[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 191 (Wednesday, October 4, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 68498-68499]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-22092]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 221215-0272; RTID 0648-XD447]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Bluefish 
Fishery; Quota Transfers From VA and DE to NC

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

ACTION: Notification of quota transfers.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Commonwealth of Virginia and the State 
of Delaware are transferring a portion of their 2023 commercial 
bluefish quota to the State of North Carolina. 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 Virginia, Delaware, and North Carolina.

DATES: Effective September 29, 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 Sec.  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 Sec.  648.162(e)(1)(i) through (iii). 
The Regional Administrator must approve any such transfer based on the 
criteria in Sec.  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.
    Virginia is transferring 50,000 pounds (lb) (22,680 kilograms (kg)) 
and Delaware is transferring 40,000 lb (18,144 kg) to North Carolina, 
through mutual agreements of the States. These transfers were requested 
to ensure that North Carolina would not exceed its 2023 State quota. 
The revised bluefish quotas for 2023 are: Virginia, 305,625 lb (138,629 
kg); Delaware, 23,572 lb

[[Page 68499]]

(10,692 kg); and North Carolina, 1,564,077 lb (709,453 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: September 29, 2023.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-22092 Filed 9-29-23; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P