[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 67 (Friday, April 5, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 15199-15200]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-7994]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 625
[Docket No. 951116270-5308-02; I.D. 031296B]
Summer Flounder Fishery; Adjustments to 1996 State Quotas
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Commercial quota adjustment.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces adjustments to the commercial quota for the
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 state quotas. The Director, Northeast Region, NMFS
(Regional Director), has also determined that there is no Federal
summer flounder quota available for those coastal states that did not
receive a portion of the annual commercial summer flounder quota.
Vessels issued a Federal moratorium permit for the summer flounder
fishery may not land summer flounder in these states.
EFFECTIVE DATE: April 4, 1996, through December 31, 1996.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Gouveia, 508-281-9280.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations implementing Amendment 2 to the
FMP are found at 50 CFR part 625 (December 4, 1992, 57 FR 57358). 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. 625.20. Amendment
7 to the FMP (November 24, 1995, 60 FR 57955) revised the fishing
mortality rate reduction schedule for summer flounder, and the revised
schedule was the basis for establishing the 1996 quota. 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,
is set to equal 11,111,298 lb (5.0 million kg) (January 4, 1996, 61 FR
291). The notification of a commercial quota transfer from the State of
North Carolina to the Commonwealth of Virginia was published on March
13, 1996 (61 FR 10286). This quota transfer is reflected in Table 1.
Section 625.20(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 has determined that the States of
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Delaware, and Virginia have
exceeded their 1995 quotas. The remaining States of Maine, New
Hampshire, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, and North Carolina did
not exceed their 1995 quotas. A complete summary of quota adjustments
for 1996 is in Table 1.
[[Page 15200]]
Table 1.--Adjusted 1996 Commercial Quota for the Summer Flounder Fishery
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1995 1995 Initial Adjusted 1996 quota
1995 Quota Landings Overage 1996 quota -------------------------
(lb) (lb) (lb) (lb) (lb) (kg)
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ME................................ 6,987 5,318 ........... 5,284 5,284 2,397
NH................................ 67 ........... ........... 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 ........... 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 ........... 1,858,363 1,858,363 842,939
DE................................ 2,614 3,072 458 1,977 1,519 689
MD................................ 199,551 136,167 ........... 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 3,967,291 ........... 3,043,816 3,043,816 1,380,652
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This notification also announces the Regional Director's
determination that no quota is available for those coastal states that
did not receive a distribution from the annual commercial summer
flounder quota. The Regional Director's determination triggers the
summer flounder moratorium permit condition that owners of federally
permitted vessels agree not to land summer flounder in any state that
did not receive any part of the annual commercial summer flounder
quota. The purpose of this condition is to aid in maintaining the
integrity of the overall quota, which is set to achieve a specific
mortality reduction goal, as state quotas are filled.
Historically, measurable landings of summer flounder have occurred
only in those coastal states from North Carolina northward to Maine.
These are the states that have received distributions from the annual
commercial summer flounder quota. Recent reports, however, indicate
that harvesters intend to land summer flounder in other states, such as
South Carolina, in response to the closures of Virginia and North
Carolina to landings of summer flounder. States other than those
specified in Table 1 do not have any available summer flounder quota,
because they did not receive a share of the annual commercial quota.
Therefore, vessels with a Federal summer flounder moratorium permit may
not land summer flounder in these states.
This notification serves to trigger the permit condition that
prevents vessels that are issued a Federal summer flounder moratorium
permit from landing summer flounder in any state that has no commercial
summer flounder quota.
Classification
This action is required by 50 CFR part 625 and is exempt from
review under E.O. 12866.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: March 27, 1996.
Richard W. Surdi,
Acting Director, Office of Fisheries Conservation and Management,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 96-7994 Filed 4-4-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-W
