[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 165 (Monday, August 26, 2002)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 54747]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-21653]



[[Page 54747]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 011109274-1301-02; I.D. 082002C]


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 2002, 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 28, 2002, through 2400 hours, 
December 31, 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard A. Pearson, Fishery Policy 
Analyst, (978) 281-9279.

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 2002 
calendar year was set equal to 14,578,288 lb (6,612,600 kg)(66 FR 
66348, December 26, 2001). The percent allocated to vessels landing 
summer flounder in Massachusetts is 6.82046 percent, resulting in an 
initial commercial quota of 994,306 lb (451,010 kg). The 2002 
allocation was adjusted downward due to an overage of the 2001 quota of 
55,541 lb (25,193 kg), as of October 31, 2001. The resulting adjusted 
2002 commercial quota for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is 938,765 
lb (425,817 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 a notification in the Federal Register to advise the state 
and to notify 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 Commonwealth 
of Massachusetts has attained its quota for 2002.
    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 
28, 2002, further landings of summer flounder in Massachusetts by 
vessels holding summer flounder commercial Federal fisheries permits 
are prohibited for the remainder of the 2002 calendar year, unless 
additional quota becomes available through a transfer and is announced 
in the Federal Register. Effective 0001 hours, August 28, 2002, 
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 20, 2002.
Virginia M. Fay,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 02-21653 Filed 8-21-02; 3:56 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S