Rule2023-22092
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Bluefish Fishery; Quota Transfers From VA and DE to NC
Primary source
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Published
October 4, 2023
Effective
September 29, 2023
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS announces that the Commonwealth of Virginia and the State of Delaware are transferring a portion of their 2023 commercial bluefish quota to the State of North Carolina. 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 Virginia, Delaware, and North Carolina.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 191 (Wednesday, October 4, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 191 (Wednesday, October 4, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 68498-68499]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-22092]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 221215-0272; RTID 0648-XD447]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Bluefish
Fishery; Quota Transfers From VA and DE to NC
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 and the State
of Delaware are transferring a portion of their 2023 commercial
bluefish quota to the State of North Carolina. 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 Virginia, Delaware, and North Carolina.
DATES: Effective September 29, 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.
Virginia is transferring 50,000 pounds (lb) (22,680 kilograms (kg))
and Delaware is transferring 40,000 lb (18,144 kg) to North Carolina,
through mutual agreements of the States. These transfers were requested
to ensure that North Carolina would not exceed its 2023 State quota.
The revised bluefish quotas for 2023 are: Virginia, 305,625 lb (138,629
kg); Delaware, 23,572 lb
[[Page 68499]]
(10,692 kg); and North Carolina, 1,564,077 lb (709,453 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: September 29, 2023.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-22092 Filed 9-29-23; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on October 4, 2023.
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