46568 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 161 / Tuesday, August 21, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 

Dated: August 15, 2007. 

Charles E. James, Sr., 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Federal 

Contract Compliance. 

[FR Doc. E7–16361 Filed 8–20–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–CM–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 061020273–7001–03] 

RIN 0648–XC05 

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: Temporary rule; closure. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the 

2007 summer flounder commercial 

quota allocated 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 2007, unless 

additional quota becomes available 

through a transfer from another state. 

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, August 16, 

2007 through 2400 hours, December 31, 

2007. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Emily Bryant, Fishery Management 

Specialist, (978) 281–9244. 

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 2007 calendar 

year was set equal to 7,789,800 lb (3,533 

mt) (71 FR 75134, December 14, 2006). 

This quota was increased through an 

emergency action to 10,267,098 lb 

(4,658 mt) (72 FR 2458, January 19, 

2007). The percent allocated to vessels 

landing summer flounder in 

Massachusetts is 6.82046 percent, 

resulting in a commercial quota of 

700,270 lb (318 mt). The 2007 allocation 

was reduced to 684,331 lb (310 mt) 

when research set-aside was deducted 

and then reduced to 654,285 (297 mt) 

after the 2006 overages had been 

applied. 

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 2007. 

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 16, 2007, further landings 

of summer flounder in Massachusetts by 

vessels holding summer flounder 

commercial Federal fisheries permits 

are prohibited for the remainder of the 

2007 calendar year, unless additional 

quota becomes available through a 

transfer and is announced in the 

Federal Register. Effective 0001 hours, 

August 16, 2007, 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 

from another state. 

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 15, 2007. 

James P. Burgess, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 07–4091 Filed 8–16–07; 1:23 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 


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