Rule2026-08599
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder Fishery; Quota Transfer From Virginia to New Jersey
Primary source
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Published
May 4, 2026
Effective
May 1, 2026
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS announces that the Commonwealth of Virginia is transferring a portion of its 2026 commercial summer flounder quota to the State of New Jersey. This adjustment to the 2026 fishing year quota is necessary to comply with the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan (FMP) quota transfer provisions. This announcement informs the public of the revised 2026 commercial quotas for Virginia and New Jersey.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 85 (Monday, May 4, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 85 (Monday, May 4, 2026)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 23918]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-08599]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 260209-0039; RTID 0648-XF756]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder
Fishery; Quota Transfer From Virginia to New Jersey
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 Commonwealth of Virginia is
transferring a portion of its 2026 commercial summer flounder quota to
the State of New Jersey. This adjustment to the 2026 fishing year quota
is necessary to comply with the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea
Bass Fishery Management Plan (FMP) quota transfer provisions. This
announcement informs the public of the revised 2026 commercial quotas
for Virginia and New Jersey.
DATES: Effective May 1, 2026, through December 31, 2026.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matthew Rigdon, Fishery Management
Specialist, (978) 281-9336.
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 the final 2026 allocations
were published on February 19, 2026 (91 FR 7896).
The final rule implementing amendment 5 to the 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: (1) the transfers or combinations 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 three
criteria have been met for the transfer approved in this notification.
Virginia is transferring 13,488 pounds (lb; 6,118 kilograms (kg))
of summer flounder 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 2026 are: Virginia, 2,420,512 lb (1,097,926
kg); and New Jersey, 2,109,868 lb (957,020 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) of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act, and is exempted from review under Executive Order 12866.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: April 30, 2026.
Kelly Denit,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2026-08599 Filed 5-1-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on May 4, 2026.
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