[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 118 (Tuesday, June 21, 2005)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 35557-35558]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-12204]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 041110317-4364-02; I.D. 061505C]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder 
Fishery; Quota Transfer

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

ACTION: Temporary rule; inseason quota transfer.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that it has approved the request of the State 
of Rhode Island to transfer 50,186 lb (22,764 kg) of commercial summer 
flounder quota to the States of Maine, Connecticut, New York, Delaware, 
and Maryland, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in accordance with 
the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) Addendum XV to 
the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan 
(FMP). In addition, NMFS is revising commercial summer flounder quota 
numbers for the States of North Carolina and Maryland from those 
published in a previous Addendum XV transfer. By this action, NMFS 
adjusts the quotas and announces the revised commercial quota for each 
state involved.

DATES: Effective June 16, 2005 through December 31, 2005, unless NMFS 
publishes a superseding document in the Federal Register.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mike Ruccio, Fishery Management 
Specialist, (978) 281-9104, FAX (978) 281-9135.

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 among the 
coastal states from North Carolina through Maine. The process to set 
the annual commercial quota and the percent allocated to each state are 
described in Sec.  648.100.
    The ASMFC adopted Addendum XV to the FMP in November 2004. The 
Addendum is being implemented under the adaptive management and 
framework procedures that are part of the FMP. Addendum XV establishes 
a program, for 2005 and 2006, that allocates the increase in commercial 
summer flounder quota (from the 2004 amount) differently than the 
existing

[[Page 35558]]

allocation scheme, in order to reduce the amount of fish that must be 
discarded as bycatch in the commercial fishery in states with 
relatively low summer flounder quotas. The transfer of quota from donor 
states will allow recipient states to marginally increase trip limits, 
thereby decreasing the amount of summer flounder discarded at sea.
    The final rule implementing Amendment 5 to the FMP that was 
published on December 17, 1993 (58 FR 65936), provided a mechanism for 
summer flounder quota to be transferred from one state to another. Two 
or more states, under mutual agreement and with the approval of the 
Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator), can 
transfer or combine summer flounder commercial quota under Sec.  
648.100(d). The Regional Administrator is required to consider the 
criteria set forth in Sec.  648.100(d)(3) in the evaluation of requests 
for quota transfers or combinations. The Regional Administrator has 
reviewed those criteria and approved the quota transfer requests 
submitted by the State of Rhode Island.
    Consistent with Addendum XV, Rhode Island, a designated ``donor 
state,'' has voluntarily employed the quota transfer provisions of the 
FMP to transfer a total of 50,186 lb (22,764 kg) to be allocated as 
follows: Maine 937 lb (425 kg); Connecticut 13,095 lb (5,940 kg); New 
York 9,763 lb (4,428 kg); Delaware 2,887 lb (1,310); Maryland 13,230 lb 
(6,001 kg); and Massachusetts 10,274 lb (4,660 kg) (see Table 1).
    In addition, this action corrects a previous quota transfer 
involving North Carolina and Maryland published on June 7, 2005 (70 FR 
33042). This previous quota transfer notice effected an Addendum XV 
transfer from North Carolina to Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New 
York, and Maryland. In agreeing to this previous transfer, Maryland 
accepted only half of the quota offered by North Carolina, but the 
transfer published on June 7, 2005, inadvertently transferred to 
Maryland the full amount offered by North Carolina (23,153 lb (10,502 
kg)). Therefore, this action deducts half of this amount (11,577 lb 
(5,251 kg)) from Maryland and restores the same amount to North 
Carolina. The corrected quotas involved in that transfer are listed in 
Table 1.

                               Table 1. Summer Flounder Commercial Quota Transfers
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                                       Amount Transferred           2005 Quota\1\          2005 Revised Quota
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               State                     lb           kg           lb           kg           lb           kg
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                  Rhode Island          -50,186      -22,764    2,818,232    1,278,350    2,768,046    1,255,586
                  Maine                     937          425       11,459        5,198       12,396        5,623
                  Massachusetts          10,274        4,660    1,209,499      548,629    1,219,773      553,289
                  Connecticut            13,095        5,940      446,313      202,448      459,408      208,387
                  New York                9,763        4,428    1,404,519      637,090    1,414,282      641,518
                  Delaware\2\             2,887        1,310      -47,415      -21,507      -44,528      -20,198
                  Maryland\3\            13,230        6,001      388,534      176,239      390,187      176,989
                  North Carolina              0            0    4,597,745    2,085,537    4,609,322    2,090,788
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\1\ Reflects quotas as published on June 7, 2005 (70 FR 33042), inclusive of previous Addendum XV and ``safe
  harbor'' transfers.
\2\ Landings of summer flounder in Delaware by vessels holding commercial Federal fisheries permits are
  prohibited for the 2005 calendar year.
\3\ Maryland net change between transfer (13,230 lb (6,001 kg)) and revision (-11,577 lb (5,251 kg)) is 1,673 lb
  (759 kg).

Classification

    This action is taken under 50 CFR part 648 and is exempt from 
review under Executive Order 12866.

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

    Dated: June 15, 2005.
Anne M. Lange,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 05-12204 Filed 6-16-05; 12:58 pm]
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