[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 204 (Monday, October 21, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 54578-54579]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-26848]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 951116270-5308-02; I.D. 101196C]


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

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

ACTION: Commercial quota harvest.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: NMFS issues this notification to announce that the summer 
flounder commercial quota available to the State of New York has been 
harvested. Vessels issued a commercial Federal fisheries permit for the 
summer flounder fishery may not land summer flounder in New York 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 State of 
New York 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 New York.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 15, 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. 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 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 New York is 7.64699 percent, or 849,680 lb (385,408 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 
1,248,078 lb (566,119 kg) were landed in New York. The amount allocated 
for New York landings in 1995 was 1,243,374 lb (563,984 kg), creating a 
4,704 lb (2,133 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 New York is 844,976 lb (383,275 kg).
    Section 625.101(b) requires the Regional Administrator, Northeast 
Region, NMFS (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 document 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 State of New York has attained 
its quota for 1996, the Regional Administrator has determined, based on 
dealer reports and other available information, that 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 October 15, 1996 
further landings of summer flounder in New York 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 New York for the 
remainder of the calendar year, or until additional quota becomes 
available, effective on October 15, 1996.

[[Page 54579]]

Classification

    This action is required by 50 CFR Part 648 and is exempt from 
review under E.O. 12866.

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

    Dated: October 15, 1996.
Bruce Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 96-26848 Filed 10-15-96; 4:33 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F