Rule2024-20137
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder Fishery; 2024 Commercial Quota Harvested for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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
September 6, 2024
Effective
September 6, 2024
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS announces that the 2024 summer flounder commercial quota allocated to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has been harvested. Vessels issued a commercial Federal fisheries permit for the summer flounder fishery may not land summer flounder in Massachusetts for the remainder of calendar year 2024, unless additional quota becomes available through a transfer from another state. Regulations governing the summer flounder fishery require publication of this notification to advise Massachusetts that the quota has been harvested, and to advise vessel permit holders and dealer permit holders that no Federal commercial quota is available for landing summer flounder in Massachusetts.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 173 (Friday, September 6, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 173 (Friday, September 6, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 72758]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-20137]
[[Page 72758]]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 231215-0305; RTID 0648-XE259]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder
Fishery; 2024 Commercial Quota Harvested for the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; closure.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the 2024 summer flounder commercial quota
allocated to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has been harvested.
Vessels issued a commercial Federal fisheries permit for the summer
flounder fishery may not land summer flounder in Massachusetts for the
remainder of calendar year 2024, unless additional quota becomes
available through a transfer from another state. Regulations governing
the summer flounder fishery require publication of this notification to
advise Massachusetts that the quota has been harvested, and to advise
vessel permit holders and dealer permit holders that no Federal
commercial quota is available for landing summer flounder in
Massachusetts.
DATES: Effective 0001 hours September 6, 2024, through December 31,
2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura Deighan, (978) 281-9184, or
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#3c705d494e5d127859555b545d527c52535d5d125b534a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="8ec2effbfcefa0caebe7e9e6efe0cee0e1efefa0e9e1f8">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations governing the summer flounder
fishery are found at 50 CFR 648.100 through 648.111. The regulations
require annual specification of a commercial quota that is apportioned
on a percentage basis 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.
The commercial quota for summer flounder for 2024 was set equal to
8,789,830 pounds (lb; 3,987,000 kilograms (kg)) (88 FR 88266, December
23, 2023). The amount allocated to vessels landing summer flounder in
Massachusetts is 599,507 lb (271,932 kg). Massachusetts received
commercial summer flounder quota transfers of 8,186 lb (3,713 kg) (89
FR 15484, March 4, 2024), 490 lb (222 kg) (89 FR 53884, June 28, 2024),
and 5,025 lb (2,279 kg) (89 FR 57794, July 16, 2024) from Virginia, and
2,353 lb (1,067 kg) from North Carolina (89 FR 65789, August 13, 2024),
resulting in a revised commercial summer flounder quota for
Massachusetts of 615,561 lb (279,214 kg).
The NMFS Regional Administrator for the Greater Atlantic Region
monitors the state commercial landings and determines when a state's
commercial quota has been harvested. NMFS is required to publish
notification in the Federal Register advising and notifying commercial
vessels and dealer permit holders that, effective upon a specific date,
the state's commercial quota has been harvested and no commercial quota
is available for landing summer flounder in that state. Based on dealer
reports and other available information, the Regional Administrator has
determined that the available quota has been harvested. The
Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries closed the state fishery on
August 28, 2024, and this action promotes consistency between state and
Federal management measures.
The regulation at 50 CFR 648.103(b) provides that Federal permit
holders agree, as a condition of the permit, not to land summer
flounder in any state that the Regional Administrator has determined no
longer has commercial quota available. Therefore, effective 0001 hours
on September 6, 2024, landings summer flounder in Massachusetts by
vessels holding summer flounder commercial Federal fisheries permits
are prohibited for the remainder of the 2024 calendar year, unless
additional quota becomes available through a transfer and is announced
in the Federal Register. Effective 0001 hours on September 6, 2024,
federally permitted dealers are also notified that they may not
purchase summer flounder from federally permitted vessels that land in
Massachusetts for the remainder of the calendar year, or until
additional quota becomes available through a transfer from another
state.
Classification
This action is required by 50 CFR part 648 and is exempt from
review under Executive Order 12866.
The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA, finds good cause
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) to waive prior notice and the
opportunity for public comment because it would be contrary to the
public interest. This action closes the commercial summer flounder
fishery for Massachusetts until January 1, 2025, under current
regulations. The regulations at 50 CFR 648.103(b) require such action
to ensure that summer flounder vessels do not exceed quotas allocated
to the states. If implementation of this closure was delayed to solicit
prior public comment, the quota for this fishing year will be exceeded,
thereby undermining the conservation objectives of the Summer Flounder,
Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan. The Assistant
Administrator further finds, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), good cause
to waive the 30-day delayed effectiveness period for the reason stated
above.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: September 3, 2024.
Lindsay Fullenkamp,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-20137 Filed 9-3-24; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on September 6, 2024.
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