational requirement for                   comment from Oceana, Wildlife
                                             live in these areas or that are likely to               Illex squid vessel owners or operators.               Conservation Society’s New York
                                             live there. The discrete coral zones are:                  This action expands the framework                  Aquarium, Conservation Law
                                             Block Canyon; Ryan and McMaster                         adjustment provisions in the FMP to                   Foundation, Earthjustice, Great Egg
                                             Canyons; Emery and Uchupi Canyons;                      facilitate future modifications to the                Harbor Watershed Association, Natural
                                             Jones and Babylon Canyons; Hudson                       deep-sea coral protection measures. The               Resource Defense Council, Pew
                                             Canyon; Mey-Lindenkohl Slope;                           framework measures include:                           Charitable Trusts, Tycoon Tackle Inc.,
                                             Spencer Canyon; Wilmington Canyon;                         • Modifications to coral zone                      and Wild Oceans. Supporting this joint
                                             North Heyes and South Wilmington                        boundaries via framework action;                      comment was a comment the PEW
                                             Canyons; South Vries Canyon;                               • Modifications to the boundaries of               Charitable Trust submitted to the
                                             Baltimore Canyon; Warr and Phoenix                      broad or discrete deep-sea coral zones                Council prior to final action on
                                             Canyon Complex; Accomac and                             through a framework action;                           Amendment 16. This comment was
                                             Leonard Canyons; Washington Canyon;                        • Modification of management                       included to convey the strong and broad
                                             and Norfolk Canyon.                                     measures within deep-sea coral                        public support for the protection of
                                                                                                     protection areas. This provides the                   deep-sea corals (including 12,201
                                             Gear Restrictions in the Deep-Sea Coral                 Council the option to modify fishing                  signatures). The comment specific to the
                                             Area                                                    restrictions, exemptions, monitoring                  Amendment 16 proposed rule was
                                                This action prohibits the use of                     requirements, and other management                    supportive of the action. The following
                                             bottom-tending commercial fishing gear                  measures within deep-sea coral zones                  summarizes the issues raised in the
rmajette on DSK2TPTVN1PROD with RULES




                                             within the designated deep-sea coral                    through a framework action. It includes               comments and NMFS’s responses.
                                             area, including: Bottom-tending otter                   measures directed at gear and species                    Comment 1: Garden State Seafood
                                             trawls; bottom-tending beam trawls;                     not currently addressed in the FMP to                 Association opposes the expansion of
                                             hydraulic dredges; non-hydraulic                        further the FMP’s goal of protecting                  framework adjustment provisions as
                                             dredges; bottom-tending seines; bottom-                 deep-sea corals from physical damage                  currently allowed by the fishery
                                             tending longlines; sink or anchored gill                from fishing gear or to prevent loss or               management plan.


                                        VerDate Sep<11>2014   15:29 Dec 13, 2016   Jkt 241001   PO 00000   Frm 00063   Fmt 4700   Sfmt 4700   E:\FR\FM\14DER1.SGM   14DER1


                                             90248        Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 240 / Wednesday, December 14, 2016 / Rules and Regulations

                                                Response: In general, the framework                  measures as necessary as new                             Comment 7: One commenter
                                             alternatives are primarily administrative               information becomes available.                        requested that a large portion of the
                                             and intended to simplify and improve                       Comment 3: The joint comment letter                deep-sea coral protection area be set
                                             the efficiency of future actions related to             recommended that the Council and                      aside as a permanently protected no-
                                             deep-sea coral protections. The purpose                 NMFS consider expanding the                           take reserve, to both preserve
                                             of modifying the list of ‘‘frameworkable                boundaries of the discrete zones to                   biodiversity and ensure sustainable
                                             items’’ in the FMP is to demonstrate that               better protect deep-sea corals, including             fisheries into the future.
                                             the concepts included on the list have                  stony corals (Scleractinia) and sea pens                 Response: The Council did not
                                             previously been considered in an                        (Pennatulacea).                                       consider measures that would establish
                                             amendment (i.e., they are not novel) and                   Response: The Council can consider                 ‘‘no-take reserves.’’ Rather, the measures
                                             the applicable measures are included in                 additional action to further expand the               approved as part of this amendment,
                                             the fishery management plan or                          protection of deep-sea corals through                 and the alternatives the Council
                                             regulations. Adjustment of the measures                 the framework measures and process it                 considered, were meant to prevent
                                             through the framework process allows                    included in this amendment.                           fishing in some areas and prevent
                                             for modification of the measures already                   Comment 4: The joint comment letter                expansion of fisheries into areas where
                                             included in the fishery management                      recommended that the transit provision                corals are known or believed to exist.
                                             plan(s). The effects of any proposed                    require the full gear stowage provisions              The Council balanced the desire to close
                                             action or future change through the                     as opposed to the slightly less restrictive           these areas under the Magnuson-Stevens
                                             framework adjustment process will be                    requirements proposed.                                Act’s discretionary deep-sea coral
                                             analyzed through a separate NEPA                           Response: The action allows slightly               provision with the need to promote
                                             process and developed with public                       less restrictive transiting provisions                sustainable fisheries as the primary
                                             input through the Council process.                      because the majority of transiting will               requirement under the Magnuson-
                                                Comment 2: The joint comment letter                  be through the very narrow canyon                     Stevens Act. However, if the Council
                                             (from Oceana, Wildlife Conservation                     heads (i.e., the narrow tips of the                   wants to consider expanded protection
                                             Society’s New York Aquarium,                            canyons that extend landward of the                   of biodiversity through no-take reserves
                                             Conservation Law Foundation,                            broad coral zone landward boundary).                  or similar measures, it can take an
                                             Earthjustice, Great Egg Harbor                          The normal gear stowage requirements,                 additional action to further expand the
                                             Watershed Association, Natural                          and requirements that gear be                         protection of deep-sea corals.
                                             Resource Defense Council, PEW                           unavailable for immediate use, (at 50                    Comment 8: One commenter stated
                                             Charitable Trusts, Tycoon Tackle Inc.,                  CFR 648.2), would be burdensome for                   that during the development of this
                                             and Wild Oceans) requested that the                     commercial vessels within the narrow                  action the Council led the fishing
                                             exemptions for lobster and crab pots                    areas of some of the discrete coral zones.            industry to believe that all existing
                                             and traps provided in the action be                     The less restrictive gear stowage                     fisheries operating in the areas protected
                                             reexamined in a future action to ensure                 requirement still prohibits vessels from              under this action would be allowed to
                                             that they are justified and that the final              fishing in the areas and they must have               continue and that no new fisheries
                                             rule provide a full explanation of how                  gear onboard; the more restrictive                    would be allowed to use the area, (i.e.,
                                             the Council and NOAA will approach                      measures would not reduce the                         the action would freeze the footprint of
                                             reconsideration of the exemption,                       potential for fishing.                                fishing). He stated that removing all
                                             including evaluation criteria and a                        Comment 5: The joint comment letter                bottom tending mobile gear from these
                                             detailed description of the information                 requested that the Council consider                   areas will have ‘‘devastating impacts on
                                             that will be collected over the 2-year                  future prohibitions on mid-water trawl                current fisheries that have historically
                                             period in order to make a better                        gear.                                                 taken place near/in the coral zones.’’
                                             informed decision. The letter requested                    Response: The Council has the option                  Response: We disagree that the
                                             that NMFS and the Council establish a                   to consider additional gear prohibitions              Council misled the fishing industry. The
                                             process to jointly assess the                           in the area through a framework.                      Council held a workshop with various
                                             effectiveness in protecting deep-sea                       Comment 6: The joint comment letter                stakeholders (including fishing industry
                                             corals in the Coral Area, and that the                  opposed the implementation of a special               participants) because of disagreement
                                             chosen metrics be reviewed periodically                 access program for commercial fishing                 about how to set the coral protection
                                             to make adjustments.                                    operations in the coral area via                      area boundaries so that it would limit
                                                Response: The Council developed this                 framework action. They feel there                     fishing but not have a high negative
                                             action under the discretionary                          should be a full amendment to create                  impact on fisheries. Environmental
                                             provisions for deep-sea coral protection                such a program.                                       advocates, and deep-sea coral experts,
                                             in section 303(b) of the Magnuson-                         Response: The framework alternatives               as well as the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid,
                                             Stevens Act. This provision gives the                   are primarily administrative and                      and Butterfish Advisory Panel and the
                                             Council the authority to establish a                    intended to simplify and improve the                  Ecosystems and Ocean Planning
                                             timetable for review of the closed area’s               efficiency of future actions related to               Advisory Panel attended the workshop.
                                             performance that is consistent with the                 deep-sea coral protections. The purpose               The workshop resulted in stakeholders
                                             purposes of the closed area. Although                   of modifying the list of frameworkable                working together to compromise on a set
                                             the Council did not establish a formal                  items in the FMP is to demonstrate that               of boundaries for the 15 discrete deep-
                                             review process for the areas, it clearly                the concepts included on the list have                sea coral zones, which the Council
                                             indicated its intent to allow review and                previously been considered in an                      subsequently selected as its preferred
                                             modification through the framework                      amendment. Any proposed action or                     alternative. During the workshop to
                                                                                                     future change will be analyzed through                refine boundaries for coral zones,
rmajette on DSK2TPTVN1PROD with RULES




