[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 155 (Tuesday, August 11, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 48476]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-17524]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

RTID 0648-XA339


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder 
Fishery; Quota Transfers From NC to MA and VA to RI

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

ACTION: Notification of quota transfer.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the State of North Carolina is 
transferring a portion of its 2020 commercial summer flounder quota to 
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Commonwealth of Virginia is also 
transferring a portion of its 2020 summer flounder quota to the State 
of Rhode Island. 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 commercial quotas for North Carolina, Massachusetts, Virginia, 
and Rhode Island.

DATES: Effective August 10, 2020, through December 31, 2020.

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 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 2020 allocations were 
published on October 9, 2019 (84 FR 54041).
    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 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.
    North Carolina is transferring 6,965 pounds (lb) (3,519 kilograms 
(kg)) to Massachusetts. Virginia is transferring 6,417 lb (2,911 kg) to 
Rhode Island. These transfers are occurring through mutual agreement of 
the states. These transfers were requested to repay landings made by 
out-of-state permitted vessels under safe harbor agreements. The 
revised summer flounder quotas for fishing year 2020 are now: North 
Carolina, 3,134,764 lb (1,421,905 kg); Massachusetts 793,364 lb 
(359,864 kg); Rhode Island, 1,814,665 lb (823,118 kg); and Virginia, 
2,474,181 lb (1,122,269 kg).

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

    Dated: August 6, 2020.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-17524 Filed 8-10-20; 8:45 am]
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