[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 95 (Thursday, May 18, 2017)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 22761]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-10005]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 161017970-6999-02]
RIN 0648-XF408


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; quota transfer.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the State of North Carolina is 
transferring a portion of its 2017 commercial summer flounder quota to 
the Commonwealth of Virginia. This quota adjustment is necessary to 
comply with the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery 
Management Plan quota transfer provision. This announcement informs the 
public of the revised commercial quotas for North Carolina and 
Virginia.

DATES: Effective May 15, 2017, through December 31, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cynthia Hanson, Fishery Management 
Specialist, (978) 281-9180.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations governing the summer flounder 
fishery are found in 50 CFR 648.100 through 648.110. These regulations 
require annual specification of a commercial quota that is apportioned 
among the coastal states from Maine through North Carolina. The process 
to set the annual commercial quota and the percent allocated to each 
state is described in Sec.  648.102, and the initial 2017 allocations 
were published on December 22, 2016 (81 FR 93842).
    The final rule implementing Amendment 5 to the Summer Flounder 
Fishery Management Plan, as published in the Federal Register on 
December 17, 1993 (58 FR 65936), provided a mechanism for transferring 
summer flounder commercial quota from one state to another. Two or more 
states, under mutual agreement and with the concurrence of the NMFS 
Greater Atlantic Regional Administrator, can transfer or combine summer 
flounder commercial quota under Sec.  648.102(c)(2). The Regional 
Administrator is required to consider the criteria in Sec.  
648.102(c)(2)(i)(A) through (C) in the evaluation of requests for quota 
transfers or combinations.
    North Carolina is transferring 2,510 lb (1,139 kg) of summer 
flounder commercial quota to Virginia. This transfer was requested by 
North Carolina to repay landings by a North Carolina-permitted vessel 
that landed in Virginia under a safe harbor agreement.
    The revised summer flounder quotas for calendar year 2017 are now: 
North Carolina, 1,539,693 lb (698,393 kg); and Virginia, 1,219,912 lb 
(553,343 kg); based on the initial quotas published in the 2017 Summer 
Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Specifications and subsequent 
transfers.

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: May 12, 2017.
Karen H. Abrams,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-10005 Filed 5-15-17; 11:15 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P