[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 147 (Monday, July 31, 2000)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 46655]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-19277]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 000119014-0137-02; I.D. 072400E]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder 
Fishery; Commercial Quota Harvested for Connecticut

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 Connecticut has been harvested. Vessels 
issued a commercial Federal fisheries permit for the summer flounder 
fishery may not land summer flounder in Connecticut for the remainder 
of calendar year 2000, unless additional quota becomes available 
through a transfer. Regulations governing the summer flounder fishery 
require publication of this notification to advise the State of 
Connecticut 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 Connecticut.

DATES: Effective 0001 hours, July 31, 2000, through 2400 hours, 
December 31, 2000.

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 on a percentage 
basis among the coastal states from North Carolina through Maine. The 
process to set the annual commercial quota and the percent allocated to 
each state is described in Sec. 648.100.
    The initial total commercial quota for summer flounder for the 2000 
calendar year was set equal to 11,109,214 lb (5,039,055 kg)(65 FR 
33486, May 24, 2000). The percent allocated to vessels landing summer 
flounder in Connecticut is 2.25708 percent, or 250,788 lb (113,756 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 a 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 
Administrator has determined, based upon dealer reports and other 
available information, that the State of Connecticut has attained its 
quota for 2000.
    The regulations at Sec. 648.4(b) provide that Federal permit 
holders agree as a condition of the permit not to land summer flounder 
in any state that the Regional Administrator has determined no longer 
has commercial quota available. Therefore, effective 0001 hours, July 
31, 2000, further landings of summer flounder in Connecticut by vessels 
holding summer flounder commercial Federal fisheries permits are 
prohibited for the remainder of the 2000 calendar year, unless 
additional quota becomes available through a transfer and is announced 
in the Federal Register. Effective 0001 hours, July 31, 2000, federally 
permitted dealers are also advised that they may not purchase summer 
flounder from federally permitted vessels that land in Connecticut 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: July 25, 2000.
Bruce Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 00-19277 Filed 7-28-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F