Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act Provisions; Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Emergency Fishery Closure Due to the Presence of the Toxin That Causes Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning

This action reinstates the temporary regulations published in the Federal Register on September 9, 2005, and establishes the prohibition that was inadvertently omitted in the September 9, 2005 rule. In the September 9, 2005, temporary rule, NMFS continued the closure through September 30, 2005, of one portion of an area it had previously closed on June 16, 2005, to the harvest for human consumption of certain bivalve molluscan shellfish due to the presence in those waters of the toxin that causes Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP). The prohibition of harvesting whole or roe-on sea scallops, only, in the other portion of the area previously closed on June 16, 2005, was inadvertently omitted from the regulatory text of the September 9, 2005, publication. NMFS establishes this prohibition in this action. The intent of this action is to respond to the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), having determined on September 23, 2005, that there is insufficient analytical data to support the scheduled reopening of the entire area to all bivalve molluscan shellfish fishing on October 1, 2005.