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###### Department of Commerce

###### National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

          - 50 CFR Part 648
          - [Docket No. 221215-0272; RTID 0648-XD279]

# AGENCY:

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

# ACTION:

Notification of quota transfers.

# SUMMARY:

NMFS announces that the State of New Jersey is transferring a portion of its 2023 commercial bluefish quota to the States of North Carolina and Rhode Island. These adjustments to the 2023 fishing year quotas are necessary to comply with the Atlantic Bluefish Fishery Management Plan quota transfer provisions. This announcement informs the public of the revised 2023 commercial bluefish quotas for New Jersey, North Carolina, and Rhode Island.

# DATES:

Effective August 28, 2023, through December 31, 2023.

# FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Laura Deighan, Fishery Management Specialist, (978) 281-9184.

# 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 2023 allocations were published on December 21, 2022 (87 FR 78011).

                    The final rule implementing Amendment 1 to the Bluefish Fishery Management Plan (FMP), as published in the                     **Federal Register**                     on July 26, 2000 (65 FR 45844), provided a mechanism for transferring bluefish 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 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 (Magnuson-Stevens Act). The Regional Administrator has determined these three criteria have been met for the transfers approved in this notification.                

                    New Jersey is transferring 45,000 pounds (lb) (20,412 kilograms (kg)) to North Carolina and 15,000 lb (6,804 kg) to Rhode Island, through mutual                           ( print page 59470)                        agreements of the states. These transfers were requested to ensure that North Carolina and Rhode Island would not exceed their 2023 state quotas. The revised bluefish quotas for 2023 are: New Jersey, 563,295 lb (255,506 kg); North Carolina, 1,474,077 lb (668,630 kg); and Rhode Island 366,165 lb (166,090 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 exempted from review under Executive Order 12866.

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

Dated: August 24, 2023.  

Jennifer M. Wallace,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 2023-18616 Filed 8-28-23; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-22-P