Rule2023-28423
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder Fishery; Quota Transfer From NC to NJ
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
December 26, 2023
Effective
December 21, 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 State of New Jersey. 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 New Jersey.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 246 (Tuesday, December 26, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 246 (Tuesday, December 26, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 88834]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-28423]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 221223-0282; RTID 0648-XD608]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder
Fishery; Quota Transfer From NC to NJ
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 State of New Jersey. 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 New Jersey.
DATES: Effective December 21, 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 648.111. 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 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 16,690 pounds (lb; 7,570 kilograms
(kg)) to New Jersey 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, 3,131,074 lb (1,420,231
kg), and New Jersey, 2,487,110 lb (1,128,134 kg).
Classification
NMFS issues this action pursuant to section 305(d) of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act. This action is required by 50 CFR 648.102(c)(2)(i) through
(iv), 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 20, 2023.
Everett Wayne Baxter,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-28423 Filed 12-21-23; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on December 26, 2023.
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