[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 121 (Tuesday, June 24, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 34016]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-16404]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 960805216-7111-06; I.D. 061797B]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Scup Fishery; 
Commercial Quota Harvested for North Carolina

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

ACTION: Commercial quota harvest.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the scup commercial quota for the 1997 
Summer period (May 1, 1997 - October 31, 1997) available to the State 
of North Carolina has been harvested. Vessels issued a commercial 
Federal fisheries permit for the scup fishery may not land scup in 
North Carolina for the remainder of the 1997 Summer period, unless 
additional quota becomes available through a transfer. Regulations 
governing the scup fishery require publication of this notification to 
advise the State of North Carolina that the quota allocated for the 
1997 Summer period has been harvested and to advise vessel and dealer 
permit holders that no commercial quota is available for landing scup 
in North Carolina for the remainder of the Summer period.

DATES: Effective 0001 hrs, local time (l.t.), June 18, 1997, through 
2400 hrs, l.t., October 31, 1997.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations governing the scup fishery are 
found at 50 CFR part 648. Section 648.120(d) requires annual 
specification of a commercial quota that is allocated into two Winter 
periods: January-April (Winter I) and November-December (Winter II); 
and one Summer period: May-October (Summer)(62 FR 27978, May 22, 1997). 
The Winter periods are allocated coastwide among the states from Maine 
to North Carolina and the Summer period is allocated on a state-by-
state basis from Maine to North Carolina. The process to set the annual 
commercial quota and the percent allocated to each state for the Summer 
period are described in 50 CFR Sec. 648.120.
    The total commercial quota for scup for the 1997 Summer period is 
set equal to 2,337,000 lb (1,060,045 kg) (62 FR 27978, May 22, 1997). 
The percent allocated to vessels landing scup in North Carolina is 
0.02688 percent, or 628 lb (285 kg).
    Section 648.120(d)(6) provides that any overages of the commercial 
quota for a Summer period landed in any state will be deducted from 
that state's quota for the following Summer period.
    Section 648.121(b) requires the Administrator, Northeast Region, 
NMFS (Regional Administrator), to monitor states' commercial quotas and 
to determine when a state's commercial quota is harvested. The Regional 
Administrator is further required to publish 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 scup in that state for the Summer period. The 
Regional Administrator has determined, based on dealer reports and 
other available information, that the State of North Carolina's 
commercial quota for the Summer period has been harvested.
    The regulations at Sec. 648.4(b) provide that Federal permit 
holders must agree as a condition of the permit not to land scup in any 
state that the Regional Administrator has determined no longer has 
commercial quota available. Therefore, effective 0001 hrs, l.t., June 
18, 1997, through 2400 hrs, l.t., October 31, 1997, further landings of 
scup in North Carolina by vessels holding commercial Federal fisheries 
permits are prohibited for the remainder of the 1997 Summer period, 
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 scup from Federally permitted 
vessels that land in North Carolina for the remainder of the Summer 
period, or until additional quota becomes available, effective the date 
above.

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: June 18, 1997.
Bruce Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 97-16404 Filed 6-18-97; 4:08 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F