                                             provisions it included in the
                                             amendment. Because the process is not                   a separate NEPA process and would be                  advisors assisted in developing
                                             included, and it is not required, NMFS                  developed by the Council through a                    boundaries that would allow for
                                             cannot impose a timeline or process on                  public process, including Council,                    continued fishing just outside the gear
                                             the Council. However, NMFS will                         Committee, and Advisory Panel                         restricted areas. As a result, the Council
                                             continue to work with the Council and                   meetings that are all open to public                  determined the economic impacts of
                                             remind it of the need to adjust these                   participation.                                        this action will result in overall neutral


                                        VerDate Sep<11>2014   15:29 Dec 13, 2016   Jkt 241001   PO 00000   Frm 00064   Fmt 4700   Sfmt 4700   E:\FR\FM\14DER1.SGM   14DER1


                                                          Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 240 / Wednesday, December 14, 2016 / Rules and Regulations                                          90249

                                             to moderate negative economic impacts                      NMFS, pursuant to section 604 of the               date of NMFS’ new size standard for
                                             for fishing businesses, depending on the                Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), has                 commercial fishing businesses, under
                                             fishery and assuming vessels will                       completed a final regulatory flexibility              the assumption that the proposed rule
                                             redistribute effort to offset impacts of                analysis (FRFA) in support of                         would also publish prior to the July 1,
                                             the prohibition on fishing in some areas                Amendment 16 in this final rule. The                  2016, effective date. However, NMFS
                                             where they traditionally fished.                        FRFA incorporates the IRFA, a summary                 has reviewed the analyses prepared for
                                                Comment 9: One commenter stated                      of the significant issues raised by the               this regulatory action in light of the new
                                             that the Council has never provided any                 public comments in response to the                    size standard. The new size standard
                                             justification for the decision to allow                 IRFA, NMFS responses to those                         could result in some of the large
                                             fixed gear in the area when data show                   comments, a summary of the analyses                   businesses being considered small, but,
                                             that fixed gear poses a greater threat to               completed in the Amendment 16 EA,                     as explained below, this does not affect
                                             deep-sea coral than mobile gear.                        and this portion of the preamble. A                   the conclusions of the analysis. The
                                                Response: The Council recommended                    summary of the IRFA was published in                  following summarizes the IRFA using
                                             the exemption for the red crab fishery                  the proposed rule for this action and is              the SBA definitions of small businesses.
                                             because of the small size of the red crab               not repeated here. A description of why                  The deep-sea coral zones measures in
                                             fleet (three vessels) and because all red               this action was considered, the                       association with other management
                                             crab effort takes place at depths entirely              objectives of, and the legal basis for this           measures within the coral zones could
                                             within all of the proposed broad zone                   rule is contained in Amendment 16 and                 affect any business entity that has an
                                             areas. Prohibiting red crab fishing in the              in the preamble to the proposed and this              active Federal fishing permit and fishes
                                             coral protection area would have                        final rule, and is not repeated here. All             in the zone/gear restricted areas. In
                                             severely limited the red crab fishery and               of the documents that constitute the                  order to identify firms, vessel ownership
                                             would have had excessively high                         FRFA are available from NMFS and a                    data, which have been added to the
                                             negative economic impacts on red crab                   copy of the IRFA, the Regulatory Impact               permit database, were used to identify
                                             vessels.                                                Review (RIR), and the EA are available                all the individuals who own fishing
                                                Comment 10: One commenter stated                     upon request (see ADDRESSES).                         vessels. With this information, vessels
                                             that there should be names on all                                                                             were grouped together according to
                                                                                                     A Summary of the Significant Issues                   common owners. The resulting
                                             fishing equipment assigned to fishing                   Raised by the Public in Response to the
                                             boats and loss of such equipment                                                                              groupings were then treated as a fishing
                                                                                                     IRFA, a Summary of the Agency’s                       business (firm, affiliate, or entity), for
                                             should require a fine of a million dollars              Assessment of Such Issues, and a
                                             if equipment is lost because it is causing                                                                    purposes of identifying small and large
                                                                                                     Statement of Any Changes Made in the                  firms. According to the ownership
                                             massive marine death.                                   Final Rule as a Result of Such
                                                Response: Lobster and red crab gear                                                                        database, a total of 113 finfish firms (all
                                                                                                     Comments                                              small entities) fished in the Council’s
                                             are already required to be marked to
                                             identify the vessel. Further, both of                     There were no specific comments on                  preferred broad and discrete zones
                                             these gears are required to be compliant                the IRFA. The Comments and Responses                  during 2014. Also in 2014, there were
                                             with the Atlantic Large Whale Take                      section summarizes the comments that                  184 small and 16 large shellfish entities.
                                             Reduction Plan to reduce injuries and                   highlight concerns about the economic                 The ownership database shows that
                                             deaths of large whales due to incidental                impacts and implications of impacts on                small finfish firms that operated in the
                                             entanglement in fishing gear. Details on                small businesses (i.e., comment 8). No                Council’s preferred broad and discrete
                                             the Atlantic Large Whale Take                           comments were received from the Office                zones generated average revenues that
                                             Reduction Plan can be found here:                       of Advocacy for the Small Business                    ranged from $18,344 (in 2013) to
                                             https://www.greateratlantic.fisheries.                  Administration.                                       $21,055 (in 2014). The ownership
                                             noaa.gov/Protected/whaletrp/.                                                                                 database shows that small shellfish
                                                                                                     Description and Estimate of the Number
                                                                                                                                                           firms that operated in the Council’s
                                             Changes From Proposed Rule to Final                     of Small Entities To Which This Rule
                                                                                                                                                           preferred broad and discrete zones
                                             Rule                                                    Would Apply
                                                                                                                                                           generated average revenues that ranged
                                               There are no changes from the                            On December 29, 2015, NMFS issued                  from $35,276 (in 2014) to $58,723 (in
                                             proposed rule.                                          a final rule establishing a small business            2012). The ownership database shows
                                                                                                     size standard of $11 million in annual                that large shellfish firms that operated
                                             Classification                                          gross receipts for all businesses                     in the Council’s preferred broad and
                                               Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the               primarily engaged in the commercial                   discrete zones generated average
                                             Magnuson-Stevens Act, the NMFS                          fishing industry (NAICS 11411) for RFA                revenues that ranged from $146,901 (in
                                             Assistant Administrator has determined                  compliance purposes only (80 FR                       2013) to $314,223 (in 2012).
                                             that this final rule is consistent with the             81194; December 29, 2015). The $11
                                                                                                     million standard became effective on                  Description of the Projected Reporting,
                                             FMP, other provisions of the Magnuson-
                                                                                                     July 1, 2016, and is to be used in place              Record-Keeping, and Other Compliance
                                             Stevens Act, and other applicable law.
                                               The Office of Management and Budget                   of the U.S. Small Business                            Requirements
                                             (OMB) has determined that this final                    Administration’s (SBA) current                           This action contains no new
                                             rule is not significant according to                    standards of $20.5 million, $5.5 million,             collection-of-information requirements
                                             Executive Order (E.O.) 12866.                           and $7.5 million for the finfish (NAICS               subject to review and approval by the
                                               This final rule does not contain                      114111), shellfish (NAICS 114112), and                Office of Management and Budget
                                             policies with federalism or ‘‘takings’’                 other marine fishing (NAICS 114119)                   (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction
                                                                                                                                                           Act (PRA). This action requires Illex
rmajette on DSK2TPTVN1PROD with RULES




                                             implications, as those terms are defined                sectors of the U.S. commercial fishing
                                             in E.O. 13132 and E.O. 12630,                           industry in all NMFS rules subject to                 squid vessels to install and operate
                                             respectively.                                           the RFA after July 1, 2016 (Id. at 81194).            VMS, and to declare Illex squid trips.
                                               This action does not contain any                         The Council prepared the IRFA under                However, NMFS has determined that all
                                             collection-of-information requirements                  the SBA standards and submitted the                   Illex squid vessels that will be affected
                                             subject the Paperwork Reduction Act                     action for initial NMFS review in March               by this action already have VMS.
                                             (PRA).                                                  2016, prior to the July 1, 2016, effective            Because every Illex vessel has VMS,


                                        VerDate Sep<11>2014   15:29 Dec 13, 2016   Jkt 241001   PO 00000   Frm 00065   Fmt 4700   Sfmt 4700   E:\FR\FM\14DER1.SGM   14DER1


                                             90250        Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 240 / Wednesday, December 14, 2016 / Rules and Regulations

