Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 241 / Tuesday, December 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations 81155 

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 § 648.102 and final 

2020 allocations were published on 

October 9, 2019 (84 FR 54041). 

The final rule implementing 

Amendment 5 to the Summer Flounder 

Fishery Management Plan, 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 § 648.102(c)(2). 

The Regional Administrator must 

approve any such transfer based on the 

criteria in § 648.102(c)(2)(i). In 

evaluating requests to transfer a quota or 

combine quotas, the Regional 

Administrator shall consider whether: 

The transfer or combinations would 

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 

Act. 

North Carolina is transferring 50,000 

lb (22,680 kg) to Connecticut. This 

transfer is occurring through mutual 

agreement of the states. This transfer 

was requested to ensure Connecticut 

would not exceed its 2020 quota. The 

revised summer flounder quotas for 

fishing year 2020 are now: North 

Carolina, 3,035,501 lb (1,376,880 kg); 

and Connecticut, 350,241 lb (158,867 

kg). 

Classification 

NMFS issues this action pursuant to 

section 305(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act. This action is required by 50 CFR 

648.102(c)(2)(i)(A) through (C), 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 10, 2020. 

Jennifer M. Wallace, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2020–27561 Filed 12–10–20; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 200623–0167; RTID 0648– 

XA706] 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Atlantic Bluefish Fishery; 

Quota Transfers From MA to NC, DE to 

RI, and VA to NY 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notification; quota transfers. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the 

State of Delaware, and the 

Commonwealth of Virginia are 

transferring a portion of their 2020 

commercial bluefish quota to the State 

of North Carolina, the State of Rhode 

Island, and the State of New York, 

respectively. These quota adjustments 

are necessary to comply with the 

Atlantic Bluefish Fishery Management 

Plan quota transfer provisions. This 

announcement informs the public of the 

revised commercial bluefish quotas for 

Massachusetts, North Carolina, 

Delaware, Rhode Island, Virginia, and 

New York. 

DATES: Effective December 14, 2020 

through December 31, 2020. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Laura Hansen, Fishery Management 

Specialist, (978) 281–9225. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Regulations governing the Atlantic 

bluefish fishery are found in 50 CFR 

648.160 through 648.167. These 

regulations require annual specification 

of a commercial quota that is 

apportioned among the coastal states 

from Maine through Florida. The 

process to set the annual commercial 

quota and the percent allocated to each 

state is described in § 648.162, and the 

final 2020 allocations were published 

on June 29, 2020 (85 FR 38794). 

The final rule implementing 

Amendment 1 to the Bluefish Fishery 

Management Plan (FMP) published in 

the Federal Register on July 26, 2000 

(65 FR 45844), and provided a 

mechanism for transferring bluefish 

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 request approval to transfer or 

combine bluefish commercial quota 

under § 648.162(e)(1)(i) through (iii). 

The Regional Administrator must 

approve any such transfer based on the 

criteria in § 648.162(e). In evaluating 

requests to transfer a quota or combine 

quotas, the Regional Administrator shall 

consider whether: The transfer or 

combinations would 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. 

Massachusetts is transferring 55,000 

lb (24,948 kg) of bluefish commercial 

quota to North Carolina; Delaware is 

transferring 30,000 lb (13,608 kg) to 

Rhode Island; and Virginia is 

transferring 50,000 lb (22,679 kg) to 

New York, through mutual agreement of 

the states. These transfers were 

requested to ensure that North Carolina, 

Rhode Island, and New York would not 

exceed their 2020 state quotas. The 

revised bluefish quotas for 2020 are: 

Massachusetts, 115,838 lb (52,543 kg); 

North Carolina, 1,056,058 lb (479,020 

kg); Delaware, 21,966 lb (9,964 kg); 

Rhode Island, 343,366 lb (155,748 kg); 

Virginia, 203,682 lb (92,389 kg); and 

New York, 387,335 lb (175,692 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 

exempt from review under Executive 

Order 12866. 

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

Dated: December 10, 2020. 

