[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 247 (Monday, December 23, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 67497-67498]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-32508]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 951116270-5308-02; I.D. 121396A]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder 
Fishery; Adjustments to the 1996 Delaware State Quota

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

ACTION: Commercial quota adjustment.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces an adjustment to the commercial quota for the 
Delaware 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 quota for the State of Delaware.

EFFECTIVE DATE: December 18, 1996, through December 31, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dana Hartley, Fishery Management 
Specialist, 508-281-9226.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations implementing the FMP are found 
at 50 CFR part 648 Subparts A and G. The regulations require annual 
specification of a coastwide 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. 648.100. 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, was set equal to 
11,111,298 lb (5.0 million kg) (January 4, 1996, 61 FR 291).
    Section 648.100(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 published final landings for 1995 
and associated commercial quota adjustments for 1996 on April 5, 1996 
(61 FR 15199). At that time, available data indicated that Delaware had 
landings for 1995 that exceeded the 1995 quota by 458 lb (208 kg). 
Since that notification was published, 1,241 lb (563 kg) of additional 
1995 landings have been reported for Delaware, meaning that Delaware 
now has an overage for 1995 of 1,699 lb (771 kg). These landings data 
for Delaware that were recently obtained by NMFS, necessitate this 
publication of an adjustment. This adjustment reduces the 1996 Delaware 
quota allocation from 1,977 lb (897 kg) to 278 lb (126 kg). Landings in 
Delaware's 1996 commercial fishery will be applied against the adjusted 
278-lb (126-kg) state quota, and any overage will be subtracted from 
the state's 1997 initial quota. Estimated 1996 summer flounder landings 
for the State of Delaware are 7,153 lb (3,245 kg).

[[Page 67498]]

    This action does not affect a notification concerning the 
commercial quota harvest that prohibited further landing of summer 
flounder by federally permitted vessels in Delaware made effective July 
19, 1996 (61 FR 38403).
    A proposed rule containing 1997 specifications for the summer 
flounder fishery was published in the Federal Register on December 18, 
1996. This current action updates the information relevant to Delaware 
as published in Table 2 of that proposed rule (i.e., the 1996 quota for 
that state is now 278 lb (126 kg)). Final specifications for the 1997 
Summer Flounder Fishery will reflect the following commercial quota 
adjustments for Delaware:

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               1995 quota                        1995 landings               1995 coverage            1996 initial quota          1996 adjusted quota   
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            lb                   kg            lb            kg            lb            kg            lb            kg            lb            kg     
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2,614                             1,186         4,313         1,956         1,699           771         1,977           897           278           126 
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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: December 17, 1996.

Gary C. Matlock,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 96-32508 Filed 12-18-96; 3:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-W