[Federal Register: September 2, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 169)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 52141]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02se03-21]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 021122284-2323-02; I.D. 082503B]
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: Notification of a closure of a commercial fishery.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the summer flounder commercial quota
available to 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 2003, unless additional quota becomes available through a
transfer. Regulations governing the summer flounder fishery require
publication of this notification to advise 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 0001 hours, September 2, 2003, through 2400 hours,
December 31, 2003.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jason Blackburn, Fishery Management
Specialist, (978) 281-9326, e-mail jason.blackburn@noaa.gov
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 2003
calendar year was set equal to 13,980,028 lb (6,341,235 kg)(68 FR 60,
January 2, 2003). The percent allocated to vessels landing summer
flounder in Massachusetts is 6.82046 percent, resulting in an initial
commercial quota of 953,502 lb (432,501 kg). The 2003 allocation was
adjusted downward due to an overage of the 2002 quota of 42,498 lb
(19,277 kg) as of October 31, 2002. The resulting adjusted 2003
commercial quota for Massachusetts is 911,004 lb (413,229 kg). The 2003
allocation was further reduced to 907,274 lb (411,537 kg) due to
research set-aside.
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 has been harvested. NMFS then
publishes a notification in the Federal Register to advise the state
and to notify 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 Massachusetts has
harvested its quota for 2003.
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,
September 2, 2003, further landings of summer flounder in Massachusetts
by vessels holding summer flounder commercial Federal fisheries permits
are prohibited for the remainder of the 2003 calendar year, unless
additional quota becomes available through a transfer and is announced
in the Federal Register. Effective 0001 hours, September 2, 2003,
federally permitted dealers are also notified 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 Executive Order 12866.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: August 27, 2003.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 03-22337 Filed 8-27-03; 2:53 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S