                                             they are already required to enter a trip               small entities in complying with the                  § 648.27, unless transiting pursuant to
                                             declaration for every trip. Therefore,                  rule, and shall designate such                        § 648.27(d), fishing lobster trap gear in
                                             there is no additional reporting burden                 publications as ‘‘small entity                        accordance with § 697.21 of this
                                             imposed by this action.                                 compliance guides.’’ The agency shall                 chapter, or fishing red crab trap gear in
                                                                                                     explain the actions a small entity is                 accordance with § 648.264. Bottom-
                                             Description of the Steps the Agency Has
                                             Taken To Minimize the Significant                       required to take to comply with a rule                tending gear includes but is not limited
                                             Economic Impact on Small Entities                       or group of rules. The preamble to the                to bottom-tending otter trawls, bottom-
                                             Consistent With the Stated Objectives of                proposed rule (81 FR 66245, September                 tending beam trawls, hydraulic dredges,
                                             Applicable Statutes                                     27, 2016) and the preamble to this final              non-hydraulic dredges, bottom-tending
                                                                                                     rule serve as the small entity                        seines, bottom longlines, pots and traps,
                                                During the development of                            compliance guide. This final rule does                and sink or anchored gill nets.
                                             Amendment 16, the Council considered                    not require any additional compliance                 *      *    *      *     *
                                             several alternatives to the deep-sea coral              from small entities that is not described                (g) * * *
                                             protection measures it ultimately                       in the preamble to the proposed rule                     (2) * * *
                                             recommended. While some alternatives                    and this final rule. Copies of the                       (v) Reporting requirements in the
                                             would have closed less area (smaller                    proposed rule and this final rule are                 limited access Atlantic mackerel,
                                             discrete zone areas and broad zone area                 available from NMFS at the following                  longfin squid/butterfish, and Illex squid
                                             starting at a deeper depth) and other                   Web site: https://                                    moratorium fisheries. (A) Fail to declare
                                             alternatives would have allowed more                    www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/
                                             fishing (an exemption for tilefish gear),                                                                     via VMS into the mackerel, longfin
                                                                                                     sustainable/species/scallop/.                         squid/butterfish, or Illex squid fisheries
                                             NMFS has does not have the authority
                                             to implement measures that were not                     List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648                   by entering the fishery code prior to
                                             recommended by the Council as part of                                                                         leaving port at the start of each trip, if
                                                                                                       Fisheries, Fishing, Recordkeeping and               the vessel will harvest, possess, or land
                                             its preferred action. Rather, NMFS can                  reporting requirements.
                                             only approve or disapprove Council                                                                            Atlantic mackerel, more than 2,500 lb
                                             recommendations in an amendment.                          Dated: December 7, 2016.                            (1,134 kg) of longfin squid, or more than
                                             NMFS, therefore, is implementing the                    Samuel D. Rauch III,                                  10,000 lb (4,535.9 kg) of Illex squid, and
                                             Council’s preferred action, but the                     Deputy Assistant Administrator for                    is issued a Limited Access Atlantic
                                             action includes some measures that                      Regulatory Programs, National Marine                  mackerel permit, longfin squid/
                                             reduce the economic impact inherent in                  Fisheries Service.                                    butterfish moratorium permit, or Illex
                                             closing areas to fishing. Specifically,                   For the reasons set out in the                      squid moratorium permit, pursuant to
                                             this final rule exempts red crab pot gear               preamble, 50 CFR part 648 is amended                  § 648.10.
                                             from the prohibition on fishing with                    as follows:                                           *      *    *      *     *
                                             bottom-tending fishing gear in the deep-                                                                      ■ 4. In § 648.25:
                                             sea coral protection area. The red crab                 PART 648—FISHERIES OF THE                             ■ a. Revise paragraph (a)(1);
                                             fishery exists entirely within the                      NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES                            ■ b. Redesignate paragraphs (a)(2),
                                             boundaries of the deep-sea coral                                                                              (a)(3), and (a)(4) as paragraphs (a)(3),
                                                                                                     ■ 1. The authority citation for part 648
                                             protection area in the Mid-Atlantic. The                                                                      (a)(4), and (a)(5); and
                                                                                                     continues to read as follows:
                                             exemption allows the fishery to                                                                               ■ c. Add new paragraph (a)(2).
                                             continue to operate in the Mid-Atlantic                     Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.                    The revisions and addition read as
                                             and gain revenue from its catch. In                     ■ 2. In § 648.10, add paragraphs (b)(11)              follows:
                                             addition, vessels are allowed to transit                and (p) to read as follows:
                                             the deep-sea coral protection area,                                                                           § 648.25 Atlantic Mackerel, squid, and
                                             which is particularly important at the                  § 648.10 VMS and DAS requirements for                 butterfish framework adjustments to
                                                                                                     vessel owners/operators.                              management measures.
                                             heads of the discrete zone canyons
                                             (where the boundaries come to a point).                 *      *      *    *    *                               (a) * * *
                                             Because vessels fish with bottom-                          (b) * * *                                            (1) Adjustment process. The MAFMC
                                             tending gear along the edges of the                        (11) Vessels issued an Illex squid                 shall develop and analyze appropriate
                                             canyons, they would have to transit                     moratorium permit.                                    management actions over the span of at
                                             around them to fish on both sides of the                *      *      *    *    *                             least two MAFMC meetings. The
                                             canyon. This would cost fuel and could                     (p) Illex squid VMS notification                   MAFMC must provide the public with
                                             ultimately impact trip duration and                     requirement. A vessel issued an Illex                 advance notice of the availability of the
                                             catch if vessel operators would have had                squid moratorium permit intending to                  recommendation(s), appropriate
                                             to spend time transiting around the                     declare into the Illex squid fishery must             justification(s) and economic and
                                             canyon heads rather than across them.                   notify NMFS by declaring an Illex squid               biological analyses, and the opportunity
                                             Both the red crab pot gear exemption                    trip prior to leaving port at the start of            to comment on the proposed
                                             and the transiting provision therefore                  each trip in order to harvest, possess, or            adjustment(s) at the first meeting and
                                             reduces cost and time and minimizes                     land 10,000 lb (4,535.9 kg) or more of                prior to and at the second MAFMC
                                             the economic impact of the measures                     Illex squid on that trip.                             meeting. The MAFMC’s
                                             implemented under this final rule.                      ■ 3. In § 648.14, add paragraph (b)(10)               recommendations on adjustments or
                                                                                                     and revise paragraphs (g)(2)(v) heading               additions to management measures
                                             Small Entity Compliance Guide                                                                                 must come from one or more of the
                                                                                                     and (g)(2)(v)(A) to read as follows:
                                                Section 212 of the Small Business                                                                          following categories:
rmajette on DSK2TPTVN1PROD with RULES




                                             Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of                  § 648.14    Prohibitions.                               (i) Adjustments within existing ABC
                                             1996 states that, for each rule or group                *     *    *     *    *                               control rule levels;
                                             of related rules for which an agency is                   (b) * * *                                             (ii) Adjustments to the existing
                                             required to prepare a final regulatory                    (10) Fish with bottom-tending gear                  MAFMC risk policy;
                                             flexibility analysis, the agency shall                  within the Frank R. Lautenberg Deep-                    (iii) Introduction of new AMs,
                                             publish one or more guides to assist                    sea Coral Protection Area described at                including sub-ACTs;


                                        VerDate Sep<11>2014   15:29 Dec 13, 2016   Jkt 241001   PO 00000   Frm 00066   Fmt 4700   Sfmt 4700   E:\FR\FM\14DER1.SGM   14DER1


                                                          Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 240 / Wednesday, December 14, 2016 / Rules and Regulations                                                                   90251

