[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 242 (Monday, December 19, 2005)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 75074-75075]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-24204]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 041110317-4364-02; I.D. 121205C]


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

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

ACTION: Temporary rule; closure.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the 2005 summer flounder commercial quota 
available to New York has been harvested and is announcing the closure 
of summer flounder in Federal waters. Vessels issued a commercial 
Federal fisheries permit for the summer flounder fishery may not land 
summer flounder in New York for the remainder of calendar year 2005, 
unless additional quota becomes available through a transfer. 
Regulations governing the summer flounder fishery require publication 
of this notification to advise New York of the closure and to advise 
vessel permit holders and dealer permit holders that no commercial 
quota is available for landing summer flounder in New York.

DATES: Effective 0001 hours, December 14, 2005, through 2400 hours, 
December 31, 2005.

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

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 2005 
calendar year was set equal to 18,180,002 lb (8,246,395 kg) (70 FR 303, 
January 4, 2005). The percent allocated to vessels landing summer 
flounder in New York is 7.64699 percent, resulting in a commercial 
quota of 1,390,223 lb (630,601 kg). However, the 2005 allocation to New 
York was reduced to 1,374,164 lb (623,317 kg) due to research set-
aside. The states of North Carolina, New Jersey, and Rhode Island and 
the Commonwealth of Virginia have transferred a total of 50,530 lb 
(22,920 kg) to New York in accordance with the Atlantic States Marine 
Fisheries Commission Addendum XV to the Summer Flounder, Scup, and 
Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan, bringing the total quota to 
1,424,694 lb (646,241 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 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 New York has 
harvested its quota for 2005.
    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, 
December 14, 2005, further landings of summer flounder in New York by 
vessels holding summer flounder commercial Federal fisheries permits 
are prohibited for the remainder of the 2005 calendar year, unless 
additional quota becomes available through a transfer and is announced 
in the Federal Register. Effective 0001 hours, December 14, 2005, 
federally permitted dealers may not purchase summer flounder from 
federally permitted vessels that land in New York 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.


[[Page 75075]]


    Dated: December 14, 2005.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service
[FR Doc. 05-24204 Filed 12-14-05; 1:57 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S