Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder Fishery; Quota Transfer

AGENCY:

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

ACTION:

Temporary rule; quota transfer.

SUMMARY:

NMFS announces that the State of North Carolina is transferring a portion of its 2016 commercial summer flounder quota to the State of New Jersey and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. These quota adjustments are necessary to comply with the Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan quota transfer provision. This announcement informs the public of the revised commercial quota for each state involved.

DATES:

Effective April 13, 2016, through December 31, 2016.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Elizabeth Scheimer, Fishery Management Specialist, (978)-281-9236.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Regulations governing the summer flounder fishery are found in 50 CFR 648.100 through 648.110. The regulations require annual specification of a commercial quota that is apportioned among the coastal states from Maine through North Carolina. The process to set the annual commercial quota and the percent allocated to each state are described in § 648.102.

The final rule implementing Amendment 5 to the Summer Flounder Fishery Management Plan, as published in the Federal Register on December 17, 1993 (58 FR 65936), provided a mechanism for transferring summer flounder commercial quota from one state to another. Two or more states, under mutual agreement and with the concurrence of the NMFS Greater Atlantic Regional Administrator, can transfer or combine summer flounder commercial quota under § 648.102(c)(2). The Regional Administrator is required to consider the criteria in § 648.102(c)(2)(i)(A) through (C) in the evaluation of requests for quota transfers or combinations.

North Carolina is transferring 9,935 lb (4,506 kg) of summer flounder commercial quota to New Jersey and 7,350 lb (3,333 kg) of summer flounder commercial quota to Massachusetts. These transfers were requested by the State of North Carolina to repay landings by North Carolina permitted vessels that landed in other states under safe harbor agreements.

The revised summer flounder quotas for calendar year 2016 are now: North Carolina, 2,147,446 lb (974,065 kg); New Jersey, 1,381,879 lb (626,809 kg); and Massachusetts, 571,252 lb (259,115 kg) based on the initial quotas published in the 2016-2018 Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Specifications, (December 28, 2015, 80 FR 80689) and previous 2016 quota transfers (March 8, 2016, 81 FR 12030).

Classification

This action is taken under 50 CFR part 648 and is exempt from review under Executive Order 12866.

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