[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 248 (Thursday, December 30, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 74381]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-28370]



[[Page 74381]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

RTID 0648-XB686


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder 
Fishery; Quota Transfers from NC to CT and ME 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 states of North Carolina and Maine are 
transferring a portion of their 2021 commercial summer flounder quota 
to the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island, 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, Maine, Connecticut, 
and Rhode Island.

DATES: Effective December 27, 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 
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 transfers approved in this notification.
    North Carolina is transferring 40,000 lb (18,144 kg) to Connecticut 
and Maine is transferring 14,000 lb (6,350 kg) to Rhode Island through 
mutual agreement of the states. These transfers were requested to 
ensure Connecticut and Rhode Island would not exceed their 2021 quota. 
The revised summer flounder quotas for 2021 are: North Carolina, 
2,878,480 lb (1,305,657 kg); Connecticut, 669,376 lb (303,624 kg); 
Maine, 33 lb (15 kg); and, Rhode Island, 1,922,724 lb (872,133 kg).

Classification

    NMFS issues this action pursuant to section 305(d) of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act. This action is required by 50 CFR 648.162(e)(1)(i) through 
(iii), which was issued pursuant to section 304(b), and is exempted 
from review under Executive Order 12866.

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

    Dated: December 27, 2021.
Karen Abrams,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-28370 Filed 12-27-21; 4:15 pm]
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