[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 22 (Wednesday, February 3, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 5196-5198]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-2465]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 981014259-8312-02; I.D. 012299B]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder,
Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fisheries; Adjustments to the 1999 Summer
Flounder Commercial Quota; Commercial Quota Harvested for Delaware
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Commercial quota adjustment, notice of commercial quota
harvest.
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SUMMARY: NMFS issues this notification announcing preliminary
adjustments to the 1999 summer flounder commercial quotas. This action
complies with the regulations that implement the Fishery Management
Plan for the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fisheries (FMP)
and that require that landings in excess of a state's individual quota
be deducted from a state's respective quota for the following year. The
public is advised that preliminary adjustments have been made and is
informed of the revised quotas for the affected states. This action
also notifies the public that there is no 1999 commercial summer
flounder quota available to the State of Delaware.
DATES: This rule is effective January 28, 1999, through December 31,
1999.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary M. Grim, 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 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. The final
specifications for the 1999 summer flounder fishery, adopted to ensure
achievement of a fishing mortality rate (F) of 0.24 for 1999, set a
commercial quota equal to 11.11 million lb (5.04 million kg) (63 FR
72203, December 31, 1998).
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. NMFS published final
specifications and noted that it would adjust each state's 1999 quota
as a result of 1998 overages. The adjustment in this notification is
preliminary because it is likely that additional data will be received
from the states that would alter the figures, including late landings
reported from either federally permitted dealers or state statistical
agencies reporting landings by non-federally permitted dealers.
Based on dealer reports and other information available through
December 31, 1998, NMFS has determined that the States of Delaware,
Maine, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia exceeded their 1998
quotas. The remaining States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode
Island, Connecticut, and North Carolina have not exceeded their 1998
quotas. The preliminary 1998 landings and resulting overages for all
states are given in Table 1 to the preamble of this document. The
resulting adjusted 1999 commercial quota for each state is given in
Table 2 to the preamble of this document. In Table 3 to the preamble of
this document, the adjustment has been made to maintain the incidental
component of the commercial quota at 32.7 percent of the total (as
recommended in the final specifications).
This notification also corrects errors for Rhode Island's
commercial summer flounder allocation specified in the preamble to
Table 1.--1999 State Commercial Quotas published on December 31, 1998
(63 FR 72203).
In FR Doc. 98-34511, on page 72204, in Table 1.--1999 State
Commercial Quotas, the commercial state allocation for Rhode Island is
corrected to read as follows:
In the third column of the table, under the heading Directed, and
under the subheading Lb, in the fourth line, ``1,171,379'' is corrected
to read ``1,172,758''; in the last line, the total ``7,468,107'' is
corrected to read ``1,742,583'' and in the fourth column of the table,
under the same heading, and under the subheading KG, ``53,133'' is
corrected to read ``531,954''; in the last line, the total
``3,387,476'' is corrected to read ``790,422.''
In the fifth column of the table, under the heading Incidental
catch, under the subheading Lb, in the fourth line, ``571,204'' is
corrected to read ``569,825'' and in the sixth column, under the same
heading, under the subheading KG, ``259,094'' is corrected to read
``258,468.''
In the seventh column, under the heading Total, under the
subheading Lb, in the fourth line, ``1,741,583'' is corrected to read
``1,742,583''; and under the same heading, under the same subheading,
in the last line, ``11,111,191'' is corrected to read ``11,110,300.''
These corrections are reflected in Tables 2 and 3 of this document. In
addition, Tables 2 and 3 reflect a quota transfer of 5,000 lb (2,268
kg) from North Carolina to Virginia (64 FR 2600, January 15, 1999).
Table 1.--Summer Flounder Preliminary 1998 Landings by State
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1998 quota Preliminary 1998 landings 1998 overage
State -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lb Kg \1\ Lb Kg \1\ Lb Kg \1\
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ME...................................................... 4,791 2,173 5,168 2,344 377 171
NH...................................................... 51 23 0 0 0 0
MA...................................................... 721,899 327,448 695,994 315,698 0 0
RI...................................................... 1,742,583 790,422 1,729,643 784,553 0 0
CT...................................................... 250,457 113,605 246,642 111,875 0 0
NY...................................................... 763,419 346,281 819,351 371,651 55,932 25,370
NJ...................................................... 1,858,363 842,939 1,864,089 845,537 5,726 2,597
[[Page 5197]]
DE...................................................... \2\(14,534) \2\(6,593) 10,637 4,825 25,171 11,417
MD...................................................... 199,876 90,662 203,322 92,225 3,446 1,563
VA...................................................... 2,362,877 1,071,783 2,526,177 1,145,855 163,300 74,072
NC...................................................... 3,049,589 1,383,270 2,936,623 1,332,030 0 0
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Total \3\........................................... 10,933,871 4,959,518 11,037,646 5,006,592 253,952 115,191
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\1\ Kilograms are as converted from pounds, and may not necessarily add due to rounding.
