Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Emergency Rule Extension, Georges Bank Yellowtail Flounder and White Hake Catch Limits and GOM Cod Carryover Revisions

This rule extends, pursuant to NMFS's emergency authority in the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson- Stevens Act), the Georges Bank (GB) yellowtail flounder and white hake specifications for fishing year (FY) 2013 and the GOM cod sector carryover reduction that were published on May 3, 2013, which were implemented as emergency actions concurrently with the Framework Adjustment (FW) 50 final rule under the Northeast (NE) Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP). These measures were scheduled to expire on October 30, 2013. Specifically, this temporary rule maintains the current Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC) and Annual Catch Limit (ACL) for GB yellowtail flounder and white hake, and the 1.85-percent allowable carryover of unused FY 2012 GOM cod Annual Catch Entitlement (ACE) for sectors for an additional 183 days, i.e., through the end of FY 2013 (May 1, 2013, through April 30, 2014). The need for the emergency measures is unchanged, which is to establish FY 2013 catch limits for GB yellowtail flounder and white hake based upon the best available scientific information, and to reduce available carryover of unused FY 2012 GOM cod ACE for sectors. The intended effect of the emergency measures is to prevent overfishing on GB yellowtail flounder and GOM cod, and to incorporate the best available science into the management of white hake.