[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 205 (Friday, October 23, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 56867-56868]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-28492]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 971015246-7293-02; I.D. 101998M]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder
Fisheries; Readjustment to the 1998 Commercial State Quota for North
Carolina
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Commercial quota adjustment.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces an adjustment to the 1998 summer flounder
commercial quota for North Carolina. The North Carolina adjustment
complies with a court order setting aside the 1997 overage, which had
been deducted from the 1998 quota earlier this year. The public is
advised that the quota adjustment has been made and is informed of the
revised quota.
DATES: Effective October 20, 1998, through December 31, 1998.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Myles Raizin, Fisheries Management
Specialist, 978-281-9326.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations implementing summer flounder
management measures are found at 50 CFR part 648, subparts A and G. The
regulations require annual specification of a commercial quota that is
apportioned among the Atlantic coastal states from North Carolina
through Maine. The process to set the annual commercial quota and the
percent allocated to each state is described in Sec. 648.100. Section
648.100(d)(2) provides that all landings for sale in a state shall be
applied against that state's annual commercial quota. Any landings in
excess of the state's quota must be deducted from that state's annual
quota for the following year.
The final specifications for the 1998 summer flounder fishery (62
FR 66304, December 18, 1997), adopted to ensure achievement of a
fishing mortality rate (F) of 0.24 for 1998, set a total commercial
quota equal to 11,105,636 lb (5.0 million kg). In the preamble to the
rule implementing these specifications, NMFS noted that associated
adjustments to states' 1998 quotas would be required as a result of any
landings in excess of the 1997 quota. Two adjustments were made to the
1998 state commercial quotas, effective January 16, 1998 (63 FR 3478,
January 23, 1998) and April 23, 1998 (63 FR 23227, April 28, 1998) to
reflect updated 1997 landings. This resulted in an overage of 399,740
lb (181,319 kg) for North Carolina for 1998.
The adjustment in this notification to the North Carolina quota is
required by a court order. In response to a lawsuit filed by the North
Carolina Fisheries Association, Inc., Georges Seafood, Inc., and the
State of North Carolina, the United States District Court for the
Eastern District of Virginia, Norfolk Division, on September 28, 1998,
ordered that the 1997 overage for the North Carolina summer flounder
fishery be set aside. Therefore, this adjustment subtracts 399,740 lb
(181,319 kg) from North Carolina's 1997 overage and adds this amount to
the 1998 North Carolina quota for summer flounder, revising it from
2,649,849 lb (1,201,951 kg) to 3,049,589 lb (1,383,270 kg) and total
coastwide readjusted quota for summer flounder are revised from
10,558,994 lb (4,789,479 kg) to 10,958,734 lb (4,972,102 kg). Table 1.
displays the current 1998 quotas resulting from this readjustment to
the North Carolina quota.
[[Page 56868]]
Table 1.--Summer Flounder Final Readjusted 1998 Quotas
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Unadjusted 1998 quota \1\ Adjusted 1998 quota \2\ Final readjusted 1998 quota
State -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
lb (Kg) \3\ lb (Kg) lb (Kg)
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ME...................................................... 5,284 2,397 4,791 2,173 4,791 2,173
NH...................................................... 51 23 51 23 51 23
MA...................................................... 757,841 343,751 721,889 327,448 721,899 327,448
RI...................................................... 1,742,583 790,422 1,742,583 790,422 1,742,583 790,422
CT...................................................... 250,791 113,757 250,791 113,757 250,457 113,605
NY...................................................... 849,680 385,408 788,282 357,559 788,282 357,559
NJ...................................................... 1,858,363 842,939 1,858,363 842,939 1,858,363 842,940
DE...................................................... \4\ (3,685) (1,671) (14,534) (6,593) (14,534) (6,593)
MD...................................................... 226,570 102,770 199,876 90,662 199,876 90,662
VA...................................................... 2,368,569 1,074,365 2,357,377 1,069,288 2,357,377 1,069,288
NC...................................................... 3,049,589 1,383,270 2,649,849 1,201,951 3,049,589 1,383,270
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Total............................................... 11,105,636 5,037,432 10,558,994 4,789,479 10,958,734 4,972,102
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\1\ As published on December 18, 1997 (62 FR 6304).
\2\ As published on April 28, 1998 (63 FR 23227).
\3\ Kilograms are as converted from pounds, and may not necessarily add due to rounding.
\4\ Parentheses indicate a negative number.
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: October 20, 1998.
Andrew A. Rosenberg,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 98-28492 Filed 10-20-98; 3:50 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
