[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 195 (Monday, October 7, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 52384-52385]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-25642]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 951116270-5308-02; I.D. 092696B]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder 
Fishery; Commercial Quota Harvested for Massachusetts

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

ACTION: Commercial quota harvest.

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SUMMARY: NMFS issues this notification announcing that the summer 
flounder commercial quota available to the Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts has been harvested. Vessels issued a commercial Federal 
fisheries permit for the summer flounder fishery may not land summer 
flounder in Massachusetts for the remainder of calendar year 1996, 
unless additional quota becomes available through a transfer. 
Regulations governing the summer flounder fishery require publication 
of this notification to advise the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that 
the quota has been harvested and to advise vessel and dealer permit 
holders that no commercial quota is available for landing summer 
flounder in Massachusetts.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 2, 1996 through December 31, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lucy Helvenston, 508-281-9347.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations governing the summer flounder 
fishery are found at 50 CFR part 648. The regulations require annual 
specification of a commercial quota that is apportioned among the 
states from North Carolina through Maine. The process to set the annual 
commercial quota and the percent allocated to each state are described 
in Sec. 648.100.
    The total commercial quota for summer flounder for the 1996 
calendar year is set equal to 11,111,298 lb (5,040,000 kg) (January 4, 
1996, 61 FR 291). The percent allocated to vessels landing summer 
flounder in Massachusetts is 6.82046 percent, or 757,841 lb (343,751 
kg).
    Section 648.100(d)(2) provides that any overages of the commercial 
quota landed in any state will be deducted from that state's annual 
quota for the following year. In the calendar year 1995, a total of 
1,127,995 lb (511,650 kg) were landed in Massachusetts. The amount 
allocated for Massachusetts landings in 1995 was 1,122,246 lb (509,042 
kg), creating a 5,749 lb (2,608 kg) overage that was deducted from the 
amount allocated for landings in that state during 1996 (April 5, 1996, 
61 FR 15199). The resulting quota for Massachusetts is 752,092 lb 
(341,143 kg).
    Section 625.101(b) requires the Regional Administrator, Northeast 
Region (Regional Administrator) to monitor state commercial quotas and 
to determine when a state commercial quota is harvested. The Regional 
Administrator is further required to publish a notification in the 
Federal Register advising a state and notifying Federal vessel 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. Because the 
available information indicates that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts 
has attained its quota for 1996, the Regional Administrator has 
determined that based on dealer reports and other available 
information, the State's commercial quota has been harvested.
    The regulations at Sec. 648.4(b) provide that Federal permit 
holders agree as a condition of the permit not to land summer flounder 
in any state that the Regional Administrator has determined no longer 
has commercial quota available. Therefore, effective 0001 hours October 
2, 1996 further landings of summer flounder in Massachusetts by vessels 
holding commercial Federal fisheries permits are prohibited for the 
remainder of the 1996 calendar year, unless additional quota becomes 
available through a transfer and is announced in the Federal Register. 
Federally permitted dealers are also advised that they may not purchase 
summer flounder from federally permitted vessels that land in 
Massachusetts for the remainder of the

[[Page 52385]]

calendar year, or until additional quota becomes available, effective 
on October 2, 1996.

Classification

    This action is required by 50 CFR part 648 and is exempt from 
review under E.O. 12286.

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

    Dated: October 2, 1996.
Bruce Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 96-25642 Filed 10-2-96; 4:30 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F