[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 117 (Tuesday, June 22, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 32651-32652]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-13078]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[RTID 0648-XB117]


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

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 and the 
Commonwealth of Virginia are transferring a portion of their 2021 
commercial summer flounder quota to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts 
and to the State of New Jersey, respectively. This adjustment to the 
2021 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 
revised 2021 commercial quotas for North Carolina, Massachusetts, 
Virginia, and New Jersey.

DATES: Effective June 21, 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 2021 allocations were 
published on December 21, 2020 (85 FR 82946).
    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

[[Page 32652]]

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 Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act. The Regional Administrator has determined these three 
criteria have been met for the transfer approved in this notification.
    North Carolina is transferring 9,980 lb (4,527 kg) to Massachusetts 
and Virginia is transferring 9,800 lb (4,445 kg) to New Jersey 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 2021 are: North 
Carolina, 2,974,923 lb (1,349,402 kg); Massachusetts, 1,025,159 lb 
(465,004 kg); Virginia, 2,389,776 lb (210,922 kg); and, New Jersey, 
1,970,862 lb (893,968 kg).

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

    Dated: June 16, 2021.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-13078 Filed 6-21-21; 8:45 am]
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