[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 155 (Tuesday, August 12, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 43127]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-21185]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 961210346-7035-02; I.D. 070397G]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder 
Fishery; Adjustments to the 1997 State Quotas; Commercial Quota 
Harvested for North Carolina; Correction

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

ACTION: Correction to commercial quota adjustments for the State of 
Maryland.

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SUMMARY: NMFS corrects the rulemaking announcing adjustments to the 
commercial state quotas for the 1997 summer flounder fishery published 
July 15, 1997.

DATES: The 1997 commercial state quotas are effective July 9, 1997, 
through December 31, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Regina L. Spallone, Fishery Policy 
Analyst, 508-281-9221.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Regulations implementing summer flounder management measures (50 
CFR part 648, subparts A and G) require annual specification of a 
commercial quota that is apportioned among the Atlantic coastal states 
from Maine through North Carolina. Section 648.100(d)(2) of the 
regulations provides that all landings for sale in a state shall be 
applied against that state's annual commercial quota. Any landings in 
excess of a state's quota must be deducted from that state's annual 
quota for the following year.
    On March 7, 1997 (62 FR 10473), NMFS published the final 
specifications for the summer flounder 1997 commercial fishery and 
deductions for overages in the 1996 quota year. At that time, 
Maryland's initial landings data for 1996 indicated that the state had 
underharvested its quota by 1,519 lb (689 kg). Revised data were 
subsequently provided that altered the landings figures for several 
states. These data were used as a basis for readjusting the states' 
commercial quotas (July 15, 1997, 62 FR 37741). In the case of 
Maryland, revised data indicated an additional 39,835 lb (18,069 kg) of 
summer flounder were landed in 1996. The underharvest of 1,519 lb (689 
kg) should have been subtracted from the additional landings of 39,835 
lb (18,069 kg) to derive an actual overharvest for Maryland in 1996 of 
38,316 lb (17,380 kg). Instead, the additional landings for Maryland in 
1996 were incorrectly subtracted in their entirety from that state's 
1997 quota in the July 15, 1997, rulemaking. This notice announces that 
the total overage for Maryland in 1996 was actually 38,316 lb (17,380 
kg), and corrects the state's 1997 commercial quota accordingly, by 
adding 1,519 lb (689 kg) to the published quota of 186,735 lb (84,702 
kg).
    Since Maryland is the only state that moved from an underharvest to 
an overharvest based on the revised landings data, it was the only 
state to have an erroneous quota result. All other state-readjusted 
1997 quotas as published July 15, 1997, are correct for the landings 
data received.

Correction of Publication

    Accordingly, the publication on July 15, 1997 (62 FR 37741), of the 
commercial quota adjustments [I.D. 070397G], which were the subject of 
rule document 97-18462, is corrected as follows:
    On page 37743, in Table 2, under the State of Maryland, in the 
fourth column under ``Readjusted 1997 Quota'', under the subheading 
``lb'', ``186,735'' should read ``188,254'' and in the fifth column, 
under the subheading ``(Kg)'', ``84,702'' should read ``85,391''.
    In the same table, under ``Total'', in the fourth column, under the 
subheading ``lb'', ``8,382,277'' should read ``8,383,796'' and in the 
fifth column, under the subheading ``(Kg)'', ``3,802,137'' should read 
``3,802,826''.

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

    Dated: August 5, 1997.
Bruce Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 97-21185 Filed 8-11-97; 8:45 am]
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