Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 157 / Tuesday, August 15, 2006 / Rules and Regulations 46871 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 051104293 5344 02; I.D. 

080806F] 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Summer Flounder Fishery; 

Commercial Quota Harvested for 

Connecticut 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Closure of commercial fishery 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the 

summer flounder commercial quota 

available to Connecticut has been 

harvested. Vessels issued a commercial 

Federal fisheries permit for the summer 

flounder fishery may not land summer 

flounder in Connecticut for the 

remainder of calendar year 2006, unless 

additional quota becomes available 

through a transfer. Regulations 

governing the summer flounder fishery 

require publication of this notification 

to advise Connecticut 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 Connecticut. 

DATES: Effective 0001 hours, August 12, 

2006, through 2400 hours, December 31, 

2006. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Douglas Potts, Fishery Management 

Specialist, (978) 281–9341 

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 § 648.100. 

The initial total commercial quota for 

summer flounder for the 2006 calendar 

year was set equal to 14,154,000 lb 

(6,420 mt) (70 FR 77061, December 29, 

2005). The percent allocated to vessels 

landing summer flounder in 

Connecticut is 2.25708 percent, 

resulting in a commercial quota of 

319,467 lb (144,910 kg). The 2006 

allocation was reduced to 314,649 lb 

(142,725 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 Connecticut has 

harvested its quota for 2006. 

The regulations at § 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 12, 2006, further landings 

of summer flounder in Connecticut by 

vessels holding summer flounder 

commercial Federal fisheries permits 

are prohibited for the remainder of the 

2006 calendar year, unless additional 

quota becomes available through a 

transfer and is announced in the 

Federal Register. Effective 0001 hours, 

August 12, 2006, federally permitted 

dealers are also notified that they may 

not purchase summer flounder from 

federally permitted vessels that land in 

Connecticut 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 10, 2006. 

James P. Burgess, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 06–6928 Filed 8–10–06; 1:20 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 060606151–6208–02; I.D. 

051906A] 

RIN 0648–AU33 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Northeast (NE) Multispecies 

Fishery; Framework Adjustment 43 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: NMFS implements 

Framework Adjustment 43 (Framework 

43) to the NE Multispecies Fishery 

Management Plan (FMP), which 

addresses the incidental catch of NE 

multispecies by vessels fishing for 

Atlantic herring by establishing a 

Herring Exempted Fishery. Vessels 

issued a Category 1 Atlantic herring 

fishing permit (Category 1 vessels) are 

authorized to possess incidentally 

caught haddock until the catch of 

haddock reaches the level specified as 

an incidental haddock catch cap; upon 

attainment of the haddock catch cap, all 

herring vessels are limited to 2,000 lb 

(907 kg) of herring per trip, if any of the 

herring on board was caught within the 

Gulf of Maine/Georges Bank (GOM/GB) 

Herring Exemption Area defined in 

Framework 43. Herring Category 1 

vessels are also authorized to possess up 

to 100 pounds (45 kg) of other regulated 

multispecies (cod, witch flounder, 

plaice, yellowtail flounder, pollock, 

winter flounder, windowpane flounder, 

redfish, and white hake), and are 

required to provide advance notification 

of their intent to land for purposes of 

enforcement. Atlantic herring 

processors and dealers that sort herring 

catches as part of their operations are 

required to cull and report all haddock. 

DATES: Effective August 15, 2006. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of supporting 

documents, including the Regulatory 

Impact Review, Final Regulatory 

Flexibility Analysis (RIR/FRFA), and 

Essential Fish Habitat Assessment are 

available from Paul J. Howard, 

Executive Director, New England 

Fishery Management Council, 50 Water 

Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950. 

The RIR/FRFA is also accessible via the 

Internet at http://www.nero.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric 

Jay Dolin, Fishery Policy Analyst, (978) 

281–9259, fax (978) 281–9135. 

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