01-22920. Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fisheries; Adjustments to the 2001 Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Commercial Quotas

AGENCY:

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

ACTION:

Commercial quota adjustment; correction.

SUMMARY:

NMFS publishes corrected adjustments to the 2001 commercial quotas for summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass. This action is necessary to comply with the regulations that implement the Fishery Management Plan for the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fisheries (FMP), which specify that any summer flounder landings in excess of or less than a given state’s individual 2000 commercial quota be deducted from or added to that state’s quota for 2001. For scup and black sea bass, the FMP specifies that landings in excess of a quota for a given period or quarter be deducted from the quota for the same period or quarter in the following year. The intent of this action is to use the most accurate landings data to make adjustments to a state’s annual quota and to correct errors in previous quota adjustments to provide fishermen the opportunity to harvest the quota available without harvesting fish in excess of the quota and requiring reduced catches in future quotas.

DATES:

Effective September 7, 2001, through December 31, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Paul H. Jones, Fisheries Policy Analyst, [phone], fax [phone], e-mail [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

At 66 FR 12902, March 1, 2001, and at 66 FR 16151, March 23, 2001, NMFS published final specifications for the 2001 scup and black sea bass; and summer flounder, fisheries, respectively, which included preliminary 2000 landings and 2001 quota adjustments. Further adjustments are made to the 2001 quotas through this notification, to account for audited 2000 summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass landings data from the states and for inadvertent errors in the preliminary 2000 quota adjustments.

Summer Flounder

The 2000 quota, reported 2000 landings, and the resulting 2000 overages and underages for all states for summer flounder are given in corrected summer flounder Table 2 in this document. The following states recorded 2000 landings of summer flounder that differ from those reported in the March 23, 2001, final rule, by the following amounts: MA, -1,506 lb (683 kg); RI, +9,310 lb (4,223 kg); CT, +5,520 lb (2,504 kg); NY, -37,048 lb (16,805 kg); NJ, -305,513 lb (138,578 kg); MD, -9,456 lb (4,289 kg); and VA, -19,477 lb (8,835 kg). While the State of NC reported additional landings, this action makes no quota adjustments because it is forbidden by a Court Order (North Carolina Fisheries Association v. Evans, July 30, 2001).

The resulting corrected and adjusted 2001 commercial quota for each state is given in corrected summer flounder Table 3 of this document.

Scup

The 2000 quotas (by period), reported 2000 landings (by period) and resulting overages for scup for all periods are given in corrected scup Table 2 of this document. Changes in 2000 landings from those reported in the March 1, 2001, final rule are as follows: Winter I, +17,661 lb (8,011 kg); Summer, +19,029 lb (8,631 kg); and Winter II, -357 lb (162 kg). This information resulted in total overages and resulting decreases to the 2001 Winter I and Summer quotas by 346,999 lb (157,396 kg) and 602,340 lb (273, 217 kg), respectively.

The resulting adjusted 2001 quota for each period is given in corrected scup Table 3 of this document.

Black Sea Bass

The 2000 quotas (by quarter), reported 2000 landings (by quarter) and resulting overages for black sea bass for all quarters are given in corrected black sea bass Table 5 of this document. Changes in 2000 landings from those reported in the March 1, 2001, final rule are as follows: Quarter 1, -555 lb (252 kg); Quarter 2, +33,577 lb (15,230 kg); Quarter 3, -35,027 lb (15,888 kg); and Quarter 4, -58,292 lb (26,441 kg). This information resulted in total overages and resulting decreases to the 2001 Quarter 2, 3, and 4 quotas by 239,098 lb (108,453 kg), 61,049 lb (27,691 kg), and 22,760 lb (10,324 kg), respectively.

The resulting adjusted 2001 quota for each quarter is given in corrected black sea bass Table 6 of this document.

Corrections

1. In the document published at 66 FR 16151, March 23, 2001, the following corrections are made:

On page 16153, Tables 2 and 3 are revised in their entirety as follows:

