AGENCY:
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION:
Temporary rule; quota transfer.
SUMMARY:
NMFS announces that the Commonwealth of Virginia is transferring a portion of its 2016 commercial summer flounder quota to 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 quotas for Virginia and Massachusetts.
DATES:
Effective April 26, 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.
Virginia is transferring 6,525 lb (2,959 kg) of summer flounder commercial quota to Massachusetts. This transfer was requested by Virginia to repay landings by a Virginia-permitted vessel that landed in Massachusetts under a safe harbor agreement.
The revised summer flounder quotas for calendar year 2016 are now: Virginia, 1,755,829 lb (796,430 kg); and Massachusetts, 577,777 lb (262,075 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 and April 14, 2016, 81 FR 22032).
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.
Dated: April 21, 2016.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-09726 Filed 4-26-16; 8:45 am]
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