[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 186 (Monday, September 27, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 51930-51931]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-25071]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 990422103-9209-02; I.D. 090799A]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder 
Fishery

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

ACTION: Notification of waiver of annual Federal summer flounder 
recreational measures.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces a determination by the Atlantic States Marine 
Fisheries Commission (Commission) of conservation equivalent state 
management measures for the recreational summer flounder fishery. 
Regulations governing the summer flounder fishery require publication 
of this notification to waive the annual Federal summer flounder 
recreational measures and to advise vessel permit holders of the 
equivalent recreational measures approved by the Commission for each 
state involved. The intent of this action is to conserve summer 
flounder, while providing the states the ability to tailor their 
regulations to the fisheries within their respective states.

DATES: Effective 0001 hours, September 27, 1999, through December 31, 
1999.

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. Interim regulations are in effect 
for the period September 9, 1999, through March 9, 2000. (See the 
correction to 50 CFR part 648, Fisheries of the Northeastern United 
States; Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fisheries; 
Recreational Measures for the 1999 Fisheries published elsewhere in 
this issue.) These regulations allow states to implement, on an annual 
basis, recreational measures that conserve summer flounder to the same 
extent as the annual Federal measures specified under Sec. 648.100(c) 
to achieve the recreational harvest limit. The Summer Flounder 
Technical Committee of the Commission makes a determination of 
equivalency annually for any state proposing alternative recreational

[[Page 51931]]

measures. Any state may implement conservation equivalent measures 
without a determination of equivalency by the Summer Flounder Technical 
Committee review, if the state uses the state-specific tables provided 
by the Commission and maintains a 15-inch (38-cm) or greater total 
length minimum fish size.
    Once a state receives a determination of equivalency from the 
Summer Flounder Technical Committee or a state implements conservation 
equivalent measures contained in the state-specific table provided by 
the Commission, the Commission is required to recommend to the 
Administrator, Northeast Region (Regional Administrator) that a 
notification be published in the Federal Register to waive the annual 
Federal recreational summer flounder measures and to notify vessel 
permit holders of the equivalent recreational measures approved by the 
Commission for each state involved.
    The Regional Administrator received a determination from the 
Commission on July 12, 1999, stating that all states included in the 
Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Interstate Fishery Management 
Plan have implemented conservation equivalent recreational management 
measures using a combination of fish sizes, possession limits, and 
closed seasons that achieve the required 40-percent reduction in 
fishing effort for 1999. Therefore, effective 0001 hours, September 27, 
1999, through December 31, 1999, the annual Federal recreational summer 
flounder management measures are waived and the following conservation 
equivalent recreational measures are approved for each state affected.

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                                                  Minimum Size   Possession
                                                   inches (See     Limit/                 Open Season
                                                      note)        Person
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Massachusetts                                              15        8-fish   May 29-Sept.11
Rhode Island                                               15        8-fish   May 29-Sept.11
Connecticut                                                15        8-fish   May 29-Sept.11
New York                                                   16        8-fish   Jan.1-Dec.31
New Jersey                                               15.5        8-fish   May 15-Oct.11
Delaware                                                   15        8-fish   Aug.8-July 15
Maryland
Bay                                                        15        8-fish   May 8- Dec.31
  Coast                                                  15.5        8-fish   Apr. 15-Nov.30
Potomac River                                              15        4-fish   May 1-Dec. 31
Fisheries Comm.
Virginia                                                   16        8-fish   Aug.1-July 24
North Carolina                                             15        8-fish   Jan.1-Dec.31
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 Note: Metric equivalents are 16 in = 41 cm, 15.5 in = 39 cm, and 15 in = 38 cm.

    Vessels fishing in the EEZ are subject to the regulations of the 
state where the vessel is registered or homeported or where the fish 
are landed, whichever is more restrictive.

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: September 21, 1999.
Gary C. Matlock,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 99-25071 Filed 9-24-99; 8:45 am]
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