[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 241 (Monday, December 18, 2017)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 59987]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-27179]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 161017970-6999-02]
RIN 0648-XF879


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 Commonwealth of Virginia is 
transferring a portion of its 2017 commercial summer flounder quota to 
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This quota adjustment is necessary 
to comply with the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery 
Management Plan quota transfer provisions. This announcement informs 
the public of the revised commercial quotas for Virginia and 
Massachusetts.

DATES: Effective December 13, 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.
    Virginia is transferring 3,585 lb (1,626 kg) of summer flounder 
commercial quota to Massachusetts. This transfer was requested to repay 
landings by a Virginia-permitted vessel that landed in Massachusetts 
under a safe harbor agreement. The revised summer flounder quotas for 
calendar year 2017 are now: Virginia, 1,216,289 lb (551,699 kg); and 
Massachusetts, 389,573 lb (176,707 kg); based on the initial quotas 
published in the 2017 Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass 
Specifications and subsequent transfers. The summer flounder fishery in 
Massachusetts closed on July 20, 2017 (82 FR 33827). Despite this 
transfer, there is insufficient quota available to reopen the 
commercial summer flounder fishery in Massachusetts, and as a result, 
this fishery remains closed for the remainder of 2017.

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: December 13, 2017.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-27179 Filed 12-13-17; 4:15 pm]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P