[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 164 (Monday, August 24, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 52056]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-18524]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[RTID 0648-XA380]


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: Notification; 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 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 commercial quotas for North Carolina and 
Virginia.

DATES: Effective August 21, 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, 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 Fisheries Management Plan and the Magnuson-Stevens 
Act.
    North Carolina is transferring 9,263 lb (4,202 kg) to Virginia. 
This transfer is occurring through mutual agreement of the states. This 
transfer was requested to repay landings made by a North Carolina 
permitted vessel under a safe harbor agreement. The revised summer 
flounder quotas for fishing year 2020 are now: North Carolina, 
3,125,501 lb (1,417,703 kg) and Virginia, 2,483,444 lb (1,126,471 kg).

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

    Dated: August 19, 2020.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-18524 Filed 8-21-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P