[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 67 (Friday, April 5, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 15199-15200]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-7994]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 625

[Docket No. 951116270-5308-02; I.D. 031296B]


Summer Flounder Fishery; Adjustments to 1996 State Quotas

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

ACTION: Commercial quota adjustment.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces adjustments to the commercial quota for the 
1996 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: April 4, 1996, through December 31, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Gouveia, 508-281-9280.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations implementing Amendment 2 to the 
FMP are found at 50 CFR part 625 (December 4, 1992, 57 FR 57358). 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. Amendment 
7 to the FMP (November 24, 1995, 60 FR 57955) revised the fishing 
mortality rate reduction schedule for summer flounder, and the revised 
schedule was the basis for establishing the 1996 quota. The commercial 
summer flounder quota for the 1996 calendar year, adopted to ensure 
achievement of the appropriate fishing mortality rate of 0.41 for 1996, 
is set to equal 11,111,298 lb (5.0 million kg) (January 4, 1996, 61 FR 
291). The notification of a commercial quota transfer from the State of 
North Carolina to the Commonwealth of Virginia was published on March 
13, 1996 (61 FR 10286). This quota transfer is reflected in Table 1.
    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, Rhode Island, New York, Delaware, and Virginia have 
exceeded their 1995 quotas. The remaining States of Maine, New 
Hampshire, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, and North Carolina did 
not exceed their 1995 quotas. A complete summary of quota adjustments 
for 1996 is in Table 1.

[[Page 15200]]


                    Table 1.--Adjusted 1996 Commercial Quota for the Summer Flounder Fishery                    
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                                                     1995         1995       Initial       Adjusted 1996 quota  
                                     1995 Quota    Landings     Overage     1996 quota -------------------------
                                        (lb)         (lb)         (lb)         (lb)         (lb)         (kg)   
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ME................................        6,987        5,318  ...........        5,284        5,284        2,397
NH................................           67  ...........  ...........           51           51           23
MA................................    1,122,246    1,127,995        5,749      757,841      752,092      341,143
RI................................    2,243,224    2,365,465      122,241    1,742,583    1,620,342      734,975
CT................................      331,574      306,404  ...........      250,791      250,791      113,757
NY................................    1,243,374    1,248,078        4,704      849,680      844,976      383,275
NJ................................    2,306,198    2,298,303  ...........    1,858,363    1,858,363      842,939
DE................................        2,614        3,072          458        1,977        1,519          689
MD................................      199,551      136,167  ...........      226,570      226,570      102,770
VA................................    3,182,177    3,355,838      173,661    2,374,342    2,200,681      998,212
NC................................    3,974,018    3,967,291  ...........    3,043,816    3,043,816    1,380,652
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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 vessels 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: March 27, 1996.
Richard W. Surdi,
Acting Director, Office of Fisheries Conservation and Management, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 96-7994 Filed 4-4-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-W