83 FR 5735 - Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder Fishery; Quota Transfer

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 28 (February 9, 2018)

NMFS announces that the State of North Carolina is transferring a portion of its 2018 commercial summer flounder quota to the State of Rhode Island. This quota adjustment is necessary to comply with the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan quota transfer provisions. This announcement informs the public of the revised commercial quotas for North Carolina and Rhode Island.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 28 (Friday, February 9, 2018)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 5735-5736]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-02660]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 170828822-70999-02]
RIN 0648-XG001


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.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the State of North Carolina is 
transferring a portion of its 2018 commercial summer flounder quota to 
the State of Rhode Island. This quota adjustment is necessary to comply 
with the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management 
Plan quota transfer provisions. This announcement informs the public of 
the revised commercial quotas for North Carolina and Rhode Island.

[[Page 5736]]


DATES: Effective February 6, 2018, through December 31, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cynthia Hanson, Fishery Management 
Specialist, (978) 281-9180.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations governing the summer flounder 
fishery are found in 50 CFR 648.100 through 648.110. These 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 is described in Sec.  648.102, and the initial 2018 allocations 
were published on December 22, 2017 (82 FR 60682), and corrected 
January 30, 2018 (83 FR 4165).
    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 Sec.  648.102(c)(2). The Regional 
Administrator is required to consider the criteria in Sec.  
648.102(c)(2)(i)(A) through (C) in the evaluation of requests for quota 
transfers or combinations.
    North Carolina is transferring 5,008 lb (2,272 kg) of summer 
flounder commercial quota to Rhode Island. This transfer was requested 
to repay landings by North Carolina-permitted vessels that landed in 
Rhode Island under safe harbor agreements. The revised summer flounder 
quotas for calendar year 2018 are now: North Carolina, 1,761,439 lb 
(798,975 kg); and Rhode Island, 1,001,381 lb (454,219 kg); based on the 
initial quotas published in the 2018 Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black 
Sea Bass Specifications and subsequent adjustments.

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: February 6, 2018.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2018-02660 Filed 2-6-18; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P