[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 169 (Thursday, August 30, 2001)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 45785-45786]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-21951]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 001121328-1066-03; I.D. 082401D]


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

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

ACTION: Closure; commercial quota harvested for Massachusetts.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the summer flounder commercial quota 
available to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has been harvested. 
Vessels issued a commercial Federal fisheries permit for the summer 
flounder fishery may not land summer flounder in Massachusetts for the 
remainder of calendar year 2001, unless additional quota becomes 
available through a transfer. Regulations governing the summer flounder 
fishery require publication of this notification to advise the 
Commonwealth of Massachusetts 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 
Massachusetts.

DATES: Effective 0001 hours, August 31, 2001, through 2400 hours, 
December 31, 2001.

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 2001 
calendar year was set equal to 10,747,535 lb (4,875,000 kg) (66 FR 
16151, March 23, 2001). The percent allocated to vessels landing summer 
flounder in Massachusetts is 6.82046 percent, or 733,031 lb (332,497 
kg). This allocation was adjusted due to an overage in 2000, as 
provided in Sec.  648.100(e)(4), for a final allocation of 645,663 lb 
(292,868 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. NMFS then 
publishes 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 45786]]

Administrator has determined, based upon dealer reports and other 
available information, that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has 
attained its quota for 2001.
    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, August 
31, 2001, further landings of summer flounder in Massachusetts by 
vessels holding summer flounder commercial Federal fisheries permits 
are prohibited for the remainder of the 2001 calendar year, unless 
additional quota becomes available through a transfer and is announced 
in the Federal Register. Effective 0001 hours, August 31, 2001, 
federally permitted dealers are also notified that they may not 
purchase summer flounder from federally permitted vessels that land in 
Massachusetts 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 Executive Order 12866.

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

    Dated: August 24, 2001.
Dean Swanson,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 01-21951 Filed 8-29-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S