[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 236 (Thursday, December 7, 2000)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 76577-76578]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-31233]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

 50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 000119014-0137-02; I.D. 113000E]


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

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 Virginia has been harvested. Vessels issued a 
commercial Federal fisheries permit for the summer flounder fishery may 
not land summer flounder in Virginia 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 Virginia 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 Virginia.

DATES: Effective 0001 hours, December 7, 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 Virginia is 21.31676 percent, or 2,368,546 lb (1,074,354 
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 the calendar year 1999, a total of 2,130,553 
lb (966,403 kg) were landed in Virginia, creating a 9,857 lb (4,471 kg) 
overage that was deducted from the amount allocated for landings in the 
State during 2000 (65 FR 33486, May 24, 2000). The resulting 2000 quota 
for Virginia is 2,358,689 lb (1,069,883 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 Virginia 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, 
December 7, 2000, further landings of summer flounder in Virginia 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, December 7, 2000, 
federally permitted dealers are also advised that they may not purchase 
summer flounder from federally permitted vessels that land in Virginia 
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.


[[Page 76578]]


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

Bruce C. Morehead
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 00-31233 Filed 12-06-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE: 3510-22 -S