Rule2025-24016
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Bluefish Fishery; Quota Transfer From New Jersey to North Carolina
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 30, 2025
Effective
December 29, 2025
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS announces that the State of New Jersey is transferring a portion of their 2025 commercial bluefish quota to the State of North Carolina. This quota adjustment is necessary to comply with the Atlantic Bluefish Fishery Management Plan (FMP) quota transfer provisions. This announcement informs the public of the revised 2025 commercial bluefish quotas for New Jersey and North Carolina.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 246 (Tuesday, December 30, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 246 (Tuesday, December 30, 2025)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 61068-61069]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-24016]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 241203-0308; RTID 0648-XF458]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Bluefish
Fishery; Quota Transfer From New Jersey to North Carolina
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; quota transfer.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the State of New Jersey is transferring a
portion of their 2025 commercial bluefish quota to the State of North
Carolina. This quota adjustment is necessary to comply with the
Atlantic Bluefish Fishery Management Plan (FMP) quota transfer
provisions. This announcement informs the public of the revised 2025
commercial bluefish quotas for New Jersey and North Carolina.
DATES: Effective December 29, 2025, through December 31, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matthew Rigdon, Fishery Management
Specialist, (978) 281-9336.
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 2025 allocations were
published on December 10, 2024 (89 FR 99138).
The final rule implementing amendment 1 to the FMP, as published in
the Federal Register on July 26, 2000 (65 FR 45844), provided a
mechanism for transferring bluefish commercial
[[Page 61069]]
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). The Regional
Administrator is required to consider three criteria in the evaluation
of requests for quota transfers or combinations: (1) the transfers
would not preclude the overall annual quota from being fully harvested;
(2) the transfers address an unforeseen variation or contingency in the
fishery; and (3) the transfers are 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 criteria have been met for the transfers approved in this
notification.
New Jersey is transferring 50,000 pounds (lb) (22,680 kilograms
(kg)) of Atlantic bluefish to North Carolina through mutual agreement
of the states. This transfer was requested to ensure North Carolina
would not exceed its 2025 state quota. The revised bluefish quotas for
2025 are: New Jersey, 182,630 lb (82,840 kg); and North Carolina,
1,472,012 lb (667,693 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: December 23, 2025.
Peter Cooper,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2025-24016 Filed 12-29-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on December 30, 2025.
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