Rule2023-18616
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Bluefish Fishery; Quota Transfers From NJ to NC and 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
August 29, 2023
Effective
August 28, 2023
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS announces that the State of New Jersey 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 quotas 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 New Jersey, North Carolina, and Rhode Island.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 166 (Tuesday, August 29, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 166 (Tuesday, August 29, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 59469-59470]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-18616]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 221215-0272; RTID 0648-XD279]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Bluefish
Fishery; Quota Transfers From NJ 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 State of New Jersey 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
quotas 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 New
Jersey, North Carolina, and Rhode Island.
DATES: Effective August 28, 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, 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.
New Jersey is transferring 45,000 pounds (lb) (20,412 kilograms
(kg)) to North Carolina and 15,000 lb (6,804 kg) to Rhode Island,
through mutual
[[Page 59470]]
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: New Jersey, 563,295
lb (255,506 kg); North Carolina, 1,474,077 lb (668,630 kg); and Rhode
Island 366,165 lb (166,090 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 24, 2023.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-18616 Filed 8-28-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on August 29, 2023.
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