                                                (iv) Minimum and maximum fish                           (xxiv) Modifications to the                                                  BROAD ZONE—Continued
                                             size;                                                   management measures within the Frank
                                                (v) Gear restrictions, gear                          R. Lautenberg Deep-sea Coral Protection                                                                            Discrete
                                                                                                                                                                         Point             Latitude      Longitude       zone
                                             requirements or prohibitions;                           Area and implementation of special
                                                (vi) Permitting restrictions;                        access programs to the Frank R.                                    13   .........   36°49.56′ N.   74°37.77′ W.   ................
                                                (vii) Recreational possession limit,                 Lautenberg Deep-sea Coral Protection                               14   .........   36°51.21′ N.   74°37.81′ W.   ................
                                             recreational seasons, and recreational                                                                                     15   .........   36°51.78′ N.   74°37.43′ W.   ................
                                                                                                     Area; and                                                          16   .........   36°58.51′ N.   74°36.51′ W.          *
                                             harvest limit;                                             (xxv) Any other management                                      17   .........   36°58.62′ N.   74°36.97′ W.          *
                                                (viii) Closed areas;                                 measures currently included in the                                 18   .........   37°4.43′ N.    74°41.03′ W.          *
                                                (ix) Commercial seasons, commercial                  FMP.                                                               19   .........   37°5.83′ N.    74°45.57′ W.          *
                                             trip limits, commercial quota system,                      (2) Measures contained within this                              20   .........   37°6.97′ N.    74°40.8′ W.           *
                                                                                                                                                                        21   .........   37°4.52′ N.    74°37.77′ W.          *
                                             including commercial quota allocation                   list that require significant departures                           22   .........   37°4.02′ N.    74°33.83′ W.          *
                                             procedure and possible quota set-asides                 from previously contemplated measures                              23   .........   37°4.52′ N.    74°33.51′ W.          *
                                             to mitigate bycatch;                                    or that are otherwise introducing new                              24   .........   37°4.4′ N.     74°33.11′ W.          *
                                                (x) Annual specification quota setting               concepts may require amendment of the                              25   .........   37°7.38′ N.    74°31.95′ W.   ................
                                                                                                                                                                        26   .........   37°8.32′ N.    74°32.4′ W.    ................
                                             process;                                                FMP instead of a framework adjustment.                             27   .........   37°8.51′ N.    74°31.38′ W.   ................
                                                (xi) FMP Monitoring Committee                        *      *     *     *     *                                         28   .........   37°9.44′ N.    74°31.5′ W.    ................
                                             composition and process;                                                                                                   29   .........   37°16.83′ N.   74°28.58′ W.   ................
                                                                                                     ■ 5. Add § 648.27 to subpart B to read
                                                (xii) Description and identification of                                                                                 30   .........   37°17.81′ N.   74°27.67′ W.   ................
                                                                                                     as follows:                                                        31   .........   37°18.72′ N.   74°28.22′ W.   ................
                                             EFH (and fishing gear management
                                                                                                                                                                        32   .........   37°22.74′ N.   74°26.24′ W.          *
                                             measures that impact EFH);                              § 648.27 Frank R. Lautenberg Deep-Sea                              33   .........   37°22.87′ N.   74°26.16′ W.          *
                                                (xiii) Description and identification of             Coral Protection Area.                                             34   .........   37°24.44′ N.   74°28.57′ W.          *
                                             habitat areas of particular concern;                       (a) No vessel may fish with bottom-                             35   .........   37°24.67′ N.   74°29.71′ W.          *
                                                (xiv) Overfishing definition and                                                                                        36   .........   37°25.93′ N.   74°30.13′ W.          *
                                                                                                     tending gear within the Frank R.                                   37   .........   37°27.25′ N.   74°30.2′ W.           *
                                             related thresholds and targets;                         Lautenberg Deep-Sea Coral Protection                               38   .........   37°28.6′ N.    74°30.6′ W.           *
                                                (xv) Regional gear restrictions,                     Area described in this section, unless                             39   .........   37°29.43′ N.   74°30.29′ W.          *
                                             regional season restrictions (including                 transiting pursuant to paragraph (d) of                            40   .........   37°29.53′ N.   74°29.95′ W.          *
                                             option to split seasons), regional                      this section, fishing lobster trap gear in                         41   .........   37°27.68′ N.   74°28.82′ W.          *
                                                                                                                                                                        42   .........   37°27.06′ N.   74°28.76′ W.          *
                                             management;                                             accordance with § 697.21 of this                                   43   .........   37°26.39′ N.   74°27.76′ W.          *
                                                (xvi) Restrictions on vessel size (LOA               chapter, or fishing red crab trap gear in                          44   .........   37°26.3′ N.    74°26.87′ W.          *
                                             and GRT) or shaft horsepower;                           accordance with § 648.264. Bottom-                                 45   .........   37°25.69′ N.   74°25.63′ W.          *
                                                (xvii) Changes to the SBRM, including                tending gear includes but is not limited                           46   .........   37°25.83′ N.   74°24.22′ W.          *
                                             the CV-based performance standard, the                                                                                     47   .........   37°25.68′ N.   74°24.03′ W.          *
                                                                                                     to bottom-tending otter trawls, bottom-                            48   .........   37°28.04′ N.   74°23.17′ W.   ................
                                             means by which discard data are                         tending beam trawls, hydraulic dredges,                            49   .........   37°27.72′ N.   74°22.34′ W.   ................
                                             collected/obtained, fishery stratification,             non-hydraulic dredges, bottom-tending                              50   .........   37°30.13′ N.   74°17.77′ W.   ................
                                             the process for prioritizing observer sea-              seines, bottom longlines, pots and traps,                          51   .........   37°33.83′ N.   74°17.47′ W.   ................
                                             day allocations, reports, and/or                                                                                           52   .........   37°35.48′ N.   74°14.84′ W.   ................
                                                                                                     and sink or anchored gillnets. The Frank                           53   .........   37°36.99′ N.   74°14.01′ W.   ................
                                             industry-funded observers or observer                   R. Lautenberg Deep-Sea Coral Protection                            54   .........   37°37.23′ N.   74°13.02′ W.   ................
                                             set aside programs;                                     Area consists of the Broad and Discrete                            55   .........   37°42.85′ N.   74°9.97′ W.    ................
                                                (xviii) Set aside quota for scientific               Deep-Sea Coral Zones defined in                                    56   .........   37°43.5′ N.    74°8.79′ W.    ................
                                             research;                                                                                                                  57   .........   37°45.22′ N.   74°9.2′ W.     ................
                                                                                                     paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section.                            58   .........   37°45.15′ N.   74°7.24′ W.           *
                                                (xix) Process for inseason adjustment                   (b) Broad Deep-Sea Coral Zone. The                              59   .........   37°45.88′ N.   74°7.44′ W.           *
                                             to the annual specification;                            Broad Deep-Sea Coral Zone is bounded                               60   .........   37°46.7′ N.    74°5.98′ W.           *
                                                (xx) Mortality caps for river herring                on the east by the outer limit of the U.S.                         61   .........   37°49.62′ N.   74°6.03′ W.           *
                                             and shad species, time/area                             Exclusive Economic Zone, and bounded
                                                                                                                                                                        62   .........   37°51.25′ N.   74°5.48′ W.           *
                                                                                                                                                                        63   .........   37°51.99′ N.   74°4.51′ W.           *
                                             management for river herring and shad                   on all other sides by straight lines                               64   .........   37°51.37′ N.   74°3.3′ W.            *
                                             species, and provisions for river herring               connecting the following points in the                             65   .........   37°50.63′ N.   74°2.69′ W.           *
                                             and shad incidental catch avoidance                     order stated (copies of a chart depicting                          66   .........   37°49.62′ N.   74°2.28′ W.           *
                                             program, including adjustments to the                   this area are available from the Regional
                                                                                                                                                                        67   .........   37°50.28′ N.   74°0.67′ W.           *
                                                                                                                                                                        68   .........   37°53.68′ N.   73°57.41′ W.          *
                                             mechanism and process for tracking                      Administrator upon request). An                                    69   .........   37°55.07′ N.   73°57.27′ W.          *
                                             fleet activity, reporting incidental catch              asterisk (*) in the Discrete Zone column                           70   .........   38°3.29′ N.    73°49.1′ W.           *
                                             events, compiling data, and notifying                   means the point is shared with a                                   71   .........   38°6.19′ N.    73°51.59′ W.          *
                                             the fleet of changes to the area(s);                    Discrete Deep-Sea Coral Zone, as
                                                                                                                                                                        72   .........   38°7.67′ N.    73°52.19′ W.          *
                                                (xxi) The definition/duration of ‘test                                                                                  73   .........   38°9.04′ N.    73°52.39′ W.          *
                                                                                                     defined in paragraph (c) of this section.                          74   .........   38°10.1′ N.    73°52.32′ W.          *
                                             tows,’ if test tows would be utilized to                                                                                   75   .........   38°11.98′ N.   73°52.65′ W.          *
                                             determine the extent of river herring                                        BROAD ZONE                                    76   .........   38°13.74′ N.   73°50.73′ W.          *
                                             incidental catch in a particular area(s);                                                                                  77   .........   38°13.15′ N.   73°49.77′ W.          *
                                                (xxii) The threshold for river herring                                                                Discrete          78   .........   38°10.92′ N.   73°50.37′ W.          *
                                                                                                       Point           Latitude        Longitude                        79   .........   38°10.2′ N.    73°49.63′ W.          *
                                             incidental catch that would trigger the                                                                   zone
                                                                                                                                                                        80   .........   38°9.26′ N.    73°49.68′ W.          *
                                             need for vessels to be alerted and move                 1 ...........   36°33.02′   N.   71°29.33′ W.   ................   81   .........   38°8.38′ N.    73°49.51′ W.          *
                                             out of the area(s), the distance that                   2 ...........   36°33.02′   N.   72°00′ W.      ................   82   .........   38°7.59′ N.    73°47.91′ W.          *
                                             vessels would be required to move from                  3 ...........   36°33.02′   N.   73°00′ W.      ................   83   .........   38°6.96′ N.    73°47.25′ W.          *
                                                                                                     4 ...........   36°33.02′   N.   74°00′ W.      ................   84   .........   38°6.51′ N.    73°46.99′ W.          *
rmajette on DSK2TPTVN1PROD with RULES




                                             the area(s), and the time that vessels                  5 ...........   36°33.02′   N.   74°42.14′ W.   ................   85   .........   38°5.69′ N.    73°45.56′ W.          *
                                             would be required to remain out of the                  6 ...........   36°34.44′   N.   74°42.23′ W.   ................   86   .........   38°6.35′ N.    73°44.8′ W.           *
                                             area(s);                                                7 ...........   36°35.53′   N.   74°41.59′ W.   ................   87   .........   38°7.5′ N.     73°45.2′ W.           *
                                                (xxiii) Modifications to the broad and               8 ...........   36°37.69′   N.   74°41.51′ W.   ................   88   .........   38°9.24′ N.    73°42.61′ W.          *
                                                                                                     9 ...........   36°42.09′   N.   74°39.07′ W.   ................   89   .........   38°9.41′ N.    73°41.63′ W.   ................
                                             discrete deep-sea coral zone boundaries                 10 .........    36°45.18′   N.   74°38′ W.      ................   90   .........   38°15.13′ N.   73°37.58′ W.   ................
                                             and the addition of discrete deep-sea                   11 .........    36°45.69′   N.   74°38.55′ W.   ................   91   .........   38°15.25′ N.   73°36.2′ W.           *
                                             coral zones;                                            12 .........    36°49.17′   N.   74°38.31′ W.   ................   92   .........   38°16.19′ N.   73°36.91′ W.          *



