[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 167 (Monday, August 30, 2010)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 52890-52891]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-21531]


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

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 0908191244-91427ndash;02]
RIN 0648-XY35


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder 
Fishery; Commercial Quota Harvested for the Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts

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

ACTION: Temporary rule; closure.

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

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the 2010 summer flounder commercial quota 
allocated 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 2010, unless additional quota becomes 
available through a transfer from another state. 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 1, 2010, through 2400 hours, 
December 31, 2010.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sarah Heil, Fishery Management 
Specialist,(978) 281-9257.

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 2010 
calendar

[[Page 52891]]

year was set equal to 13,278,001 lb (6,023 mt) (74 FR 67978, December 
22, 2009). The percent allocated to vessels landing summer flounder in 
Massachusetts is 6.82046 percent, resulting in a commercial quota of 
905,621 lb (411 mt). The 2010 allocation was reduced to 846,667 lb (384 
mt) after deduction of research set-aside and adjustment for 2009 quota 
overages.
    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 2010.
    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 1, 2010, further landings of summer flounder in Massachusetts 
by vessels holding summer flounder commercial Federal fisheries permits 
are prohibited for the remainder of the 2010 calendar year, unless 
additional quota becomes available through a transfer and is announced 
in the Federal Register. Effective 0001 hours, September 1, 2010, 
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 from another 
state.

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 25, 2010.
Carrie Selberg,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-21531 Filed 8-25-10; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S