\2\ Parentheses indicate a negative number.
\3\ Total quota and total landings do not equal overage because they reflect positive quota balances in several states.
Table 2.--Summer Flounder Preliminary Adjusted 1999 Quotas
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1999 initial quota 1999 adjusted quota
State ---------------------------------------------------------------
Lb Kg \1\ Lb Kg \1\
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ME.............................................. 5,285 2,397 4,908 2,226
NH.............................................. 51 23 51 23
MA.............................................. 757,842 343,751 757,842 343,751
RI.............................................. 1,742,583 790,422 1,742,583 790,422
CT.............................................. 250,791 113,757 250,791 113,757
NY.............................................. 849,680 385,408 793,748 360,038
NJ.............................................. 1,858,363 842,939 1,852,637 840,342
DE.............................................. 1,977 897 \2\ (23,194) \2\ (10,521)
MD.............................................. 226,570 102,770 223,124 101,207
VA.............................................. 2,373,569 1,076,633 2,210,269 935,561
NC.............................................. 3,044,589 1,381,002 3,044,589 1,381,002
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Total....................................... 11,111,300 5,040,001 10,857,348 4,924,810
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\1\ Kilograms are as converted from pounds, and may not necessarily add due to rounding.
\2\ Parentheses indicate a negative number.
Table 3.--Summer Flounder 1999 State Quotas and Incidental Catch Allocations
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Directed Incidental Catch Total
State Percent share -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lb Kg \1\ Lb Kg Lb Kg
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ME...................................... 0.04756 3,303 1,498 1,605 728 4,908 2,226
NH...................................... 0.00046 34 16 17 8 51 23
MA...................................... 6.82046 510,028 231,345 247,814 112,407 757,842 343,751
RI...................................... 15.68298 1,172,758 531,954 569,825 258,468 1,742,583 790,422
CT...................................... 2.25708 168,782 76,558 82,009 37,199 250,791 113,757
NY...................................... 7.64699 534,192 242,305 259,556 117,733 793,748 360,075
NJ...................................... 16.72499 1,246,825 565,550 605,812 274,792 1,852,637 840,342
DE...................................... 0.01779 \2\ (15,610) \2\ (7,080) \2\ (7,584) \2\ (3,440) \2\ (23,194) \2\ (10,521)
MD...................................... 2.03910 150,162 68,113 72,962 33,095 223,124 101,207
VA...................................... 21.31676 1,487,511 674,724 722,758 327,837 2,210,269 935,561
NC...................................... 27.44584 2,049,008 929,415 995,581 451,588 3,044,589 1,381,002
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Total............................... 100.00000 7,306,993 3,314,396 3,550,355 1,610,414 10,857,348 4,924,810
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\1\ Kilograms are as converted from pounds, and may not necessarily add due to rounding.
\2\ Parentheses indicate a negative number.
In 1998, the State of Delaware was closed to the landing of summer
flounder by Federal permit holders as a result of deductions to the
1998 quota for overages in 1997 (62 FR 66304, December 18, 1997). As a
result of those deductions and further quota reductions as published in
the Federal Register on April 28, 1998 (63 FR 23227, April 28, 1998),
the 1998 quota allocation to the State of Delaware was -14,534 lb (-
6,593 kg). Further, an additional 10,591 lb of summer flounder were
landed in Delaware in 1998. The 1999 quota for Delaware is not
sufficient to offset this negative 1998 allocation and the additional
landings in 1998. Consequently, Delaware will have no commercial quota
for 1999. To prevent landings in Delaware by Federal permit holders,
the State is closed to the landing of summer flounder by Federal permit
holders for 1999. The regulations at Sec. 648.4(b) provide that Federal
permit holders agree, as a condition of their permit, not to land
summer flounder in any state that, according to the Regional
Administrator, no longer has commercial quota available for harvest.
Therefore, effective January 28, 1999, through December 31, 1999,
landings of summer flounder in Delaware by vessels holding commercial
Federal fisheries permits are prohibited for the remainder of the 1999
calender year, unless additional quota becomes available
[[Page 5198]]
through a quota transfer and is announced in the Federal Register.
Federally permitted dealers are also advised that they may not purchase
summer flounder from federally permitted vessels that land in Delaware
for the remainder of the 1999 calender year, or until additional quota
becomes available through a transfer. If additional landings should be
reported for 1998, the commercial quota for the State of Delaware will
be re-adjusted pursuant to Sec. 648.100(d)(2).
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: January 28, 1999.
Gary C. Matlock,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 99-2465 Filed 1-28-99; 4:44 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