                                        VerDate Sep<11>2014   15:29 Dec 13, 2016   Jkt 241001   PO 00000    Frm 00067     Fmt 4700     Sfmt 4700   E:\FR\FM\14DER1.SGM              14DER1


                                             90252            Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 240 / Wednesday, December 14, 2016 / Rules and Regulations

                                                        BROAD ZONE—Continued                                                BROAD ZONE—Continued                                        (3) Emery and Uchupi Canyons.
                                                                                                                                                                                     Emery and Uchupi Canyons discrete
                                                                                            Discrete                                                               Discrete          deep-sea coral zone is defined by
                                               Point          Latitude      Longitude                             Point           Latitude        Longitude
                                                                                             zone                                                                   zone
                                                                                                                                                                                     straight lines connecting the following
                                             93 .........   38°16.89′ N.   73°36.66′ W.           *           173     .......   39°55.08′ N.     71°18.62′ W.            *           points in the order stated (copies of a
                                             94 .........   38°16.91′ N.   73°36.35′ W.           *           174     .......   39°55.99′ N.     71°16.07′ W.            *           chart depicting this area are available
                                             95 .........   38°17.63′ N.   73°35.35′ W.           *           175     .......   39°57.04′ N.     70°50.01′ W.     ................
                                             96 .........   38°18.55′ N.   73°34.44′ W.           *           176     .......   39°55.07′ N.     70°32.42′ W.     ................
                                                                                                                                                                                     from the Regional Administrator upon
                                             97 .........   38°18.38′ N.   73°33.4′ W.            *           177     .......   39°50.24′ N.     70°27.78′ W.     ................   request). An asterisk (*) in the Broad
                                             98 .........   38°19.04′ N.   73°33.02′ W.           *           178     .......   39°42.18′ N.     70°20.09′ W.     ................   Zone column means the point is shared
                                             99 .........   38°25.08′ N.   73°34.99′ W.           *           179     .......   39°34.11′ N.     70°12.42′ W.     ................   with the Broad Deep-sea Coral Zone, as
                                             100 .......    38°26.32′ N.   73°33.44′ W.           *           180     .......   39°26.04′ N.     70°4.78′ W.      ................
                                             101 .......    38°29.72′ N.   73°30.65′ W.           *           181     .......   39°17.96′ N.     69°57.18′ W.     ................
                                                                                                                                                                                     defined in paragraph (b) of this section.
                                             102 .......    38°28.65′ N.   73°29.37′ W.           *           182     .......   39°9.87′ N.      69°49.6′ W.      ................
                                             103 .......    38°25.53′ N.   73°30.94′ W.           *           183     .......   39°1.77′ N.      69°42.05′ W.     ................            EMERY AND UCHUPI CANYONS
                                             104 .......    38°25.26′ N.   73°29.97′ W.           *           184     .......   38°53.66′ N.     69°34.53′ W.     ................
                                             105 .......    38°23.75′ N.   73°30.16′ W.           *           185     .......   38°45.54′ N.     69°27.03′ W.     ................                                                        Broad
                                                                                                                                                                                         Point           Latitude        Longitude
                                             106 .......    38°23.47′ N.   73°29.7′ W.            *           186     .......   38°37.42′ N.     69°19.57′ W.     ................                                                        zone
                                             107 .......    38°22.76′ N.   73°29.34′ W.           *           187     .......   38°29.29′ N.     69°12.13′ W.     ................
                                             108 .......    38°22.5′ N.    73°27.63′ W.           *           188     .......   38°21.15′ N.     69°4.73′ W.      ................   1   ...........   39°37.15′   N.   71°55.85′ W.          *
                                             109 .......    38°21.59′ N.   73°26.87′ W.           *           189     .......   38°13′ N.        68°57.35′ W.     ................   2   ...........   39°39.77′   N.   71°53.7′ W.           *
                                             110 .......    38°23.07′ N.   73°24.11′ W.    ................   190     .......   38°4.84′ N.      68°49.99′ W.     ................   3   ...........   39°39.55′   N.   71°47.68′ W.   ................
                                             111 .......    38°25.83′ N.   73°22.39′ W.    ................   191     .......   38°2.21′ N.      68°47.62′ W.     ................   4   ...........   39°30.78′   N.   71°36.24′ W.   ................
                                             112 .......    38°25.97′ N.   73°21.43′ W.    ................                                                                          5   ...........   39°27.26′   N.   71°39.13′ W.   ................
                                             113 .......    38°34.14′ N.   73°11.14′ W.           *                                                                                  6   ...........   39°28.99′   N.   71°45.47′ W.   ................
                                                                                                                 (c) Discrete Deep-Sea Coral Zones. (1)                              7   ...........   39°33.91′   N.   71°52.61′ W.   ................
                                             114 .......    38°35.1′ N.    73°10.43′ W.           *
                                             115 .......    38°35.94′ N.   73°11.25′ W.           *
                                                                                                              Block Canyon. Block Canyon discrete                                    1   ...........   39°37.15′   N.   71°55.85′ W.          *
                                             116 .......    38°37.57′ N.   73°10.49′ W.           *           deep-sea coral zone is defined by
                                             117 .......    38°37.21′ N.   73°9.41′ W.            *           straight lines connecting the following                                  (4) Jones and Babylon Canyons. Jones
                                             118 .......    38°36.72′ N.   73°8.85′ W.            *           points in the order stated (copies of a                                and Babylon Canyons discrete deep-sea
                                             119 .......    38°43′ N.      73°1.24′ W.            *
                                             120 .......    38°43.66′ N.   73°0.36′ W.            *
                                                                                                              chart depicting this area are available                                coral zone is defined by straight lines
                                             121 .......    38°45′ N.      73°0.27′ W.            *           from the Regional Administrator upon                                   connecting the following points in the
                                             122 .......    38°46.68′ N.   73°1.07′ W.            *           request). An asterisk (*) in the Broad                                 order stated (copies of a chart depicting
                                             123 .......    38°47.54′ N.   73°2.24′ W.            *           Zone column means the point is shared                                  this area are available from the Regional
                                             124 .......    38°47.84′ N.   73°2.24′ W.            *
                                             125 .......    38°49.03′ N.   73°1.53′ W.            *
                                                                                                              with the Broad Deep-Sea Coral Zone, as                                 Administrator upon request). An
                                             126 .......    38°48.45′ N.   73°1′ W.               *           defined in paragraph (b) of this section.                              asterisk (*) in the Broad Zone column
                                             127 .......    38°49.15′ N.   72°58.98′ W.           *                                                                                  means the point is shared with the
                                             128 .......    38°48.03′ N.   72°56.7′ W.            *                                 BLOCK CANYON                                     Broad Deep-sea Coral Zone, as defined
                                             129 .......    38°49.84′ N.   72°55.54′ W.           *
                                             130 .......    38°52.4′ N.    72°52.5′ W.            *
                                                                                                                                                                                     in paragraph (b) of this section.
                                                                                                                                                                     Broad
                                             131 .......    38°53.87′ N.   72°53.36′ W.           *               Point           Latitude        Longitude          zone
                                             132 .......    38°54.17′ N.   72°52.58′ W.           *                                                                                          JONES AND BABYLON CANYONS
                                             133 .......    38°54.7′ N.    72°50.26′ W.           *           1   ...........   39°55.08′ N.     71°18.62′ W.            *
                                             134 .......    38°57.2′ N.    72°47.74′ W.           *           2   ...........   39°55.99′ N.     71°16.07′ W.            *                                                                Broad
                                                                                                                                                                                         Point           Latitude        Longitude
                                             135 .......    38°58.64′ N.   72°48.35′ W.           *           3   ...........   39°49.51′ N.     71°12.12′ W.     ................                                                        zone
                                             136 .......    38°59.3′ N.    72°47.86′ W.           *           4   ...........   39°38.09′ N.     71°9.5′ W.       ................
                                             137 .......    38°59.22′ N.   72°46.69′ W.           *           5   ...........   39°37.4′ N.      71°11.87′ W.     ................   1   ...........   39°28.26′   N.   72°2.2′ W.            *
                                             138 .......    39°0.13′ N.    72°45.47′ W.           *           6   ...........   39°47.26′ N.     71°17.38′ W.     ................   2   ...........   39°29.88′   N.   72°3.51′ W.           *
                                             139 .......    39°1.69′ N.    72°45.74′ W.           *           7   ...........   39°52.6′ N.      71°17.51′ W.     ................   3   ...........   39°30.57′   N.   72°3.47′ W.           *
                                             140 .......    39°1.49′ N.    72°43.67′ W.           *           1   ...........   39°55.08′ N.     71°18.62′ W.            *           4   ...........   39°31.28′   N.   72°2.63′ W.           *
                                             141 .......    39°3.9′ N.     72°40.83′ W.           *                                                                                  5   ...........   39°31.46′   N.   72°1.41′ W.           *
                                             142 .......    39°7.35′ N.    72°41.26′ W.           *                                                                                  6   ...........   39°30.37′   N.   71°57.72′ W.   ................
                                                                                                                 (2) Ryan and McMaster Canyons.                                      7   ...........   39°30.63′   N.   71°55.13′ W.   ................
                                             143 .......    39°7.16′ N.    72°37.21′ W.           *
                                             144 .......    39°6.52′ N.    72°35.78′ W.           *           Ryan and McMaster Canyons discrete                                     8   ...........   39°23.81′   N.   71°48.15′ W.   ................
                                             145 .......    39°11.73′ N.   72°25.4′ W.            *           deep-sea coral zone is defined by                                      9   ...........   39°23′ N.        71°52.48′ W.   ................
                                             146 .......    39°11.76′ N.   72°22.33′ W.    ................   straight lines connecting the following                                1   ...........   39°28.26′   N.   72°2.2′ W.            *
                                             147 .......    39°19.08′ N.   72°9.56′ W.            *           points in the order stated (copies of a
                                             148 .......    39°25.17′ N.   72°13.03′ W.           *                                                                                    (5) Hudson Canyon. Hudson Canyon
                                             149 .......    39°28.8′ N.    72°17.39′ W.           *           chart depicting this area are available
                                                                                                                                                                                     discrete deep-sea coral zone is defined
                                             150 .......    39°30.16′ N.   72°20.41′ W.           *           from the Regional Administrator upon
                                                                                                                                                                                     by straight lines connecting the
                                             151 .......    39°31.38′ N.   72°23.86′ W.           *           request). An asterisk (*) in the Broad
                                             152 .......    39°32.55′ N.   72°25.07′ W.           *                                                                                  following points in the order stated
                                                                                                              Zone column means the point is shared
                                             153 .......    39°34.57′ N.   72°25.18′ W.           *                                                                                  (copies of a chart depicting this area are
                                             154 .......    39°34.53′ N.   72°24.23′ W.           *           with the Broad Deep-sea Coral Zone, as
                                                                                                                                                                                     available from the Regional
                                             155 .......    39°33.17′ N.   72°24.1′ W.            *           defined in paragraph (b) of this section.
                                             156 .......    39°32.07′ N.   72°22.77′ W.           *
                                                                                                                                                                                     Administrator upon request). An
                                             157 .......    39°32.17′ N.   72°22.08′ W.           *                                                                                  asterisk (*) in the Broad Zone column
                                                                                                                    RYAN AND MCMASTER CANYONS
                                             158 .......    39°30.3′ N.    72°15.71′ W.           *                                                                                  means the point is shared with the
                                             159 .......    39°29.49′ N.   72°14.3′ W.            *                                                                                  Broad Deep-Sea Coral Zone, as defined
                                                                                                                                                                     Broad
                                             160 .......    39°29.44′ N.   72°13.24′ W.           *               Point           Latitude        Longitude
                                             161 .......    39°27.63′ N.   72°5.87′ W.            *
                                                                                                                                                                     zone            in paragraph (b) of this section.
                                             162 .......    39°28.26′ N.   72°2.2′ W.             *           1   ...........   39°43.84′   N.   71°44.85′   W.          *
                                             163 .......    39°29.88′ N.   72°3.51′ W.            *           2   ...........   39°48.01′   N.   71°45.19′   W.          *                               HUDSON CANYON
                                             164 .......    39°30.57′ N.   72°3.47′ W.            *           3   ...........   39°49.97′   N.   71°39.29′   W.          *
rmajette on DSK2TPTVN1PROD with RULES




