[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 241 (Monday, December 16, 2019)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 68348-68349]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-26970]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[RTID 0648-XX030]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder 
Fishery; Quota Transfer From NC to VA

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

ACTION: Notice; quota transfer.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the State of North Carolina is 
transferring a portion of its 2019 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 provisions. This announcement informs 
the public of the revised 2019 commercial quotas for North Carolina and 
Virginia.

DATES: Effective December 13, 2019, through December 31, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura Hansen, Fishery Management 
Specialist, (978) 281-9225.

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

[[Page 68349]]

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 final 2019 
allocations were published on May 17, 2019 (84 FR 22392).
    The final rule implementing Amendment 5 to the Summer Flounder 
Fishery Management Plan (FMP), 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 three criteria in the evaluation 
of requests for quota transfers or combinations: The transfer or 
combinations would not preclude the overall annual quota from being 
fully harvested; the transfer addresses an unforeseen variation or 
contingency in the fishery; and, the transfer is consistent with the 
objectives of the FMP and the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The Regional 
Administrator has determined these three criteria have been met for the 
transfer approved in this notice.
    North Carolina is transferring 7,500 lb (3,402 kg) of summer 
flounder commercial quota to Virginia. This transfer was requested to 
repay landings made by a North Carolina-permitted vessel in Virginia 
under a safe harbor agreement. Based on the revised Summer Flounder, 
Scup, and Black Sea Bass Specifications, the summer flounder quotas for 
2019 are now: North Carolina, 2,879,055 lb (1,305,917 kg); and, 
Virginia, 2,405,916 lb (1,091,305 kg).

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: December 10, 2019.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-26970 Filed 12-13-19; 8:45 am]
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