Rule2023-17835
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder Fishery; Quota Transfer From North Carolina to Virginia
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
August 18, 2023
Effective
August 17, 2023
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS announces that the State of North Carolina is transferring a portion of its 2023 commercial summer flounder quota to the Commonwealth of Virginia. This adjustment to the 2023 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 2023 commercial quotas for North Carolina and Virginia.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 159 (Friday, August 18, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 159 (Friday, August 18, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 56544-56545]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-17835]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 221223-0282; RTID 0648-XD195]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder
Fishery; Quota Transfer From North Carolina to Virginia
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 is
transferring a portion of its 2023 commercial summer flounder quota to
the Commonwealth of Virginia. This adjustment to the 2023 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 2023 commercial quotas
for North Carolina and Virginia.
DATES: Effective August 17, 2023, through December 31, 2023.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura Deighan, Fishery Management
Specialist, (978) 281-9184.
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 2023 allocations were
published on January 3, 2023 (88 FR 11).
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
[[Page 56545]]
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 (Magnuson-Stevens Act). The
Regional Administrator has determined these three criteria have been
met for the transfer approved in this notification.
North Carolina is transferring 1,232 lb (559 kg) to Virginia
through a mutual agreement between 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
2023 are North Carolina, 3,302,053 lb (1,497,786 kg), and Virginia,
2,744,463 lb (1,244,867 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 15, 2023.
Kelly Denit,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-17835 Filed 8-17-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on August 18, 2023.
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