                                             165 .......    39°31.28′ N.   72°2.63′ W.            *           4   ...........   39°48.29′   N.   71°37.18′   W.   ................                                                        Broad
                                                                                                                                                                                         Point           Latitude        Longitude
                                             166 .......    39°31.46′ N.   72°1.41′ W.            *           5   ...........   39°42.96′   N.   71°35.01′   W.   ................                                                        zone
                                             167 .......    39°37.15′ N.   71°55.85′ W.           *           6   ...........   39°33.43′   N.   71°27.91′   W.   ................
                                             168 .......    39°39.77′ N.   71°53.7′ W.            *           7   ...........   39°31.75′   N.   71°30.77′   W.   ................   1   ...........   39°19.08′ N.     72°9.56′ W.           *
                                             169 .......    39°41.5′ N.    71°51.89′ W.    ................   8   ...........   39°34.46′   N.   71°35.68′   W.   ................   2   ...........   39°25.17′ N.     72°13.03′ W.          *
                                             170 .......    39°43.84′ N.   71°44.85′ W.           *           9   ...........   39°40.12′   N.   71°42.36′   W.   ................   3   ...........   39°28.8′ N.      72°17.39′ W.          *
                                             171 .......    39°48.01′ N.   71°45.19′ W.           *           1   ...........   39°43.84′   N.   71°44.85′   W.          *           4   ...........   39°30.16′ N.     72°20.41′ W.          *
                                             172 .......    39°49.97′ N.   71°39.29′ W.           *                                                                                  5   ...........   39°31.38′ N.     72°23.86′ W.          *



                                        VerDate Sep<11>2014      15:29 Dec 13, 2016   Jkt 241001     PO 00000         Frm 00068      Fmt 4700     Sfmt 4700   E:\FR\FM\14DER1.SGM                 14DER1


                                                                Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 240 / Wednesday, December 14, 2016 / Rules and Regulations                                                                             90253

