[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 17 (Thursday, January 25, 2018)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 3405-3406]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-01376]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 161017970-6999-02]
RIN 0648-XF937


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

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

ACTION: Temporary rule; quota transfers.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces two retroactive commercial summer flounder 
quota transfers for the 2017 fishing year. The State of New York is 
transferring a portion of its quota to the State of New Jersey, and the 
State of North Carolina is transferring quota to the Commonwealth of 
Virginia. These quota adjustments are 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 2017 commercial quotas for New York, New Jersey, North 
Carolina, and Virginia.

DATES: Effective January 24, 2018, through December 31, 2018.

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.
    This action includes two transfers of fishing year 2017 summer 
flounder commercial quota: New York is transferring 384 lb (174 kg) of 
quota to New Jersey; North Carolina is transferring 11,902 lb (5,399 
kg) of quota to Virginia. Both of these transfers were requested to 
repay landings made in the receiving states under a safe harbor 
agreement. The revised summer flounder quotas for calendar year 2017 
are now: New York, 435,380 lb (197,485 kg); New Jersey, 946,516 lb 
(429,332 kg); North Carolina, 1,524,791 lb (691,634 kg); and Virginia, 
1,228,191 lb (557,098 kg); based on the initial quotas published in the 
2017 Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Specifications and 
subsequent transfers.
    The 2017 fishing year ended December 31, 2017. The revised 2017

[[Page 3406]]

quotas will be used by NMFS in the ongoing quota accounting that is 
finalized in late 2018. These transfers were requested as a result of 
unforeseeable late-season events. Specifically, two landing events 
where vessels were granted safe harbor too late in the year to publish 
notice in 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: January 19, 2018.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2018-01376 Filed 1-24-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P