Rule2024-28482
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder Fishery; 2024 Commercial Quota Harvested for the State of Rhode Island
Primary source
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Published
December 5, 2024
Effective
December 5, 2024
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS announces that the 2024 summer flounder commercial quota allocated to the State of Rhode Island has been harvested. Vessels issued a commercial Federal fisheries permit for the summer flounder fishery may not land summer flounder in Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 234 (Thursday, December 5, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 234 (Thursday, December 5, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 96616-96617]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-28482]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 231215-0305; RTID 0648-XE501]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder
Fishery; 2024 Commercial Quota Harvested for the State of Rhode Island
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 State of Rhode Island has been harvested. Vessels
issued a commercial Federal fisheries permit for the summer flounder
fishery may not land summer flounder in Rhode Island for the remainder
of calendar year 2024, unless additional quota becomes available
through a transfer from another state. Regulations governing the summer
flounder fishery
[[Page 96617]]
require publication of this notification to advise Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island.
DATES: Effective 0001 hours December 5, 2024, through December 31,
2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matthew Rigdon, (978) 281-9336, or
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#89c4e8fdfde1ecfea7dbe0eeede6e7c9e7e6e8e8a7eee6ff"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="99d4f8ededf1fceeb7cbf0fefdf6f7d9f7f6f8f8b7fef6ef">[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
Rhode Island is 1,378,507 lb (625,280 kg). Rhode Island received
commercial summer flounder quota transfers of 3,799 lb (1,723 kg) (89
FR 51986, June 21, 2024) from Virginia, and 12,120 lb (5,498 kg) (89 FR
70124, August 29, 2024) and 1,835 lb (832 kg) (89 FR 80795, October 4,
2024) from North Carolina, resulting in a revised commercial summer
flounder quota for Rhode Island of 1,396,261 lb (633,333 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 Rhode
Island Division of Marine Fisheries closed the state fishery on
December 2, 2024, and this action promotes consistency between the
state and Federal management measures.
The regulations at 50 CFR 648.14(n) prohibit Federally permitted
vessels from landing summer flounder for sale in a state, and prohibit
all persons from purchasing or otherwise receiving summer flounder for
a commercial purpose after the effective date published in the Federal
Register notification that commercial quota is no longer available in
that state. Therefore, effective 0001 hours on December 5, 2024,
landings of summer flounder in Rhode Island by vessels holding Federal
summer flounder commercial fishery 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 December 5, 2024, federally permitted dealers
are also notified that they may not purchase summer flounder from
federally permitted vessels that land in Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island 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: December 2, 2024.
Karen H. Abrams,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-28482 Filed 12-4-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on December 5, 2024.
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