                                                     HUDSON CANYON—Continued                                                        SPENCER CANYON                                           NORTH HEYES AND SOUTH
                                                                                                                                                                                         WILMINGTON CANYONS—Continued
                                                                                                Broad                                                                Broad
                                               Point            Latitude      Longitude                             Point           Latitude        Longitude
                                                                                                zone                                                                 zone
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Broad
                                                                                                                                                                                         Point           Latitude        Longitude        zone
                                             6 ...........    39°32.55′ N.   72°25.07′ W.           *           1   ...........   38°34.14′ N.     73°11.14′ W.          *
                                             7 ...........    39°34.57′ N.   72°25.18′ W.           *           2   ...........   38°35.1′ N.      73°10.43′ W.          *           9 ...........     38°15.79′   N.   73°26.38′ W.   ................
                                             8 ...........    39°34.53′ N.   72°24.23′ W.           *           3   ...........   38°35.94′ N.     73°11.25′ W.          *           10 .........      38°14.98′   N.   73°24.73′ W.   ................
                                             9 ...........    39°33.17′ N.   72°24.1′ W.            *           4   ...........   38°37.57′ N.     73°10.49′ W.          *           11 .........      38°12.32′   N.   73°21.22′ W.   ................
                                             10 .........     39°32.07′ N.   72°22.77′ W.           *           5   ...........   38°37.21′ N.     73°9.41′ W.           *           12 .........      38°11.06′   N.   73°22.21′ W.   ................
                                             11 .........     39°32.17′ N.   72°22.08′ W.           *           6   ...........   38°36.72′ N.     73°8.85′ W.           *           13 .........      38°11.13′   N.   73°28.72′ W.   ................
                                             12 .........     39°30.3′ N.    72°15.71′ W.           *           7   ...........   38°36.59′ N.     73°8.25′ W.    ................   1 ...........     38°15.25′   N.   73°36.2′ W.           *
                                             13 .........     39°29.49′ N.   72°14.3′ W.            *           8   ...........   38°28.94′ N.     72°58.96′ W.   ................
                                             14 .........     39°29.44′ N.   72°13.24′ W.           *           9   ...........   38°26.45′ N.     73°3.24′ W.    ................
                                             15 .........     39°27.63′ N.   72°5.87′ W.            *           1   ...........   38°34.14′ N.     73°11.14′ W.          *             (10) South Vries Canyon. South Vries
                                             16 .........     39°13.93′ N.   71°48.44′ W.    ................                                                                        Canyon discrete deep-sea coral zone is
                                             17 .........     39°10.39′ N.   71°52.98′ W.    ................                                                                        defined by straight lines connecting the
                                             18 .........     39°14.27′ N.   72°3.09′ W.     ................
                                                                                                                  (8) Wilmington Canyon. Wilmington
                                             1 ...........    39°19.08′ N.   72°9.56′ W.            *           Canyon discrete deep-sea coral zone is                               following points in the order stated
                                                                                                                defined by straight lines connecting the                             (copies of a chart depicting this area are
                                               (6) Mey-Lindenkohl Slope. Mey-                                   following points in the order stated                                 available from the Regional
                                             Lindenkohl Slope discrete deep-sea                                 (copies of a chart depicting this area are                           Administrator upon request). An
                                             coral zone is defined by straight lines                            available from the Regional                                          asterisk (*) in the Broad Zone column
                                             connecting the following points in the                             Administrator upon request). An                                      means the point is shared with the
                                             order stated (copies of a chart depicting                          asterisk (*) in the Broad Zone column                                Broad Deep-Sea Coral Zone, as defined
                                             this area are available from the Regional                          means the point is shared with the                                   in paragraph (b) of this section.
                                             Administrator upon request). An                                    Broad Deep-sea Coral Zone, as defined
                                             asterisk (*) in the Broad Zone column                              in paragraph (b) of this section.                                                      SOUTH VRIES CANYON
                                             means the point is shared with the
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Broad
                                             Broad Deep-Sea Coral Zone, as defined                                                WILMINGTON CANYON                                      Point           Latitude        Longitude        zone
                                             in paragraph (b) of this section.
                                                                                                                                                                     Broad           1   ...........   38°6.35′ N.      73°44.8′ W.           *
                                                                                                                    Point           Latitude        Longitude        zone            2   ...........   38°7.5′ N.       73°45.2′ W.           *
                                                             MEY-LINDENKOHL SLOPE                                                                                                    3   ...........   38°9.24′ N.      73°42.61′ W.          *
                                                                                                                1 ...........     38°19.04′ N.     73°33.02′ W.          *           4   ...........   38°3.22′ N.      73°29.22′ W.   ................
                                                                                                Broad           2 ...........     38°25.08′ N.     73°34.99′ W.          *           5   ...........   38°2.38′ N.      73°29.78′ W.   ................
                                               Point            Latitude      Longitude         zone            3 ...........     38°26.32′ N.     73°33.44′ W.          *           6   ...........   38°2.54′ N.      73°36.73′ W.   ................
                                                                                                                4 ...........     38°29.72′ N.     73°30.65′ W.          *           1   ...........   38°6.35′ N.      73°44.8′ W.           *
                                             1 ...........    38°43′ N.      73°1.24′ W.            *           5 ...........     38°28.65′ N.     73°29.37′ W.          *
                                             2 ...........    38°43.66′ N.   73°0.36′ W.            *           6 ...........     38°25.53′ N.     73°30.94′ W.          *
                                             3 ...........    38°45′ N.      73°0.27′ W.            *           7 ...........     38°25.26′ N.     73°29.97′ W.          *
                                                                                                                                                                                       (11) Baltimore Canyon. Baltimore
                                             4 ...........    38°46.68′ N.   73°1.07′ W.            *                                                                                Canyon discrete deep-sea coral zone is
                                                                                                                8 ...........     38°23.75′ N.     73°30.16′ W.          *
                                             5 ...........    38°47.54′ N.   73°2.24′ W.            *
                                             6 ...........    38°47.84′ N.   73°2.24′ W.            *
                                                                                                                9 ...........     38°23.47′ N.     73°29.7′ W.           *           defined by straight lines connecting the
                                                                                                                10 .........      38°22.76′ N.     73°29.34′ W.          *           following points in the order stated
                                             7 ...........    38°49.03′ N.   73°1.53′ W.            *
                                                                                                                11 .........      38°22.5′ N.      73°27.63′ W.          *
                                             8 ...........    38°48.45′ N.   73°1′ W.               *
                                                                                                                12 .........      38°21.59′ N.     73°26.87′ W.          *
                                                                                                                                                                                     (copies of a chart depicting this area are
                                             9 ...........    38°49.15′ N.   72°58.98′ W.           *                                                                                available from the Regional
                                             10 .........     38°48.03′ N.   72°56.7′ W.            *           13 .........      38°18.52′ N.     73°22.95′ W.   ................
                                             11 .........     38°49.84′ N.   72°55.54′ W.           *           14 .........      38°14.41′ N.     73°16.64′ W.   ................   Administrator upon request). An
                                             12 .........     38°52.4′ N.    72°52.5′ W.            *           15 .........      38°13.23′ N.     73°17.32′ W.   ................   asterisk (*) in the Broad Zone column
                                                                                                                16 .........      38°15.79′ N.     73°26.38′ W.   ................
                                             13 .........     38°53.87′ N.   72°53.36′ W.           *
                                                                                                                1 ...........     38°19.04′ N.     73°33.02′ W.          *
                                                                                                                                                                                     means the point is shared with the
                                             14 .........     38°54.17′ N.   72°52.58′ W.           *
                                             15 .........     38°54.7′ N.    72°50.26′ W.           *
                                                                                                                                                                                     Broad Deep-Sea Coral Zone, as defined
                                             16 .........     38°57.2′ N.    72°47.74′ W.           *              (9) North Heyes and South                                         in paragraph (b) of this section.
                                             17 .........     38°58.64′ N.   72°48.35′ W.           *           Wilmington Canyons. North Heyes and
                                             18 .........     38°59.3′ N.    72°47.86′ W.           *                                                                                                   BALTIMORE CANYON
                                             19 .........     38°59.22′ N.   72°46.69′ W.           *           South Wilmington Canyons discrete
                                             20 .........     39°0.13′ N.    72°45.47′ W.           *           deep-sea coral zone is defined by                                                                                         Broad
                                             21 .........     39°1.69′ N.    72°45.74′ W.           *           straight lines connecting the following                                  Point           Latitude        Longitude        zone
                                             22 .........     39°1.49′ N.    72°43.67′ W.           *           points in the order stated (copies of a
                                             23 .........     39°3.9′ N.     72°40.83′ W.           *                                                                                1 ...........     38°3.29′ N.      73°49.1′ W.           *
                                             24 .........     39°7.35′ N.    72°41.26′ W.           *           chart depicting this area are available                              2 ...........     38°6.19′ N.      73°51.59′ W.          *
                                             25 .........     39°7.16′ N.    72°37.21′ W.           *           from the Regional Administrator upon                                 3 ...........     38°7.67′ N.      73°52.19′ W.          *
                                             26 .........     39°6.52′ N.    72°35.78′ W.           *           request). An asterisk (*) in the Broad                               4 ...........     38°9.04′ N.      73°52.39′ W.          *
                                             27 .........     39°11.73′ N.   72°25.4′ W.            *           Zone column means the point is shared                                5 ...........     38°10.1′ N.      73°52.32′ W.          *
                                             28 .........     38°58.85′ N.   72°11.78′ W.    ................                                                                        6 ...........     38°11.98′ N.     73°52.65′ W.          *
                                             29 .........     38°32.39′ N.   72°47.69′ W.    ................   with the Broad Deep-Sea Coral Zone, as                               7 ...........     38°13.74′ N.     73°50.73′ W.          *
                                             30 .........     38°34.88′ N.   72°53.78′ W.    ................   defined in paragraph (b) of this section.                            8 ...........     38°13.15′ N.     73°49.77′ W.          *
                                             1 ...........    38°43′ N.      73°1.24′ W.            *                                                                                9 ...........     38°10.92′ N.     73°50.37′ W.          *
                                                                                                                             NORTH HEYES AND SOUTH                                   10 .........      38°10.2′ N.      73°49.63′ W.          *
                                               (7) Spencer Canyon. Spencer Canyon                                                                                                    11 .........      38°9.26′ N.      73°49.68′ W.          *
                                                                                                                              WILMINGTON CANYONS                                     12 .........      38°8.38′ N.      73°49.51′ W.          *
                                             discrete deep-sea coral zone is defined
                                                                                                                                                                                     13 .........      38°7.59′ N.      73°47.91′ W.          *
                                             by straight lines connecting the                                                                                        Broad           14 .........      38°6.96′ N.      73°47.25′ W.          *
                                                                                                                    Point           Latitude        Longitude
                                             following points in the order stated                                                                                    zone            15 .........      38°6.51′ N.      73°46.99′ W.          *
                                             (copies of a chart depicting this area are                                                                                              16 .........      38°5.69′ N.      73°45.56′ W.          *
rmajette on DSK2TPTVN1PROD with RULES




                                                                                                                1   ...........   38°15.25′   N.   73°36.2′ W.           *
                                             available from the Regional                                                                                                             17 .........      38°6.35′ N.      73°44.8′ W.           *
                                                                                                                2   ...........   38°16.19′   N.   73°36.91′ W.          *
                                                                                                                                                                                     18 .........      38°2.54′ N.      73°36.73′ W.   ................
                                             Administrator upon request). An                                    3   ...........   38°16.89′   N.   73°36.66′ W.          *
                                                                                                                                                                                     19 .........      37°59.19′ N.     73°40.67′ W.   ................
                                             asterisk (*) in the Broad Zone column                              4   ...........   38°16.91′   N.   73°36.35′ W.          *
                                                                                                                                                                                     1 ...........     38°3.29′ N.      73°49.1′ W.           *
                                                                                                                5   ...........   38°17.63′   N.   73°35.35′ W.          *
                                             means the point is shared with the                                 6   ...........   38°18.55′   N.   73°34.44′ W.          *
                                             Broad Deep-Sea Coral Zone, as defined                              7   ...........   38°18.38′   N.   73°33.4′ W.           *             (12) Warr and Phoenix Canyon
                                             in paragraph (b) of this section.                                  8   ...........   38°19.04′   N.   73°33.02′ W.          *           Complex. Warr and Phoenix Canyon


                                        VerDate Sep<11>2014        15:29 Dec 13, 2016   Jkt 241001     PO 00000         Frm 00069      Fmt 4700     Sfmt 4700   E:\FR\FM\14DER1.SGM               14DER1


