[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 238 (Tuesday, December 10, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 64999-65000]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-31352]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 951116270-5308-02; I.D. 100296I]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder
Fishery; Adjustments to the 1996 North Carolina State Quota
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 commercial quota for the
North Carolina 1996 summer flounder fishery. This action complies with
regulations implementing the Fishery Management Plan for the Summer
Flounder Fishery (FMP), which require that annual quota overages landed
in any state be deducted from that state's quota for the following
year. The public is advised that a quota adjustment has been made and
is informed of the revised quota for the State of North Carolina.
EFFECTIVE DATE: December 5, 1996, through December 31, 1996.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lucy Helvenston, 508-281-9347.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations implementing Amendment 2 to the
FMP 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 percentage
allocated to each state are described in Sec. 648.100. The commercial
summer flounder quota for the 1996 calendar year, adopted to ensure
achievement of the appropriate fishing mortality rate of 0.41 for 1996,
was set to equal 11,111,298 lb (5.0 million kg) (January 4, 1996, 61 FR
291). The notification of a commercial quota
[[Page 65000]]
transfer from North Carolina to Virginia was published on March 13,
1996 (61 FR 10286). This quota transfer is reflected in Table 1.
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 will be deducted from that
state's annual quota for the following year. Based on dealer reports
and other available information, NMFS published final landings for 1995
and associated quota adjustments on April 5, 1996 (61 FR 15199). At
that time, available data indicated that North Carolina had landings
for 1995 that were actually 6,727 lb (3,051 kg) less than its 1995
quota. Since that notification was published, additional landings of
599,475 lb (271,917 kg) have been reported for 1995 for North Carolina,
meaning that North Carolina now has an overage for 1995 of 592,748 lb
(268,866 kg) (equals 599.475 lb less 6,727 lb). These landings data for
North Carolina which were just recently obtained by NMFS, necessitate
publication of an adjustment. This adjustment reduces the 1996 North
Carolina quota allocation from 3,043,816 lb (1,380,652 kg) to 2,451,068
lb (1,111,786 kg). Therefore, any overage in North Carolina's 1996
commercial fishery will be calculated by deducting the total landings
in 1996 from the adjusted quota of 2,451,068 lb (1,111,786 kg). This
action does not affect a notification concerning the commercial quota
harvest that prohibited further landing of summer flounder by federally
permitted vessels in North Carolina made effective March 15, 1996 (61
FR 11344).
Table 1.--Adjusted 1996 Commercial Quota for the Summer Flounder Fishery
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Adjusted 1996 quota
1995 Quota (lb) 1995 Landings 1995 Overage Initial 1996 -----------------------------------
(lb) (lb) quota (lb) (lb) (kg)
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ME.......................................... 6,987 5,318 0 5,284 5,284 2,397
NH.......................................... 67 0 0 51 51 23
MA.......................................... 1,122,246 1,127,995 5,749 757,841 752,092 341,143
RI.......................................... 2,243,224 2,365,465 122,241 1,742,583 1,620,342 734,975
CT.......................................... 331,574 306,404 0 250,791 250,791 113,757
NY.......................................... 1,243,374 1,248,078 4,704 849,680 844,976 383,275
NJ.......................................... 2,306,198 2,298,303 0 1,858,363 1,858,363 842,939
DE.......................................... 2,614 3,072 458 1,977 1,519 689
MD.......................................... 199,551 136,167 0 226,570 226,570 102,770
VA.......................................... 3,182,177 3,355,838 173,661 2,374,342 2,200,681 998,212
NC.......................................... 3,974,018 4,566,766 592,748 3,043,816 2,451,068 1,111,786
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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: December 5, 1996.
Gary C. Matlock,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 96-31352 Filed 12-5-96; 3:05 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-W
