[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 72 (Thursday, April 15, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 18582-18583]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-9339]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 981014259-8312-02; I.D. 040599E]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder, 
Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fisheries; Adjustments to the 1999 Summer 
Flounder Commercial Quota

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

ACTION: Commercial quota adjustment for 1999.

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SUMMARY: This document contains adjustments to the 1999 commercial 
summer flounder quotas. This action complies with the regulations that 
implement the Fishery Management Plan for the Summer Flounder, Scup, 
and Black Sea Bass Fisheries (FMP) that requires landings in excess of 
a state's individual quota be deducted from a state's respective quota 
for the following year. The public is advised that preliminary 
adjustments have been made and is informed of the revised quotas for 
the affected states.

DATES: Effective April 9, 1999, through December 31, 1999.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    NMFS published a document in the Federal Register on February 3, 
1999 (64 FR 5196), announcing preliminary adjustments to the 1999 
summer flounder commercial quotas. The document also corrected errors 
in Rhode Island's commercial summer flounder allocation specified in 
Table 1.--1999 State Commercial Quotas that was published on December 
31, 1998 (63 FR 72203). Portions of the text describing revisions made 
to Table 1 of the December 31 publication contained errors and some 
text was omitted. Therefore, NMFS published an additional document in 
the Federal Register on February 24 1999 (64 FR 9088), which corrected 
only the text portion of the preamble to the February 3, 1999, 
correction document related to the Rhode Island commercial summer 
flounder allocation.
    Adjustment to the 1999 commercial summer flounder quotas is 
necessary because NMFS received data late from some state agencies. 
State data collections are incomplete for Connecticut, Maryland, 
Virginia, and North Carolina; therefore, further adjustments may be 
necessary for those states.
    The preliminary 1998 landings and resulting overages for all states 
are given in Table 1. The resulting adjusted 1999 commercial quota for 
each state is given in Table 2. In Table 3, the adjustment has been 
made to maintain the incidental component of the commercial quota at 
32.7 percent of the total (as recommended in the final specifications).

                                              Table 1.--Summer Flounder Preliminary 1998 Landings by State
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                                                                    1998 quota               Preliminary 1998 landings             1998 overage
                          State                          -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Lb            Kg \1\            Lb            Kg \1\            Lb            Kg \1\
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ME......................................................          4,791           2,173           5,626           2,552             835             379
NH......................................................             51              23               0               0               0               0
MA......................................................        721,899         327,448         709,387         321,778               0               0
RI......................................................      1,742,583         790,422       1,715,716         778,249               0               0
CT......................................................        250,457         113,605         249,398         113,127               0               0

[[Page 18583]]

 
NY......................................................        763,419         346,281         822,151         372,928          58,732          26,647
NJ......................................................      1,858,363         842,939       1,862,800         844,966           4,437           2,027
DE......................................................    \2\ (14,534)         (6,593)        (10,905)         (4,947)        (25,439)        (11,539)
MD......................................................        199,876          90,662         209,358          94,965           9,482           4,303
VA......................................................      2,362,877       1,071,783       2,543,278       1,153,631         180,401          81,848
NC......................................................      3,049,589       1,383,270       2,903,527       1,317,040               0               0
                                                         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total \3\...........................................     10,939,371       4,962,013      11,010,336       4,994,289         228,448         103,665
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\1\ Kilograms are as converted from pounds, and may not necessarily add due to rounding.
\2\ Parentheses indicate a negative number.
\3\Total quota and total landings do not equal overage because they reflect positive quota balances in several states.


                           Table 2.--Summer Flounder Preliminary Adjusted 1999 Quotas
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                                                        1999 initial quota              1999 adjusted quota
                      State                      ---------------------------------------------------------------
                                                        Lb             Kg\1\            Lb             Kg\1\
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ME..............................................           5,285           2,397          4,450           2,018
NH..............................................              51              23             51              23
MA..............................................         757,842         343,751        757,842         343,751
RI..............................................       1,742,583         790,422      1,742,583         790,422
CT..............................................         250,791         113,757        250,791         113,757
NY..............................................         849,680         385,408        790,948         358,768
NJ..............................................       1,858,363         842,939      1,853,926         840,927
DE..............................................           1,977             897    \2\ (25,439)        (11,539)
MD..............................................         226,570         102,770        217,088          98,469
VA..............................................       2,373,569       1,976,633      2,193,168         994,804
NC..............................................       3,044,589       1,381,002      3,044,589       1,381,002
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................      11,111,300       5,039,999     10,829,997       4,912,404
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\1\ Kilograms are as converted from pounds, and may not necessarily add due to rounding.
\2\ Parentheses indicate a negative number.


                                       Table 3.--Summer Founder 1999 State Quotas and Incidental Catch Allocations
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                                                                     Directed                    Incidental catch                      Total
                  State                    Percent share -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Lb            Kg \1\            Lb              Kg              Lb              Kg
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ME......................................         0.04756          2,995           1,358           1,455             660           4,450           2,018
NH......................................         0.00046             34              16              17               8              51              23
MA......................................         6.82046        510,028         231,345         247,814         112,407         757,842         343,751
RI......................................        15.68298      1,172,758         531,954         569,825         258,468       1,742,583         790,422
CT......................................         2.25708        168,782          76,558          82,009          37,199         250,791         113,757
NY......................................         7.64699        532,308         241,451         258,640         117,317         790,948         358,768
NJ......................................        16.72499      1,247,692         565,944         606,234         274,983       1,853,926         840,927
DE......................................         0.01779    \2\ (17,120)         (7,766)         (8,319)         (3,773)        (25,439)        (11,539)
MD......................................         2.03910        146,100          66,270          70,988          32,200         217,088          98,469
VA......................................        21.31676      1,476,002         669,503         717,166         325,301       2,193,168         994,804
NC......................................        27.44584      2,049,008         929,415         995,581         451,588       3,044,589       1,381,002
                                         ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total...............................       100.00000      7,288,588       3,306,048       3,541,409       1,606,356      10,829,997       4,912,404
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\1\ Kilograms are as converted from pounds, and may not necessarily add due to rounding.
\2\ Parentheses indicate a negative number.

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: April 8, 1999.
Gary C. Matlock,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 99-9339 Filed 4-9-99; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-M