[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 208 (Wednesday, October 28, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 57622-57623]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-28827]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 971015246-7293-02; I.D. 102298A]


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.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces 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 
1998 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 permit holders and dealer permit 
holders that no commercial quota is available for landing summer 
flounder in New York.

DATES: Effective 0001 hours October 27, 1998, through December 31, 
1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul H. Jones, Fishery Policy Analyst, 
(978) 281-9273.

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 
coastal 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 initial total commercial quota for summer flounder for the 1998 
calendar year was set equal to 11,105,636 lb (5,037,432 kg) (62 FR 
66304, December 18, 1997). 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(e)(4) stipulates that any overages of commercial 
quota landed in any state be deducted from that state's annual quota 
for the following year. In calendar year 1997, a total of 815,741 lb 
(370,014 kg) were landed in New York, creating a 61,398 lb (27,850 kg) 
overage that was deducted from the amount allocated for landings in the 
state during 1998 (63 FR 23227, April 28, 1998). The resulting quota 
for New York is 788,282 lb (357,559 kg).
    Section 648.101(b) requires the Administrator, Northeast Region, 
NMFS (Regional Administrator), to monitor state 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 summer flounder in that state. The Regional

[[Page 57623]]

Administrator has determined, based upon dealer reports and other 
available information, that the State of New York has attained its 
quota for 1998.
    The regulations at Sec. 648.4(b) provide that, as a condition of 
the permit, Federal permit holders agree 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 27, 
1998, further landings of summer flounder in New York by vessels 
holding commercial Federal fisheries permits are prohibited for the 
remainder of the 1998 calendar year unless additional quota becomes 
available through a transfer and is announced in the Federal Register. 
Effective October 27, 1998, 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 through a 
transfer.

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 22, 1998.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 98-28827 Filed 10-23-98; 3:31 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F