Rule2021-27389
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder Fishery; Quota Transfer From VA to RI
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
December 20, 2021
Effective
December 17, 2021
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS announces that the Commonwealth of Virginia is transferring a portion of its 2021 commercial summer flounder quota to the State of Rhode Island. 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 Virginia and Rhode Island.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 241 (Monday, December 20, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 241 (Monday, December 20, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 71838-71839]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-27389]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No.: 201214-0338; RTID 0648-XB654]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder
Fishery; Quota Transfer From VA to RI
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 Commonwealth of Virginia is
transferring a portion of its 2021 commercial summer flounder quota to
the State of Rhode Island. 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
[[Page 71839]]
commercial quotas for Virginia and Rhode Island.
DATES: Effective December 17, 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
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.
Virginia is transferring 25,016 lb (11,347 kg) to Rhode Island
through mutual agreement of the states. This transfer was requested to
repay landings made by an out-of-state permitted vessel under a safe
harbor agreement. The revised summer flounder quotas for 2021 are:
Virginia, 2,349,045 lb (1,065,509 kg) and Rhode Island, 1,886,566 lb
(855,732 kg).
Classification
NMFS issues this action pursuant to section 305(d) of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act. This action is required by 50 CFR 648.162(e)(1)(i) through
(iii), which was issued pursuant to section 304(b), and is exempted
from review under Executive Order 12866.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: December 13, 2021.
Ngagne Jafnar Gueye,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-27389 Filed 12-17-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on December 20, 2021.
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