[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 227 (Monday, November 25, 2002)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 70556-70557]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-29892]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 011109274-1301-02; I.D. 111902D]


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: Closure; commercial quota harvested for Connecticut.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 2002,

[[Page 70557]]

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, November 20, 2002, through 2400 hours, 
December 31, 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jason Blackburn, Fishery Management 
Specialist, (978) 281-9326.

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 Connecticut is 2.25708 percent, resulting in a 
commercial quota of 329,044 lb (149,258 kg). The 2002 allocation was 
not adjusted because there was no overage of the 2001 quota, as of 
October 31, 2001.
    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 State of 
Connecticut 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, 
November 20, 2002, further landings of summer flounder in Connecticut 
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, November 20, 2002, 
federally permitted dealers are also notified 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 Executive Order 12866.

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

    Dated: November 20, 2002.
Richard W. Surdi,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 02-29892 Filed 11-20-02; 4:26 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S