Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Vessel Monitoring System Power Down Exemption

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NMFS issues this final rule to amend the regulations implementing the Atlantic Sea Scallop and Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plans (FMP). This action changes the name ``Vessel Tracking System (VTS)'' to ``Vessel Monitoring System (VMS)'' and changes the VMS operating requirements for vessels to allow the VMS unit to be turned off if the vessel is out of the water continuously for more than 72 consecutive hours, provided the owner of the vessel obtains and complies with a letter of exemption issued to the vessel. The change in VMS operating requirements is necessary to address the lack of available power required to keep VMS units operational when vessels are removed from the water for repair and maintenance.