[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 209 (Monday, October 29, 2018)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 54264-54265]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-23571]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 170828822-70999-04]
RIN 0648-XG574


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 2018 commercial summer flounder quota to 
the State of New York. 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 North Carolina and New York.

[[Page 54265]]


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

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cynthia Ferrio, 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 2018 allocations 
were published on December 22, 2017 (82 FR 60682), and corrected 
January 30, 2018 (83 FR 4165).
    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 3,844 lb (1,744 kg) of summer 
flounder commercial quota to New York through mutual agreement of the 
states. This transfer was requested to repay landings by a North 
Carolina-permitted vessel that landed in New York under a safe harbor 
agreement. Based on the initial quotas published in the 2018 Summer 
Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Specifications and subsequent 
adjustments, the revised summer flounder quotas for calendar year 2018 
are now: North Carolina, 1,752,145 lb (794,760 kg); and New York, 
496,013 lb (224,988 kg).

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: October 24, 2018.
Karen H. Abrams
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2018-23571 Filed 10-24-18; 4:15 pm]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P