[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 102 (Friday, May 26, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 27906-27907]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-12935]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 625

[Docket No. 950206038-5038-01; I.D. 051595E]


Summer Flounder Fishery; Adjustments to 1995 State Quotas

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notification of commercial quota adjustment.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces adjustments to the commercial quota for the 
1995 summer flounder fishery. This action complies with regulations 
implementing the Fishery Management Plan for the Summer Flounder 
Fishery (FMP), which require that annual quota overages landed in any 
state be deducted from that state's quota for the following year. The 
public is advised that a quota adjustment has been made and is informed 
of the revised state quotas. The Director, Northeast Region, NMFS 
(Regional Director), has also determined that there is no Federal 
summer flounder quota available for those coastal states that did not 
receive a portion of the annual commercial summer flounder quota. 
Vessels issued a Federal moratorium permit for the summer flounder 
fishery may not land summer flounder in these states.

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 22, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Hannah Goodale, 508-281-9101.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations implementing Amendment 2 to the 
FMP are found at 50 CFR part 625 (57 FR 57358, December 4, 1992). The 
regulations require annual specification of a commercial quota that is 
apportioned among the Atlantic coastal states from North Carolina 
through Maine. The process to set the annual commercial quota and the 
percent allocated to each state is described in Sec. 625.20. The 
commercial summer flounder quota for the 1995 calendar year, adopted to 
ensure achievement of the appropriate fishing mortality rate of 0.53 
for 1995, is set to equal 14,690,407 lb (6.7 million kg) (60 FR 8958, 
February 16, 1995).
    Section 625.20(d)(2) provides that all landings for sale in a state 
shall be applied against that state's annual commercial quota. Any 
landings in excess of the state's quota will be deducted from that 
state's annual quota for the following year. Based on dealer reports 
and other available information, NMFS has determined that the States of 
Massachusetts and Rhode Island have exceeded their 1994 quota by 17,707 
lb (8.8 kg) and 60,670 lb (27.4 kg), respectively. The remaining States 
of Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, 
Maryland, and North Carolina did not exceed their 1994 quotas. A 
complete summary of quota adjustments for 1995 is in Table 1.
    The Commonwealth of Virginia collects landings data from the summer 
flounder fishery conducted in its waters, and the landings for the 
fourth quarter of 1994 have not yet been compiled. If those final 
figures result in landings in excess of the 1994 quota, a further 
adjustment will be required and a notification will be published in the 
Federal Register. [[Page 27907]] 

                     Table 1--Adjusted 1995 Commercial Quota for the Summer Flounder Fishery                    
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                                                                             Initial       Adjusted 1995 quota  
                                       1994         1994          1994         1995    -------------------------
                                    quota(lb)   landings(lb)  overage(lb)   quota(lb)       (lb)         (kg)   
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ME...............................        7,463         4,857  ...........        6,987        6,987        3,169
NH...............................           74  ............  ...........           67           67           30
MA...............................    1,031,194     1,048,901       17,707    1,001,953      984,246      446,446
RI...............................    2,510,149     2,570,819       60,670    2,303,894    2,243,224    1,017,526
CT...............................      384,247       370,413  ...........      331,574      331,574      150,399
NY...............................    1,423,943     1,270,012  ...........    1,123,374    1,123,374      509,554
NJ...............................    2,510,745     2,413,761  ...........    2,456,969    2,456,969    1,114,462
DE...............................        4,681         3,635  ...........        2,614        2,614        1,186
MD...............................      273,117       160,380  ...........      299,551      299,551      135,874
VA...............................    3,240,192     3,100,801  ...........    3,131,519    3,131,519    1,420,433
NC...............................    4,216,993     3,571,188  ...........    4,031,905    4,031,905    1,828,841
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    This notification also announces the Regional Director's 
determination that no quota is available for those coastal states that 
did not receive a distribution from the annual commercial summer 
flounder quota. The Regional Director's determination triggers the 
summer flounder moratorium permit condition that owners of federally 
permitted vessel agree not to land summer flounder in any state that 
did not receive any part of the annual commercial summer flounder 
quota. The purpose of this condition is to aid in maintaining the 
integrity of the overall quota, which is set to achieve a specific 
mortality reduction goal, as state quotas are filled.
    Historically, measurable landings of summer flounder have occurred 
only in those coastal states from North Carolina northward to Maine. 
These are the states that have received distributions from the annual 
commercial summer flounder quota. Recent reports, however, indicate 
that harvesters intend to land summer flounder in other states, such as 
South Carolina, in response to the closures of Virginia and North 
Carolina to landings of summer flounder. States other than those 
specified in Table 1 do not have any available summer flounder quota 
because they did not receive a share of the annual commercial quota. 
Therefore, vessels with a Federal summer flounder moratorium permit may 
not land summer flounder in these states.
    This notification serves to trigger the permit condition that 
prevents vessels that are issued a Federal summer flounder moratorium 
permit from landing summer flounder in any state that has no commercial 
summer flounder quota.

Classification

    This action is required by 50 CFR part 625 and is exempt from 
review under E.O. 12866.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: May 22, 1995.
Richard H. Schaefer,
Director, Office of Fisheries Conservation and Management, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 95-12935 Filed 5-22-95; 4:58 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-W