                                             90254               Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 240 / Wednesday, December 14, 2016 / Rules and Regulations

                                             Complex discrete deep-sea coral zone is                              ACCOMAC AND LEONARD CANYONS—                                       (15) Norfolk Canyon. Norfolk Canyon
                                             defined by straight lines connecting the                                       Continued                                              discrete deep-sea coral zone is defined
                                             following points in the order stated                                                                                                  by straight lines connecting the
                                             (copies of a chart depicting this area are                                                                            Broad           following points in the order stated
                                                                                                                   Point           Latitude       Longitude        zone
                                             available from the Regional                                                                                                           (copies of a chart depicting this area are
                                             Administrator upon request). An                                     10 .........    37°50.28′ N.    74°0.67′ W.           *           available from the Regional
                                             asterisk (*) in the Broad Zone column                               11 .........    37°50.2′ N.     74°0.17′ W.    ................   Administrator upon request). An
                                                                                                                 12 .........    37°50.52′ N.    73°58.59′ W.   ................
                                             means the point is shared with the                                  13 .........    37°50.99′ N.    73°57.17′ W.   ................
                                                                                                                                                                                   asterisk (*) in the Broad Zone column
                                             Broad Deep-Sea Coral Zone, as defined                               14 .........    37°50.4′ N.     73°52.35′ W.   ................   means the point is shared with the
                                             in paragraph (b) of this section.                                   15 .........    37°42.76′ N.    73°44.86′ W.   ................   Broad Deep-Sea Coral Zone, as defined
                                                                                                                 16 .........    37°39.96′ N.    73°48.32′ W.   ................   in paragraph (b) of this section.
                                                                                                                 17 .........    37°40.04′ N.    73°58.25′ W.   ................
                                                       WARR AND PHOENIX CANYON                                   18 .........    37°44.14′ N.    74°6.96′ W.    ................
                                                              COMPLEX                                            1 ...........   37°45.15′ N.    74°7.24′ W.           *                             NORFOLK CANYON
                                                                                                 Broad             (14) Washington Canyon. Washington                                                                               Broad
                                                 Point           Latitude      Longitude                                                                                             Point           Latitude      Longitude
                                                                                                 zone                                                                                                                               zone
                                                                                                                 Canyon discrete deep-sea coral zone is
                                             1   ...........   37°53.68′ N.   73°57.41′ W.           *           defined by straight lines connecting the                          1 ...........   36°58.51′ N.   74°36.51′ W.          *
                                             2   ...........   37°55.07′ N.   73°57.27′ W.           *           following points in the order stated                              2 ...........   36°58.62′ N.   74°36.97′ W.          *
                                             3   ...........   38°3.29′ N.    73°49.1′ W.            *           (copies of a chart depicting this area are                        3 ...........   37°4.43′ N.    74°41.03′ W.          *
                                             4   ...........   37°59.19′ N.   73°40.67′ W.    ................                                                                     4 ...........   37°5.83′ N.    74°45.57′ W.          *
                                             5   ...........   37°52.5′ N.    73°35.28′ W.    ................   available from the Regional                                       5 ...........   37°6.97′ N.    74°40.8′ W.           *
                                             6   ...........   37°50.92′ N.   73°36.59′ W.    ................   Administrator upon request). An                                   6 ...........   37°4.52′ N.    74°37.77′ W.          *
                                             7   ...........   37°49.84′ N.   73°47.11′ W.    ................   asterisk (*) in the Broad Zone column                             7 ...........   37°4.02′ N.    74°33.83′ W.          *
                                             1   ...........   37°53.68′ N.   73°57.41′ W.           *           means the point is shared with the                                8 ...........   37°4.52′ N.    74°33.51′ W.          *
                                                                                                                 Broad Deep-Sea Coral Zone, as defined                             9 ...........   37°4.40′ N.    74°33.11′ W.          *
                                                (13) Accomac and Leonard Canyons.                                in paragraph (b) of this section.                                 10 .........    37°4.16′ N.    74°32.37′ W.   ................
                                             Accomac and Leonard Canyons discrete                                                                                                  11 .........    37°4.40′ N.    74°30.58′ W.   ................
                                                                                                                                                                                   12 .........    37°3.65′ N.    74°3.66′ W.    ................
                                             deep-sea coral zone is defined by                                                   WASHINGTON CANYON                                 13 .........    36°57.75′ N.   74°3.61′ W.    ................
                                             straight lines connecting the following                                                                                               14 .........    36°59.77′ N.   74°30′ W.      ................
                                             points in the order stated (copies of a                               Point           Latitude       Longitude        Broad           15 .........    36°58.23′ N.   74°32.95′ W.   ................
                                             chart depicting this area are available                                                                               zone            16 .........    36°57.99′ N.   74°34.18′ W.   ................
                                             from the Regional Administrator upon                                                                                                  1 ...........   36°58.51′ N.   74°36.51′ W.          *
                                                                                                                 1 ...........   37°22.74′ N.    74°26.24′ W.          *
                                             request). An asterisk (*) in the Broad                              2 ...........   37°22.87′ N.    74°26.16′ W.          *
                                             Zone column means the point is shared                               3 ...........   37°24.44′ N.    74°28.57′ W.          *              (d) Transiting. Vessels may transit the
                                                                                                                 4 ...........   37°24.67′ N.    74°29.71′ W.          *
                                             with the Broad Deep-Sea Coral Zone, as                              5 ...........   37°25.93′ N.    74°30.13′ W.          *           Broad and Discrete Deep-Sea Coral
                                             defined in paragraph (b) of this section.                           6 ...........   37°27.25′ N.    74°30.2′ W.           *           Zones defined in paragraphs (b) and (c)
                                                                                                                 7 ...........   37°28.6′ N.     74°30.6′ W.           *           of this section, provided bottom-tending
                                                 ACCOMAC AND LEONARD CANYONS                                     8 ...........   37°29.43′ N.    74°30.29′ W.          *
                                                                                                                 9 ...........   37°29.53′ N.    74°29.95′ W.          *
                                                                                                                                                                                   trawl nets are out of the water and
                                                                                                                 10 .........    37°27.68′ N.    74°28.82′ W.          *           stowed on the reel and any other fishing
                                                                                                 Broad
                                                 Point           Latitude      Longitude         zone
                                                                                                                 11 .........    37°27.06′ N.    74°28.76′ W.          *           gear that is prohibited in these areas is
                                                                                                                 12 .........    37°26.39′ N.    74°27.76′ W.          *           onboard, out of the water, and not
                                                                                                                 13 .........    37°26.3′ N.     74°26.87′ W.          *
                                             1   ...........   37°45.15′ N.   74°7.24′ W.            *
                                                                                                                 14 .........    37°25.69′ N.    74°25.63′ W.          *           deployed. Fishing gear is not required to
                                             2   ...........   37°45.88′ N.   74°7.44′ W.            *                                                                             meet the definition of ‘‘not available for
                                                                                                                 15 .........    37°25.83′ N.    74°24.22′ W.          *
                                             3   ...........   37°46.7′ N.    74°5.98′ W.            *
                                             4   ...........   37°49.62′ N.   74°6.03′ W.            *
                                                                                                                 16 .........    37°25.68′ N.    74°24.03′ W.          *           immediate use’’ in § 648.2, when a
                                                                                                                 17 .........    37°25.08′ N.    74°23.29′ W.   ................   vessel transits the Broad and Discrete
                                             5   ...........   37°51.25′ N.   74°5.48′ W.            *
                                                                                                                 18 .........    37°16.81′ N.    73°52.13′ W.   ................
                                             6   ...........   37°51.99′ N.   74°4.51′ W.            *           19 .........    37°11.27′ N.    73°54.05′ W.   ................   Deep-Sea Coral Zones.
                                             7   ...........   37°51.37′ N.   74°3.3′ W.             *           20 .........    37°15.73′ N.    74°12.2′ W.    ................
                                             8   ...........   37°50.63′ N.   74°2.69′ W.            *                                                                             [FR Doc. 2016–29811 Filed 12–13–16; 8:45 am]
                                                                                                                 1 ...........   37°22.74′ N.    74°26.24′ W.          *
                                             9   ...........   37°49.62′ N.   74°2.28′ W.            *                                                                             BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
rmajette on DSK2TPTVN1PROD with RULES




                                        VerDate Sep<11>2014         15:29 Dec 13, 2016   Jkt 241001      PO 00000       Frm 00070     Fmt 4700    Sfmt 9990   E:\FR\FM\14DER1.SGM              14DER1



Document Created: 2016-12-14 00:48:15
Document Modified: 2016-12-14 00:48:15
CategoryRegulatory Information
CollectionFederal Register
sudoc ClassAE 2.7:
GS 4.107:
AE 2.106:
PublisherOffice of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration
SectionRules and Regulations
ActionFinal rule.
DatesEffective January 13, 2017.
ContactPeter Christopher, Supervisory Fishery Policy Analyst, (978) 281-9288, fax (978) 281-9135.
FR Citation81 FR 90246 
RIN Number0648-BG21
CFR AssociatedFisheries; Fishing and Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements

2024 Federal Register | Disclaimer | Privacy Policy
USC | CFR | eCFR