Rule2023-16671
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Bluefish Fishery; Quota Transfers From VA to NC and RI
Primary source
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Published
August 4, 2023
Effective
August 3, 2023
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS announces that the Commonwealth of Virginia is transferring a portion of its 2023 commercial bluefish quota to the States of North Carolina and Rhode Island. These adjustments to the 2023 fishing year quota are necessary to comply with the Atlantic Bluefish Fishery Management Plan quota transfer provisions. This announcement informs the public of the revised 2023 commercial bluefish quotas for Virginia, North Carolina, and Rhode Island.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 149 (Friday, August 4, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 149 (Friday, August 4, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 51737-51738]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-16671]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 221215-0272; RTID 0648-XD196]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Bluefish
Fishery; Quota Transfers From VA to NC and RI
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notification of quota transfers.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Commonwealth of Virginia is
transferring a portion of its 2023 commercial bluefish quota to the
States of North Carolina and Rhode Island. These adjustments to the
2023 fishing year quota are necessary to comply with the Atlantic
Bluefish Fishery Management Plan quota transfer provisions. This
announcement informs the public of the revised 2023 commercial bluefish
quotas for Virginia, North Carolina, and Rhode Island.
DATES: Effective August 3, 2023, through December 31, 2023.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura Deighan, Fishery Management
Specialist, (978) 281-9184.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations governing the Atlantic bluefish
fishery are found in 50 CFR 648.160 through 648.167. These regulations
require annual specification of a commercial quota that is apportioned
among the coastal states from Maine through Florida. The process to set
the annual commercial quota and the percent allocated to each state is
described in Sec. 648.162, and the final 2023 allocations were
published on December 21, 2022 (87 FR 78011).
The final rule implementing Amendment 1 to the Bluefish Fishery
Management Plan (FMP), as published in the Federal Register on July 26,
2000 (65 FR 45844), provided a mechanism for transferring bluefish
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,
[[Page 51738]]
can request approval to transfer or combine bluefish commercial quota
under Sec. 648.162(e)(1)(i) through (iii). The Regional Administrator
must approve any such transfer based on the criteria in Sec.
648.162(e). In evaluating requests to transfer a quota or combine
quotas, the Regional Administrator shall consider whether: The transfer
or combinations would 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 (Magnuson-Stevens Act). The Regional Administrator has
determined these three criteria have been met for the transfers
approved in this notification.
Virginia is transferring 55,000 lb (24,948 kg) to North Carolina
and 25,000 lb (11,340 kg) to Rhode Island through mutual agreements of
the States. These transfers were requested to ensure that North
Carolina and Rhode Island would not exceed their 2023 State quotas. The
revised bluefish quotas for 2023 are: Virginia, 355,625 lb (161,309
kg); North Carolina, 1,429,077 lb (648,218 kg); and Rhode Island,
351,165 lb (159,286 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: August 1, 2023.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-16671 Filed 8-3-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on August 4, 2023.
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