[Federal Register: August 17, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 158)] [Rules and Regulations] [Page 44661-44662] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr17au99-10] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 50 CFR Part 648 [Docket No. 981014259-8312-02; I.D. 081099A] Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder Fishery; Commercial Quota Harvested for Massachusetts AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce. ACTION: Commercial quota harvest. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the summer flounder commercial quota available to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has been harvested. Vessels issued a commercial Federal fisheries permit for the summer flounder fishery may not land summer flounder in Massachusetts for the remainder of calendar year 1999, unless additional quota becomes available through a transfer. Regulations [[Page 44662]] governing the summer flounder fishery require publication of this notification to advise the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that the quota has been harvested and to advise vessel permit holders and dealer permit holders that no commercial quota is available for landing summer flounder in Massachusetts. DATES: Effective from 0001 hours, August 16, 1999, through 2400 hours, December 31, 1999. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul H. Jones, Fishery Policy Analyst, (978) 281-9273. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations governing the summer flounder fishery are found at 50 CFR part 648. The regulations require annual specification of a commercial quota that is apportioned on a percentage basis among the coastal states from North Carolina through Maine. The process to set the annual commercial quota and the percent allocated to each state is described in Sec. 648.100. The initial total commercial quota for summer flounder for the 1999 calendar year was set equal to 11,110,300 lb (5,039,547 kg)(64 FR 5196, February 3, 1999, corrected at 64 FR 9088, February 24, 1999). The percent allocated to vessels landing summer flounder in Massachusetts is 6.82046 percent, or 757,842 lb (343,751 kg). Section 648.101(b) requires the Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator) to monitor state commercial quotas and to determine when a state's commercial quota is harvested. The Regional Administrator is further required to publish notification in the Federal Register advising a state and notifying Federal vessel and dealer permit holders that, effective upon a specific date, the state's commercial quota has been harvested and no commercial quota is available for landing summer flounder in that state. The Regional Administrator has determined, based upon dealer reports and other available information, that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has attained its quota for 1999. The regulations at Sec. 648.4(b) provide that Federal permit holders agree as a condition of the permit not to land summer flounder in any state that the Regional Administrator has determined no longer has commercial quota available. Therefore, effective 0001 hours August 16, 1999, further landings of summer flounder in Massachusetts by vessels holding commercial Federal fisheries permits are prohibited for the remainder of the 1999 calendar year, unless additional quota becomes available through a transfer and is announced in the Federal Register. Effective the same date, federally permitted dealers are also advised that they may not purchase summer flounder from federally permitted vessels that land in Massachusetts for the remainder of the calendar year, or until additional quota becomes available through a transfer. Classification This action is required by 50 CFR part 648 and is exempt from review under E.O. 12866. Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. Dated: August 12, 1999. Bruce C. Morehead, Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. [FR Doc. 99-21299 Filed 8-12-99; 3:18 pm] BILLING CODE 3510-22-F