[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 169 (Tuesday, September 2, 2003)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 52141]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-22337]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 021122284-2323-02; I.D. 082503B]


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: Notification of a closure of a commercial fishery.

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SUMMARY:  NMFS announces that the summer flounder commercial quota 
available to 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 2003, unless additional quota becomes available through a 
transfer. Regulations governing the summer flounder fishery require 
publication of this notification to advise 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, September 2, 2003, through 2400 hours, 
December 31, 2003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Jason Blackburn, Fishery Management 
Specialist, (978) 281-9326, e-mail [email protected]

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 2003 
calendar year was set equal to 13,980,028 lb (6,341,235 kg)(68 FR 60, 
January 2, 2003). The percent allocated to vessels landing summer 
flounder in Massachusetts is 6.82046 percent, resulting in an initial 
commercial quota of 953,502 lb (432,501 kg). The 2003 allocation was 
adjusted downward due to an overage of the 2002 quota of 42,498 lb 
(19,277 kg) as of October 31, 2002. The resulting adjusted 2003 
commercial quota for Massachusetts is 911,004 lb (413,229 kg). The 2003 
allocation was further reduced to 907,274 lb (411,537 kg) due to 
research set-aside.
    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 has been 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 Massachusetts has 
harvested its quota for 2003.
    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, 
September 2, 2003, further landings of summer flounder in Massachusetts 
by vessels holding summer flounder commercial Federal fisheries permits 
are prohibited for the remainder of the 2003 calendar year, unless 
additional quota becomes available through a transfer and is announced 
in the Federal Register. Effective 0001 hours, September 2, 2003, 
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 27, 2003.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 03-22337 Filed 8-27-03; 2:53 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S