[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 224 (Friday, November 20, 1998)] [Rules and Regulations] [Page 64433] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 98-31097] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 50 CFR Part 648 [Docket No. 971015246-7293-02; I.D. 111698E] Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder Fishery; Commercial Quota Harvested for New Jersey
Agency
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
Action
Commercial quota harvest.
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Summary
NMFS announces that the summer flounder commercial quota available to the State of New Jersey has been harvested. Vessels issued a commercial Federal fisheries permit for the summer flounder fishery may not land summer flounder in New Jersey for the remainder of calendar year 1998 unless additional quota becomes available through a transfer. Regulations governing the summer flounder fishery require publication of this notification to advise the State of New Jersey that the quota has been harvested and to advise vessel permit holders and dealer permit holders that no commercial quota is available for landing summer flounder in New Jersey.
Dates
Effective 0001 hours November 21, 1998, through December 31, 1998.
For Further Information Contact
Paul H. Jones, Fishery Policy Analyst, (978) 281-9273.
Supplementary Information
Regulations governing the summer flounder fishery are found at 50 CFR part 648. The regulations require annual specification of a commercial quota that is apportioned among the coastal states from North Carolina through Maine. The process to set the annual commercial quota and the percent allocated to each state are described in Sec. 648.100. The initial total commercial quota for summer flounder for the 1998 calendar year was set equal to 11,105,636 lb (5,037,432 kg) (62 FR 66304, December 18, 1997). The percent allocated to vessels landing summer flounder in New Jersey is 16.72499 percent, or 1,858,363 lb (842,954 kg). Section 648.101(b) requires the Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator), to monitor state commercial quotas and to determine when a state's commercial quota is harvested. The Regional Administrator is further required to publish notification in the Federal Register advising a state and notifying Federal vessel and dealer permit holders that, effective upon a specific date, the state's commercial quota has been harvested and no commercial quota is available for landing summer flounder in that state. The Regional Administrator has determined, based upon dealer reports and other available information, that the State of New Jersey has attained its quota for 1998. The regulations at Sec. 648.4(b) provide that, as a condition of the permit, Federal permit holders agree not to land summer flounder in any state that the Regional Administrator has determined no longer has commercial quota available. Therefore, effective 0001 hours November 21, 1998, further landings of summer flounder in New Jersey by vessels holding commercial Federal fisheries permits are prohibited for the remainder of the 1998 calendar year unless additional quota becomes available through a transfer and is announced in the Federal Register. Effective November 21, 1998, federally permitted dealers are also advised that they may not purchase summer flounder from federally permitted vessels that land in New Jersey for the remainder of the calendar year, or until additional quota becomes available through a transfer.
Classification
This action is required by 50 CFR part 648 and is exempt from review under E.O. 12866.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: November 17, 1998. Richard W. Surdi, Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. [FR Doc. 98-31097 Filed 11-19-98; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510-22-F