Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 82 / Friday, April 27, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 25103 

active in the bluefish fishery and/or 

have caught bluefish. 

Description of Projected Reporting, 

Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance 

Requirements 

No additional reporting, 

recordkeeping, or other compliance 

requirements are included in this final 

rule. 

Description of the Steps Taken To 

Minimize Economic Impact on Small 

Entities 

Specification of commercial quota, 

recreational harvest levels, and 

possession limits is constrained by the 

conservation objectives of the FMP, 

under the authority of the MagnusonStevens Act. The commercial quota 

contained in this final rule is 10 percent 

higher than the 2011 quota and 113 

percent higher than actual 2011 bluefish 

landings. All affected states will receive 

increases in their individual commercial 

quota allocation in comparison to their 

respective 2011 individual state 

allocations. However, the magnitude of 

the increase varies depending on the 

state’s relative percent share in the total 

commercial quota, as specified in the 

FMP. 

The RHL contained in this final rule 

is approximately 2 percent lower than 

the RHL in 2011. The small reduction in 

RHL is a reflection of a declining trend 

in recreational bluefish harvest in recent 

years. Because the 2012 RHL is greater 

than the total estimated recreational 

bluefish harvest for 2011, it does not 

constrain recreational bluefish harvest 

below a level that the fishery is 

anticipated to achieve. The possession 

limit for bluefish will remain at 15 fish 

per person, so there should be no 

impact on demand for party/charter 

vessel fishing and, therefore, no impact 

on revenues earned by party/charter 

vessels. No negative economic impacts 

on the recreational fishery are 

anticipated. 

The impacts on revenues associated 

with the proposed RSA quota were 

analyzed and are expected to be 

minimal. Assuming that the full RSA 

quota 491,672 lb (223 mt) is landed and 

sold to support the proposed research 

projects, then all of the participants in 

the fishery would benefit from the 

improved fisheries data yielded from 

each project. 

Small Entity Compliance Guide 

Section 212 of the Small Business 

Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 

1996 states that, for each rule or group 

of related rules for which an agency is 

required to prepare a FRFA, the agency 

shall publish one or more guides to 

assist small entities in complying with 

the rule, and shall designate such 

publications as ‘‘small entity 

compliance guides.’’ The agency shall 

explain the actions a small entity is 

required to take to comply with a rule 

or group of rules. As part of this 

rulemaking process, a small entity 

compliance guide will be sent to all 

holders of Federal permits issued for the 

Atlantic bluefish fishery. 

In addition, copies of this final rule 

and guide (i.e., permit holder letter) are 

available upon request, and posted on 

the Northeast Regional Office’s Web site 

at www.nero.noaa.gov. 

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

Dated: April 24, 2012. 

Alan D. Risenhoover, 

Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–10242 Filed 4–26–12; 8:45 am] 

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 111220786–1781–01] 

RIN 0648–XC002 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Summer Flounder Fishery; 

Quota Transfer 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; quota transfer. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the 

State of North Carolina is transferring a 

portion of its 2012 commercial summer 

flounder quota to the Commonwealth of 

Virginia. NMFS is adjusting the quotas 

and announcing the revised commercial 

quota for each state involved. 

DATES: Effective April 26, 2012, through 

December 31, 2012. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Carly Bari, Fishery Management 

Specialist, 978–281–9224. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Regulations governing the summer 

flounder fishery are in 50 CFR part 648, 

and require annual specification of a 

commercial quota that is apportioned 

among the coastal states from North 

Carolina through Maine. The process to 

set the annual commercial quota and the 

percent allocated to each state are 

described in § 648.100. 

The final rule implementing 

Amendment 5 to the Summer Flounder, 

Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery 

Management Plan, which was published 

on December 17, 1993 (58 FR 65936), 

provided a mechanism for summer 

flounder quota to be transferred from 

one state to another. Two or more states, 

under mutual agreement and with the 

concurrence of the Administrator, 

Northeast Region, NMFS (Regional 

Administrator), can transfer or combine 

summer flounder commercial quota 

under § 648.102(c)(2). The Regional 

Administrator is required to consider 

the criteria in § 648.102(c)(2)(i) to 

evaluate requests for quota transfers or 

combinations. 

North Carolina has agreed to transfer 

180,061 lb (81,674 kg) of its 2012 

commercial quota to Virginia. This 

transfer was prompted by summer 

flounder landings of 12 North Carolina 

vessels that were granted safe harbor in 

Virginia due to mechanical failures, 

between March 2, 2012, and March 31, 

2012, thereby requiring a quota transfer 

to account for an increase in Virginia’s 

landings that would have otherwise 

accrued against the North Carolina 

quota. The Regional Administrator has 

determined that the criteria set forth in 

§ 648.102(c)(2)(i) have been met. The 

revised summer flounder quotas for 

calendar year 2012 are: North Carolina, 

1,603,359 lb (727,271 kg); and Virginia, 

4,603,985 lb (2,088,332 kg). 

Classification 

This action is taken under 50 CFR 

part 648 and is exempt from review 

under Executive Order 12866. 

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

Dated: April 24, 2012. 

Carrie Selberg, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–10246 Filed 4–26–12; 8:45 am] 

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