[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 24 (Monday, February 8, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 8559]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-02521]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[RTID 0648-XA843]


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

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 2020 commercial summer flounder quota to 
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This retroactive adjustment to the 
2020 fishing year quota 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 
retroactively revised 2020 commercial quotas for North Carolina and 
Massachusetts.

DATES: Effective February 5, 2021, through December 31, 2021.

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 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 9,185 lb (4,166 kg) of 2020 summer 
flounder commercial quota to Massachusetts through mutual agreement of 
the states. This transfer was requested to repay landings made by a 
North Carolina-permitted vessel in Massachusetts under a safe harbor 
agreement. The revised summer flounder quotas for calendar year 2020 
are: North Carolina, 3,026,316 lb (1,372,714 kg); and, Massachusetts, 
802,549 lb (364,030 kg).
    Given the timing of the safe harbor agreement and the states' 
request, we were unable to process the transfer before the December 
31st end of the 2020 fishing year. The retroactively adjusted quotas 
will be used to calculate overages for the 2020 fishing year and 
adjust, as needed, 2021 summer flounder quotas.

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

    Dated: February 3, 2021.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-02521 Filed 2-5-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P