Table 2. Summer Flounder Preliminary 2000 Landings by State

State	2000 Quota1		Preliminary 2000 landings		2000 Overages and Underages3
	lb	kg2	lb	kg2	lb	kg2
ME	3,956	1,794	6,922	3,140	2,966	1,345
NH	51	23	0	0	(51)3	(23)3
MA	703,136	318,937	788,998	357,883	85,862	38,946
RI	1,742,566	790,415	1,703,593	772,737	(38,973)3	(17,678)3
CT	244,085	110,715	245,148	111,197	(1,063)	(482)
NY	849,672	385,405	836,936	379,628	(12,736)3	(5,777)3
NJ	1,794,299	813,880	1,848,119	838,293	53,820	24,412
DE	(31,303)4	(14,199)4	12,317	5,587	43,620	19,786
MD	226,568	102,770	251,751	114,192	25,183	11,423
VA	2,293,410	1,040,273	2,206,715	1,000,949	(86,695)3	(39,324)3
NC	3,049,560	1,383,257	3,347,8415	1,518,555	298,281	135,298
Total	10,876,000	4,933,271	11,248,340	5,102,161
1 Reflects quotas as published on December 29, 2000 (65 FR 82945).
2 Kilograms as converted from pounds and may not add to the converted total due to rounding.
3 Numbers in parentheses are underages.
4 Parentheses indicate a negative number.
5 State of NC reports that 3,386,578 lb were landed; further quota adjustment forbidden by Court Order

Table 3. Summer Flounder Final 2001 Adjusted Quotas

State	20001 Initial quota		2001 Adjusted quota
	lb	kg1	lb	kg1
ME	5,112	2,319	2,146	973
NH	49	22	100	45
MA	733,031	332,497	647,169	293,551
RI	1,685,534	764,545	1,724,507	782,223
CT	242,580	110,032	241,517	109,550
NY	821,863	372,791	834, 599	378,568
NJ	1,797,524	815,343	1,743,704	790,931
DE	1,912	867	(41,708)	(18,918)
MD	219,153	99,406	193,970	87,983
VA	2,291,026	1,039,192	2,377,721	1,078,516
NC	2,949,751	1,337,985	2,651,470	1,202,687
Total2	10,747,535	4,875,000	10,416,903	4,725,028
Note: Parentheses indicate a negative number.
1 Kilograms are as converted from pounds and may not add to the converted total due to rounding.
2 Total adjusted quota accounts for DE as zero.

2. In the document published at 66 FR 12902, March 1, 2001, the following corrections are made:

On pages 12904, 12905, and 12906, Tables 2, 3, 5, and 6 are revised in their entirety as follows:

Table 2. Scup Preliminary 2000 Landings by Period

Period	2000 Quota1		2000 Landings		2000 Overage
	lb	kg2	lb	kg2	lb	kg2
Winter I	1,037,253	470,490	1,384,252	627,886	346,999	157,396
Summer	637,878	289,337	1,240,218	562,553	602,340	273,217
Winter II	70,356	31,913	34,582	15,686	0	0
Total	1,745,487	791,740	2,659,052	1,206,126	949,339	430,613
1 Reflects quotas as published on August 18, 2000 (65 FR 50463).
2 Kilograms are as converted from pounds and may not add to the converted total due to rounding.

Table 3. Scup Final 2001 Adjusted Quotas

Period	2000 Initial Quota		2000 Adjusted quota1
	lb	kg2	lb	kg2
Winter I	2,004,959	909,434	1,675,960	752,038
Summer	1,731,172	785,246	1,128,832	512,030
Winter II	708,469	321,356	708,469	321,356
Total	4,444,600	2,016,037	3,495,261	1,585,424
1 Possession limits specified in Table 1.
2 Kilograms are as converted from pounds and may not add to the converted total due to rounding.

* * * * *

Table 5. Black Sea Bass Preliminary 2000 Landings by Quarter

Period	2000 Quota		2000 Landings		2000 Overage
	lb	kg1	lb	kg1	lb	kg1
1	1,168,760	530,141	847,463	384,403	0	0
2	734,088	332,982	973,186	441,430	239,098	108,453
3	238,795	108,317	299,844	136,007	61,049	27,691
4	490,038	222,281	512,798	232,601	22,760	10,324
Total	2,631,681	1,193,721	2,633,291	1,194,441	322,907	146,468
1 Kilograms are as converted from pounds and may not add to the converted total due to rounding.

Table 6. Black Sea Bass Final 2001 Adjusted Quotas

Period	2001 Initial quota		2001 Adjusted quota1
	lb	kg2	lb	kg2
1	1,168,760	530,141	1,168,760	530,141
2	885,040	401,447	645,942	292,994
3	372,951	169,168	311,902	141,476
4	597,991	271,244	575,231	260,920
Total	3,024,742	1,372,000	2,701,835	1,225,532
1 Trip limits specified in Table 4.
2 Kilograms are as converted from pounds and may not add to the converted total due to rounding.

Classification

This action is required by 50 CFR part 648 and is exempt from review under Executive Order 12866.

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

Dated: September 7 , 2001.

Bruce C. Morehead,

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

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