01-29980. Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Bluefish Fishery; Commercial Quota Harvested for New York

AGENCY:

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION:

Commercial quota harvest; closure.

SUMMARY:

NMFS announces that the Atlantic bluefish commercial quota available to the State of New York has been harvested. Vessels issued a commercial Federal fisheries permit for the Atlantic bluefish fishery may not land Atlantic bluefish in New York for the remainder of calendar year 2001, unless additional quota becomes available through a transfer. Regulations governing the Atlantic bluefish fishery require publication of this notification to advise the State of New York that the quota has been harvested and to advise Federal vessel permit holders and Federal dealer permit holders that no commercial quota is available for landing Atlantic bluefish in New York.

DATES:

Effective 0001 hours, December 3, 2001, through 2400 hours, December 31, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Allison Ferreira, Fishery Management Specialist, [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Regulations governing the Atlantic bluefish fishery are found at 50 CFR part 648. The regulations require annual specification of a commercial quota that is apportioned on a percentage basis among the 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 § 648.160.

The initial total commercial quota for Atlantic bluefish for the 2001 calendar year was set equal to 9,583,010 lb (4,348,008 kg)(66 FR 23625, May 9, 2001). The percent allocated to vessels landing Atlantic bluefish in New York is 10.3851 percent, or 995,204 lb (451,544 kg). This quota was subsequently increased on November 15, 2001, (66 FR 57398) to 1,095,204 lb (496,784 kg) as the result of a 100,000 lb (45,360 kg) transfer of bluefish quota from the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Section 648.161 (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 a 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 Atlantic bluefish in that state. The Regional Administrator has determined, based upon dealer reports and other available information, that the State of New York has attained its quota for 2001.

The regulations at § 648.4 (b) provide that Federal permit holders agree as a condition of the permit not to land Atlantic bluefish in any state that the Regional Administrator has determined no longer has commercial quota available. Therefore, effective 0001 hours, December 3, 2001, further landings of Atlantic bluefish in New York by vessels holding Atlantic bluefish commercial Federal fisheries permits are prohibited for the remainder of the 2001 calendar year, unless additional quota becomes available through a transfer and is announced in the Federal Register. Effective 0001 hours, December 3, 2001, federally permitted dealers are also advised that they may not purchase Atlantic bluefish from federally permitted vessels that land in New York 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 28, 2001.

Jonathan M. Kurland,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.