Rule2021-13078
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder Fishery; Quota Transfers From NC to MA and VA to NJ
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
June 22, 2021
Effective
June 21, 2021
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS announces that the State of North Carolina and the Commonwealth of Virginia are transferring a portion of their 2021 commercial summer flounder quota to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and to the State of New Jersey, respectively. This adjustment to the 2021 fishing year quota is necessary to comply with the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan quota transfer provisions. This announcement informs the public of the revised 2021 commercial quotas for North Carolina, Massachusetts, Virginia, and New Jersey.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 117 (Tuesday, June 22, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 117 (Tuesday, June 22, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 32651-32652]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-13078]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[RTID 0648-XB117]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder
Fishery; Quota Transfers From NC to MA and VA to NJ
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notification of quota transfer.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the State of North Carolina and the
Commonwealth of Virginia are transferring a portion of their 2021
commercial summer flounder quota to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
and to the State of New Jersey, respectively. This adjustment to the
2021 fishing year quota is necessary to comply with the Summer
Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan quota
transfer provisions. This announcement informs the public of the
revised 2021 commercial quotas for North Carolina, Massachusetts,
Virginia, and New Jersey.
DATES: Effective June 21, 2021 through December 31, 2021.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura Hansen, Fishery Management
Specialist, (978) 281-9225.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations governing the summer flounder
fishery are found in 50 CFR 648.100 through 648.110. These regulations
require annual specification of a commercial quota that is apportioned
among the coastal states from Maine through North Carolina. The process
to set the annual commercial quota and the percent allocated to each
state is described in Sec. 648.102 and final 2021 allocations were
published on December 21, 2020 (85 FR 82946).
The final rule implementing Amendment 5 to the Summer Flounder
Fishery Management Plan (FMP), as published in the Federal Register on
December 17, 1993 (58 FR 65936), provided a mechanism for transferring
summer flounder commercial quota from one state to another. Two or more
states, under mutual agreement and with the concurrence of the NMFS
Greater Atlantic Regional Administrator, can transfer or combine summer
flounder commercial quota under Sec. 648.102(c)(2). The Regional
[[Page 32652]]
Administrator is required to consider three criteria in the evaluation
of requests for quota transfers or combinations: The transfer or
combinations would not preclude the overall annual quota from being
fully harvested; the transfer addresses an unforeseen variation or
contingency in the fishery; and the transfer is consistent with the
objectives of the FMP and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act. The Regional Administrator has determined these three
criteria have been met for the transfer approved in this notification.
North Carolina is transferring 9,980 lb (4,527 kg) to Massachusetts
and Virginia is transferring 9,800 lb (4,445 kg) to New Jersey through
mutual agreement of the states. These transfers were requested to repay
landings made by out-of-state permitted vessels under safe harbor
agreements. The revised summer flounder quotas for 2021 are: North
Carolina, 2,974,923 lb (1,349,402 kg); Massachusetts, 1,025,159 lb
(465,004 kg); Virginia, 2,389,776 lb (210,922 kg); and, New Jersey,
1,970,862 lb (893,968 kg).
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: June 16, 2021.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-13078 Filed 6-21-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on June 22, 2021.
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