Jennifer M. Wallace, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2020–27538 Filed 12–14–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 679 

[Docket No. 200227–0066; RTID 0648– 

XA701] 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Reallocation of 

Pacific Cod in the Bering Sea and 

Aleutian Islands Management Area 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

81156 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 241 / Tuesday, December 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations 

ACTION: Temporary rule; reallocation. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is reallocating the 

projected unused amount of Pacific cod 

from vessels using jig gear and trawl 

catcher vessels (CVs) to CVs less than 60 

feet (18.3 m) length overall (LOA) using 

hook-and-line or pot gear and American 

Fisheries Act (AFA) catcher/processors 

(CPs) in the Bering Sea and Aleutian 

Islands (BSAI) management area. This 

action is necessary to allow the 2020 

total allowable catch (TAC) of Pacific 

cod to be harvested. 

DATES: Effective December 14, 2020, 

through 2400 hours, Alaska local time 

(A.l.t.), December 31, 2020. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Steve Whitney, 907–586–7228. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS 

manages the groundfish fishery in the 

BSAI according to the Fishery 

Management Plan for Groundfish of the 

Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 

Management Area (FMP) prepared by 

the North Pacific Fishery Management 

Council under authority of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act. 

Regulations governing fishing by U.S. 

vessels in accordance with the FMP 

appear at subpart H of 50 CFR part 600 

and 50 CFR part 679. 

The 2020 Pacific cod TAC specified 

for vessels using jig gear in the BSAI is 

178 metric tons (mt), the 2020 Pacific 

cod TAC specified for trawl CVs in the 

BSAI is 30,707 mt, the 2020 Pacific cod 

TAC specified for CVs less than 60 feet 

(18.3 m) LOA using hook-and-line or 

pot gear in the BSAI is 4,807 mt, and the 

2020 Pacific cod TAC specified for AFA 

CPs in the BSAI is 3,196 mt as 

established by the final 2020 and 2021 

harvest specifications for groundfish in 

the BSAI (85 FR 13553, March 9, 2020) 

and reallocations (85 FR 4601, January 

27, 2020 and 85 FR 49976, August 17, 

2020). 

The Administrator, Alaska Region, 

NMFS, (Regional Administrator) has 

determined that jig vessels will not be 

able to harvest 160 mt of the 2020 

Pacific cod TAC allocated to those 

vessels under § 679.20(a)(7)(ii)(A)(1) and 

trawl CVs will not be able to harvest 

1,014 mt of the 2020 Pacific cod TAC 

allocated to those vessels under 

§ 679.20(a)(7)(ii)(A)(9). 

Therefore, in accordance with 

§ 679.20(a)(7)(iv)(C), NMFS apportions 

160 mt of Pacific cod from the jig gear 

apportionment to the annual amount 

specified for catcher vessels less than 60 

feet (18.3 m) LOA using hook-and-line 

or pot gear. Also, in accordance with 

§ 679.20(a)(7)(iii)(B), NMFS reallocates 

1,014 mt from trawl CVs to the annual 

amount specified for AFA CPs. 

The harvest specifications for 2020 

Pacific cod included in final 2020 and 

2021 harvest specifications for 

groundfish in the BSAI (85 FR 13553, 

March 9, 2020) and reallocations (85 FR 

4601, January 27, 2020 and 85 FR 

49976, August 17, 2020) are revised as 

follows: 18 mt to vessels using jig gear, 

29,693 mt to trawl CVs, 4,967 mt to 

catcher vessels less than 60 feet (18.3 m) 

LOA using hook-and-line or pot gear, 

and 4,210 mt to AFA CPs. 

Classification 

NMFS issues this action pursuant to 

section 305(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act. This action is required by 50 CFR 

part 679, which was issued pursuant to 

section 304(b), and is exempt from 

review under Executive Order 12866. 

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), there 

is good cause to waive prior notice and 

an opportunity for public comment on 

this action, as notice and comment 

would be impracticable and contrary to 

the public interest. This requirement is 

impracticable and contrary to the public 

interest as it would prevent NMFS from 

responding to the most recent fisheries 

data in a timely fashion and would 

allow for harvests that exceed the 

originally specified apportionment of 

the Pacific cod TAC. NMFS was unable 

to publish a notice providing time for 

public comment because the most 

recent, relevant data only became 

available as of December 1, 2020. 

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

Dated: December 10, 2020. 

Jennifer M. Wallace, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2020–27526 Filed 12–14–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P