Rule2021-28370
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder Fishery; Quota Transfers from NC to CT and ME to RI
Primary source
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Published
December 30, 2021
Effective
December 27, 2021
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS announces that the states of North Carolina and Maine are transferring a portion of their 2021 commercial summer flounder quota to the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island, 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, Maine, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 248 (Thursday, December 30, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 248 (Thursday, December 30, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 74381]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-28370]
[[Page 74381]]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
RTID 0648-XB686
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder
Fishery; Quota Transfers from NC to CT and ME 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 states of North Carolina and Maine are
transferring a portion of their 2021 commercial summer flounder quota
to the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island, 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, Maine, Connecticut,
and Rhode Island.
DATES: Effective December 27, 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 transfers approved in this notification.
North Carolina is transferring 40,000 lb (18,144 kg) to Connecticut
and Maine is transferring 14,000 lb (6,350 kg) to Rhode Island through
mutual agreement of the states. These transfers were requested to
ensure Connecticut and Rhode Island would not exceed their 2021 quota.
The revised summer flounder quotas for 2021 are: North Carolina,
2,878,480 lb (1,305,657 kg); Connecticut, 669,376 lb (303,624 kg);
Maine, 33 lb (15 kg); and, Rhode Island, 1,922,724 lb (872,133 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 27, 2021.
Karen Abrams,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-28370 Filed 12-27-21; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on December 30, 2021.
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